Heavy Fighting

Fighting in the SCA evolved from what happened when two armed knights were unhorsed and had to fight on the ground. It resembles nothing so much as medieval foot tournaments. There are two basic types of SCA fights: single combat, and group or team battles, known as melees. SCA fighting does have rules. The first, and most important rule, is that each and every fighter on the field has honor. The fighter keeps faith with his honor by accepting blows that would be killing or wounding (more about this a little later).

The second basic principle is like the first; A fighter keeps faith with his brother fighters by acknowledging his opponent's word -- if he says a blow was too light to cause injury, then it was light. Since we prefer that no one get hurt, SCA fighting is done with real armor (made with leather, metal, padding, kydex, etc) and rattan swords. Rattan is that bamboo-y stuff, only with a solid core, that furniture is made of. Rattan, surprisingly enough, is springy enough to absorb some of the force of the blow (although blows are *real solid*) and light enough to approximate a real steel sword. Swords are made by wrapping rattan staffs with strapping tape, covering them with duct tape for aesthetic reasons, and attaching some sort of crosspiece or guard. Armor is much more complex - some armor, being made of steel, rivets, leather, etc, can take more than 40 hours per piece of armor.

There are several essential and required pieces of armor - a helm, and protection for the neck, cervical vertebrae, elbows, knees, kidneys, hands, and groin. In addition, most SCA fighters wear chest, leg, arm and forearm, and foot protection.

Before being allowed to participate in combat without close supervision, each fighter is trained by senior fighters, known as "marshals." This training aims at ensuring that the fighter is safe to himself or herself and to others, and typically lasts a few months. As part of this training, the novice fighter is taught how to recognize a "good" blow. Each fighter judges whether blows received in combat strike hard enough to do injury through armor. If the blow is "good" to an arm or leg, the fighter will give up use of that limb; if the blow is good to the head or body, the fighter is "dead," and falls to the ground, signaling that his opponent is victorious. At the end of training, each fighter must prove to a panel of marshals that he is competent to fight on his own. If the panel decides the fighter is safe (not good, you understand, but unlikely to hurt him or herself or an opponent) they authorized him or her to fight in tournaments. This process (from starting to fight to being authorized) can take from a couple of months to a year or more.

Arts & Sciences

The Arts & Sciences are all the crafts, skills, and technologies practiced in the time period and cultures that the SCA covers. Arts & Sciences range from the recipes used for a feast to the armor used in combat, the clothes and costumes we wear to the bardic arts of singing, storytelling, poetry and instrumental pieces. Our Minister of Arts & Sciences is here to help you find the answers you need, be it finding you a source or introducing you to an expert in the field.

Here follows a list of some of the members of the Barony of Knight's Crossing and their specific interests in the Arts & Sciences:

Graf Maximilian, Ritter von Brandenberg
Armoring, Leather work, Blacksmithing, Woodworking, Calligraphy, Tent making, Knot work, Casting

Sir Gerhardt von Wüstenburg
Stone carving, tent making, casting, wood carving, scroll seals

Lady Judith de Northumbria
15th c. and 16th c. Italian, French, English and Burgundian dances and celebrations, 13-15th c. clothing, 15th c. embroidery

Lady Elsslin von Adlersberg
Sewing, Tablet Weaving, 14th century clothing

Himiltrude fan Austrasia
Heraldry, Music