Novice Day, The concept behind the event.

Everyone who comes to a group is the new kid in town once. In sword fighting and fencing, we host tourneys for those new people In the Shire of Rusted Woodlands, we host the East Kingdom's tournament to celebrate those people. In terms of the Marshallate of the Kingdom of the East, we consider someone a "Novice" for 2 years from the date of their authorization. So armored combat fighters may compete in a double elimination tourney to win the honor to carry the Novitus Gladi, The New Sword, and have their name engraved on the blade next to the other winners. Historically, the winner also gets a prize helm and a scroll.

Not to be out down the Novice fencers will also compete in a tourney for similar prizes. So it's sword fighting and fencing during the day. There will be many different weapon forms being wielded; sword and shield, greatsword, polearms, two swords on the armored combat side. The Period Fencers can wield, single rapier, case of Rapiers (dual wielded), Rapier and dagger, rapier and rigid parry device, Rapier and flexible parry device, and two-handed sword.

The concept as extended to include an Arts and Sciences tourney, an Archery Tourney, and a Thrown weapons tourney. Pomp and circumstance are encouraged, this is a showcase for the Society also. If you're in the Tappan NY area on July 20th you're welcome to come out and see what we're all about.

Period Fencing in The Shire of Rusted Woodlands Thursday Fight Practice

In the Society for Creative Anachronisms one of the martial activities is Period Fencing. Weapons are steel and the armor is layers of cloth or chainmail. Three Weapon Masks are the norm with bag of head covering. Blows are either cuts or thrusts. There are several different weapon authorizations: Single Rapier, Case of Rapier (dual wielding), Rapier and dagger, Rapier and rigid parry, Rapier and flexible parry, and two handed sword. Typically the action is fast and highly competitive. There are no gender, age, nor weight classes for combat. At the Shire of Rusted Woodlands Period fencing classes a premium is placed on drilling footwork, bladework and combining the two attributes to make you a better fencer. You don't have to be a member to take classes or participate, loaner armor is available. If you're looking to try something different, go to the Shire of Rusted Woodlands Thursday Fight Practice. Practice starts at 8:00pm and runs to 11:00pm it's located at 452 Lafayette Ave, Hawthorne, NJ 07506, make sure you go to the downstairs door in the front of the building. See you out there

The Shire of Rusted Woodlands Thursday Night Practice

What up with The Shire of Rusted Woodlands Thursday Night Practice? Well there's the name change from "The shire of Rusted Woodlands Thursday Night Heavy Weapons Practice" to its current iteration. Why? The Shire saw the need for and acted upon hosting a Fencing practice at the Hawthorne Site. Sir Arne Ulrickson has taken the helm as the Armored Combat MIC (Marshal in Charge), while Sir Tanaka Raiko leads the Period Fencing activities, having recently attained his Fencing Marshallate at this most recent Birka. Happening on Thursday Nights starting at 8PM til 11:00 PM it's a great practice for new and seasoned fighter alike. https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+Shire+of+Rusted+Woodlands+Fight+Practice/@40.9541255,-74.1577535,17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x89c2fdebeb516f7d:0xe5facda73805884f!8m2!3d40.9535968!4d-74.1556066?hl=en If you have questions or would like more details please reach out to 845-545-5274

Sterling Delarosa is knighted.

Sterling Delarosa was one of the most beloved unbelted fighters in the kingdom of the East. A consistent fixture on the unbelted teams at the Pennsic War, a fencing champion for his local group. Sterling is known for his Chivalry, Prowess, Generous nature, and sense of humor. He has been a favorite of the martial set of Rusted Woodlands even though he had to travel 2 hours one way to get to our practices. He was elevated to the Order of the Chivalry on March 30th at the event Muddthaw.

Holy moly this thing still works!!!

The Elevation of Erich Hundeman to the Order of the Chivalry...

In the Society for Creative Anachronisms (SCA) we have Society wide Orders; Laurel for Arts, Pelican for Service, Master of Defense for Fencing, and Chivalry for Knighthood/Master of Arms. In a elevation ceremony here in the East, The candidate will hear affadavits from selected representatives of the Orders as well as the Ladies of the Rose (former Queens of the Society). Erich Hundeman recieved his elevation to the order of the Chivalry yesterday. I had the honor and priveledge to represent the Chivalry at his Ceremony. The following were the words I used to express myself in regards to Erich. His Majesty East Kenric, "Who claims the right to speak for this candidate Erich Hundeman from the Order of the Chivalry" "I, Tanaka Raiko The 859th Knight of the Society and the 110 Member of the Chivalry of East claim that right. Erich, I have know you for many years and through those years I was always reminded of the Seven Virtues of Bushido when thinking about you. 1. Rectitude - Conforming to the regulations and principals by adhering to what is righteous and morally right 2. Courage - is the eminence of psyche and strength of mind that make a human face obscurity and peril 3. Benevolence - is a desire to do well to others that is confounded by and act of kindness by being charitable 4. Respect is considered and a manifestation of a personal quality or ability that is wielded by honor, admiration and a high regard 5. Honesty - is the quality or fact of being truthful through an act or condition 6. Honor - a senes of loyaltyand honesty or having integrity in ones beliefs and actions 7. Loyalty - the adherence to a sovereign You Erich possess one more trait, you are the embodiment of Perserverence. You tried, and fought and tried, and fought and tried...Continually over the years to get you to this point. You are my friend. Now I get to call you my Brother. Your Excellences, Your Majesties, You Citizens of the East I cannot recommended this man any higher. He is a member of the Chivalry. " Words by yours truly, at the knighting of Erich Hundeman, at the Southern Region War Camp

Aesa's Quest - One Woman Warrior's way

Aesa is a dimiutive, yet spirited and tough young woman. She exudes energy and confidence with her ready smile and intelligent dark eyes. She asked me for a squire's belt signifying that she would be my student and my responsibility. I told her that I would put her to quest for that belt. Her quest is to fight 25 Squires and 25 Knights and ask them all what does it mean to them to be a member of the chivalry in the SCA. Simple. Straightforward. Yet, there is a profundity intrinsic to the simplicity of the quest. She and I get to learn about her and the education will also be both physical and existential concerning the Society for Creative Anachronisms. SCA's armored combat is not just for hulking muscle bound men brooding through their dark eyes and sullen brows. There are no weight classes. No gender classes. No limits. You fight to the best of your ability. The real opponent in this journey isn't Conan across the list field from you. The real opponent in this is almost always yourself. Yes, Aesa is diminutive but she approaches this quest with a sense of wonderment, grimness, audactiy and dispatch. There's more courage in her than I've seen in men 3 times her size. Female fighters are real and celebrated in these current Middle Ages. Follow her here, or at the Shire of Rusted Woodlands in the SCA

Medieval Fashion Show Friday, a 14th Century Corizina with case legs and Great Helm

In the Society for Creative Anachronisms (SCA) one of the activities we do is sword fighting, well armored combat with a variety of weapons actually. We fabricate, wear, and brandish the arms and armor of many of the Dark Ages, Medieval, and beyond. Toward that end I present to you Lady Caterina Maddalena de' Gabrielli in her 14th century Corazina (coat of plates), Great Helm, and plate arms and legs although the sword is not a SCA legal weapon, this is her actual fighting kit. Lady Caterina Sword fights at a Northern NJ SCA fight practice in the Shire of Rusted Woodlands.

Sword Fighting in Northern NJ - Femme Fatales - thoughts on training women how to fight in armor.

As a long standing instructor of fighters I have a tendency to think of fighters as genderless. As admirable as this may be, as an instructor I have to consider the individual and what they bring to the table, rather than their genetic sex. That's all established with an interview. I want to know what their physical background is like, what their body is going to default to, how resilient is their psyche. All this is gender neutral. What isn't gender neutral is how they define themselves, and how they drive the bus that is their body. I can teach you how to throw a shot, but I can't teach you how to find the drive within your heart to want to learn it. Women are special when they come to this game. Understanding why they came is nearly as important on mastering a wrap shot. It has been said, "Guys are dogs, women are cats". Simplistic rationale but not without merits. Guys will follow a leader unless they are the leader and then they will figure it out and go forth. Women want to be the boss, but understand that a boss without the necessary skill set is just bluff and bluster. The best female fighters I've know want to figure it out, but not be told how they need mastery of a skill however they get to that place. Again generalizations fall before the individual example, but it works for our conversation. Retaining men in this game is about their comradery and their desires to excel.. Retaining women in this game is about appealing to the individual and how much in love with it they fall. Again generalizations, but mine are based in observations over the years. So what do you think?

Sword fighting in Northern NJ - Pell Design I find useful

To the serious sword fighter a "Pell" is a useful and tool for training. Historically pells were usually conveniently dead trees, or trees that became dead after repeated strikes with swords real or practice ones. A pell is literally something that you will practice your strikes on. Modern pells are logs, posts, lumber or (my personal favorite) rail road ties. Pells can be fixed (anchored to one spot) or moveable/portable for you fighters who require such things. My pell is moveable. It's construction is simple. A Six by Six Railroad tie bored out to accept the shaft of a base which is affixed to a weighted moveable/portable base. The base is the rear half axle of a truck bolted to a wheel with tire attached. The shaft of the Pell is a Six by Six railroad tie, which besides being bored out to accept the axle shaft is padded to reduce the damage to rattan swords we use in the SCA. I padded my pell with 3/4" polypropelene rope. I've marked striking areas with different colored (comes in handy for calling out colors when training other fighters). When wrapping the rope for padding I affixed a handle made of 2 inch nylon strapping, which collapses when hit. It breaks down into the two major components (shaft and base) for ease of movement.

Come to "Thursday Night Fights" aka Sword Fighting in New Jersey

In Northern NJ you can discover if you have what it takes to become a medieval swordsman or a Renaissance Fencer.

Find your "Martial expression" at RW's "Thursday Night Fights" also known as The Shire of Rusted Woodlands, Thursday Fencing and Fighting practice, aka the Bruise Factory.

Whether you're a SCAdian looking to improve your game, or a new fighter looking to find the warrior within come to Hawthorne and find out.

The answers you seek are there for the discovery.

Where: The United Methodist Church, 452 Lafayette Ave, Hawthorne, NJ 07506

When: 8:00pm til

What: SCA Period Fencing, and Heavy Weapons combat

Suggeste contribution: $2.00

Sword Fighting in NJ - The tourney forms of SCA heavy weapons.

There are 6 individual weapon forms in SCA heavy weapons.

Weapon and Shield

Two Weapon

Polearm

Two handed Sword

Spear

Combat Archery

One will likely only use the first 4 in tournement.

Weapon and Shield can be: Sword, mace, or ax and shield. Shield size is only limited by the wielders choice or the kingdom that you reside in laws.

Two weapon can be: two swords (most popular), maces, or axes or any combination. There are those who practice even the true florentine style of broadsword and dagger.

Polearm are essentially a blade on the end of a stick they can be up to 7.5 ft long.

Two Handed sword is any sword that you would wield with two hands.

Spear in SCA combat is a thrust only weapon. If it is cut and thrust it's classified as a polearm.

Combat Archery is not a tourney form, and is reserved for melee only.

in SCA combat weapon and shield is the most prevalent and successful. Our shields aren't ablative so the form gives you the best combination of attack and defense. Shield shapes are limited to the users imagination, but cannot have see through sections or blade catching sections.

Two weapon gives you twice the offensive options but diminishes your defense significantly. It is a form that favors the agile or the most aggressive of fighters.

Polearm is the range weapon of tourney forms. Up to 7.5 ft in length, you can make your opponent pay to get in their weapon range.

two handed sword is the most difficult of tourney forms because it gives up so much in defense and offense. Athough commonly longer than most other swords they're rarely up to the length of polearms, and give up all the defensive options of weapon and shield, or two weapon.

In the end, the form you bring to tourney is the one you favor the most or the one that is dictated by the rules of the list or the crown.

Whatever the option, stay safe, protect yourself at all times and have fun

Q&A with Mr. T #7 "How do I make the team?"

Adam asked: Q: "Sir Tanaka how do I make the East Kingdom Unbelted Team?" A: Great Question! The answer is both simple and complex. It's simply a matter of going to the unbelted practices and fighting well enough to make the team. It's a bit more complex based on the nature that our Warlord changes with the War reigns so each warlord may have a differing agenda, or format for selection. My suggestion is to fight well, fight ALOT, and Fight at all the unbelted practices.... Cheers,T

Sword fighting in Northern NJ - Thoughts on making rattan swords...by diagnosing problems with them

Galfrid showed me his broadsword and asked me to diagnose the how and the why his swords were brooming so fast.

Now Galfrid fights 2-3 times a week at a couple high level practices...so the brooming of his swords could easily be diagnosed as heavy use, but the main fractures in his rattan ran 90 degrees off of his striking surfaces!?.

Now Galfrid is primarily a right handed Weapon and Shield fighter, and we're looking at his broadsword. it's a 32-34 inch weapon with a Stainless Steel Wire baskethilt that he fabricated (really nice work btw). He keeps his handles thick to offset breakage by the wire baskethilt (common problem) and only shapes them a little bit. The blank stock for the sword was probably just shy of 1.5 inches in the 35-37 MM range. He didn't plank this sword. (plane down the sides so they're flat).

So I took a serious look at his tape bruising. "Tape Bruising" is the damage done to the cosmetic tape on SCA swords. By examining this bruising, I diagnose a good bit about the users technique.

The bruising was substantial as was the surface pulping of the rattan. There was the aforementioned crack running east - west of the striking surfaces. On closer examination, the inside side of the sword was really mashed. This is a indication of incomplete rolling of the wrist during wrapshots especially since the area of the pulping was the last 4-5 inches of the blade toward the foilable.

I suggested that he go to thicker rattan stock, 40 mm perhaps, and to plane down the blank and shape the handle so that the sword doesn't "swim" on his wrap shots.

Galfrid said he's going to give it a shot...

Makes me want to get down to the shop and make some weapons...

Sword Fighting in Northern NJ - On Armoring Women's Groins.

Deep in the secret base our hero, in his best impression of Tony Stark, was working on women's armor. Not being female, he decides it's best to talk to a couple of female fighter for their opinions. The question(s) were posed to several fighters, and the one's who responded are listed forthwith.

Gunnvor's thoughts on armoring women's lower torsos...

She says, "For the lower abdomen, it's all about a women's shape. Many women (who can comfortably wear a C harness around their hips) say very good things about a C-belt. It covers the abdomen and holds the legs well. I cannot comfortably wear a belt around my hips. For me, the best thing to do is hang something off of my body armor. I have lamellar hip flaps and plan to make a abdomen flap, but you could easily hang something off other types of period armor.

Shiro wrote this:

"I use a modern female groin protector - http://www.hockeygiant.com/rwompelprot.html - and inside my underwear I wear an "overnight" maxi pad, the thickest I can find. The technology of today makes padding ultra thin pads very popular, and to find think ones that actually have padding to them, I sometimes have to look for generic or store brand "cheap" stuff. Although I do wear a wide C-belt, I find it protects the hips a bit, but not so much the belly. Lower abdomen protection is done with plates hanging from the torso armor. You have to remember to armor a woman with a flex point at HER waist. It you try to run a sold plate over her belly, she can't move. I have been hit at that hinge with a spear thrust pretty hard, and it is not any fun. But you have to choose your weak points, and adjust the armor as you need to. I will try to get some pictures of my armor to you."

Sheleigh McLanagan:

"For the majority of my time in armor, I wore a coat of plates which extended just equal with my grown protection. Later I switched to a breastplate and went without hip and abdomen armor. Kinda foolish. Having heat issues I made a short gambeson that ended under my bosom, but was longer in back to pad the kidneys. I took a number of shots in the belly during that time, but being "plumptious" in the extreme in that one area it did no more than bruise me. The shot to my hip with no armor and no padding: cotton, or adipose, hut oodles more. I'm reviewing my armor in the hopes of getting back into it soonish. I'll be making a proper gambeson of linen that will extend to the top of my thighs.

For groin protection I hadn't been able to find a girls hockey cup, so I made one of rigid plastic, boiled and curved to fit, and backed it with closed cell foam. I made an additional pocket in a couple of pairs of bikini undies to tuck it into. Worked okay."

Hildemar the Alchemist:

"I use a military web belt (often referred to as a pistol belt) beneath my armor. This nylon belt has padding attached to it (and these web best pads, were once easily found in surplus stores). The belt is worn low on the hips and protects the kidneys, hip points, and abdomen, as well as providing support for leg armor. The belt is always covered by plate (and due to location, articulated plate to permit free movement so I can crouch when needed).

I have found most commercial women's groin protection to be too soft and yielding (as well as too flat) to provide the kind of protection we need against low blows, so I built my own. The current piece I use is made of 0.25" HDPE plastic and was carefully shaped over a gas jet. A rigid plate like this, backed with suitable padding, provides the best protection, in my opinion"

Me: Can I quote you?

"Sure! Just advise those seeking advice that "their mileage may vary" and that they should *test* all armor they make before permitting their opponents to try it out.

Astrid's take on the subject goes as follows:

"I am a crazy Northern Army girl. I got a women's jill and stuff the plastic insert into men's compression shorts that have a cup slot built in...It works great for me. I got cupped numerous times at Gulf Wars this year and I made it out with no real injury.

My Lower abdomen is kept in check with my "war skirt" which is a modified C-belt with leather "skirting strips" spaced about 1/4 to 1/2 inches apart..."

Sandy wrote to me with this:

"I made a padded arming coat that goes to my hips and purchased female groin protection from a sports store that specifically handles women's needs. The heavy plastic molded plate fits relatively well and has a soft pliable but solid foam edging to it for comfort. I am not fond of the underwear that pockets it and holds it in place, but it does the job well. I have not had issues with low abdomen shots....YET! But the pair of legs I created did not protect my hips and thighs the way I needed. They are a pair of belted leggings that has slots sewn in which hold waxed leather strips. Although it worked fairly well it was not enough to prevent serious bruising on my thighs and hips so I added a layer of camping roll foam to inside. That solved the problem. Next pair I make will have a sleeve for the foam. I wear a solid breast plate which has an attached back of full pocketed metal plates which act as rib and kidney protection. I recently separated part of the leg so that the weight of the knee and shin protection did not pull on my waist and back. I accomplished this by attaching knee braces to the inside of the knees. This has worked great, less back aggravation and more mobility."

Sir Sichel's comments on the topic go like this:

"I just wear the foamy part of the chick pubic protector inside my underwear, it stays in place and can take a spear thrust. I have never had anything on my abdomen. The only thing on my hips are bruises from (Sir) Douglas Henry.

I am waiting on the Zoombang shorts to get here. I'll let you know how that works"

There doesn't seem to be one "ANSWER" to the question, there does seem to be solutions that work for those involved. Try a few, and find the one that you're most comfortable with considering the full contact martial art that you're getting into.