A triumphal return is nothing without a follow up. This week I am going to give you a look at the goings on inside my head (like, in a cognitive way, not in terms of squidgy tissues and neurotransmitters squirting all over the shop). I have started looking at rapier fencing, and I have some thoughts on club expansion and rampant consumerism.
New Sword Joy
As you saw, last week we got two new Rapiers from the beleaguered HF Armoury. We had previously handled their ARA Rapier and whilst it seemed OK for €130 it wasn’t exactly lighting us on fire. I want(ed, more on this later) to do the Spanish style Destreza which involves holding the rapier straight out at shoulder height. The ARA was a bit too heavy for that, I would need to develop a lot of forearm strength very quickly! Luckily, due to a couple of successful events which lined our coffers quite well, we had gone for a higher tier.
When our pointy bois arrived, we were very pleased with their lower weight and slightly less point-heavy balance. “Excellent,” I thought, “Destreza it is!” I bought a well recommended book From Page to Practice, printed it out on work time and dove straight in. The manual is well written from my point of view. It lays down the authors’ interpretation and then gives quotes from primary sources (or translations, you know what I mean) that justify those interpretations. The text is well supported with clear photos that show you what the techniques, stances etc. will look like in practice.
Makes me think of the “H” in HEMA. We are supposed to be doing historical fencing, which means with reference to documents from the past. So, I am taking advantage of someone else’s scholarship, not doing the study myself. This is still historical in my mind, and I really like it when the documents produced are approachable and clear manuals, which this book certainly is. My mistakes later on will be down to my misunderstanding of an interpretation of a historical document at least, not to mention my dubious ability to physically perform the moves.
I got to try it out on Monday. I have to say I think I am going to drop the Destreza, and here’s why. Whilst I accept that I don’t really know what I am doing, I immediately got the feeling that the stance and style lacked the physical engagement and athleticism I was looking for. The stance is very narrow and tall, the arm held out straight at shoulder height. This is hard work on the arms, but I know I have the strength to handle it. No, the problem is that the straight body and arm don’t feel to be holding any potential for movement. There’s no ‘coiled energy’ and tension to unleash in a burning flash of excellence and aggression (or whatever).
I can see that the tall stance allows good weight balance and that taking a step or lunge can deliver the blade forward, so standing tall does have potential. It just doesn’t feel like it. I want there to be a slightly more dynamic feel and, let’s be honest, look to my rapier. Destreza does that nonchalant almost arrogant, strolling about with your chin held high vibe, it just looks far better than it feels.
In light of this whim, I decided to jump ship to Capoferro, after just one week of not even really trying that hard. Cause that’s just how my attention span works… His crouchey, lungey linear style kinda looks more like it to me. However, as we have seen above, I am prone to being whimsical, as in the acting on my whims, not twee cloud gazing and plucking the petals off daisies. So we will see, maybe I’ll come back to Destreza at some point.
Club Expansion
We need new members. We have been coasting along alright with 6-10 regulars. We’ve taken on a couple of newbies per year since the end of Lockdown and we thought that was acceptable. The newer members have got stuck in to the club, attending events, learning skills and sparring so that is all well and good. However, I think I am noticing a slight drop off in the vibe. It’s become a little samey fighting the same few people in the same combinations every week. Whilst I love the other Peasants and don’t want to detract from their commitment or attitude. It is still great fun fighting and hanging out with them, we just need some new blood.
I have talked about the value of teaching to one’s own practice and I think I could do with going through that process of instruction again. To re-imagine what I do from the viewpoint of someone who has never done it before. Not only will that, hopefully, bring in new people, it might re-novate my own perception of fencing. We don’t just want to bring in new members to have more fights we want to see some continuation and development in the club and sport we love.
Within the club we have been seriously looking at running a taster day workshop. It seems like it would be a good way to get a bit of visibility for the club. We have basically been resorting to the opinion that because we are a rural club all the people that are likely to want to try HEMA already have and that the pool of potential recuits is exhausted. But maybe we are wrong, maybe there is a hidden mass of people who don’t even know about HEMA let alone that we are just there are the end of the village swordsing with all our might!
At the moment we are working out what we want to teach people in a one day workshop. We have to have them end the day with a little boffer-sparring, would you go to a sword workshop and be happy if you didn’t get to hit someone? So that means we will be teaching them the very basics, but do we try to cover, say, Longsword AND Sabre to give them a taste of our main interests, or just focus on Longsword as that is where the full beginner’s course is likely to be based on?
A work in progress at this point, so stay tuned for updates.
New Gear?
The other thing that is running through the HEMA halls of my tiny little mind is the equipment I am using, and do I need new gear? I am aware that I am sometimes like a little kid, always looking to buy something new and shiny. The big question is whether my desire for new stuff is rooted in a genuine realisation that the stuff I have is worn out OR is it just that desire to consume?
My mask is fine, new as of just a couple of years ago. The overlay looks tired (I think I have had that since 2018), it’s the leather Unity overlay from Spes, and whilst it is doing the job well there is a small hole in it. I can’t see me replacing this to be honest, it’s just too good.
My jacket is also reasonably new, but the back of the collar is looking shiny where the overlay has been rubbing on it. Spes also now do this whole new customisation thing, so I was thinking of lashing out on something really flashy (for me anyway). There’s a Rennaisance Doublet which catches my eye, and I could further push the envelope by having it in two colours, which would be really spiffing!
My gloves are good, I bought them at the end of 2019, and they got a nice rest for two years, which means they are pretty much new. No need to get replacements yet. Forearm guards are a different story. I have been wearing the same ones since 2017 and they are looking frayed and faded. Nothing to jeopardise safety but certainly not looking as fresh as I would like.
On the bottom half I have some lovely High Hill poofy pants (pluderhosen I suppose) that do the job, they need a bit of stitching as they are seven years old now (phew, time flies). It’s a tiny job really but even so my eye has been drawn to the Arcem poofy pants, which are newton rated while the High Hill are not… It would be hard to justify splashing out on them, but I am not one to shy away from the hard work.
My shin guards also look a bit tatty. I have the Red Dragon shin guards, they are functional and safe but a little bulky and have faded somewhat from the bright red I like. Mainly I am considering replacement because they kinda spoil the well-turned ankle look, which forms a vital part of renaissance fencing (search your heart, you know it to be true). I want something a bit more fitting, maybe that will go under my socks.
So that’s the run down. Let’s be honest what I am talking about here is having perfectly fine equipment but wanting new stuff anyway. It keeps me safe, does the job I need it to and looks well enough. I just feel that desire to consume, to buy new things to prove my involvement in the world by being economically active. There’s something about wearing objects that feeds directly into our sense of identity. I want to wear stuff that I have chosen so that people can see who I am, and the cool ones will think I am cool. It’s shallow, perhaps, but I know I am not the only one.
In conclusion
That’s a lot of words spilt out of my head there. Looking back over the topics I think the theme running through it all is that I am looking for some way to inject novelty back into a hobby that I have been at for a solid nine years now. There’s a slight worry, am I becoming jaded, is it time to hang up my feder and take up historical knitting, does my need for novelty mean I have had enough of HEMA?
Frankly no. I don’t think it does. The hobby still fascinates me, from the technical difficulties of learning and carrying out valid, effective techniques right through to the socialising at events, I still have a deep commitment to historical fencing. One way of looking at is that I am very fortunate that I am doing something I like so much that I am constantly looking for new ways to explore it; doubly lucky that the field is so deep and varied that there is still a massive amount of material and experiences to be had in the pursuit of HEMA.
I was listening to a neuroscience podcast on why time seems to slow down when you are in a life threatening situation. It turns out that it is linked to the reason childhood summers seemed to last forever, and why middle-aged years fly by. When we have new experiences, they are valued more highly by the brain (as are really dangerous ones) so memories are laid down more densely and in review this makes it seem like the experience lasts longer. So, if you want to get more out of life or at least qualitatively ‘live longer’ you need to have new experiences, see new things, meet new people and give them a little friendly stab. My desire for a new pair of poofy pants can therefore be seen, not as the shallow cravings of a mad consumer, but as an effort to extend life and expand consciousness. That’s my story, and I am sticking to it.
Thanks for reading my wafflings. I hope they entertained you for a while. If you want to chat about them or let me know what you think on the subject, you can comment below or contact me through the Wrathful Peasants page.
The Wrathful Peasant 