Southern Region War Camp & #95

Wow, what a weekend. I'm still kind of in a daze from everything.  This weekend was Southern Region War Camp.  To say it was hot and humid would be an understatement.  We set up a household garage sale to get rid of some items that people no longer need.  I was able to sell off a bunch of items.  I hope their new owners are happy with the purchases.

Friday night, I got confirmation that a household member was being inducted into the Order of the White Scarf in An Tir on Sunday, so I was very happy we were adding another don to the household.  Little did I know we were adding two.

Fencing was interesting.  I didn't warm up prior to the tournament starting as I was trying to set up my stuff and sell it off.  It was somewhat of a lazy tournament.  I fenced pretty well I think.  Good bouts against Thomas, Caine, Griff, Jean-Michel, and Davius among others.  It was fun and relaxed.  Something nice, I was not pressing, which has been good for me.

After the formal tournament, I did pickups with Lissa and Christofel.  Lissa you cannot give your blade to as she's developed a good inside game.  So I denied her my blade holding it very low to see what she'd counter with.  She had trouble with it.  We talked about it afterwards and I offered a suggestion to try out.  I then did some pick ups with Christofel.  He was rolling his disengage off the shoulder which I was able to take advantage of it.  I also gave him some new ideas to try.

After that, I suited down and drank a lot of water.  Duke Edward taught classes on melee, but as my ankle was bothering me, I sat in the shade, continued to drink and drink more water.  Archery champs was taking a while, so court was moved to where the final round was shooting.

Thor was called in and surprised when they inducted him into the Order of the Maunche.  It was well deserved, and I am so proud of all that he has accomplished.  Thor is an inspiration and one of the best people I know.

Molle and Charity were called into court next, as both received awards of arms.  If you've never met them, they are two incredible women.  I'm marrying one in October, and the other makes one of my best friends very happy.  They do a lot more that they think, and both are humble, beautiful women who make the world around them a better place.  I knew about both these awards.  What I didn't know about was the next one....

So I get called into court.  I tried to plead my case by stating, "What happens in Canada, stays in Canada,... or so I thought."  After explaining to me that he had a bone to pick about my absconding with his wife and scurrying her out of the country with a bus full of nefarious characters, she then must have had Stockholm Syndrome as she made him watch a movie, which Mabel brought on the bus.  Anyway, soon thereafter, they call into court the Order of the Golden Rapier.  The best words I can use is, I'm humbled.

Its been a long journey, and its not over yet as I still am not the person I want to be.  But I have a ton of people to thank for helping me along the way, and hopefully, I can help others as much if not more so, because if we are not giving back, all we are doing is taking away.

So in no particular order, thank you to the following people:

• Shawn Waggoner for putting the first rapier in my hand and teaching me the basics of fencing while I was in college.  Without having met you at the Florida Renaissance Festival in 1996, my life would be very different.
• Jody Livingston and Christopher Umbs, for running the fencing booth at NJRK in 1997, and so much more over the years.
• Scott Lubin for getting me involved in the SCA.
• Hank Salvacoin for teaching a kid on crutches how to break down a fight and what to look for
• Murray Blehart for inspiring me to get into SCA fencing after recovering from my broken ankle.
• Those who attended the South Orange and Piscataway practices and really helped me along the way at the start.  You all pushed me hard.
• The East Kingdom Fencers everyone needs "an enemy" who push you to get better.  Its true friends who help you along the way.
• The Dancing Goats of Atenveldt for making me feel at home across the country at a foreign war.
• TOAD, for the best family of friends
• Kirsten Lotano & Matthew Lecin... for believing in me when I would doubt myself.
• Jennie Ertle... for seeing in me a better man and making me a happy person.'

I know there are people I am leaving out but its to everyone I owe thanks, so thank you.  As I tell everyone, we are a volunteer society, without people helping people, it doesn't work and will collapse.  Help out your friends, someone new, or even someone you don't like.  Your world, and ours, will be a better place for it.

Practice Report - May 30

Last nights practice was a little weird... not in a bad way, but more in an unexpected way.  We had some people show up to practice that I would not have expected to see.  Gryphon, Xavier, and Alys all showed up.  Alys was doing drills last night with people to work off her rust from life.  Gryphon hung out and Xavier just popped by.  Others in attendance were Malcolm, Mabel, Jane, Firebow, Scrooby, and Diego.

I showed up early because Antonio was not going to be there.  Edmund had Gabriel for the night, so he swung by to open up the site, but Malcolm, Jane, and I were already there.  Mabel showed up and we started by doing some stretching outside on the grass, which I led.  We then moved back inside to fence.

Malcolm and I continued with rapier and dagger drills and then did a couple of passes.  I did notice while drilling that my hand was cramping, but it went away as the night progressed.  Next up was some passes with Jane.  She took a buckler, and I went single.  The last time I faced her prior to her showing up to practice a few weeks ago was probably 6 years ago.  They were some fun passes last night, but I felt like the distance we were fighting at was to my advantage, as she seemed to be hovering in that middle ground where I could hit her at extension but she could not hit me.  I was very surprised by her hand speed.

After some rest I fought Firebow.  We got locked up at one point and I took the end of his quillion right into the tip of my thumb.  Dumb mistake on the close as I don't want to be that close to any opponent as bad things can happen.  I much prefer to fight at distance.  After that, I put the dagger down for a bit, told him to keep his.  On our last pass, I picked my dagger back up.  The interesting thing was he did not notice that I have been fencing with a much shorter blade.  He was using his 40, I was giving up distance to him.  We talked for a bit afterwards about the passes and more.

My last fight of the night was Scrooby.  Fast, energetic, but he was either giving me the flat of his blade and had his dagger in very close.  

Overall, I'm feeling like I'm getting back to near where I was a few years ago before the shoulder injury.

Practice Report - May 23, 2013

Practice last night started out slowly.  I opened the site, and it took people a while to get there.  Eventually Edmund showed up, and we started doing some stretching.  After that, Malcolm showed up and we continued with the stretching.  With just the three of us, I ran some rapier and dagger drills.  A little after 8, Firebow and Orlando showed up.  They started fencing while I was finishing drills with Edmund.

Prior to Orlando and Bow showing up, we were doing drills in just masks and gloves, so I suited up.  Its been a few weeks since I fenced with Orlando.  We started out fencing single, me with my normal blade (37") and he with my 30".  I was able to use the reach advantage against him, since unlike with a 40"+ blade, I was not giving up a lot in terms of tempo.  I wound up pulling the tip off the blade he was using, so he switched back to his 40".  I was able to maintain my distance and play the game I wanted.  I finally feel like I am learning the measure of this new blade.

After that, I fenced Scrooby, who has just moved down to the area from Boston.  I met him at K&Q up in Montreal.  We sat next to each other at dinner.  I had noticed something in his footwork earlier while he was fencing Firebow, and wanted to see if I could take advantage of it.  Basically, he had a very wide stance, and was leaning in and out, so when his weight was forward, I knew I could press the attack on him.  After some passes, I told him what I observed and how I thought I was able to work it against him.

That was all the fencing I did last night, but the best thing was, I never felt my hand get cramped.  I'm not sure why that is, but I'll certainly take it.

Practice report - 5/2/2013

So tonight we got started late, but it was a good practice overall for me.  We did about 35 minutes of stretching and calisthenics prior to fencing.  I've been hurting since Tuesday when I went on a lunch walk with coworkers.  We did about 3 miles in 45 minutes and afterwards my ankle was sore. It was yesterday, but was telling OK today, until after practice. 

I only fenced with two people tonight, Judy and Garrick.  Judy got frustrated after a few passes, mainly she needs to knock the rust off.  She was flicking her blade at mine from 3 when I would attack from 3 or 6.  Since there was no real parry, I just kept going.  So after the first few I stopped and we drilled for a few minutes.  Then we just fenced non stop, calling out the good blows.  This helps her get into that space mentally where it's just reaction, no time to think.

Garrick was an interesting fight.  I found myself occasionally too close to him, starting at the point of his blade coming at me.  I was able to get out of it most times, but it means I need to be more conscious of my measure, especially with using a shorter session than what I'm used to.  I am getting used to the new blade length.  Yes I'm giving up a few inches in reach but it's less than half the length of my foot. 

So all in all, a good evening, but I'll be posting for it fit a few days.

Practice Report . Drew Med Fest Demo

Practice 4/18/2012

So again our intrepid duelist forayed to the wilds of Settmour Swamp to do battle with his biggest enemy... himself.  I got to practice a bit late, due to making a stop to find supplies for the wedding while they are in season at the dollar store.  I got there just in time for stretching, which is good as I'm not as flexible as I once was.

After stretching, I warmed up with Antonio.  I took out my 30" rapier against him.  He matched me, so it was an intense battle with small sword.  I love fencing with the shorter blades, all forte, no waiting.  Not the best way to warm up by going out there hard for the first bouts of the evening, but certainly a fun way to play.

After Antonio, I'm not sure who I fought, maybe Edmund.  My right hand was cramping, and my point was bouncing all over the place.  I felt like I had no control of the blade, so after the bouts, I changed out the Hanwei 43" blade I normally use for a 37" blade from Darkwood.  I figured I would see if there was some improvement, both with control and pain.  I took the blade out against Kat.  I went single, she went dagger.   I felt like I had more control of the point, but not as much as I normally do.  Also, I noticed the hand cramping more around the thumb. Additionally, my range was now off, coming up short on hitting my opponent by about 2-3".  Again, this was something I had experienced back in November, when I decided to go back to the 43" blade.

So hand cramping, knowing my measure was not happening, I tried to think what would be the best thing for me?  So I went out and just worked on my basics while bouting with Jose, Kat's boyfriend.  This was his 3rd or 4th time suiting up, and he just gets things instinctively.  I was working on one concept, keeping my hand relaxed.  I'm not going to out muscle Jose, so no point in trying to.  I was able to hit some nice things, but the hand was cramping severely.  After we went a bunch of passes, I showed him one of the moves I hit him with and how and why it works.  When I had hit him with it, I could see the WTF moment through his mask. When I explained it to him, he caught it quickly.

After that I suited down, as did everyone else and we headed to Applebee's for food.  Service was a bit lacking on promptness.  That's one thing the diner of disappointment had going for it, semi-prompt service.  So we may be on the lookout yet again for a new place for after practice.

Edmund and I at Med Fest - 4/20/13

Med Fest - Drew U - 4/20/2013

So Jennie and I had a morning meeting with the priest at her church to review some pre-wedding stuff, thus we got to the demo a little late.  There were a few fencers there, but the only one I wound up facing all day was Edmund.  We started out, me with the Darkwood 37" and a dagger.  Very quickly my hand cramped up again.  So after a bunch of passes to entertain the crowd, I switched the grip on the sword, back to the original grip it came with.  Overall, I think the grip I made was too square and not the right shape for my hand, thus I had to grip it in an unnatural way.  This then caused the hand to cramp and sent my blade control out of whack.  I fenced for the rest of the day with the old grip in place.  I noticed later in the day that my thumb was out of the normal alignment with the rest of my hand.  I could not even get my thumb to line up flat with the rest of the fingers as muscles in the pad of the thumb were just so tight.  So Retep helped me out a bit and I was able to get in some more passes and I felt like the control was coming back.

I think I am going to try and rest it more this week, but we'll see how successful that will be with work and life.  I'd not sure which blade I will be using this week at practice, the Hanwei 43" or the Darkwood 37".  I'm leaning towards the shorter blade, but I know I will be using the original grip.  We shall see how this works out.

Practice Report - 4/11/13

So last night, the weather was nicer.  It was warm during the day, so fencing in an unheated building was not too bad.  Getting to practice, the parking lot was full, so I figured it was a large turnout for practice.  Turns out the Moose were drinking in force, but we had only 7 fencers in attendance.   So after getting suited up, we did some basic footwork drills led by Antonio.  Then to change things up, and as we are getting older, we did about 20 minutes of stretching led by Mable.  I am hoping the stretching becomes part of the regular practice schedule.

I started the night fencing Firebow.  Typically, we are both out there fencing Italian with long blades (40"-43") and daggers.  I decided to change things up by bringing out my 30" rapier and dagger.  It was a much more fun fight than out typical waiting game.

Next I fought Malcolm with case of daggers, facing the same.  It was silly, it was fun, I was able to actually land a lunge from both sides.  I need to incorporate more of that in my regular game.

I ended the night with fencing Edmund.  We went back and forth.  I was working on something specific but he is probably the wrong person to try something new against as you can never get a consistent response from him.  Surprisingly, after fencing Edmund, there was only about 15 minutes left for practice, so I suited down.

When fencing Edmund, I was using my longer blade.  I noticed my hand and wrist were fatiguing.  Its something I have noticed since I changed the handle.  I think the handle I made is too narrow, so I am going to make a new one, and swap the existing one to the matching dagger.

After practice we skipped going to the "diner of disappointment" and went to Applebee's instead.  I and others had been having digestive issues after eating at the diner.  Nice thing about Applebee's, you can get a drink, and after 10 PM to close, its happy hour with half priced appetizers.  So with a bunch of appetizers and a few drinks on the table, it still came out about the same price as going to the diner.  And, my belly thanked me as I was trying to get to sleep by not keeping me awake.

Mudthaw

So I was unbelievably stressed going into Mudthaw.  Not just for a few days but for weeks leading up to the event.  So much prep to do, so little time.  Not being intimately involved in the planning and running of the event for the first time in a few years, I was not sure what was actually happening and when.

So part of the prep was Jennie made new garb for her niece and nephew and we were making a cake for Stacey's vigil.  So, in January, we borrowed her beehive cake molds, saying that it was for a cake for my niece.  We found a honey cake recipe, perfect for the lady with bees in her arms.  We also found recipes for fondant and butter cream icing.  So the weekend before Mudthaw, we needed to get our act in high gear.  We made the cake in mold, but impatient me being impatient, I tried to de-pan one before it was fully cooled. So the cake crumbled, but at least it tasted good.  We then tried to get the second one out when it had cooled, and while we had less trouble with that one, we still lost some detail.  Additionally, I need to learn to read instructions as I set the temperature a little too high, so while the outside cooked, the inside was  still a little gooey and under cooked.

So a second batch was made and this time, we used two 10" rounds.   We ran out to get supplies for decorating the cake as it cooled.  But realizing that we'd want the cake as fresh as possible meant that to ice and decorate it, it would have to wait until Friday night.  Crap, Friday night where I had made dinner plans with friends coming down for the weekend.  So into the freezer goes the cakes, and wait until Friday.

Friday:

During lunch I made the fondant.  It needed some time to rest before we could roll it out and cut to shape.  We had gotten a leaf shape fondant cutter, so that we could make a laurel wreath on the cake from the fondant.  We whipped up a batch of icing from scratch, but it was not enough to go between the layers and cover the cake nicely.  Because the cake was a little crumbly, Jennie laid on a rough coat of icing, which picked up some of the crumbs as she spread it.  So I made a second batch, adding a little orange extract to it and then she recovered the cake with a smooth final coat.  We then rolled out the fondant and cut it into the leaf shapes or two sizes, the large size for the top and a smaller size for the sides of the cake.  So I finished decorating while Jennie took a shower.  Cake went into the fridge, got washed up, and off we go...

Headed out about 8:00 to meet up with Cheryl, Robert, LT at the hotel and take them to our favorite sushi place.  Donovan, Sorsha, and Anastasia were just checking in to the hotel as we were about to leave, so we waited for them to get a room key and then they followed us.  Magdalena met us at the restaurant on her way to the hotel.  So the nine of us were out at Nagoya.  I ordered two Mike rolls for the table (afterall, the roll is actually named after me).  It was a great night, getting to hang out with friends outside of an event, and really talk, have fun, laugh a lot.  Jennie and I dropped Sorsha off at Adam & Stacey's where we arrived to see a house full of friends.   Then we headed home to get what sleep we could.

Saturday:

In the morning, we made a packing list and list of things to do so we would not forget.  Problem is, I forgot stuff, like extra cloaks for Jennie and her sister, and the list.  Well the list actually made it with us.  On the way to the event, we stopped at Walgreen's  and we picked up some supplies for the day, mainly foam swords for the kids to play with.  We got flowers for the vigil to go along with the laurel branches Jennie cut from the trees around her house.  We got coffee.  I didn't order coffee, but my ice tea tasted like tea and coffee mixed and not in a good way.  So I asked them to remake it.  Still tasted the same.  Jennie tasted it so I know I was not crazy.

We got to the event and grabbed the stuff for the vigil from the car when they called Stacey into court.  From that point forward, it was rush, rush, rush.  I grabbed the cake, and made sure I showed it to her before people partook of it.

So afterwards, I got suited up to fence.  I pushed myself a bit too much too early going back to back to back with warmups against Jacob Fisher, the newest OGR Davius, and then Donovan.  After fencing Donovan, I was having issues breathing, mostly due to the chill in the air.  Lungs a burning, it took me too long to recover, so I dropped out of the tournament and marshaled one of the four lists in the rapier tournament.  What I saw was some excellent fights, courteous combatants, and smiles on faces.

I played major domo for a little bit while Antonio had things to do at the start of Stacey's vigil.  Finally, I saw someone cut into the cake, so I had to try it.  I don't want to toot our horns, but my goodness, was that a tasty cake.  There was not much left of it.  Actually, all the food/gifts/etc for the vigil was amazing.

Court came, and I got to see two friends made companions of the Silver Crescent.  I know there were other awards, but I was breaking down the vigil, chatting, and doing other things.  I got to see a good friend elevated to a peerage up close.  I got to see a new comer to the SCA go up and receive a token from the royals.   Post court, we got in the car, ran home, got changed, got beer, and headed over to Adam & Stacey's for dinner.  Well us and about 40 others.  The house was packed, food was eaten in mass quantities.  I got to hang with my pelican, his wife, and my chosen family.  And oh, my cheeks still hurt from laughing too much.  I think we left at about 12:30 and the party seemed to still be going strong.

All in all, what a wonderful, exhausting weekend.

Sources for recipies:

Cake Recipe:  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/moist-holiday-honeycake/detail.aspx
Icing Recipe:  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/quick-and-almost-professional-buttercream-icing/detail.aspx
Fondant Recipe adapted from : http://www.sweettoothlove.com/rainbow-fondant-cups/