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.

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!!!

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.

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.