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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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