fighting Ukrainians is hard work

Today is my birthday, and so this post is going to serve a double purpose.

Firstly, I want to remark on how much I really don't feel a year older, and that I can't really remember how old I am, and no, I don't want any onions with my liver spots.

I drank ALL of the beer last Saturday, and had an amazing time with a few of my closest and most understanding people. They are all prepared for the faulty girl in armour, and joined us for some braai and bonfire, anyway.

I would also like to thank my husband and protector, Josh, who found a miraculously tactful way to discourage the late-night boffer fighting which Jimmy-Steve and I decided would be fun. He announced he was sober and would be in the pit first, which effectively dampened all of the potential for flame-induced damage.

Here is a photo of me with one of my birthday gifts from Dagan and Shannonne. It is a litre of Danish Viking beer. As we say here, Faxe fuckses you up. Thanks to Tinka Tepish for the photo.

I think we only had one clan of non-fighters at the gathering, and they are really good supporters of the sport. 

It was a good evening because I already miss my fighting family from IMCF Denmark.

We made so many friendships and renewed ones already made from previous years. I got to see my favourite fighters in action, close up and in person, and to meet some of those fighters I hold in high esteem but have only spoken to online.

The event ran like clockwork, and we were grateful for the kindness and helpfulness shown to us by the Danes, and everyone else.

I have to acknowledge the absence of a few of the better-known fighters. They were not there for various reasons, some logistical and some political, and they were missed
Now, I know I'm not supposed to comment on politics of any kind because having an opinion is always dangerous, but I sincerely hope that by the time we get to Scotland next year, I'll be able to look forward to seeing them all there.

I did, however, meet and fight the Finnish 3v3 team in buhurt, which was epic. The Quebec team was also amazing, and it was fun to beat the British girls from Battle Heritage, our affiliate organisation.
Was that cheeky? Well, for a first buhurt experience, I think our team, Steph Roets, Bronwen Huysamer and I, did pretty well.

I also think that if I hadn't been injured in the second round of the first match against UK, I probably would have been able to give a better challenge, but you know what they say: coulda, shoulda, woulda...
The point is, we were there, we did the thing, we won one and we lost to the two best 3v3 teams at the tournament, in which there is no shame. I'm pleased.

Steph did really well, getting into the quarter finals in sword and shield, and I improved on my longsword performance this year, also going through to the quarter finals. There, I met a tiny Ukrainian woman who bested me in two rounds. I really wanted to fight a Ukrainian while I was at IMCF, so I got my wish. Now I know. I really need to train more. Because fighting Ukrainians is hard work.

That team entered fighters for every category in the tournament, so they were not a small bunch of fighters. However, what struck me the most was firstly the discipline and then the friendliness. I didn't really get to chat with any of the fighters except for one of the women (Kate), and one of the men (Igor - and then of course I had a bit of a fangirl moment, it was ridiculous), but their conduct was just what I would hope my team, when it is bigger and requires more order, would be.

We made some friends and received help, advice, food, mead, beer, and gifts from loads of fighters. The New Zealanders were awesome, in and out of the lists, and fighting Dayna in polearm was a pleasure. I think their new fighter, Sigrid, really impressed everyone with her medal in longsword.

(Actually, let me take a moment to mention that the sportsmanship at the IMCF tournament was really good.)

When we arrived in Billund, we were on the same flight as the Mexican team, and after about half an hour of nodding and grinning, we discovered that they all spoke English, and so (my social skills being what they are) my teammates, Bronwen and Eurika proceeded to make friends with them all. Very nice people, and exciting to watch in the buhurt.

Of course, I got to meet up with my Luxembourg family, Susanne and Laurent and Misch and their team, which was wonderful. They are genuinely nice people, and watching the team in the 5v5s was a treat.
I have to make a special mention of Misch, who brought the coat of plates I gave him in Luxembourg last year, and returned it so that I could fight safely. He wasn't using it, so I brought it back with me and now Jimmy-Steve will use it. Thanks, Misch. You are a gentleman of your word, and that beer will be on its way to you shortly.

Our teammate Eurika, who went over to marshal, also found her people. Within a few hours of us being at the tournament, she had found the herd of yellow people and been assimilated. I think she could not have been happier, and that makes me happy, too. She is a valuable part of our local sword community, and that has just been augmented by her new level up in marshalling.

And the guys. Ah, the guys. What can I say? I really am so proud of them both. Oliver fought polearm, and he gave it his very best. What more can you ask of a fighter with not even six months of polearm training? Nothing. He fought through his pool, he did not withdraw, he showed sportsmanship and gave a good account of himself. No, he did not get through to quarter finals, but not everyone can be winners all the time. He fought well, and next time, he will fight even better.

Henry fought sword and shield and he really did well. He also gave his very best, and made it through to quarter finals. Henry has been training hard and he was at the seminar we had with Marcin at the beginning of the year. He took note of the techniques, and was putting them into practice, and it paid off. For his first showing, I reckon he should be proud of himself.

And speaking of champs, it was particularly enjoyable to see Marcin fighting. That guy is so fast. I didn't get to see Denise or Melanie fighting, but I at least got to chat with them for a short time, and it was good to catch up.

I realised at one point, as I was sitting there near the lists, and people were smashing each other, and other people were cheering, and the commentator was talking about the teams, that we as fighters are living in a golden age. We can meet our heroes. Well at least, I can meet my heroes. When we have tournaments, we rub shoulders with these amazing athletes, and maybe in some countries, they are rock stars, but not in mine, and not in many others. They are accessible and (most are) humble, and they take a genuine pleasure in talking to other fighters like me about fighting. It's a privilege that we take for granted.

Years from now, when sword fighting has become much bigger, and people are making money off it, and the world recognises those top athletes in our sport as stars, we won't be able to just walk up to someone like Igor Parfentev or Marcin Waszkielis or Jose Amoeda and say, "So, can you give me some tips on..." because there will be bodyguards and press agents.

Well, at least, that's what I think it will be like in the future.

For now, I'm glad we made so many friends. The Italians, the Mexicans, the Kiwis, the Luxes, the Scots and the Irish and the Welsh and English, the Danish and Finnish and Japanese, we are friends with them all.
Even a couple of the Americans spoke to me, and that was cool.

The coolest thing was that the video is still up, and there was a lovely lady, who put by a little bit of the shopping money every week so that she could make the trip to Denmark for the event. Her husband didn't know until a couple of weeks beforehand. But that is what we do for our sport. Her name is Caroline Walsh, and she photographed it all.

Here is her page with all of the photos:
https://www.facebook.com/carolinewalsh010/media_set?set=a.10213706756369619.1073741874.1426514467&type=3
And the other album:
https://www.facebook.com/carolinewalsh010/media_set?set=a.3287546153948.168552.1426514467&type=3

 And if you missed the live feed, here is the link to the videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpg5Ak2VDxE

And here is a lovely photo of me resting after fighting, just to round it off, thanks to Ivan Campero, the South African Austrian.

Thanks for being there. 

re qualified

We had our national qualifier a couple of weekends ago.

As we have done for the last two years, our format was IMCF ruleset, singles fights. This year, we added one more event: women’s 2v2 buhurt.

Since I seem to be the only crazy polearm fighter (“Would you like to suck my plums?”) there was only one polearm fight scheduled, and that was because Bronwen stood up and said she’d give me an opponent. I was pleased and quite proud of my friend and teammate for making that gesture, although we ended up not having the bout because of time constraints.

For the last two qualifiers, I have only had one female fighter to face each time. This year was different. The women turned out en masse. We had five female competitors, and where there has in the past been five or more male competitors, there were only three this year. For the first time, the women outnumbered the men. I’m not going to say I was proud because the notion that there is some kind of competition between men and women in any given sport is ridiculous, and to me, we are all still fighters. If it were up to me, we wouldn’t separate the men and women. Having said that, I was impressed that the numbers of armoured female fighters in our sport in South Africa had jumped so quickly, and gratified because two of those women who competed were my recruits.

Our men’s team captain, Hylton, was disappointed in the turnout, but I think it’s a sign of progress of a sort, within our organisation. I think it shows a change in the way that qualifiers is viewed. Before, we had a bunch of fighters, some of whom competed with borrowed kit, without authentic shoes, and on the understanding that they could not actually commit to going over to IMCF.

This year, we had less fighters, but they were all in their own, authentic kit, and they all are able to commit to going overseas. Those who were unable to make the commitment did not compete, and I think that is the way it aught to be.

We had two round robins of sword and shield, and I was particularly impressed with Steph’s fighting, since she has only in the last month rejoined steel combat, after protracted health issues. She is, in my opinion, an excellent swordsman and has the determination to see herself through a tournament, which is essential. She also makes a bloody good buhurt fighter.

On the whole, the standard of fighting amongst the men and the women has improved, and I was glad for a bit more time in the lists than the usual two fights, and a bit more of a challenge from my opponents.

Reading that last bit, I think it sounds a little pompous and condescending, and I didn’t say it in that spirit, but there was no other way I could find that was more humble. Yes, I won all of my fights, and who doesn’t enjoy the win? Instead of winning in two rounds each fight, though, some went to three, and my fight with Steph in sword and shield went to four rounds, which has not happened before.

Everyone swore they fought much worse than usual, and I could see that Bronwen wasn’t on form the way she can be, but that is part of dealing with the stress under competition pressure, and we must all learn to manage it in our own way. That comes with time and experience.

I can’t comment on anyone else’s individual performance, but for myself, I found that the warmup and stretching beforehand made a big difference. I also found that my first few fights were crap because I wasn’t “in the zone”, whereas my longsword fights after lunch were much better, and I felt like I had given myself a better chance.

Of course, neither the sword and shield nor the longsword are my chosen weapons, but I’ve trained in them because I believe that a competent swordsman should be proficient in the most common weapon forms (sword and shield, longsword, spear/quarterstaff, polearm and rapier, at least).

*Disclaimer*: That’s my belief based on my own opinions and what I think are the common basic weapon forms, so please don’t take it as any kind of expert or academic evidence. Just what I do. You don’t have to do it.

So I found that through the day, I didn’t get more tired and more useless. I found that I actually improved, and it was easier to move and fight in my armour, as the day progressed, which was wonderful. I had one small trouble with my greaves slipping down and digging into the tops of my instep. That was because I’ve been gymming and the shape of my calves has changed ever so slightly. So Josh had to open them up to give some more room, which then resulted in them slipping a bit. Once he had fixed it, though, I was good to go.

The longsword fights were savage. The guys hammered each other, and I really enjoyed my fights against Eurika, Vicky and Bronwen. At that point I was in my happy fighting place and ready to deal brutality to everyone.

When the clouds began to thicken up and crowd in, blue and grey and swollen, we decided to get on with the buhurt before the rain (and lightning) came. It was a 2v2, Durban versus Joburg. I had no idea what to expect, and I knew that the Joburg girls had been coached a bit. Bronwen and I had a quick strategy discussion, and then the marshall began the bout.

We each got a dancing partner pretty quickly. Bron got Steph. Those two are quite evenly matched, although Steph is taller. Bron is stubborn and just won’t go down easily. I tried to take Vicky down, and even though I am much taller than she, it just didn’t happen. Every move I tried in my admittedly limited repertoire failed. Then, Steph came in to help her, and someone stood on my shoe and having nowhere else to go but sideways and down, that’s what I did.

I’m not ashamed to say I felt pretty damned useless.

Bron went down after me in spectacular style. When that chick falls, you know it’s going to be worth watching. This time, her helm caught the edge of a very low cinderblock wall at the edge of the list, and everyone caught their breath. If she had not been wearing a helmet, that would have been fatal. But it wasn’t. Bron got up (“I’m okay!”), I put my shoe back on and got up, and we prepared for the second round.

The second round was much longer than the first. Bron and I had learned fast, and the four of us fought furiously for a bit and then stepped back into the four corners and took a bit of a breather. Not the kind of thing you normally see in the YouTube videos. After a few seconds, we got the fighting started again, and then I was disarmed. Unfortunately, one of our marshalls, who is not a buhurt fighter, called a halt, believing my disarm to be cause to suspend the round while I got another weapon. I didn’t hear the call at the time, though.

I put my hands up and prepared to walk to where I could find another weapon, and Bronwen, who is always safety conscious, stopped fighting and looked for the cause of the instruction to halt. Of course, at the same time, another person called, “keep fighting” and Bronwen got mashed into the corner of the list.

It was a series of unintentional cock-ups that resulted in Bronwen nearly losing her shit. She was so angry, and I guess it was justified because from her point of view, she had obeyed the halt command, which we do without question, for the sake of safety, and been unfairly taken down. The Joburg girls didn’t realise that Bron had stopped fighting, because everything happened so quickly, and when they saw how things had occurred, they were really apologetic. Nothing was done intentionally or out of bad sportsmanship. But the rain was coming, Bron was really pissed off – her sense of fairplay had been wronged, and I had somehow managed to twist my arm the wrong way and my elbow was whining at me from the background. So I took a knee and ended the bout.

I know some of you might say I should have fought on, pushed for a restart of the round, and I think we would have been able to, but sometimes, you have to think longterm. I didn’t want to damage my elbow properly and risk not being able to compete at full capacity in IMCF.

I also wanted to keep it tidy. They were clearly the better buhurt team on that day, and to prolong a result that was already clear didn’t seem sportsmanlike or fair to anyone else. One should always lead by example and give credit where it is deserving, I believe.

So that was that. Fighting was done, and then we headed home to feed the horses and dogs and cats, and then we went back to the AGM and all of the politics. But I won’t bore you with that.

On the whole, it was a good day, and I am really very pleased to see that my own goal for our sport, which I held in my mind since I returned from IMCF 2015, has been realised: South Africa will be sending a women’s buhurt team to IMCF this year.

Whatever happens next, I’m ready.

From left: Me, Bronwen Huysamer, Vicky Kleynhans and Stephanie Roets