It’s Sunday, the 13th of March. I attended a practice for the Boston Dark Knights at Knights Hall in Nashua, NH this afternoon. I say attended, not participated because I’m still nursing a damaged rib. About 2 1/2 weeks ago, I fell off the horse I was riding and landed chest first on my fist….
WORDSMITHS! BARDS! SKALDS! A CHALLENGE!
I seek a stanza. If you want to take it further, I won’t complain, but a single stanza is all I need. Super bonus points if you write and perform a new folk song that people love. The topic: In support of Ukraine in their struggle against their invaders. It should be in the form…
Acquiring Your First Real Armor (Getting Started, part 2)
First piece of advice: BUY NOTHING till you’ve done a great deal of homework. Second piece of advice: Consult those around you with more experience — preferably your teammates. OK, so you’ve begun your research, found a group to practice with, and now you’re looking into getting some real armor of your own to fight…
Christmas Season ALREADY? Here’s an Early Gift for You.
The modern world seems to start the Christmas season much too early and also end it much too early. In the middle ages, Christmas season began…. Christmas morning, and went on till Twelfth Night, on January 6th. It was a time of feasting and merriment! Today, we see shops putting out Christmas items as early…
Yes, I want to Joust. Seriously!
They say it is easier to teach a great rider how to fight than to teach a great fighter how to ride. Yes, I am fully aware I am going about learning to joust backwards and very late in life. As a child I met horses, but lost all my contacts in that area well…
The Perils of New Armor
This essay is primarily focused on later period, European, full plate armor. In my case, late 15th century. As some of you know, I am the happy owner of a new suit of armor. I had Arma Moskovia make me a reproduction of this composite suit in the Metropolitan Museum in NYC. I know it…
This Weekend: ACS North American Championships
Do you want to see some great fighting? Me, too! This weekend, I’ll be at the Armored Combat Sports North American Championships in Reno, Nevada. In fact, I’m writing this post on the plane there! Saturday and Sunday some of the best armored fighters in North America battle it out to see who will take…
Who’s Who in European Swordfighting Groups and Styles Today
Who’s Who and What’s What. A rough list of terms to know.
This Weekend: The Vermont Renaissance Faire!
It’s been a long plague but there are signs of hope! One of these is the return of the Renaissance Faires! I was SUPER bummed my home Faire, the New Hampshire Renaissance Faire was cancelled err… went virtual… for the second year in a row. But this weekend – TOMORROW and Sunday, in fact, the…
Some Thoughts on Armor Selection
This morning while sipping coffee and waiting on a work meeting, I got to thinking about what goes into the armor we choose to use. There are three main factors in choosing armor. I list them here in descending order of importance but the first two are usually reversed for practical influence – you wear…