This is the inside of my SCA shield. I had two. My other one (pictured below) is being converted into a Belegarth shield.
This is some of the junk I took off. The original shield was made from a 24 inch wide piece of wood. I trimmed it down to under 23 inches wide to accomidate the military camp pad I'm using for the bulk of my padding.
It's Winter. I am trying carpet tape as a construction material since it is too cold for DAP contact cement.
Here is where the first roll of carpet tape died. This could get expensive.
More carpet tape.
More foam.
Inside the shield. The piece of wood under my project was originally going to be the core of a shield, but I decided it was too thin and flat for the kind of bashing a shield might experience. So, it has been demoted to cutting board and tablecloth protection.
Inside foam test fit.
As you can see, I decided the steel cage needed to be added to the discard pile. I replaced it with a simple 10" gate pull.
My edge is too sloppy for carpet tape. I'm trying gorilla glue for the bottom layer then plan on using a more flexible adhesive for the second through fourth layers of edging foam.
Trim, cover and done.
Dec 2, 2007
The gorilla glue produced a hard spot that went all the way around the shield where the blue foam met the green. I removed the blue foam and hacked off as much of the glue as I could with a razor knife. On the plus side, I now have a nice level area that I can attah carpet tape to.
I dont have the cover sewn yet and bad wather made fighter practice a bad idea today anyway. Hopefully, I'll have a passable shield next week.
The final training session was on the melee. Though we had several topics planned, I was only able to focus on field awareness as we had quite a few visitors last Sunday. To those that participated in the training especially our visitors, Sir Bo, Kayle, Trystan, and Bruder, I hope you found the training interesting and useful.
The first topic I talked about was tips for the battlefield:
-Always check behind you and warn other members of your team. Communicate!
-Strength in numbers. Try to engage single opponents with at least two or 3 people.
-Pull crippled fighters together.
-Avoid engaging the enemy's strengths. Engage at your maximum effective range. You have arrows. Use them. You have a javelin. Use it.
-Isolate and contain stragglers. Don't let them join up with other fighters.
-Don't give the enemy openings in your formations to exploit unless that's what you want them to do.
-Gimp and go. Focus on the fighters who aren't wounded first.
-Don't hesitate to engage targets of opportunity.
-Stop all missiles or else they may continue and hit someone else.
-Keep practicing. Your individual skill will contribute to your team's success.
-Head on a swivel. When you start, take note of what's around you. The hardest part of situational awareness is figuring out what's a priority and what's not. Eventually you'll start to pick up on that. The more you know about your opponents, the better the decision. Look at things like armor status, shield types, commanders, how they move once the battle starts.
-Knowing who's on your team. If there's a team name, take note of it. More importantly, know who's not on your team. It can get very confusing. If you can't keep track of everything, then focus on one person, maybe someone with very distinctive garb or armor who's on your side. Keep an eye out on that person and engage the people he or she is fighting.
-Staying with a buddy. There's always strength in numbers. Pick a partner and stay with the person. Don't let the person get so far away that you can't help him and he can't help you.
Then we went over our first drill for situational awareness. The human brain is very good at identifying changes so, rather than trying to take everything in all at once, you take "snapshots" of what's going on and identify the changes. This is the nerd in me but I used the analogy of an analog-to-digital converter. You're taking an analog signal and converting it into discrete values. I had the fighters line up in two parallel lines facing each other. Then I had one line turn around and close their eyes. I then shifted people around both in distance from the other line as well as positioning in relation to each other. I then had the line turn around and point out the changes. Then we switched it up.
Our last drill was what I like to call "freeze" battles. Essentially, you have the fighters engage in a melee and then when something tactically significant is about to happen, you call, "Freeze!" Everyone stops in place and then we go into a discussion about what's happening/about to happen as well as ways to get out of the situation. We would then resume the battle until another situation developed. We did this type of battle three times and I think it was probably the most beneficial part of the training that day.
Structured training session IV focused on techniques for using the sword to block and the shield to attack as well as integrating footwork, attack, and defense into a cohesive entity.
The first subject we went over was about integrating the basics. I tried running a few drills but they weren't really that good at illustrating the topic. That's definitely something I'll be working on doing better.
The next topic was about using the sword to block. The main points I covered were:
-Using the forte of weapon, i.e., the lower third of the weapon
-Using fist to intercept, i.e. punch blocking
-Arm pump
-Don't anvil
-Turning hand slightly out to block attacks to that side.
We then did a few sword blocking drills. Those went pretty well.
The last topic, and one near and dear to my heart, is about using the shield as an offensive weapon. We first covered how to shield bash. Then we went over how safely shield check someone on a knee as well as how to fall properly--tucking your chin in to prevent your head from banging into the ground-- if you happen to be on the receiving end of that. We then showed how you can use a football technique--hit the shield and then push up--to knock the opponent over with little effort. We then went over shield hooking-using the edge of the shield to hook the inside edge of your opponent's shield, thus creating an opening. You can then follow up with a cross shot to the arm, armpit, or body.
The next shield attack was what I call the "drive by". Basically, you step in and simultaneously use the edge of your shield to punch the inside edge of your opponent's shield. This causes the shield arm to pivot towards the body and making the back vulnerable. As you're executing this, you follow with a wrap shot to the back and then continue out of your opponent's range. We stressed how you have to not hesitate when doing this or your opponent may compensate by shifting his feet and continuing to face you. We did a few drills of this and that that was the end of the session.
Afterwards Cyric and I talked about how the integration topic should really have been the capstone for this session since it was about taking everything the learned up until this point and applying it. I still need to give further thought as to the kind of drills that are good for this subject.
Session V was the introduction to small unit (2-4 people) tactics and formations.
The first topic was on 2-person teams and teamwork. I first discussed the main points:
-Communicate with your partner
-Maintain awareness of the other person
-Figure out your zones of coverage
-Avoid bumping each other
-Stay within reach of each other.
-Don't get drawn out.
-Hammer and anvil-One person occupies the single fighter while the other moves to the side or back.
We then split the students into groups of three. Each person took turns being the single fighter while the other two worked together to try and quickly take out the single fighter.
The next topic was about formations and roles. I talked first about the line formation and had everyone form the line. I talked about how this presented your combat power towards the enemy but can be difficult to control and move in. The next formation was the column which was useful for moving-as long as the person in the front knows where to go, then you should be OK-and in woods battles but not useful in an open field. Your combat power is mainly to your flanks with only a single fighter directly to the front and to the back. The next one we talked about was the wedge which was useful for punching through a shield wall. I pointed out that the point person should go for a gap between shields instead of directly shield bashing a shield. I also talked about how you can set up another wedge directly behind the first one to take advantage of the opening created by the first. After talking about the wedge, we covered the vee formation which is pretty much the inverse of the wedge. The vee is useful primarily in bridge battles for forming what is called a "kill pocket". In a kill pocket, any fighter who steps into it gets hit the front and sides as he attempts to punch through. We also showed how having spears and reds can increase the effectiveness of a kill pocket. After that we talked about two shield formations, one with a spear and two shields and one with an archer and two shields. With a spear and two shields, the spear can engage the enemy outside of melee range or force opponent shields to move creating openings for the shieldmen. With an archer, the shield fighters protect archer from melee fighters as well as enemy missiles while the archer shifts position and fires between gaps. After that, I briefly covered the basic roles on the battlefield: line (front line defense), support (archer, red sword, spear, glaive), and skirmisher (using mobility for engaging the enemy from the flanks or rear).
We then covered how to take on a veteran. Since many of the trainees had been to Octoberfest, they had had an opportunity to see this firsthand. The main points I went over were:
-Again emphasizing communication and working together
-Hit high and low but watch the head shots
-Throw shots from unexpected angles
-Don't get separated. That's exactly what the veteran would want you to do.
The drills we did were very similar to the ones for the two-person teams only we were using teams of at least three.
The last topic of the day was on how to deal with multiple opponents. The main points were:
-Using positioning and not letting all of them be able to engage you at once.
-Singling, i.e., shifting your position so that you're only facing one opponent and the others have to take some time to catch up.
-Using positioning and singling to make them get in the way of each other.
-Gimping and going-engage one and gimp. Move on to the next one and hopefully gimp him. Move on to the next.
-Using your sword to block attacks coming from that side.
-Avoiding the kill pocket
The drills we did were similar to the last ones with more focus on the single fighter dealing with multiple opponents.
I personally hate the term "noob" but it's become such a part of our terminology along with "hold", "rhinohide" and "gimp". To some, a new member is fresh meat, a "willing" pell to be beaten on. To others, a new member is the grating, and at times annoying, person who is still trying to figure out where he fits in. And to some, a new fighter is a person with a lack of control, who swings excessively and headshots every person they fight. But they bring such boundless enthusiasm and driving willingness to learn. Ah, how quickly we forget that we were that noob once. And that's really what I'm getting at.
We all had to start somewhere. Look back on when you first started. Were you left to fend for yourself or did someone help you through the growing pains? I remember my first mentor in fighting, Sir Killian of Valdemar (no relation to the current Sir Killian). When I first started coming out, he epitomized what I thought a knight should be...hell on wheels with an undeniable presence on the field. When he commanded you, you followed without hesitation. But without him, I wonder if I would be where I am now. Time and time again, I hear stories of veterans who ended up staying in because of someone or perhaps a few people who saw their potential beneath the surface. Can you be that person?
Here are a few things you can do to keep your new members going:
1. Be mindful of the example you set. New fighters will pick up on the fighters who throw tantrums, storm off the field, blow off shots, or argue with the marshals. If a veteran gets away with it, why shouldn't they? Conversely, if the new members see veterans taking their hits, enjoying what they're doing, and being respectful to each other, they're going to see that too.
2. Take them under your wing. It's far easier to let them fend for themselves, to let them continuously be beaten down until they either step up or walk away. But oftentimes that leads to alienation and a person leaving the sport. For many of us, it's how we learned. Why should the fighters of today have it any easier? Teaching them takes work. Mentoring them takes work. However, it can be difficult to stick around when you're crushed on a regular basis and it seems like there's no one willing to help.
3. Be approachable and take the initiative to seek them out. Vets are often intimidating and sometimes outright terrifying to our new fighters. Don't make it any harder for them by making that expectation a reality.
4. Be patient. It can be difficult and frustrating especially when they keep making the same mistakes over and over. But, again, did you not go through that yourself?
5. Introduce them to opportunities outside of fighting. Do you know fighters who look at non-fighters with derision as if they are somehow less because they cannot or choose not to fight? That's a lousy attitude but it's one that can be easily propagated. Everyone contributes in their own way and fighting should NEVER be considered the only meaningful thing out there.
6. Hang out with them outside of practice. Make them feel welcome. Show them that the social interactions in Belegarth can be just as fulfilling as the fighting aspects.
7. At their first event, look out for them and introduce them to the people you know. Don't let them fend for themselves and end up doing something that may haunt them later.
8. Encourage them to make their own garb and weapons. That time and emotional investment is often the spark that keeps them interested in Belegarth.
9. Impress upon them how Belegarth MUST take a back seat to real life. If they're not doing well in school, then they need to focus on their studies. It's so easy to get caught up with hanging out with friends instead of studying or going to class, particularly in a college environment.
New members of Belegarth are the children of our community and you, the veterans and established members, have a direct effect on their growth and development. It's up to you whether you choose to embrace them with open arms or weed them out with indifference.
The day was both exhausting and utterly exhilarating since I came to the realization of how much I enjoy teaching especially Belegarth-related subjects.
It started first with our third training session. My thanks to Squire Cyric for helping with the class since Sir Fox just started a second shift job and has to work on Sundays 8(. We started with everyone stretching and then reviewing the subjects from the previous training session.
The first topic we went over was about how to mesh defense and attacks. You can't kill your opponent if you just block all of his shots but you won't survive if you don't defend yourself. We did a drill in pairs where a person would block a shot and then immediately lead into a two-hit combo. Then the two fighters would switch roles.
After that, we discussed range using the terms "close", "medium", "far", and "outside". "Close" is when you're close enough to touch your opponent while "medium" is where your weapon can hit your opponent. "Far" is where you can hit your opponent once you take one step while "outside" is where it takes more than one step to reach your opponent. We had the pairs work at visualizing their ranges.
The next topic we introduced was footwork. After we covered the major points about trying to avoid crossing your feet--(if your opponent bashes you when your feet are crossed, you're probably going to fall over)--trying to move your feet in concentric circles to face your opponent, and stepping in at an angle to your opponent, we went into the drills. We had the fighters form two parallel lines facing each other. We had one line move forward while the other line moved backward to maintain the same distance. Once it looked like people got a feel for this, we had them do the same thing going left and right. We split the fighters back into their pairs and then had them practicing shifting around their opponent in a circle. One fighter would basically be in the middle shifting only slightly to face his opponent while the other was shifting around him while being careful not to cross their feet.
After footwork, we moved into the basics of wraps. We told the new fighters that you can do wraps at essentially three heights: high (also known as the scorpion since it goes over the opponent's shoulder like a scorpion's tail), medium targeting the lower back, and the low wrap which either hits the back of the leg or the buttocks. We focused mainly on the medium and low angles since it's very easy to hit someone in the head with a high wrap shot unless you have good control. We talked about good form-rotating the wrist the full 180 degrees to prevent flatting and adding that additional wrist snap at the end-and trying to hit with the top third of the weapon instead of closer to the hand. We referenced the range exercise to emphasize how this is a type of attack that tends to be most effective at close range as well as stepping in as a means for generating power for the wrap. After the instruction, we had the pairs stepping to close the distance while executing a wrap and then switching roles.
The last subject of the day was grappling. We talked about what you could do, how armor affects grappling, as well as some of the things you can't do, i.e., strikes, joint locks, etc. when grappling. Then we did two drills. In hindsight, the first drill was pretty useless since it assumed that a person has no weapons with which to attack. We will most likely not repeat it in future training sessions. In the drill, one person wielding a sword attempted the number one attack to their opponent's left shoulder. The defender would step in and grasp the attacker's sword hand with both of his hands. After that, we discussed options such as attempting to disarm the attacker or holding him in place until help could arrive. The second drill had both fighters armed with a single sword. The attacker would attempt the number one strike while the defender would block with his sword, check or grapple the attacker's hand, possibly pulling the attacker off balance, and then the defender would follow up with a couple of strikes. After the drill we released the fighters to go do regular practice.
The session ran very long and we'll probably have to shift a couple of topics to other sessions to shorten this one. At the very least, we'll shift the grappling section over to Session IV.
A little while later, I helped one of our brand new fighters learn archery. We had started the previous week and picked up where we had left off. I had her learning using two basic techniques. One is the "group of five" while the other is individual feedback/replaying the shot. In doing the "group of five" a person has to complete five perfect iterations of whatever he's learning before he can move onto the next milestone. In starting out, I first had her just focus on bringing up the bow and drawing the bow with no arrow. After she completed that group of five, I introduced the arrow in and had her release it, not concentrating on trying to hit a specific target. After that, she had to hit a large shield. Once she was able to hit the shield five times in a row, I had her tighten it to a specific section of the shield. When she wasn't able to do something properly or if she missed the target, I'd ask her what went wrong and to try and visualize the events leading up to the shot. The iteration count would be reset back to zero and she would again start working on doing five in a row. It can be a tedious process that requires a lot of patience but I think she's making solid progress.
Towards the end of the day, I helped one of our fighters on Florentine. At several times during the training, I could see the light bulb go on and the look of realization after showing him a particular approach or technique. I went over some of the blocking techniques-pivoting from the elbow, swinging down, dropping the pommel-as well as using the bounciness of our weapons and shields for redirecting attacks. I showed him how to do the concurrent block and counter swing to the sword arm as well as a technique for dealing with a spear: Sweep the spear up with the right sword, check the spear with the left sword, and then immediately follow up with attacks with the right sword. I explained that I preferred to send the spear up since if you hit it down, the spear fighter can bounce the spear off the ground and into your legs or groin. He had mentioned that he was having some issues with footwork and I showed him some drills he could do with his swords. I had him lay his swords at his feet in a vee pattern while standing at the point. I then had him step at an angle to one end of the vee, back to the point, and then on to the other end. Then we flipped the vee over so that we were standing at the point of an upside down vee. Again, we stepped not directly back but at an angle to the side, returned to the starting point, and then to the other end. With regards to the spear technique, I illustrated how this same technique could be applied to both single sword (use the open hand as the check) as well as when using a sword and shield. One of the last things we did was a variation of a Sinawali ("weaving" in Tagalog) drill. Here's a video showing some sinawali drills: http://youtube.com/watch?v=jFuwLhXNgmA.
While I didn't get to fight all that much, it was a very busy and fulfilling day.
...didn't happen yesterday. We had a large number of visitors. Instead of pulling the new fighters out of the battle, we decided it would be better to keep practice going.
I found this nifty web app called http://www.backpackit.com . One of the analogies used on the website was that it was a spiral notebook that you can access on the internet. Some ofthe examples they showed are here: http://www.backpackit.com/examples.
One of the neat functions is the ability to collaborate using a whiteboard-type function. You can invite people to view and edit the whiteboards and everyone can see and compare the different versions. I hope to do that with the actual curriculum in the future.
Our second session took place last Sunday with 14 participants. They had decided to start it about 45 minutes before practice to make sure it didn't get in the way of regular practice. I wasn't there so I'm relaying this information.
Topics covered:
Power generation. Discussed and drilled on the different ways of generating power starting from thebasic wrist snap, to arm, upper body, hips, and finally up to full body.
How to use the power--fast but light shots as a set up or for probing for vulnerabilities. Medium shots having the balance between speed and power. Slow but powerful shots for powering through blocks.
Shield work. Discussed and drilled on the different methods of shield work from the elbow pivot to the punch, the arm pump, and the hip twist.
Blocking using a sword-using the bottom third of the sword closest to your hand
How to defend against a flail-drilled on extension and intercepting the flail head
How to defend against the lower leg shot-drilled on the slide or lift.
I should have more detail in the next entry about Session III.
We ran our first structured training session on Sunday, 2 Sep. We had a total of 10 participants. We expect more in the upcoming weeks since this was a holiday weekend and quite a few of our new fighters went home for the long weekend.
I first started by emphasizing that the training was voluntary and that a person may choose to use any style they want outside of the training sessions; we don't want them to get locked into sword and shield if that's not what they want. For the sessions, we would be using round shield and sword since many of our drills would be mirror-style where one person does something and the other person would do the same thing, alternating between them.
I then started giving the general overview of Belegarth's and Wolfpack's organizational structures-admittedly dry stuff. After talking a bit, I noticed that they weren't doing much so I ended up lapsing into drill sergeant mode-if the drill sergeant noticed that you were getting too comfortable, he or she would take measures, usually physical training of some kind, i.e., pushing your face away from the ground, to keep you occupied. I had them swinging the sword at different angles and doing steps while swinging as I was talking.
After that, we went over some of the various types of protective equipment such as gloves, footwear, and knee pads. Then we discussed some of the specifics regarding grappling, armor, and shield bashing. After that was complete, we stretched from head to toe. We covered different stances (squared, fencing, and staggered), grips (saber, pommel, pommel saber, and fist), and then went into teaching four of the six basic angles of attack. After that we talked about how you can chain those attacks into two-hit combos. After that, we reviewed the material we had taught and let the trainees loose on the regular field.
Later on that evening, Sir Fox and I went over how the session went and reviewed the outline for the next session. As had happened at a rehearsal for Session I before, we immediately went into combos without a lot of repetition of the four angles. We would probably have to refocus a bit on control and accuracy in our next session. Also, we decided that instead of using attacks 3 and 4 as the leg attacks for the early sessions, we would keep them as the torso attacks and introduce 5 and 6 as leg shots in the future. Originally, we were planning to start with only four basic attacks, each essentially angling towards a limb. As we advanced, we would change the numbers to introduce attacks 3 and 4 as torso attacks. Rather than make it confusing by changing numbers midstream, we would maintain consistency from the beginning. We discussed how blocking should have more focus than parrying and how we would introduce sword blocking in the next session. The next session is going to have a real focus on drills and I look forward to see how successful it is. I wish I could help teach but a few of us are heading up to Minnesota to see the Mall of America and to attend the Minnesota Renaissance Faire.
We had our first of probably 3 weapons building sessions last night at the Outpost. Faline, her brother Chris and Catlin opened there home to 17 new people and it was a complete success. Thank you's all around to those three for donating their place, which was one of the best organized weapons building sessions I have seen since joining Wolfpack. Everyone who showed up withthe intent of building a sword, did so. I believe one new person walked out with 4 swords that he built.
None of this would have been possible without a few of our expert foamsmiths and additional helpers. Thank you very much Fox, Davit, Keeichi, Digoza, Faline, Sorcia, Catlin, Morpheus, Carissa, Bevin, Lock, Rhys, Lupus, and Puck. Everyone did a something from cutting cores/foam to dap application instructions to maintaining tools to the appropriate people to taking money for the supplies used. I am so damn proud of this realm and its ability to come together and work on a large project such as outfitting new people with weapons. Next on the list....GARB!!!
I also want to give thank you's out to our new people. Your dedication and your work will make you excellent additions into our family in Wolfpack. I am looking forward to getting you all aquainted with our sport and growing this realm. We could not have a better group of new people willing to learn, ask questions and dive into the Belegarth World/Lifestyle.
We still need to make some shields which we are in the process I believe next Thursday hosting another building session. Everyone learned something and hopefully will continue to learn things from our veteran members, everything from weapon construction, to field combat, heralding, to weapons checking and lets not forget how to have fun :-D. If I have forgotton to mention anyone I apologise, let me know and I will make sure that you are commended for your services to this sport and especially to this realm. Thank you Wolfpack, I am so very proud of you!!
My blog is called, The Rookie Veteran, and any of you reading this are probably thinking, "Who the hell is this?" That's kind of my point.
I started in Belegarth a few months short of the conception of Clan of the Hydra. My good friends, Kayle included, started and encouraged me to try it out. I'm a Medieval history student and a fencer so - Wow! This is totally up my alley. I joined and committed myself pretty hard core though school and money usually got in the way of events. My social anxiety got in the way of meeting people any time I got to one. A few bad exchanges with people at events also left a bad taste in my mouth. (I picked the name Scrapper for a reason and when people would sluff off hits without the courtesy of "light" or accuse me of sluffing hits when I would call "hand" or "garb," I got pissed and didn't really open up to people. As much my fault as the dicks I encountered, admittedly.)
Almost two years ago, my quest for knowledge and money finally got in the way, my stress level peaked and it just wasn't fun anymore so I "retired." I missed it, but I didn't miss the frustrations, the politics, the stalled pipe dreams of our group and my own bad attitude.
Last December I went to the Rhun Closer to say hello to friends I rarely got to see and I remembered just how much fun it could be. I wanted sooo badly to just jump in, grab my old red and break some shields. :) I came back, pledging to have a better attitude and not take certain things so seriously. It hasn't been easy - I can get pretty bogged down in this crap and still do every now and again - but it's been fun and I look forward to practice every week. I'm going to as many events as possible (yay for already having off of work for Octoberfest!!!) and trying to get more active on the boards to meet people so events are a little less socially nerve wracking for me.
I know I'll never be the best fighter out there, but I'm looking forward to doing this for the right reasons: having fun, meeting cool like-minded (and unlike-minded!) people, and maybe losing a couple pounds. :)
