Fighting
The noble arts of combat
Fighting was a big part of medieval life, and it is also a big part of the SCA. There are two different combat environments: 'The Lists' of a Tournament and the Field of War.
Tournament Combat
Tournaments are an opportunity for combatants to display their virtues of chivalry, courtesy and martial prowess.
With a rich tradition of pageantry, spectacle and ceremony, SCA tournaments are very much spectator sports, as were the medieval events that have informed and inspired them.
Tournaments are held for a variety of reasons: some tournaments as an opportunity to fight, some purely as an excuse to have fun, and some, like the Crown Tournament of a Kingdom, are very important occasions indeed.
War Combat
Combat upon the Warfield is very different to combat in the Lists of a Tournament.
Rather than a one-on-one (or few-on-few) challenge with each combatant fighting for the honour and glory of themselves and their consorts, war armies must integrate their disparate elements into one cohesive whole to emerge triumphant. Shield walls, archer battalions, polearm units, siege engines, commanders, all must work together to secure victory.
As well as there being different classes of combat, there are also different classes of combatant: Heavy, Archery and Rapier.
Heavy Combat
Heavy Combat is the oldest style of fighting in the SCA, appearing (in a very rudimentary form) at the very first event, when the founding members donned motorcycle helmets and hit each other with branches and hockey sticks. Things have come a long way since then, the armour is generally a lot more medieval and must conform to safety standards. Rattan is used to fashion the weapons; swords, maces, spears, polearms and others.
Archery
There are two ways to use a bow in the Society: Target Archery and Combat Archery.
Target Archery is a test of skill and accuracy, archers vying against one other to accumulate the most points. 'Sharps' (arrows with points) are most commonly used.
Combat Archery involves armour (much the same as for Heavy Combat), and archers using 'blunts' against each other (and against enemy heavy combatants on the Warfield).
Rapier
Rapier Combat aims to recreate the techniques used in honour duels in the medieval period. Quite a lot of documentation has survived in the form of period fencing manuals, so there are many different 'schools' to master.
Medieval fencing differs from modern Olympic fencing in a few ways, the most striking being that it is fought 'in the round', the combatants can move and circle, rather than being stuck on a modern fencing strip.
Getting Started
The college has an active presence on the battle and list fields within the Melbourne area. While we don't hold our own training sessions, we regularly attend wider SCA fighter practices, who usually have instructers and loaner gear so are a great place to start participating SCA martial sports. See the SCA Victoria calendar for details on these sessions.
Images courtesy of Paul of Abbotsford, Indrani Mai and Deense.