Armored Combat

So, you'd like to know more about armored combat? Great! Here is some info to get you started about .....

Armored Combat - also called "heavy" fighting http://www.sca.org/activities/chivarts.html <-- This official page will provide you with more specifics on official requirements.

At fighter practice, you learn to fight. You prepare yourself to enter the "battlefield"... where you will fight! When you fight, not only do you fight for the honor and glory of yourself and/or the one whose favor you wear.... but also for that of your group, your kingdom - for the crowns themselves! Fight with honor, and bring glory to our Royal Majesties! Fighting is held via tournaments, but also simply by participating with other fighters, wherever a gathering might be held. Whether this is a regional fighter practice, pick-up fights at an event, or a group fighter practice, any and all fighting held where there is a safety marshal is how to participate in the combat. When you plan for events you'd like to attend throughout the year, check the details and see what type of fighting might be presented. At the Knights Gambit, you can have a chance to work one-on-one with a Knight to learn and train, for example. Or at the Fighters' Collegium, you can take classes, all geared towards fighters - some active armored classes, some not, but all classes offered are for the fighters and about the fighting.

When you fight with honor in the SCA style, you are symbolizing the chivalry just like the Knighthood and Chivalry dated back to medieval Europe. Historically, the Knight became not just a warrior upon the battlefield, but a member of Nobility. Chivalry itself developed from a warrior code central to each knight. It governed his actions both in peace and war. In order to re-create the past while participating in this activity, our fighters are no different. In addition they may follow the order of the Knight, to guide this path, if they should so choose. But a fighter does not have to, of course. The only "have to" is that fighters must become "Authorized" before they may participate outside of fighter practices.

Chivalry -- the peer is called a Knight, or Dame. His or her student is called a Squire.

Only Knights may wear white belts. Also, only they can wear unadorned gold chains around their neck.

Only Squires may wear red belts. Also, only they can wear unadorned silver chains around their neck.

The fighters' structure provides a crucial framework for our society as we know it. At Crown List, one fighter becomes the next Heir to the Throne of our great Kingdom.

It is also the way through which we remember the chivalry and honor which makes the current medieval times what they are. Without honor and chivalry, the very nature of what we are and what we do would be lost. This is so very important to preserve, portray, and to teach forward to new and upcoming fighters to aim to achieve themselves.

Read a wonderful link about the development of what it meant to be a knight http://users.panola.com/AAGHS/ARTICLES/PEACETIME.html [Non-SCA Link] (An article by a member of the Historical Society of London)

In the SCA, you will find that fighters learn maneuvers and techniques used by medieval warriors. The weapon styles they use are modeled after medieval weapons. Heavy combat can use multiple types of weapons: single-handed, two-handed, spears, thrown weapons, combat archery bows, and crossbows.

This website has some nice images showing what some of this stuff means. http://www.thortrains.com/getright/Medieval%20Combat.htm [Non-SCA Link] but still great content, because this site says they also strive for historical accuracy.

More information --

SCA Order of the Chivalry http://www.facebook.com/groups/110967632255257/

Open to members of the SCA's Order of the Chivalry.

Interest group - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SCA_Armor_Craft

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SCA_Armor

SCA Heavy Combat http://www.facebook.com/groups/6762318509/

A group for all things heavy/armored combat related