SCA @ UVa

I can't remember the last time I spent a solid weekend working on one project or another. Didn't even get a nap. Lots of painting various quest props, building a new shield and helping some of the UVa students get more of their armor fixed or cut out. My hands are tired.

The big surprise came when helping Jonathan pattern his vambrace. Jonathan is 6'3"/165 lbs–almost exactly the same height and weight I was when I started fighting, though he's 5 years younger than I was the first time I got in armor. So he has the physical potential to become quite the monster. (When I was 20, I weighed about 145 lbs.)  Astonishingly, when he tried on my vambrace pattern, it was too short for him. Though he's 6'3" like I am, his forearms are a full inch longer than mine.

Wow.

His upper arm looks to be shorter than mine, so total reach is probably about the same. We'll see how this ends up affecting his blow development. I'm going to imagine him like Earl Daffydd, if Daffyd had legs proportioned like a normal human.

Hmm. Just occurred to me that Jonathan was actually born about the same time I started fighting. If his birthday is in October, that would be really freaky.

All in all a very productive weekend. I think the monthly get-together had over 30 people at the house.

I'm trying to do more exercise and may re-join the UVa gym.

Good article here about what kinds of exercises to avoid.

Most interesting: Sit ups are bad for you and inefficient ways to build ab muscle. Do bike crunches instead!

Last night's practice at the Dells had nineteen people at it. Nineteen! Twelve of them were students or somehow associated with the University. Five students armored up and I couldn't track the number of students fighting rapier.

That's extraordinary. We've come a long way since Philip and I started wandering from spot to spot around Grounds, trying to figure out where to practice and how to interest students.

I feel really good about the mix of skills and interests among our students too. Everyone seems enthused but not so into it that they'll end up flunking out. (I've seen that happen before.) Even more important than the number of people putting out effort to get in gear, I see that all these first and second year students are coming together as a social circle and mutual support, which is a positive feedback loop that helps everyone keep going because of the mutual support.

So, who works out on Grounds?

I'm sure Timm does, because he want Infantry and "you have to have really good PT scores."

Charles & Jonathan talked about starting. Are you keeping up? Anyone else?

I'm curious because I'm considering rejoining the UVa gym and it is easier to stay motivated with a work-out buddy or 3. Of course, that's assuming that any of you young whippersnappers would want to work out with an old guy like me.

Here's UVa first year Eric's new helmet, modeled by a friend of his who came to watch practice last night.

Respectful of the traditions of His ancestors, Prince Valharic has called on an Oracle to speak of His upcoming coronation. Those auguries speak of a glorious reign to come, with great things to begin at the coronation of Valharic and Arielle. Yet they also hint at some darker, alarming event on the heels of that joy:

No doubt in the strength of a chain's bond, those unproven prove the day.

Mars and Vulcan strive, so must the brave as a strong hand's fingers.

Ever mindful of the welfare of Atlantia, Prince Valharic asks that teams of five ("as a strong hand's fingers") stalwarts apply to him and be prepared for a quest into the very realm of the Roman Gods. Teams must include at least one armored combatant and at least one non-combatant and must be captained by a non-peer ("those unproven prove the day"). One peer per team, but you may include a multiple peer. List as many of your five and their titles as you have worked out when you apply to HRH Valharic. Email prince@atlantia.sca.org to apply.

One of the best benchmarks for the health of any SCA group is the number of its members who regularly travel outside of their home group. Healthy cantons/shires/baronies have lots of members who travel regularly. Any group that spends all of its time locally ends up filled with tangled, incestuous and outright bone-headed ideas. Not that the broader SCA isn't filled with bone-headed ideas, but they won't be the same bone-headed ideas, and learning how the kingdom works tends to show you that things in your group don't have to be the way they are.

Further, some people aren't good fits for their local group. They need to know that the larger kingdom has people and groups that will appreciate and nurture them, if the local group is incapable of doing so. This improves the individuals, the local group and the kingdom.

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