Birka Recap

Birka results can be found here.

Prova Dura might be the grandest tourney, but Birka is the greatest fighting event in the SCA. It's a three hour bear pit with ten fields that averages right around 1000 fights an hour (last year it was four hours).

My Birka this year wasn't as good as last year. I had fun, but I was, well befuddled. No excuses, but there are lessons learned. In some cases they are things that you already know, like stick to one style and if you are going to switch then don't do it on the day of a tourney. Also, if you are going to switch to a heavier shield, do it a few weeks ahead of time not on the day of the tourney. Fighting with a bad back will slow you down. Big shields have an advantage in an oxhide tourney (a holmgang where you cant step out or you're dead). Center grip rounds are really tough to use against polearms.

Brika also favors brawlers. It took awhile for me to find my inner thug this year.

And I( want' doing well against florentine fighters either.

A number of times I hit my shield with my sword. A bunch of times I didn't know where I was because I had so much lower visibility with the center grip than I did with the bunny round. And my thrusts were missing terrible early on.

I got knocked out of the pit at least three times. Once I pushed my opponent out and went out with him.

I ended up in a five way tie for 30th. There were 152 fighters and 87 places.

I fought 51 fights this year: 27 wins, 21 losses, 3 double kils. That's fewer fights than last year, but the tourney was an hour shorter.

My winning percentage was 52.9, thanks to a run of wins after ten minutes was called.

I did give Arturius one of his seven losses, and I did it with a technique Lucky taught me twenty years ago: snap, pass on the right off line to the left, pass on the left, offside head. I hit him in the shoulder cause he's so freaking tall. I also managed to kill Frodo and Edward of Loch Laven, and I double killed with Vis. I pulled a lot of knights as my first fight out there. I lost to Sir Angus at least three times, maybe four.

At the end of my last run, my shield was so heavy I absolutely couldn't lift it. I rested it on my knees and just sword blocked (I'd lost my legs). I won one fight that way.

For the most part, guys were counting heavy and hitting light. Though I did get some bruises from Doug. And Artos knocked my head into next week.

But Birka is the most fun fighting event, like, ever. You can't get more fighting in anywhere.