festivities

It has been a good year for me, all things considered.

I competed in my very first international medieval combat tournament, and (without blowing my own trumpet too hard), I did what I went there to do: fight well and represent my country. There were also some unexpected gifts: I met a number of awesome people and made many, many friends. My overall impression of IMCF was that I have never been in a bigger gathering of people with so few assholes. It was wonderful.
We also hosted a very successful national tournament here at home, which gave some good exposure of the sport to the public and set the bar for future events. That was a lot of work, the greater portion of which was not done by me, and I felt that it was a very good, high note on which to set out for our independent missions.

Those included working towards setting up more training venues, as well as a youth development initiative. We've had mixed responses to our efforts, but on the whole, we remain positive and hopeful that our efforts will bear plenty of fruit in the form of a wide variety of fighters from different backgrounds and of different ages, to fill the many categories of combat that are opening up overseas and also locally.

In my personal capacity, I have been very lucky to have parents, friends and a husband who all actively support and encourage me, and so I would like to take this opportunity to thank each of you - those who have gone to the long and arduous trouble of wading through my blog posts, those who have offered support (online and in person) for those initiatives that we have undertaken, those friends and family who have been there to comfort us when we were feeling betrayed and rejected, and also to my parents, all of whom have given of their very best in their own ways to help us get to IMCF (and back again!), and also to where we are now. I am grateful and humbled by the unexpected love and kindness that you have all shown us.

And so I would like to leave you with this happy and joyful song from Korpiklaani. May the festive season bring you fun and laughter and rest and comfort. May you emerge into the New Year unscathed and ready to take on the challenges it will bring.

To those of my brethren who celebrate in the South, have a raucous Litha (Summer Solstice), and to those who celebrate in the North, may you have a blessed Yule (Winter Solstice).
That's all from me this year, so I will see you on the flipside.
And remember...

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/476607573042793219/

honour

The concept of honour has been featuring quite strongly in my life of late, and I thought perhaps I might address a topic that seems to be fairly contentious: that of the role of honour in the sport of full contact medieval combat.

We will begin as all good discussions begin, not with "once upon a time", but with "the dictionary definition of" honour as a noun, and in the context of our usage, it would be the second definition in the Oxford English 
dictionary, "The quality of knowing and doing what is morally right".

Now, when we apply that to the sport of medieval combat, we look at aspects of the sport like not intentionally breaking the rules in order to win or to gain an advantage over one's opponent, not being dishonest or misleading. There are many ways in which the principle can be applied within the lists.

Even outside of the lists, in every day life, the concept of honour should touch the warrior who fights with honour. If you fight with honour, then living with honour should come as naturally as breathing. Of course, the reverse can also be true: if you do not live with honour, then it may be difficult to fight with honour. You will also note that there are different permutations of this statement that can be formed and used as a good topic for debate. But let's leave that for another time.

I have heard many opinions about the role of honour in the present day medieval combat sport. Some have said that it is the fundamental principle on which all tournament fighting should be based, and others have declared that there is no place for honour in medieval combat as a sport.

When I first started fighting, we (steel fighters in South Africa) used the honour system of points scoring, whereby a combatant receiving a clean blow would acknowledge the hit, and his opponent would then be awarded the point. No acknowledgement, no hit; no hit, no point. The purpose of the Marshall in this case was simply to keep count of acknowledged blows and to watch for broken things (rules, arrmour, bones and tempers). It was a system that quite literally relied on the honour of the fighters for validity and efficacy.

So, (as I experienced at one event), if you wanted to win, (or you just couldn't face being beaten by a girl), and your armour was strong, you just kept fighting and ignored the blows. This was considered dishonourable, and you would be reprimanded by the Marshall for such behaviour. But if you did it in such a way that the Marshall did not or could not see for certain, then you could win. We call this "rhino-hiding".

 As an opponent of a fighter who was rhino-hiding, your options were either to object after the bout (which would effectively turn you into a whining sore loser), or you could suck it up and deal, or you could just hit harder and harder until your opponent either fell down or took the hit. Head shots are best for that.

At that point in our sport in South Africa, we weren't scoring on time. We were usually fighting to three hits. With the notable exception of one renaissance tournament, where Richard and I were first in the list on a fairly warm day, and were cheerfully told by the Marshall, "okay guys, first to nine hits!"
Richard, who was at that point approaching 60, nearly passed out. We finished the bout, but it was decided thereafter that the Marshall should stick to the accepted format of first to three and not try to kill the combatants. Ah, good times!

The point, though, is that those three points were worth working for. Each bout was only one round, resetting after each point, so you had to be very careful not to give them away.

Then we discovered Battle of the Nations, and when I saw buhurt, it blew my mind. My heart started speeding up and I could imagine myself IN THERE! It had to happen! We needed to go and do that!

At this point, we as fighters actively discouraged the public viewing what we did as re-enactment or entertainment, but (and I say this coming from a "rugby country") it was kind of difficult to convince people that what we were doing was actually a sport, when we walked around in suits of full plate, moving like we were underwater and constantly seeking the shade. I think that the people we drew to the sport at that time were attracted to what we were doing, then.

Once we adjusted our training and gear to be more in line with the HMB and IMCF rulesets, there was no longer any need for the honour system to continue. We had people to count points, and so the fighters just went balls to the wall at each other for three rounds of a minute or 90 seconds. The question of loss of skill is also something that we can talk about another day, because that is also a whole discussion on its own. But there was definitely, in my opinion at least, a loss of honour with which the sport had previously been invested.

It also became apparent in the kind of people we drew to the sport. Because the armour we were wearing was lighter and we could move faster, combat was faster and looked more "sport-like", and so instead of drawing the older, more historically-oriented recruit, we drew the younger, more Counterstrike-oriented recruit. I'm not sure if first person shoooter games foster the concept of honour in their code, but I know that where there was an intrinsic grasp of the notion before, there is less so in the fighters we see today.

And this is where I hedge my statements: it is not about the quality of the fighters that we have in South Africa, or their quality of character, for that matter. I'm saying that we don't focus on honour as a principle in fighting as we used to, and I think it is a bi-directional effect: the newer people have not been exposed to the concept, and the older fighters don't often expose them to the concept. It is largely regarded as redundant, I think.

A number of historians such as Ashmole have claimed that the chivalric code (which includes honour as a primary element) was based in military discipline, derived from the conduct of Charlemagne and his horse soldiers. Thus developed the rules for tournaments and knightly conduct on and off the field, because "they" believed, as do I, that if you want to fight with honour, you should live with honour.

But honour in combat and in daily life was not invented by the knights. Snorri Sturluson explained that honour in ancient Norse society played a crucial role in how a person was viewed. A drengr was a person of integrity and honour, whose actions offered an example of how people should conduct themselves. The name is also found in the word for honour, drengskapr.

Since our modern day tournaments are based in the same historical rulesets as those of Medieval times (and I am admittedly being very broad in terms of period), surely some of the abstract principles, such as honour, which informed those rulesets should come to the fore in our sport today? Is there still a place for honour in a combat sport? Does FCMC as a sport today focus on winning to the exclusion of all else?

I am interested to know from those of you who read this blog, what role does the concept of honour play in your combat training, your club ethos; how the sport is presented and conducted in your country or area; is honour acknowledged as a principle in your club or team; and how does it feature in your everyday life? Are you conscious of how you conduct yourself with honour?

For myself, having had my honour questioned a couple of times this year, it has become an aspect of my life of which I have become acutely aware. I wrote this entry not looking for sympathy, but to get an idea of how other people view the concept, in and out of the lists, and to discover whether my notion of honour is antiquated and rigid, or not rigid enough, in relation to others.

defending the cavewoman

A few days ago, I announced on Facebook that we had assisted in the formation of our first black South African youth development initiative, which is spearheaded by Khule Ndlovu. The announcement drew a number of congratulations and well wishes, but you know how it goes, right? There's always one.

This Facebook "friend" (he only remained such for as long as it took me to find his page and unfriend him) just had to go and spout a load of nonsense, which I will quote below. This is not for the purpose of legitimising the comment, but so that we can have it on hand to reference while I prove how thoroughly uneducated this person really is.

My friend and fellow writer, Matthias Kainz, actually reposted this comment in disgust and disbelief. He had the decency and kindness to blank out the guy's name and profile picture. Me? I think that if you want to post crap on the internet, you should have the balls to do it with your name attached. And this is where the "defending the cavewoman" title comes in: I am quite happy to drag this sad little fish up onto the bank and into the light where we can all beat the crap out of him with clubs, because that is what I would have done, IF he had made his comments in person. In this case, I think it's quite appropriate to let the cavewoman out to have some fun. So here goes:

Raymond L Dupuis:

Blacks are forbidden to duel or challenge a European knight. I say rubbish and poppy cock to allow non Europeans to challenge and take part in European culture and traditions. Do not lie and lead them on. They have country, their own jungle traditions. I do not condone mixing our traditions in the name sports or profit. Gladiators to death okay, knights of Europe, no. Is nothing sacred anymore. A black will never be my equal. Never

So, there were a number of replies, some of which made me squint and then giggle a bit (thanks, Jade!), and others which made me feel like I really need to brush up on my history in general. Like, all of it (thanks, Adrian and Laurent!) And they were pretty much all in the same vein, ie. "you're an idiot who knows bugger-all about the real world, etc. etc." and that was very good, because to be honest, when I saw this, I got that reaction. You know, the cavewoman reaction? Where your heart starts beating as if it's going to burst out of your chest like a baby alien and squeal at you, and you get those flickers of black around your vision, and all of your muscles start tensing, especially those ones involved in making people hurt?
NOW, I can calmly write about this, but at that point, I had to take a number of deep breaths and remind myself that arguing over the internet is like competing in the Special Olympics, and so I just made a very short reply and got rid of the dude.
I also sent another friend a message asking if this was indeed the standpoint of the European sword community, which, of course, it isn't. Once I had verified that, I had chilled a bit and was able to think logically.
NOW, let's examine what this individual (no doubt after announcing this opinion to close on 500 other fighters, he is indeed an individual, as in alone) had to say.
Blacks are forbidden to challenge Europeans in combat? Hmmm... The Arthurian legends say otherwise. In fact, Sir Morien was a black warrior whose mother was a Moorish princess, and thus as nobilty, he was a knight. He is also known in Christianised Europe as Saint Maurice, Knight of the Holy Lance and patron saint of the Holy Roman Empire. Here is an effigy of him: http://medievalpoc.tumblr.com/post/55426449653/sir-morien-black-knight-of-the-round-table-the
It was considered quite acceptable for those of differently-hued skin to assume places of honour in Europe, and so that claim of Raymond's is, as he says, "poppycock".

Apparently they have "their own jungle traditions". Now, as someone who was born in Africa, has lived in Africa for all of her life, and who considers herself to be, at least African, if not somewhat Zulu, I can totally testify to the fact that we have no jungles in this part of the continent. We do have some indigenous forests, coastal and inland, but nothing that can be classified as "jungle" by our local botanists.

Also, as someone who has a Bachelor's degree cum laude with a major in IsiZulu Studies, I can also confirm that nothing in my studies of traditional Nguni practices, nor in my personal, face-to-face, up-close-and-personal, having actually been there experience has led me to believe that any of the Nguni traditions are based in jungles.

Lastly, the issue of "mixing traditions" is an interesting claim because we come across it so often in South Africa, when those opposing racial and cultural integration will mark something as "white" or "back" or "unAfrican" in an effort to discourage people from practising aspects of another culture that they themselves disapprove of. Our hardly-esteemed president Jacob Zuma, for example, cited walking one's dog on a leash as a "white" activity. Of course, we all laughed and made a circle with our fingers next to our heads because that's what politicians do when they're about to be bust for something (oh let's say like stealing taxpayers' money for their own ends) and they want to create a distraction. In this case, though, the guy is not really a politician. So I ask, why is he so desperate to create a distraction? Is he scared of facing off against a black opponent? Maybe (and I do surmise here) his overly inflated opinion of himself doesn't allow for the possibility of being beaten by those whom he believes are below him in status.
Well, to that I say, it's a new world, buddy. Best learn to live in it.
But as a rule, and to back up my claim that the issue of "mixing traditions" is a redundant exercise, firstly, let us remember that we had SAMURAI at this year's IMCF. Genuine Japanese warriors. How's that for mixing traditions? No-one died, right? Even though it was medieval combat. And also, "There has never been a time when Europeans were exclusively white people. " (Kimberley Smithbower Roseblade)

As a sidenote about the "for profit" comment, I think that any real swordfighter will know that in terms of the sport and support, there is never any profit to be considered, let alone involved, in fighting at this level. Maybe when swordfighting becomes as popular as soccer or rugby, then we can revisit that bit of comedy.

Now, on that last comment of Raymond's... "a black will never be my equal"?
Well, now, that's just far too plain to argue. I'm afraid in that respect, I must agree with the Monsieur Depuis on that point. A black will never be his equal. That would be an insult to my black brothers, in my country and everywhere else in the world.
But on a complete tangent, that statement did bring back a quote from one of my favourite movies, Empire Records: when they arrest that kid who calls himself Warren Beatty, and as they forcibly remove him from the shop, he squeaks in this high, adolescent my-voice-hasn't-yet-broken whine, "I'll be back and you'll be sorry!" And Joe, the manager replies sarcastically, "I'm already sorry."
My tricksy, fun-loving mind insists that Raymond would look and sound just like Warren. If Raymond has the stones to post an actual photo of himself, that is.

As far as I'm concerned, the moment that I earned that bronze medal in Women's Polearm at IMCF, medieval combat became part of my country's sporting heritage. Not just for white people, but for all South Africans, as a nation, to share in, and no-one - especially not Raymond L Depuis - will dissuade me from inviting people of all ages, ethnicities, cultures or economic backgrounds to come and join us as we beat the crap out of each other with swords, maces, polearms, shields, and the odd cavewoman club.

adieu, adieu, we bid thee farewell...

Don't panic. We are not giving up fighting.

It was a conversation that Josh and I had had a number of times: what to do about the people who wanted to start sword training, but who couldn't, for whatever reason, make it up the hill to our venue on a Tuesday night. Lift clubbing only helps so much when you have more and more people showing interest.

At our event a couple of weeks ago, we had the same experience as we have had time and time again. People asking where they can train locally, and us smiling and saying the only place is in Hillcrest, 60km away.

At the same time, during the months leading up to the event, Josh and I had realised that there were things we had neglected in our lives because we were living and breathing only sword fighting. The house was an even worse mess than it usually is, the car and the bike were both in dire need of some serious attention, and Tala, the small beastie who is my offspring, was beginning to get over sword without ever even having been in it. Josh picked up a guitar and realised that he hadn't played it in six months.

While I was pushing for MORE to be done to promote the sport of medieval combat in our province, like development initiatives and recruiting for a women's buhurt team, Josh was pointing out that we already don't have time for anything else.

It was a dilemma that concerned both of us. We came to the realisation that in order for us to be able to do what we need to do, in all aspects of our lives, we would have to give up the one comfort zone that had cushioned and supported us (much longer for Josh than for me, but still a number of years). The decision to leave Durban Sword and Shield was not taken lightly, and we announced it with heavy hearts.

Instead of being members of DSSC, and only training in Hillcrest every Tuesday, Josh and I will henceforth be independent fighters (a team of two, if you will), and we will spend one night a week travelling to a different group to train with them. The groups that will be starting up will not be "our clubs". They will choose their own leaders and decide on their own system of governance, etc. We will just be there to advise and coach.

Of course, we will still have buhurt training at our place for everyone who wants to attend. But really, what we want to do is open up access for people who are unable to get to training. And that means, more than anything else, connecting people with each other and ensuring that they have a suitable venue (free is always first prize) and access to information about where to get armour and weapons, as well as training in combat techniques.

As I said, it wasn't the happiest announcement we've had to make. We certainly didn't leave because of any bad feelings, and in a way that makes it harder because we love the DSSC people. They are our family. I think, though, that being independent and able to move from group to group, wherever they train, and helping the sport to grow and the standard of fighting to improve through diversity, will justify the decision. It won't be easy; we know that already. We knew it when we made the decision. 

But let's see what we can get going. Wish us luck. This may be the start of something epic...

tournament time and our national heritage

Greetings fellow fighters and everyone else!

It has been quite some time since I have updated this blog. We recently had our national KZN Battle Heritage South Africa event, and our club was responsible for organising it, so I was very busy indeed! What with my two jobs, trying to help some of our newer fighters get armoured up, and being a mom, it was a stretch. And I didn't even do that much in terms of organising, really.

But it all came together and we had an awesome event. The ceremony was short and sweet. Here's Josh and I and our Team Captain, Brian Topper. Josh, proudly wearing the surcoat he got from Luxembourg Captain Laurent Bemtgen at IMCF this year.

The ceremony was just a walk of the field and then a few speeches about our national heritage and how the event was for the children (the market and event organising fell to Shannonne Gradwell from the Parents' Support Group of Cornerstone Remedial School).

Our Herald, Richard, however, was really pleased with the number of gonfalons that we were able to display. Mine is being carried by my small beastie, Tala (in front of me) and shows a black destrier prancing over flames and below the Pagan triple Goddess/God symbol.

Josh's isn't really visible, but he has a valknutt above a crossed sword and hammer and lute.

You can also see Brian's red wyvern and Aidan's rampant red lion (I think) of the Granthams behind me. Our MC, Stephen has the three yellow salmon swimming upstream.

We also worked out a coat of arms for our club, Durban Sword and Shield, which is now a black wyvern on a white background and then on a bend sinister in black, there is a white rhino.

Quite cool, I thought.

We also had our herald's heraldry, the Polish eagle with the Hagall rune (or the elvish 'E', as he puts it) on green, and a few others.

I think it's so cool to be in a sport where you can proudly display your symbols of house and nation.

Although the weather was cloudy and somewhat cooler than the day before, we were all still grateful for the army tents.

It was humid, which is par for the course for Durban by the sea, and we drank a lot of water during the tournament and a lot of beer afterwards.

The event was held at the Natal Mounted Rifles army base, which is staffed by volunteers, since their regiment used to ride horses, and now they ride tanks.
We're not currently at war with anyone (touch wood!) so the base is really more museum and training co-ordinations centre, but all of the soldiers that were involved were really friendly and helpful.

We had a fair number of fighters and limited time, so we had to drop the polearm category and only offer singles longsword and sword and shield in knockout pools. So of course, I got to fight Hylton, our Team SA Vice-Captain first. This guy is awesome with a longsword, and so he won the bout in two rounds. This is us:

Knocked out in round one, I was quite bleak because I had been working towards this event for months. But it was Hylton, so I couldn't really be too upset. I have a lot of respect for that guy as a person and a fighter, and I was glad that he got to go on, since he drove all the way down from Joburg to compete. He ended up winning the division.
Unfortunately, none of my other girls in armour came to fight that day, so it was just me in my new "ladycoat" as one of our fighters, Jimmy-Steve dubbed it.
To me it sounds like a feminine hygiene product and so according to Sod's Law, the name will probably stick.

Josh also fought in longsword and sword and shield, but had to withdraw because his finger got really badly mashed during one of the bouts.
This is him in the red fighting Jimmy-Steve in the green:

 And afterwards:

One of our newer guys, Floppy, didn't have enough armour to compete, so for sword and shield, I withdrew and lent him some gear so that he could fight. He gave a good account of himself, although he got beaten by the more experienced fighters.

At the end of the day, there was the first buhurt to happen in a South African tournament. Josh couldn't compete because of his finger, and we could only make teams of three. Two of our young, keen fighters desperately wanted to go in against the Joburg guys, and I didn't have the heart to deny them, so once again, I kitted up someone else with my gear and sent our guys out to fight.

Yes, we got beaten, but it was a very good experience and a good start for buhurt in our country. Also a very good day for the sport in general, since we had a number of people interested in training with us.
Here is the fight.

And that is my news for now.

Next week: I'll tell you all about how Josh and I made The Great Decision.

how to start fighting

This may seem like going backwards a bit, but I guess that you can't be killed for it, so why not?
I've noticed that what most people ask me when they find out that I am a sword fighter is, "How do I start?" So here is what I did.
Since I'm not rich, I wasn't particularly fit or skilled in using power tools, it seems like my story is about as close to basic beginner that you'll get, and might offer some helpful hints on how to start fighting with swords.
Firstly, I joined a club.
You can find a club in your general area, unless you live in, like, Witenswartmodderwatersfontein, Doerengone, Free State. Just use Google and type in "sword fighting clubs" or "medieval combat training" and your area.

It's important to belong to a club, even if they don't train in the specific discipline that you imagine yourself doing because, well, you really don't know until you've tried. A club will usually have instructors who will train you to fight, and much of what we do in our full-contact sport is derived from the same sources as HEMA and other styles. SO, if you really want to fight with steel and there is only a HEMA club in your area (they use synthetics, mainly), then go and train there anyway and get the basics. You can only improve yourself by learning, especially if you are a newbie fighter.

Once you have a good idea of what you really want to do, then you can look around for another group, or perhaps even start your own. It is important to remember that whatever you do, do it safely first and foremost. FCMC (full contact medieval combat) is considered an extreme sport and you should respect that people can get hurt.
SO, you will need at the very least a fencing mask, a gambeson (heavy, padded jacket), some heavy leather welding gloves or other similar hand protection and plastic or synthetic protection for the elbows and knees. This is for starters. If you can't afford to buy this stuff, go on eBay or Gumtree or trawl second hand shops for used sports equipment that will suit your purposes.

This is just to get you fighting. Our club starts all of our new recruits off with rapier and staff. Depending on the club you join, there should be members who are willing to lend their weapons for practice, and/or there should be some club weapons to use for practice. Our club bought a couple of synthetic longswords to practice with as well, and it is very easy to make your own staff. In fact, that was the first weapon that I owned. I cut a wattle sapling and skinned it, then left it for a few weeks to dry out, then oiled it every day for so long it became a routine. It is a little skinny and short for me today, but I can still fight with it, since it hasn't broken, which is a good innings.
Anyway, basic head, hand and joint protection is a must. Also remember that when you borrow someone else's weapon, if it breaks while you are using it, you will be expeccted to replace it. That is fairly standard etiquette.

Once you are at the point where you have decided that this thing is for you (not everyone sticks, and that's the same with every sport), then you should consider whether you want to compete and if so, do you want to compete only locally or also in tournaments elsewhere in the world?
If you want to stay local, then you should find out where your local tournaments take place and check what kind of armour requirements they have. I say this now because you don't want to get gear together that is good for, let's say SCA, and then arrive at a FCMC tournament and discover that it doesn't meet spec. Your club marshall should tell you what your options are, but this is the kind of thing that you should be thinking about, if no-one mentions it.

There are many big international tournaments, and they use different rulesets, but to be able to compete in most of them, you want to use the following authenticity armour spec:

• armour and weapons should be based on historical analogues dating from the 1300s to the 1600s;
• armour elements should all fall into the same period of roughly 30 years;
• armour elements should also originate from roughly the same region;
• weapons used should come from the same period and region as the armour used.

So, if you enjoy using a particular weapon, then make sure that your armour matches the period and region in which that weapon was used. Find an effigy that you can base your choices on, to be safe. You can look at historical sources and manuscript miniatures and effigies and brasses.
Also check for thickness and type of material. You should stay away from aluminium and titanium. Both of these are not acceptable for armour or weapons.

Check the tournament organisers' websites for armour specifications relating to thickness of helmets and armour, weight and dimensions of weapons and shields, etc.

This is an example of what you are aiming for. Thank you, @swedish_armory

If you want to try and make your own armour, then there are patterns on armour archive  and that is what we started with. Some good information on there, including stuff for sale, essays and other resources. Don't be afraid of power tools, just be very, very careful when using them.
Remember that when making medieval anything, the best way to do it is the historical way. Some research is always necessary when you are doing things that need to be historically accurate, for example, were cuisses hinged with steel or leather strips? And is it better to sew or rivet plates on a scale aventail?

POINT TO NOTE: At this stage, you must be spinning with all of the terms. Believe me, when I started fighting, I spent a whole evening listening to the guys talking about different helmets and thought to myself, "I'm never going to be able to remember ANY of this!" But, I did. You get used to referring to the pieces of your armour by their right names, and then it becomes like body parts. You never wonder what that thing on your face is called that you use to smell. You just know it's a nose. So don't get overwhelmed with the terms. If you can't remember them all straight away, no-one will laugh at you. Just go with the flow and soon you'll be using armour-speak, too.

There is already a picture on this blog of the first piece of armour I made (the battle corset). I also made myself a leather gorget (neck protector), which did not work at all, and frankly just annoyed me and looked stupid. The guys gave me legs and arms to use, and also a helmet that had been knocking around. This is what I looked like at my first tournament (Dark Ages).

This is NOT historically authentic. The helmet was constructed using a headlight bucket from a '38 Chevy, though, which is admittedly very cool.

If you don't have much faith in your own crafting abilities, and you also don't have any gear, and there are no loan pieces floating around the club, then take a look here. You can find secondhand gear at reasonable prices.

Also, it's worth it to go onto these Facebook pages and join up or like, as necessary. If you're a girl in armour, like me, you'll find a whole new family of sisters you never knew you had. And if you're a guy in armour, you'll find a warm welcome, too. Just not on the women's pages.
HMB/IMCF Women's Division   International Medieval Combat Federation   Battle of the Nations   Bohurt Magazine   Battle of the Nations Women's League

There are plenty of armourers out there who can supply you with new gear, for a price, such as Metal Horse Armoury.  Just have a browse through the net and see what you can find. Don't buy the first thing you see, even if it is pretty.

This is what I wore to IMCF 2015. I'm on the left. And for the record, Andi won that fight. She is amazing!

Lastly, training is important. Getting into a good diet and fitness regime is essential if you want to compete at international level. But that's a story for another time.

Feel free to contact me for any help.

other girls in armour

I have been getting so enthusiastic about starting up our national women's buhurt team that I sometimes forget that fighting women doesn't feature in many people's world view. And let's face it, the media portrayal of warriors tends to leave out the girls.

Disney doesn't make movies about fearless female knights, riding up on their white steeds, armour glinting in the sunlight, to save the helpless and vulnerable young man from certain destruction. I've recently discovered a site that turned the Disney princesses into warrior women. Sort of. They still don't give them armour, just slinky outfits based on the original. I must admit it gave me a giggle, though.



Joan of Arc seems to be the only popular woman fighter, and she is largely dealt with by filmmakers as a prophet or crazy person, depending on how generous the filmmaker is feeling. This seems highly unfair, all things considered. I have recently read the trial transcripts, which give an insight into what kind of girl she was - and she was still a girl - which show her to be intelligent, confident and independent, even at her tender age. These were traits that the patriarchy of the time did not encourage in women. And certainly, the fact that she insisted on wearing men's clothing really galled her captors.

Going back into antiquity, we see famous Celtic leaders such as Boudicea, who allegedly fought bare-breasted, and Cartimandua, who led her tribes against the Romans.



But even as late as the 1890s, there were women who fought in their own units. The Dahomey Amazons were fearsome warrior women, the last of which died in 1979; not that long ago.

 

In almost every culture, there are heroines who led armies and fought battles. Here is a list and timeline. Their bones and weapons have been dug up by archaeologists next to the bones and weapons of their brothers-in-arms. So, why is it so unusual for women to be accepted as fighters in modern society?

I don't know. I know that somewhere out there are a thousand sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists and other '-ologists' who will give a really well-researched and well-formulated explanation. It still makes no sense to me. And so I've given up thinking about it.

Instead, I'm thinking about getting my women fighters armoured up and trained to fight at the next IMCF. That's a good place to start.

mid-winter lazies

I have been battling with this conflict between my need to train and my desire to curl up and dream. The man-cat, Arthur, and the kitten, Jack Jack, have been no help whatsoever in this regard.

Even if you do not follow a Pagan or Heathen belief system, you will be familiar with the very common tendency to want to become introspective and inactive during the mid-winter period. It is how we follow the teachings of the seasons, winter representing  not so much a barrenness, but more a period of lying fallow, in preparation for the birth of new ideas and inspirations.

Especially for those of us who live in more temperate climes, where hot and sunny outweighs cold and snowy, it is a difficult time. We feed our horses with the sun, and so in winter, we tend to get up later in any case, because the horses aren't even near the stables for feeding before dawn.

The point that I'm trying to make in this oddly convoluted post of mine is that it is natural to have the mid-winter lazies. It's not actually laziness, but your body's way of listening to what the world around it is doing. So don't beat yourself up about it. I'm not going to. In my area, winter doesn't last all that long in any case, so I'm going to try to train in the afternoons, instead of first thing in the morning, and give myself plenty of time to warm up and focus.

Here is an article which also gives some tips on staying motivated if you have no option but to train in the morning during winter.

Whatever you do, though, try not to rely on more coffee to get you moving, since this affects your heart rate and can also dehydrate you more quickly. Go for the hot chocolate instead, and think of me!

the aftermath

The party was awesome. We had fighting and drinking, as promised, some excellent music and most importantly, we had great people. Thanks, guys. You made it what it was. You can always count on sword fighters.(And the occasional archer).

I fell asleep on my food next to the fire. No, there is no photographic evidence. You'll just have to take my word for it that it was a very comfortable cheese and gherkin roll.

Now I have decided to make it my mission in life, while college is on holiday, to get my noobs armoured up. I've been making cuirasses from when I joined DSSC, and although some have been largely experimental - like Richard's "tube", which is made of two layers of chrome-tanned leather dyed green, with several hundred 32mm steel washers riveted between them using aluminium rivets, hand-peened - most have been historically authentic.  I will make an effort to get some pictures up of all of the cuirasses I have made, for those interested.

Josh's cuirass, a transitional 14th century coat of plates based on one of those found at Wisby, is a triumph of physics, since it uses 0.7mm stainless steel plates, work-hardened and attached to a layer of canvas. It weighs 4.1kg, and moves like a dream. He fought the champion, Marcin Waszkielis, who hit him fairly hard, and he didn't feel a thing. I was very pleased.

It took a while, though, with all of those plates, so this time, I've decided to make this:

Which is very much exactly like a kusnacht. It will be easier to make, and quicker, and this is a good thing because I have eleven of them to make. In a month. We have a training weekend this time next month, and I want all of our fighters to be able to participate. So, wish me luck.

One day, I will make an epic corrazina, like the one I saw on this guy's blog.

Maybe even with the wings... for the authenticity officers.

Does that dragon look like a stoat to anyone else?

birthday time

So the other week, we discovered that most of the guys in our sword club have their birthdays in June. Weird, hey?
We have four people on the 19th of June, and between us, three 18th birthdays this year, in June.
Go Geminis!
So I suggested that we just cut our losses and have one birthday party for everyone in the club once a year, in the middle of June, or the closest Saturday thereto. That's in two days' time.
Of course, when there is a sword party, there has to be fighting first, and then drinking. So this being the first annual birthday party, I suggested that instead of our usual round robin, bring a quart of beer for entry, we just have challenges. I said, "Make a list of everyone you'd like to fight."
Floppy's list just said, "Everyone."
Go Floppy!
Now, when we were at IMCF in Poland recently, I became very attached to a certain ash staff which formed the primary medium for my polearm. I got it from Jack of the Irish team, and I did not want to go home without it. So this necessitated that I jettison some other parts of my armour. The corrazina went to the Irish team in return. I tried to sell it to one of them, but they were having none of it, so I forced it on them instead and took off with the ash staff and a grin, safe in the belief that I would make myself another cuirass as soon as I got home.
It's not often that things go the way I plan them, and if I don't watch them very carefully, they usually go off and do the complete opposite. That is what happened with my cuirass, which still has yet to be made. I'm waiting for money to buy steel, in case you were wondering. I'm not that lazy!
In the mean time, I was wondering what the hell I could use to fight in, since I really do want to fight on Saturday, and I can't let my minions down.
Then, my thought fell upon a relic of the past: my first piece of armour. The Battle Corset.
It is a leather and steel creation that took me weeks to complete, and I made it for my first ever tournament - Dark Ages - in Joburg. I'd been a member of DSSC from the second of May, and the tournament was on the 31st of July. Neither I nor the guys had any clue as to what to do for a girl in armour, so I got a pattern for a corset off a very dear friend and made it out of 5mm thick buffalo hide. Brian, our Marshall, dished the boobs out of 1.6mm mild steel, and I glazed them with sunflower oil and about two hours in the oven at 200 degrees C.
Over the years, the Battle Corset has been left behind, firstly by my first coat of plates, and then by my full plate armour, and then finally by my corrazina. And when I looked back on it,

preparing for the IMCF Champs, I felt a little embarrassed by my first attempts because it is so very FANTASY.
But I took it out today, and put it on and looked carefully at things like gaps, areas of protection and all that stuff, and actually, if I wear it with my bascinet and scale aventail and full arms, it will probably work just fine.
Yes, it has metal boobs, which will probably get all of the minions thinking about Xena and anime characters, but as far as armour goes for the sake of protection (not so much historical accuracy), it's actually not so bad after all, and that makes me very happy.
It's really nice to meet up with an old friend again after so long and realise that what you saw in them then still holds true today.

intro

Hey everyone. I'm Chris, the girl in armour. Not the definitive voice on medieval combat, by any means, but just someone who has been doing this thing since 2011 and hasn't stopped having fun.

I'm going to try and take you forwards and backwards in my fighting experience, looking at armour I have worn, do wear and want to wear, weapons I've used, do own and want to own, and of course training schedules, techniques, ideas and tips. I'll also be posting stuff on how we raise funds to get to events and then what we do there, starting with the recent International Medieval Combat Federation World Championship, which was held in May, at Malbork Castle in Poland.

It's not just for girls. It's for anyone who wants to get into full contact medieval combat, and also those who enjoy a good story. I love fighting and I want to share that with all of you, so follow me on my journey and see where it leads.