On Thu, 14 Mar 1996, Hitomi Ichinohei wrote:

At 06:51 PM 3/14/96 -0500, AlberCrombie wrote:

Society for Creative Anachronism.  Over 20,000 members world wide.  The idea
is to research and re-inact/live out the ways of the middle ages ( we have a
target period between 600 to 1600 AD).  There is probably a group close to
you.  (well, you never know)

Everything except running water and trial by fire.

There is a group that is close to me, as well as  some other groups that I
attended around Canada.

This is a serious non-profit organization.  We do serious research, and have
a lot of people doing very interesting things.  Not only do we do arts and
crafts (et al) we also fight using real armour and ratan (a form of bamboo)
swords.  Even do the royalty thing.

The European techniques were a joke...unsurprisingly.  There are simply 
way more intricacies to swordplay then the "overhand, the thrust and the 
slash." 

Also, I hate to say it, but you place a swordsman wielding a 
fifteen pound chunk-of-metal-with-a-point sword against a seven pound 
sword of equal length but better design, and yes...swordsman one is gonna 
get whooped.  (I _am_ talking about katana vs your average english 
longsword.)

I do not know about the arts and crafts, but I do know that they were lying
to people about how to use a sword properly.  They also were telling me that
I cannot use a staff in the way I was using it, that a person with a staff
cannot stand up to someone with a sword, that Japanese swords were not able
to do what I know they can do etc.

Actually, they told me the same thing, and I think most swordsmen would 
be hard pressed against a staffmen.  I know that I am.

Most disturbing to me was the fact that I am an actual sword mistress.  A
mistress of the sword and the various uses of over fifty diferent types of
swords.  What they told me to do with the sword never matched up to fact.

I will say the SCA is not about fantasy, LARPs, elves, magic, or anything
else that falls under the fictional mideval parasol.  This is strictly (ok,
90%) authentic.

I will say that the fighting bit is complete fantasy.

If they live in a dream...who are we to wake them?

Hitomi

					Stile