Our historical swordfighting class turned out to be more of a round-table discussion about how to bring more historical swordfighting techniques into SCA rapier, and how to teach historical rapier. It was energizing for me, and helped remove some of the bitter taste of not being able to fence for the time being.
I feel energized by the possibility of teaching more, to tell the truth. I feel like I have more of a purpose in the SCA, you know?
My Don and I spent some time re-affirming how we're going to work together, too. We'll spend time doing swordwork, and time going through manuals. All very good stuff.
A few of the key points we touched on in our discussion last week:
1: How to use the manuals. Reminding ourselves that the manuals are there to aid in the teaching, and investigating the text without practical application just doesn't work. The manual may show us points "A" and "B", but we have to work on how to join those two points. We can do that, thanks to our practical experience with a sword.
2: The sword itself: The right tool for the right job. I talked about this before in this blog. I re-affirmed that I really don't feel comfortable teaching with an epee. If you're going to lean how to fight with a sword, then use a sword.
3: It starts from the beginning: Although we don't want to intimidate newer fencers with historical texts right out of the gate, it doesn't hurt to teach with those techniques in mind. Teach how the sword moves in concert with the body. Drill all of the moves that will eventually become necessary to know by rote. This isn't a new thought at all, but alot of teaching I see in the SCA is very compartmentalized.
4: With intent: Try to execute a move from a manual in a static environment, and you're doomed to fail. The techniques are best done at an appropriate fighting speed, in a fightign environment. Fight with intent. Historical technique isn't for a static environment.
There's much more, which I will put up soon. I'm going to sit down with Don J. and compile our thoughts together. We'll also start teaching at SCA events, once we have our schedule worked out.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Historical Swordfighting Class
This Thursday, April 24, Don Justinian and I are teaching a class about what it helps to know to begin studying historical swordsmanship. It starts at 7:30PM, at J's house in Glassboro. For directions, e-mail me at mikewgoodman (at) gmail.com, or Justinian at justinian_t (at) verizon.net. Its a great class for people interested in starting to learn historical swordfighting.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Weekend gaming recap
I was in three different games this past weekend: a Dr. Who RPG using D20 Modern, a Warhammer Fantasy Battles game, and my Warhammer RPG. They were a little different from your average series of games. The two RPG sessions were fairly short (about three hours), and the fantasy battles game went fairly quickly (about an hour of play time, I think, after around an hour of set-up). Each one had alot packed into the time, though.
The Dr. Who game is on a Friday night, and I think we started playing around 8:30 and ended around 11:30. There was alot of story and investigation stuffed into the time. The players took the time to unravel the mystery in the story, as well as soak up the atmosphere. By the end of the story, the group was going through a fortress inspired by one of the original episodes of the series...The Daleks.
The Fantasy Battles game was a great introduction to the hobby. My three units of Bretonnian calvary (with a little help from a few units of archers) carried the day against an army of Lizardmen. There was maybe an hour's worth of playtime, but it was great fun, and inspired me to really built a bigger army. We talked a little about how to augment units with different models, which helped me re-imagine how to design different units of men-at-arms and archers.
The Warhammer RPG Sunday had to be shortened, since one of the players had to leave early. The PC's started their trek to the Imperial capital of Altdorf, following a pack of mercenaries. There was some strong character building (with one player changing his career due to interactions in the adventure). There was one encounter with a pack of undead soldiers, and the survivors moved on.
Each gaming session was considerably shorter than what I'm used to. Everyone put alot into each session, though.
The Dr. Who game is on a Friday night, and I think we started playing around 8:30 and ended around 11:30. There was alot of story and investigation stuffed into the time. The players took the time to unravel the mystery in the story, as well as soak up the atmosphere. By the end of the story, the group was going through a fortress inspired by one of the original episodes of the series...The Daleks.
The Fantasy Battles game was a great introduction to the hobby. My three units of Bretonnian calvary (with a little help from a few units of archers) carried the day against an army of Lizardmen. There was maybe an hour's worth of playtime, but it was great fun, and inspired me to really built a bigger army. We talked a little about how to augment units with different models, which helped me re-imagine how to design different units of men-at-arms and archers.
The Warhammer RPG Sunday had to be shortened, since one of the players had to leave early. The PC's started their trek to the Imperial capital of Altdorf, following a pack of mercenaries. There was some strong character building (with one player changing his career due to interactions in the adventure). There was one encounter with a pack of undead soldiers, and the survivors moved on.
Each gaming session was considerably shorter than what I'm used to. Everyone put alot into each session, though.
Friday, April 11, 2008
What kind of game you play changes with who you are
When Vampire: the Masquerade hit the shelves in the early 90's, it immediately struck a chord. I was interested in creating characters that were designed to really just interact with the environment. I would be happy to just play a character who walked the streets, talked to people, and tried to figure out how to exist as the un-dead in a world not meant for him. I created settings and adventures designed, for the most part, along that idea. Did it work? Did the games fly? Sort of. Some went well, others didn't. Some players just wanted to play Immortals With Cool Powers, some engaged in some kind of revenge-fantasy, some wanted Dungeon Crawling With Fangs.
But here it is, around 16 years after the first edition of V:tM came out, and every now and again I get the itch to run that game again. I sit down, try to work on a setting, and then drop it. It just doesn't work; I'm not in that place anymore. My early 20's seemed to be the right time to play and run Vampire, you know? It was the time to feel disassociated from my peers, to feel like I didn't belong, and to express that in a game. A good number of people felt the same way, too, and some games built up from that were pure magic.
But im in my mid-to-late 30's now, and times are different. I still put some of my life into my games, but I'm trying to say something different now. I think about my home, my family, and how to carve out a victory from a life that keeps trying to hand out defeat. And you know what game speaks to me when I think of that?
Serenity.
Funny, huh? When I think of a game in that setting, I think of people building a better life for themselves, using their wits and their strengths. Characters for the setting just seem a little more real; they have dirt under their fingernails. They're working hard just to keep what's theirs.
Some of the best times roleplaying I've seen recently have come out of a couple of different Serenity games. Very little was drawn from Whedon's setting. Rather, characters seemed to be built from the players' frustrations with the working world, with their economic situations, from their desire to really be heroes in a world not meant for heroes. I've seen game sessions that were almost entirely about how to make the next couple of credits, how to keep enough fuel in the ship to make the next credit to get to the next job. That cycle of despiration is a hell of a motivator.
I'm going to try to re-create that kind of environment when the new edition of Traveller comes out. I want players who will create characters who are real, born out of their own fears, frustrations, and see what stories come out from them.
But here it is, around 16 years after the first edition of V:tM came out, and every now and again I get the itch to run that game again. I sit down, try to work on a setting, and then drop it. It just doesn't work; I'm not in that place anymore. My early 20's seemed to be the right time to play and run Vampire, you know? It was the time to feel disassociated from my peers, to feel like I didn't belong, and to express that in a game. A good number of people felt the same way, too, and some games built up from that were pure magic.
But im in my mid-to-late 30's now, and times are different. I still put some of my life into my games, but I'm trying to say something different now. I think about my home, my family, and how to carve out a victory from a life that keeps trying to hand out defeat. And you know what game speaks to me when I think of that?
Serenity.
Funny, huh? When I think of a game in that setting, I think of people building a better life for themselves, using their wits and their strengths. Characters for the setting just seem a little more real; they have dirt under their fingernails. They're working hard just to keep what's theirs.
Some of the best times roleplaying I've seen recently have come out of a couple of different Serenity games. Very little was drawn from Whedon's setting. Rather, characters seemed to be built from the players' frustrations with the working world, with their economic situations, from their desire to really be heroes in a world not meant for heroes. I've seen game sessions that were almost entirely about how to make the next couple of credits, how to keep enough fuel in the ship to make the next credit to get to the next job. That cycle of despiration is a hell of a motivator.
I'm going to try to re-create that kind of environment when the new edition of Traveller comes out. I want players who will create characters who are real, born out of their own fears, frustrations, and see what stories come out from them.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
She's delivered an ultimatum
Like I'd said before, I started painting my Warhammer army (pictures coming this weekend). I spent some time today checking out terrain.
And my wife has just alerted me, with a voice of authority, that I am not permitted to buy any terrain until I finish painting my army.
So, if anyone is interested in coming by for a painting night, leave me a comment here at my blogger page (not the LJ feed, please), or drop me a line at my gmail address.
And my wife has just alerted me, with a voice of authority, that I am not permitted to buy any terrain until I finish painting my army.
So, if anyone is interested in coming by for a painting night, leave me a comment here at my blogger page (not the LJ feed, please), or drop me a line at my gmail address.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
