Dove said:
Awesome, what's the name of the group?
I'm part of a reenactment group in the U.S. We fight with shinai, rapier, and live steel. Everybody has to work their way up, because each style has more expensive equipment than the previous, and nobody really has much gear to loan out the higher up you go.
:: giggles ::
"Live steel" even, eh? SCA, I assume?
:: grins ::
Eh. Anyway. We're a German reenactment group, although I'd rather classify us as British because we've got more in common with British groups than with German ones.
We fight with steel exclusively (well, some equipment tends to consist of wood or leather mostly (shields and poles, for example), but we don't do rubber and all that should be metal is metal), semi-contact, i.e. everything but hands, head, neck and the region between your shoulders is a legal target -- no headshots.
We are more about decent fighting than decent authenticity so we span an area from somewhere in the 8th century or so to the late 14th century and don't put much of an emphasis on authentic dress although we try to at least look somewhat medieval when we do events.
Some Brits know us by the label "the Germans" and we've also been referred to as "the black pushing machine", but our actually name is "Freier Haufe zu Coeln e.V." and our colors are black and red (our coat of arms is red and white zig-zagged and a black griffon on the lower (i.e. white) half). We were officially founded this year, but some members have a lot of prior experience (most notably our leader who has been into reenactment for eight years and is well-known to all noteworthy British groups).
We also train once per week (twice per week in the summer) for roughly 3 to 4 hours per session (which might be the reason we nearly overran the enemy lines in the couple of events we did).
As I said we fight with metal, but newcommers need to pass a safety test for each new weapon (with which they need to have trained for a few weeks before they are ready) before they are allowed to use it against other newbies and not every newcommer instantly becomes a member.
Padded gloves (or better) are mandatory, getting a sword would be a good idea if you're going to stay. People are usually asked to get a full kit if they decide to become regulars and members are asked to learn at least one battlefield weapon (shield or polearm) in addition to the one-handed sword (which is mandatory).
We do linework as well as skirmish tactics and one-on-one duels.
We have a static hierarchy, all officers are elected and you have to earn your respect. To avoid conflicts and ridicule, we only have one knight and that is our first chairman, leader and mentor who trained every last one of our founding members.
We're a loose band of mercenaries rather than an order. However I feel that this has only helped the group, since we've been growing steadily (roughly 40 members in twelve months) and we're all either good friends or at least respect eachother.
As for me:
I have passed a safety test with buckler, shortsword and dagger, all of which I use frequently, and am currently training with a spear, which will be my battlefield weapon.
My kit currently consists of the standard stuff (gambeson, trousers, boots and belt), a barbute, chainmail gloves, a buckler, a dagger, a one-handed sword, an handaxe, a spear and a shield. I have trained with the handaxe, but currently I want to focus on the weapons I know and the pole, so I am not using it much. The shield would have to be adjusted a bit, but I figured I prefer the pole a lot over the shield, so I am most likely going to donate it to the club.
I've been a regular since February and have been to three British and one German event (and I got to say that I liked the British ones a lot better than the German one).
).
