A Quick Sidetrack into First Steps....

Yesterday, I was going to meet with a friend who had agreed to show me their armor and go over some basic movements in Rattan Stick Fighting in the SCA.

This friend has the same body-type, is about the same age, and is roughly the same size as me, so it made sense for me to start there. We had set the date in mid December, and at the time, I was still unsure about how serious I was in strapping on armor and hitting people. I had started changing my mindset then, but was still kind of nervous in how things would go.

Well, unfortunately, they were not able to make practice, as they were sick. :(

They were heartbroken about it - and surprisingly, I was too.

Even though I am still uncertain about how this experience will go, I was excited to meet with this person to see what they do, see what their kit is like, and get a first taste in what I was in for.

And it didn't end up happening. And I was actually sad about it!

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I ended up taking a project with me to Fighter Practice yesterday night instead, since they told me before the practice they wouldn't be there: I found a nice sports travel bag at the thrift store for $20 (I found a similar one at this thrift store for $10 a couple years ago - stupid price hikes). The stitching holding the zipper in was coming loose, so I needed to sew it in place so it could function.

The gym where practice was taking place was full of people, both those fighting with a Rapier, and a Rattan stick, as well as those who were just chatting at tables working on other projects. And among the fighters, there were people of many skill levels - but no matter their skill level, they were all my friends.

A Duke (someone who has won Crown Tournaments and been King more than twice) from a nearby group, and a friend of mine, caught sight of me, and came over - he asked if I was working on my armor bag. I only heard him ask about the armor bag, and I smiled and stated emphatically that it was MY armor bag. Once I realized he already recognized it was my armor bag, we just kind of smiled at each other before he went back to fight. Later we talked some more, and he showed me the armor he was wearing. I was frankly very surprised at how little he was wearing, armor-wise, as I am looking for more bulky protection.

After the fighting was over, I went over to my other friends who had been fighting and shared with them I was going to fight. They seemed a little surprised, but were ultimately excited for me - and that felt very encouraging. :)

It was really nice to sit and watch them fight while I was working on my bag - Watching with the understanding that you are going to meet them on the floor is a different feeling than just watching with no intent to join in.

I also was able to share some of my reasons for fighting with those friends. I also received a lot of good advice for starting out:

1) Listen to your body, or, don't do anything that makes your body protest.

This is similar to advice I received from the friend I was going to meet with. They suggested that during training, I need to pay attention to how I am feeling when fighting: Am I having fun? Am I getting frustrated? And if I am getting frustrated, what is the reason behind it?

It was explained to me that if I am frustrated because I am struggling to improve, this is understandable, and can be overcome with practice. But if I am frustrated because I am simply not having any fun, then that is a sign that this sport is not for me. And they assured me that if I felt this way, there was no shame in throwing in the towel, because I was giving this sport a good honest try.

Anyways, listening to how I feel and how my body feels is going to be VERY important for the first few times I get in armor. And for that reason, I will be having private lessons (one on one) between myself, this friend who I was going to meet with when they have time, and my husband's Knight, who is my best friend.

2) If you are planning to enter a tournament, do your homework ahead of time.

This advice came from a friend who has been doing Rapier fighting for some time now. It was lovely to sit with her for a few minutes and understand their fighting journey, as they had their own traumas to overcome to do Rapier (again, not going to share, because that's not my story to tell).

At some point, she asked me if I plan to enter any tournaments. I said there was one tournament I was looking to enter, which is the champion tournament in my local Shire. She shared that I would have a good time in the tournament so long as I take time understanding how tournaments work: She explained that there were a few new Rapier fighters in their Barony, and they had never entered a tournament before. They wanted to enter one, and so before the event that had a scheduled tourney came up, the Barony held a practice Tourney. In this practice tourney, the teacher took the time to show them different formats for tourneys, who the list minister is, and what they do, and what to do after your fight ends. The classmates who then participated in the tourney at the event felt they were well prepared because of the time taken to prepare for it.

Having watched a few tournaments, I have some idea of how tournaments work - but I am essentially starting from scratch here, so I am very grateful for this advice. I feel it will help alleviate some anxiety I might have entering a tournament, as I have never entered one myself.

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After work today, I was able to meet up with my Bestie, Sir Bart.

I talked to him about my experiences yesterday, and he started getting excited too:

We reviewed armor requirements and talked about what kind of armor protection I might need.

We went to his storage shed and looked at armor pieces he already had, to give us an idea of what we needed.

We tried to find some sports equipment at local sporting stores to try on, but couldn't find what we were looking for.

We talked about the look - I'm not sure how much I will enjoy fighting, but I don't want to be looking like someone going after Knighthood. Right now, I just need to know if I'm going to be ok with being hit, so I need something cheap and simple, but effective at protecting me.

That didn't stop us from coming up with an entertaining idea for a shield blank (You all are NOT going to believe what we came up with XD)

And we talked about how neither one of us really knew how serious I was about this ordeal, but that now I was serious, things were becoming very exciting. :)

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I can't believe it - I really do want to fight.

There's a fiery young man inside me that wants to whack people.

It will be fun to get to know him.

I say "man", because even though I am a woman, I actually feel that I am more than that:

I believe traits are not inherently sexed - think of jobs or careers that might traditionally be performed by one sex, but can be done by either sex: nursing, politics, playing sports, or doing arts. You might think that as a woman that my default traits are "feminine". I do have some of those, but I also have a very strong "Masculine" side to me.

I like video games, I like horseys. I like watching Rom Coms, and I am the designated spider killer of my home. I can be loving, I can be prideful, 🎵I can be vi-o-let sky, I can be purple, I can rainbow, I can be anything I like 🎵  😜

Basically I believe I am both Masculine and feminine in a female body. That's all!

I wear traditionally Masculine clothing and traditionally feminine clothing - most of the time I wear a combination of both in my everyday life, but in the SCA, it has always been important to me that I am feminine.

I've always wanted to be the pretty dainty lady that people save from the Dragon - but I recognize now that as much as I want that, and as much as I can actually have that, this picture doesn't truly fit me.

This ideal is not really who I am - so maybe I take the chance to examine what it looks like being the one who fights the Dragon.

My Bestie and me are going to start whacking each other next week - if we can find some simple armor that is safe, AND make sure all the armor pieces fit me. 

And we're excited. :D

XOXOX