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Heavy List,
Combat Archery and Rapier
/ Fencing
Heavy List Fighting
or Rattan Stick Fighting is a unique art and sport. Lords and Ladies
of our Society engage in full speed, full force, un-choreographed
martial combat. Due to the nature of the armour and weapons, combatants
come out of these brutal "deeds of arms" unscathed and ready to
do it again. Nowhere else will you be able to enter into contests
of skill with the raw intensity that you can in the SCA.
After safety, honor is the most important aspect of heavy list fighting.
Our combat system is one based upon recognition of blows received.
Victory is never taken, but rather it is given by the man-at-arms
in recognizing the worthiness and skill of their opponent. This
culture of combat is one of great justice and trust, for it places
weight upon the honor and integrity of all involved.
Armour in the SCA is fashioned after historical examples and made
of a variety of materials--metals, leather, and plastic--with modern
equipment hidden as much as possible. Whether one chooses to portray
a Norman cnight, a Saxon thegn, a Norse huscarl, a Byzantine cataphractos,
an English esquire, or any other variety of man-at-arms is immaterial--in
the SCA all of these coexist on the same battlefields and lists
together.
Rattan--similar to a solid bamboo--is used to construct the wide
array of weapons (sword, axe, spear, mace, poll-arm, the sword of
war or great sword, dagger, and others) that are used by Armoured
Fighters during combat. Instead of snapping and splintering, rattan
fibers separate along the length. A worn out piece of rattan looks
a lot like a broom. Most newer fighters choose to begin with sword
and shield, but many branch out quickly into the use of one or more
of these chivalric weapons, finding different pleasures and challenges.
Deeds of arms are conducted weekly, at practices, tournaments, melees,
and wars. These are held inside and out, depending on the availability
of an appropriate hall and the prevailing weather.
- Society Marshal's Armored Combat Page
- Field Battle (mpeg)
- Bridge Battle (mpeg)
- Fighter practice montage (mpeg)
Combat Archery
Crossbow men (and women); siege engines, trebuchets, onangers and
ballistas; javelins, and more...
This is where archers dressed in the protective armor of our heavy
fighters can get onto the battlefield and shoot at live combatants.
Special equipment is used to prevent actual injury during combat.
Large blunt heads for the arrows prevent them from penetrating helmets
and low powered bows keep people safe on the field. Combat archery
is more akin to armored combat than to target archery and is considered
one of the many weapons form used for that activity.
- Society Marshal's Missile Combat and Target Archery Page
- Society Marshal's Siege Combat Page
- Primitive
Archer Magazine article
Rapier / Fencing
Safety and consideration for our fellow rapier fighters is a foremost
concern in SCA rapier play, followed closely by the ideals of Honor,
Courtesy, and Chivalry. We utilize various types of metal blades
and modified modern fencing gear to recreate civilian combats from
the late 1400's down through the end of theSCA period, 1600 (such
as Shakespeare chronicled in 'Romeo and Juliet').
We differ from Olympic style fencing in our use of slicing
cuts, secondary weapons such as daggers, extra swords, cloaks and
the like, and non-linear movement; we're not restricted to back-and-forth
movement found on a modern Olympic strip!
Hits are determined the same way in armoured combat,
vis-a-vis the honor system based on recognition of the blows received.
However, our blows are not struck with as nearly as much force as
armoured combat.
- Society Marshal's Rapier Combat Page
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