What started as one recap post finally draws to a close today. I’ve also written about my first and second rounds in Crown, as well as the Warlord tourney the next day.

So what did I learn this past weekend? I didn’t perform as well as I had hoped in Crown, but I think the lessons were well worth the effort.

I learned that I still have trouble getting into the right mindset from a cold start. I got a clear example of the mindset I need to cultivate for fighting, the goal at the end of the Axesperiment. I learned that even if you don’t get the tangible rewards you expected, you can still come out ahead in the end (just not in the way you thought you would). I learned that while it can be intimidating to be noticed by higher-ups, it can be nice to know that you’re on the right path. I learned that the people who tell me I’m a good fighter may actually know what they’re talking about.

So all in all, the weekend was a great experience. I was feeling bummed about my first round performance in Crown, but the more I think about it the less upset I get. As long as I learn something, it wasn’t wasted time. Besides, how can you feel bad losing to someone who has been fighting for longer than you’ve been alive, and is still at it? You’d have to be pretty wily to get that far: age/treachery vs. youth/skill, and all that. I am also glad that I made it back out on Sunday for the Warlord tournament. Given the long stretch of one thing after another it took to get to Crown, I wasn’t sure if I would just need a day off. But my knight suggested I fight in Warlord, and by Jove I’m glad I did.

It’s odd: usually I’m not too keen on fighting in tournaments, let alone winning them. But my experience this past weekend has let me motivated rather than discouraged. I’m even considering driving down to the Crown Tournament in March if I can get the time off work (and my girlfriend will put up with it). Sure, I went out in two, but my second round fight gave me a glimmer of what my future could hold.

So thanks to all the people who made this weekend possible, from my friends who processed with us, to my girlfriend who sacrificed many an hour of downtime to make us both presentable. From my knight who encouraged me to fight, to all the fighters I faced, win or lose. It was a great experience, and one I wouldn’t trade for the world.

Here’s hoping it’s less than four years until I get to do it again.

Here are my thoughts on the second tourney from this past weekend. Parts 1 and 2 are here and here, respectively.

As is usually the case with Crown, there are also tournaments on Sunday. These tournaments determine the new Warlord (heavy fighting) as well as the Princess Protector (fencing). Unfortunately, the sunny respite of the day before was long gone, and most of the day alternated between a light drizzle and a persistent rain. As such, only sixteen fencers and ten fighters came out (at least three knights, the rest unbelted). I briefly considered fighting in both tournaments, but I decided to focus on heavy fighting for the weekend and fought in the Warlord tournament. I ended up being glad I did.

The tournament ended up being a modified Swiss Five format, with each round being a single fight with a different weapon style. One of the benefits of this style is everyone gets plenty of fighting in, as you get to fight in all the rounds regardless of whether you win or lose. If I recall, the order went like this:

1. Sword and shield
2. Two weapons
3. Glaive
4. Greatsword
5. 6-foot spear
6. Single sword
7. Two swords
8. Greataxe

After that, the top four contestants with the most wins would fight in a short single-elimination, two-out-of-three tournament to determine the winner. This format was designed to make sure that the winner was proficient with all weapon styles, as is befitting a warlord.

Now, having the rounds be single fight changes things. Someone can get a lucky shot in and the fight will be over. As such, I found myself being much more cautious, timing my shots carefully to avoid unduly exposing myself to harm. The fight became more of a chess match than an arm wrestle.

Luckily the mindset from my second round the day before came back relatively easily. My first round was against a young left-handed knight, and I surprised myself by winning (even if it cost me my legs). My second round went less well; I hardly ever fight with two swords, and I was unable to get into a rhythm. The third round I managed to win, even after both of us lost an arm; it’s hard to use a polearm as tall as you with one hand, let me tell you. In the fourth round, I was finally able to get the bastard sword fight I wanted the day before, even though it wasn’t with the same duke. Being as it’s one of my favorite styles, I won. My single sword fight was another one I was worried about, as I was facing another knight, and since your offense and defense are concentrated in the same weapon, crazy stuff can happen. I managed to take his primary arm, and then his body. My second round with two swords proved that I should probably spend more time with the style; while I was able to get into a groove, my opponent was just more experienced than I was. The greataxe round went well for me as well; while I hardly ever use two-handed axes (or axes of any kind), it was similar enough to a glaive or greatsword that I did alright. Not wanting to be hit by a big guy with a big axe was also a wonderful motivator.

If you’ve been keeping track, you’ll notice that put me with six wins. I wasn’t keeping track that day, so I was fairly surprised to end up in the final four. That doesn’t happen to me very often, although I may not be able to accurately gauge my own skill. Usually I’m happy to go a couple, forgettable rounds, but today ended up different. I had made it to the semifinals, which meant the king would be watching my final fights. There was also the real possibility that I could win the tournament. No pressure.

The first fight of the round went poorly: I died quick and fast, and felt like a chump. Just my luck, I thought, I make it this far just to have my visible performance be forgettable. Luckily the second round went better: we both lost an arm (his left, my right), but I was able to duck past his buttspike thrust to punch him in the face with my blade. That one got some cheers. The third fight was a good one, but he ended up cleaving my face in half from the side.

So while I didn’t win, I’m happy with how I performed. I even had a knight (who had been watching the whole time, in the rain) tell me my fighting looked good. That made me happy: after all, even if I didn’t win, I had hoped to make an impression.

Stay tuned for my final thoughts!

These are my continued thoughts on my recent experience fighting in Crown Tournament. Read the first part here.

For the second round, the tournament moved back to a more standard random draw. But as is too often the case with a random draw, you can end up driving hundreds of miles to fight the same people you fight every week at practice. While luckily there wasn’t much of a drive, this proved to be the case with me.

For the second round, I had to fight my knight.

While we don’t fight every week at practice, we fight quite a bit. He’s also the one that has been training me, helping to find the mindset needed to be truly dangerous. In other words: he knew my tricks, I knew some of his, and I didn’t want to let him down by giving him a mediocre fight, even if I lost.

Luckily, I was able to find whatever I had been missing that first round. I felt much more focused. Everything outside the fight faded into the background, while my opponent stood before me in sharp relief. I can still remember the feeling, although it’s hard to put into words. If you’ve ever done competition, you probably know what I’m talking about. There is a calm, but it is focused and energized, not lethargic. Your mind is curiously blank, but you are reacting faster than you would be able to think. You are, as corny as it sounds, In The Zone.

I felt much better during these fights. In fact, I was even able to kill my knight with a quick thrust to the eye. He didn’t let me do it twice (as well he shouldn’t), but I feel like I made him work for his two other victories. In the second and third fight he ended up legging me, forcing me to fight from my knees. And while I did end up losing, he got me with a different shot each time (which tends to make me feel good, and means that I’m probably not doing something egregiously stupid).

I can still remember the laser focus I felt during those fights. If nothing else, fighting in Crown provided me a chance to really experience that mindset. I was fighting near the top level of what I could achieve, not dialing down or playing around as is too often the case at practice. I will hold on to that place in my mind, and now that I know where it is, hopefully it will be that much easier to find in the future. I’m already looking forward to practice this week to see if I can find it again.

So that was my Crown adventure. While I was out in two rounds, I won at least one of my bouts. I was hoping to be able to go three rounds (meaning at least two wins), but alas. Oddly, this was pretty much my performance the first time I fought in Crown four years ago: head not right for the first round, but took the second round to three fights. Like I said, though, it was a great learning opportunity, and rather than discourage me it’s made me look forward to the next chance. I’m even considering entering the Spring Crown, which would be held about seven hours to the southwest in March. Not as convenient as 45 minutes east, obviously, but better than waiting an entire year to try again.

I think I may have caught the bug.

So my long, arduous trek that has been grinding me down since early August has finally drawn to a close. I even had a short day at work today, and spent most of the afternoon watching Doctor Who. The evening is likely to consist of more of the same, or possibly some Minecraft. And yes, me and mine are all safe and dry.

But I wanted to talk about Crown Tournament, in an attempt to debrief and to sort out my thoughts on the matter. I’m going to break this recap up into a few posts, covering my first round, the second, as well as the Warlord tourney on Sunday (in the rain!).

Continue reading →

Fatigue has gotten me into a rut. When you’re stressed, it doesn’t take much energy to write about how stressed you are. But I worry that I start to sound like a broken record. So today I’m going to make a conscious effort to try and write about something else.

This weekend, I’m going to be fighting in Crown Tournament, the most prestigious tournament in my local SCA kingdom. Every six months, we determine who, by right of arms, is to be our next king and queen. As such, the tournament attracts all sorts of fighters, from the big names and big sticks to young (and sometimes not-so-young) up-and-comers looking to get seen and make a name for themselves.

I am one of the latter group. I have been fighting in the SCA for about ten years now, and have done relatively well at the local level; I was Warlord of the local Barony, and do relatively well at practices. One of my proudest moments was coming in third in an unbelted (non-knight) tourney a few years ago at Battlemoor (a big end-of-summer camping event). My only losses were to the fighters who got first and second place; can’t be upset with that.  Or this past Battlemoor, when I was the last non-knight in a six-foot spear tourney.

However, due to my relatively shy and retiring nature, I don’t get out much. I’m not exactly the type of person to go strike up a conversation with someone I don’t know. Due to time and money constraints, I don’t travel to other parts of the kingdom as much as I might. As such, I find it likely that the knights and other fighters might not know who I am. I’ve come out of my shell a lot since joining the SCA, but the shell is still there.

This is part of what the Axesperiment is about, finding ways to get over those last few hurdles, those last few plateaus on the path to success. I like to think that years of martial arts experience (both in the SCA and through Taekwondo) have left me with a good physical base. For me, these last few hurdles seem to be largely mental. Besides, I’ve fought in crown before; even though it many ways it’s a big deal, in others it’s just another tournament.

Crown can be a great place to gain that visibility. Since it results in the (eventual) crowning of our next king and queen, a lot of people will be there, both fighting and watching. It’s a great chance to make a good impression on a lot of important people. Although it is always a possibility, it is not likely that I will win. There will be bigger, faster, more experienced fighters out on the field. But that’s always likely to be the case. So when I fight this Saturday, I will be there to be seen. I will strive to make my lady and my knight proud. I will do my best, as that is all we can ever do.