1.33 Challenge

[Callum]

We are holding this year's challenge next Saturday (13th December) at 12 PM on the jousting field at Harcourt Park.

Set up last year as an annual competition between the Order of the Boar/UHSEMA and the Wellington Medieval Guild, this year's challenge is also between these two groups although in future we hope to bring more WMA groups into the challenge and more weapons as well.

Last year's challange was won by Order of the Boar. This year we intend to do the same!

[Callum]

Group Challenge won by Order of the Boar and then the Individual Challenge won by Jens over Andy.

We held this on-site at Harcourt Park as most of the combatants will be fighting in the Swashbuckler tourney at Harcourt Park 2009. We are looking for more WMA students in the Wellington area to become involved in the 2009 Challenge which will be expanded to include longsword as part of the evolution of this event.

As part of this Order of the Boar/UHSEMA will be holding a dedicated longword class once a month from next year at this stage as we develop our next major event - the International Knight's Challenge which we plan to hold in alternate years to Harcourt Park with the first planned for 2010.

[Colin]

Yes, I enjoyed watching the tournament

I intend on running a HEMA (steel) sword and buckler tournament at the next NZ WMA convention (winter). It will be open to all historical European sword and buckler/target styles.

Hopefully we can get a few longsword competitions going this year as well. Unlike you though, I'll be running longsword at least once a week

[Callum]

On other news, Hayden (WarGod) sent me a couple of boxes of Tatami mats for cutting. I also have my first sharp

I am soaking one at the moment and will give it some test cuts later today. If I don't embarrass myself we will hold a cutting party at HP next weekend as I have another 24 to play with as well

[Colin]

[Callum]

I just had me a whole heap of fun on the test tatami and the sharp Windlass "Classic Medieval Sword". I had first soaked the mat for over a day so it was well saturated.

Took a couple of cuts to get my cutting technique back (the tatamis are much harder to cut than the water filled drink bottles) but I got clean severs from left and right shoulder, underarm and the false edge cut. The diameter of the rolled mat was about that of a sizeable upper arm.

I'll soak and prepare a few more so you can do a cutting demo as part of the swashbuckler tournament at Harcourt Park if you want

The left over bit of mat will be great for cutting from horse back once I work out a way to suspend it.

The live blade cutting certainly sharpens your focus and really drives home the lethality of what we are ultimately all doing.

[Colin]

Looks good, when should I pay a visit?

The plastic bottles were never to be taken that seriously...they were simply extremely cheap I was, however, stunned by the number of so-called sword experts that couldn't even cut that trivial medium, so they probably stayed as a basis in the practice for a tad too long, but then again did I mention how cheap they were?

[Callum]

We are training most days now in the lead up to Harcourt Park but I have to soak another Tatami so maybe Sunday afternoon?

Had an interesting time with some Ninja "sword experts" a long time ago. Most of them couldn't even hit the plastic bottle with sharp katanas and tanto(?) let alone sever it. And the sword control on the follow was non existant. Scary stuff.