Candlemas 2011
Another Candlemas has come and gone, and was a lot of fun!
For those unfamiliar, Candlemas is a very large tournament in the Midrealm, taking place in Lexington KY to be exact. This year, there were over 110 combatants in the tournament! The tournament is fought in pools, with each pool being a round robin and a certain number of fighters advancing to the next round of pools. It eventually narrows down to where an 8 or 16 man single elimination tree is formed. In short, it’s a lot of fighting! Since the focus of the event is fighting, so is this post!
This year only Nigel and I made the trip, which allowed us an early start. We were on the road away from Kitchener before 11am, and into the hotel in Lexington by around 8. Billy’s BBQ for dinner was great, then back to the hotel. There were a number of SCA folk in the hotel, so there was general hanging out Friday night.
We stayed pretty close to site, so we were there in plenty of time to get armoured up and ready to go. The tourney started just after noon. Since this was my third Candlemas, the goal was to make it to the third round of the tournament. Doesn’t sound like much, unless you’ve been there and fought it before. Since it was also only my third time in armour since re-hurting my knee in November, I didn’t think the odds were good that my goal would be achieved.
My first round went well, winning 4 victories which were more then enough to progress. Due to the size of the tourney, there was then over a 2 hour wait until my second round pool fought. This round went less well, though I ended up in a three way tie to advance to the third round, so we had to decide that by another round robin. The first round was sadly a tie, so we had to do it again. Being tired may have helped me out, because they were likely my two most authoritative fights of the day, each being won in only a couple of shots, though in the second I was legged first, I still legged then killed my opponent within 2 or 3 sword blows. So, by the skin of my teeth, round three was achieved.
There was another long wait until the third round fights. It was also between rounds 2 and 3 that a tactical error on mine and Nigel’s part became apparent. We hadn’t thought to grab food or anything for during the day. So we were bordering on 5 hours in armour, plus a couple hours more since breakfast. The tank was pretty much on low. Round three went pretty poorly. If I recall correctly I only got one victory, and that was that. Still, goal achieved.
I was mostly happy with my fighting throughout the day, though I only managed two victories over knights that I recall. I did only get one-shotted once, and Sir Vitus did comment that he thought I was covered when I got hit. Not sure how it got through. One of the big benefits of the tournament format though was you were able to watch a lot of the fighting when not fighting yourself, so I was able to observe a lot of top end talent. Also, other friends and acquaintances were able to watch me, and provide some feedback. I got commentary from Duke Felix and Sir Vitus, though mostly from Earl Nigel some of which may have come indirectly from Duke Brannos, though Brannos did provide direct commentary later that night to the tune of “Good fighting. Get a real shield.” My poor maligned shield…
The take away is I have three things to work on in the short term. Stance and footwork, presence and purpose in the list, and to stop being so ‘nice’. And of course, to get a real shield.
After the event was the post rev at Tessa and Lutr’s, which was a lot of fun, though I’m afraid I hit the wall shortly after 1, though we were far from the first to leave. Sunday was a bit of a later start then I think we intended, but was all good. An uneventful drive home was had, and picked up by Elise and a very awake babyboy ended the trip!
Can’t wait until next year, which I suppose the goal is round four!
For those unfamiliar, Candlemas is a very large tournament in the Midrealm, taking place in Lexington KY to be exact. This year, there were over 110 combatants in the tournament! The tournament is fought in pools, with each pool being a round robin and a certain number of fighters advancing to the next round of pools. It eventually narrows down to where an 8 or 16 man single elimination tree is formed. In short, it’s a lot of fighting! Since the focus of the event is fighting, so is this post!
This year only Nigel and I made the trip, which allowed us an early start. We were on the road away from Kitchener before 11am, and into the hotel in Lexington by around 8. Billy’s BBQ for dinner was great, then back to the hotel. There were a number of SCA folk in the hotel, so there was general hanging out Friday night.
We stayed pretty close to site, so we were there in plenty of time to get armoured up and ready to go. The tourney started just after noon. Since this was my third Candlemas, the goal was to make it to the third round of the tournament. Doesn’t sound like much, unless you’ve been there and fought it before. Since it was also only my third time in armour since re-hurting my knee in November, I didn’t think the odds were good that my goal would be achieved.
My first round went well, winning 4 victories which were more then enough to progress. Due to the size of the tourney, there was then over a 2 hour wait until my second round pool fought. This round went less well, though I ended up in a three way tie to advance to the third round, so we had to decide that by another round robin. The first round was sadly a tie, so we had to do it again. Being tired may have helped me out, because they were likely my two most authoritative fights of the day, each being won in only a couple of shots, though in the second I was legged first, I still legged then killed my opponent within 2 or 3 sword blows. So, by the skin of my teeth, round three was achieved.
There was another long wait until the third round fights. It was also between rounds 2 and 3 that a tactical error on mine and Nigel’s part became apparent. We hadn’t thought to grab food or anything for during the day. So we were bordering on 5 hours in armour, plus a couple hours more since breakfast. The tank was pretty much on low. Round three went pretty poorly. If I recall correctly I only got one victory, and that was that. Still, goal achieved.
I was mostly happy with my fighting throughout the day, though I only managed two victories over knights that I recall. I did only get one-shotted once, and Sir Vitus did comment that he thought I was covered when I got hit. Not sure how it got through. One of the big benefits of the tournament format though was you were able to watch a lot of the fighting when not fighting yourself, so I was able to observe a lot of top end talent. Also, other friends and acquaintances were able to watch me, and provide some feedback. I got commentary from Duke Felix and Sir Vitus, though mostly from Earl Nigel some of which may have come indirectly from Duke Brannos, though Brannos did provide direct commentary later that night to the tune of “Good fighting. Get a real shield.” My poor maligned shield…
The take away is I have three things to work on in the short term. Stance and footwork, presence and purpose in the list, and to stop being so ‘nice’. And of course, to get a real shield.
After the event was the post rev at Tessa and Lutr’s, which was a lot of fun, though I’m afraid I hit the wall shortly after 1, though we were far from the first to leave. Sunday was a bit of a later start then I think we intended, but was all good. An uneventful drive home was had, and picked up by Elise and a very awake babyboy ended the trip!
Can’t wait until next year, which I suppose the goal is round four!