I got a proof print of my book in the mail a week or so ago. I am pretty happy with it. A few things i will do differently layout-wise next time, but it’s fine.
Waiting on a foreword and then it will be ready to go. The final came out to like 220 -ish pages.
I have been involved in the founding of a new group of fencers in Melbourne Australia. Expect to see some special content there, and if you do the facebook thing, give our page a like to keep up to date.
TheMelbourne Fencing Society (MSS) began a year ago as a way to get in an extra night’s training and to help each other to be better fencers.
We know we get better when we help each other grow, and that’s why we think it’s time to give back to the HEMA community.
We’re hosting an open hall starting in March, and would like you to come to fence and have some fun, whether you’re a familiar face or brand new. We’ll be there to learn, share, fence and grow together.
There’s more going on behind the scenes, so make sure you watch this space as we work towards publishing more content!
So, you must first rid yourself of fearful thoughts and actions, or other traces of what produces anxiety. These thoughts and action do not contain the virtues required in a manly and formidable fight, since you become a slave to these feelings, you are like the dew in the sun or like a fable with no moral.
All should regard this art as not needing the feelings I have just mentioned, which is quite the opposite from the virtues that normally embellish a person as precious stones are mounted on unmixed gold. Likewise, in fencing,you must be virgin-pure from any hint or whiff of fear, and of any negative mental image. The true virtue of this art consists in being intimidating, and in possessing such ferocity as to appear to be on fire, with fierceness and absolute mercilessness in your countenance. Every slightest motion you make must exude a craving for delivering cruel blows; when you approach the opponent with such fierceness, you will completely wipe out his self-possession.
Move in such a way as to give him the impression that every gesture from you carries the potential for inflicting a crippling wound. Make your attacks so cruel and violent that even the slightest blow is enough to fill the opponent with dread. In this art, you need to act and have the countenance of the cruelest of lions or the angriest of bears. Actually it wouldn’t be a bad thing if you could make yourself look like a great devil and act like you wanted to whisk away his soul.
From the Anonimo Bolognese, translated by Tom Leoni.
There are two principal aspects to assessing a fencing action - the quantitative (was a hit made) and the qualitative (was the hit good?).
It is a matter of ongoing grief for many fencers when their hits are not recognised on the opponent. Many believe more “objective” measures, such as applying chalk to the blade to leave a mark on the opponent when they are struck, or electric scoring methods, would relieve this problem.
We need to develop beyond the mentality that the physical occurence of a touch is the most useful thing in determining the outcome of a fencing exchange. To this end, more “objective” measures of the touch might prove extremely successful - finally people will stop arguing over what they believe they saw, and the focus can rest where it should be… On the decision making which lead to that point.
A fencing match is not a simulation of a real fight. It is an assessment of the decision making capabilities of a fencer. For example, in the chaos of a real fight, deliberately making a “double-hit” can very well be a risk which pays off for an individual. Objectively, we may well have survived an impalement and gained the advantage of cleaving the opponent’s head in half. But it is not a very intelligent decision to make, so we never reward that decision in a fencing match.
And that is what intent really is - decision making. It’s not often that we explain this - it is usually learned by example, with a junior referee observing a poor strike, hearing the senior referee call the action lacking in intent, and wrongly learn that the strike was not “hard” enough.
We ought to look to reward intentional actions. If a fencer #1 scores a thrust in opposition on her opponent, and the opponent #2’s blade slumps down on the fencer’s hands, this action lacks intentionality. It isn’t the point that the strike wasn’t “hard” enough - it’s that the action of #2 was not intentional. The thrust in opposition may not have been made perfectly - which is something a ruleset or training paradigm may or may not choose to recognise, but this was certainly not due to the actions of fencer #2, whos decision making was barely evident.
A strike landing stoutly can be indicative of intent, but it is certainly not the same thing as intent. To determine the intent of an attack, we would be better off asking the question: What was the fencer trying to do, and did they achieve this? If a fencer blindly undulates their weapon out in front of them, there is a decent chance it might touch part of their opponent. However, we should not reward it as an achievement on the part of that fencer.
We ought to do what we can to correct this. Not just referees, but every fencer needs to understand the meaning of the word intent. Nobody should be incentivised to hit harder to make their point. From a sporting perspective, we would also gain by focusing more on decision making than the simple observation of touch-or-no-touch.
Let’s get ancient queer: Martial, the great shame-flinger, wrote in one of his epigrams that a certain man asked him why he came to the bathes with such big-dicked attendants, to which Martial responded, and I am paraphrasing here, that these attendants fuck those who don’t mind their business.
No one asked for this but I have a LOT of feelings about archery. I see so many mistakes when people draw archers that look awkward or just straight up don’t make sense, even in like, really technically good professional art. So, I put together a guide!
Obligatory disclaimer: I’m an amateur artist, and this guide isn’t to teach you archery! It only touches on some aspects of archery technique, and doesn’t even go into other important stuff (like arrow rests, or over the top impossible fantasy bow designs). I just wanted to highlight what I consider when I draw an archer!
FYI, this is part of my March Patreon pack! I’ll be doing one of these every month or two, and I’ll always make them publicly available. If you’d like to support me or help me decide what my next topic will be, check out my Patreon!
Berbol.com – Penyerang muda berbakat milik klub Manchester United, Anthony Martial, terpilih menjadi sebagai pemain terbaik Premier League untuk periode September 2015. Martial berhasil mendapatkan gelar menjadi terbaik, meski dirinya hanya baru beberapa bulan bermain di liga Negeri Ratu Elizabeth tersebut.
I was feeling ill; but you came to me Forthwith, with a hundred students at your heels. A hundred hands made cold by the North Wind touched me; I didn’t have a fever, Symmachus, but I do now! Languebam: sed tu comitatus protinus ad me uenisti centum, Symmache, discipulis. Centum me tetigere manus aquilone gelatae: non habui febrem, Symmache, nunc habeo.
The Sick Woman (A Doctor and His Patient), Jan Steen, ca. 1663-66
![Kendo #2 by xyz.photo [mostly off] on Flickr.](https://64.media.tumblr.com/55f49dbb7387f4f376bbf324dd529021/tumblr_nfry91pXxR1sts5t7o1_640.jpg "Kendo #2 by xyz.photo [mostly off] on Flickr.")
