We had a pleasant meet at the recent Blood & Axes event in Northpass. Two returning fighters helped to train five newcomers who put on armor and took to the field for the first time.
Author: Mathghamhain
Youth Throwing Hammer
Thrown weapons are not a core element of SCA youth combat, but they do have some novelty/amusement value.
Here in the East, there are basically two styles: javelins made from 3/4″ PEX with a thrusting-tip point and either fins or a pommel on the other end, or else hammers/axes made of all foam. Continue reading “Youth Throwing Hammer”
Tournament of the Daffodils
We travelled north to the Shire of Midland Vale for the Tournament of the Daffodils this weekend.
A small group of fighters warmed up with one-on-ones before an extended all-ages grand melee.
Balfar’s Challenge
Dragonship Haven hosts a wide variety of martial activities at this annual event, including youth combat. We had a mix of experienced fighters and relative newcomers in both Div II and Div III.
Mudthaw
The turnout for Mudthaw was a bit lower than last year, but we had eight kids take the field, and the smaller numbers meant it was easier for the marshals to chat with kids about technique and take occasional breaks.
Galen, a new fighter from Østgarđr’s canton of Whyt Whey, was the division II champion, and Alax was recognized for his good spirits and sense of humor.
Season Schedule
Winter is finally drawing to a close, and the outdoor fighting season is starting to come into focus.
Here are some upcoming youth combat events on our calendar:
March 24: Mudthaw (Settmour Swamp – Rosaland, NJ) First regional event of the year.
April 21: Balfar’s Challenge (Dragonship Haven – Meriden, CT)
April 28: Tournament of the Daffodils (Midland Vale – Goshen, NY)
April 29: Picnic in the Ruins (Østgarđr – Brooklyn, NY)
May 12: An Dubh–Østgarđr Challenge (An Dubhaigheainn – Middle Island, NY)
May 19: Viking Fest (Brokenbridge – Owl’s Head Park, Brooklyn, NY)
June 2: Farmingdale Demo (Lions End – Farmingdale, NY)
June 29–July 1: East Kingdom 50th (Schaghticoke, NY)
July 7: Blood and Axes (Northpass – Carmel, NY)
August 2–10: Pennsic (Slippery Rock, PA)
September 7–8: The Feast of John Barleycorn (Northpass – North Salem, NY)
September 22–23: Queens Farm Demo (Queens County Farm)
September 30: Cloisters Demo (Whyt Whey – Fort Tryon Park, Inwood)
October 20: Goat’s Tavern (Northpass – Peekskill, NY)
Which Way To The Division 1 List?
No rodents were harmed in the making of this image.
Goat’s Tavern
We headed up to Northpass for a small meet at the second annual Goat’s Tavern.
We had two new first-time fighters join us from across the river in Rusted Woodlands, who both quickly took to the sport.
Middle-Aged Parents
Thankfully Alex is now almost as into the SCA as we are, so he’s not embarrassed by our garb and antics, although he still thinks my sense of humor is awful.
Cloisters
The Cloisters demo is the name we’ve given to the SCA’s encampment at The Medieval Festival at Fort Tryon Park, New York City’s largest annual medieval event, with over fifty thousand visitors.
For the first time this year, we had a dedicated youth combat list field fenced off, which alternated between bouts of youth armored combat and periods of pell practice open to the younger members of the public.
I quickly lost count, but somewhere well over two hundred kids came through during the course of the day, eager to handle a padded sword and take a few whacks at our target.
We also had five first-time Division I fighters who had made arrangements to join us on the field, get strapped into our loaner armor, and face off against our two more-experienced fighters.
