Crown tourney #91
I’ve fought in 91 of these, and this was one of the best. It
was certainly one of the toughest. It was also very symmetrical: counting a
first round bye, I fought six fights, against three unbelted fighters and three
knights, I won three and I lost three. The three unbelted fighters I fought
were three of our top unbelted fighters. The three knights I fought were all
contenders. I killed two of the knights—Sir Sicehlgaita von Halstern and Thomas
of Ravenhill, the two fighters who had knocked me out of the last crown in the
Southern Region. I also lost to one of the fighters I beat in that crown.
My first round bye was against Sterling De La Rosa. One of
my big problems going in was that I had been moving my sword guard up in my A-Frame
defense (instead of more of a boxer stance) to give me more offensive options,
but that was hanging it out a bit. I’d lost it to Sterling at practice last Sunday.
He hit it again in our bye fight and I
called that a loss for me. This was a good thing, as it served to remind me
that my arm was vulnerable, and while a couple of my opponents targeted it
later, nobody took it. Sterling went to quarter-finals, and knocked Gui out of
the round of eight. This was a good warm up fight.
My second fight was against Sichel, who had knocked me out
of two of the last four crown lists. We had a good long fight. Both she and
Tommy have a great inside thrust, which was tough to guard against, so I was
keeping my distance—if you see that thrust coming you can usually back out of
it, which is what I did. I took her leg with the Martin the Temperate leg shot.
I’ve got about eight or nine techniques specifically to use against people on
their knees. The fifth one I tried worked—a top-edge hook.
My next fight was against the new knight Sir Ivan Ivanov (one
of two left handed Sir Ivans in the kingdom). Ivan was having an amazing day. He was running
on that “new knight bump” and it was really paying off. He took my leg and then
hit me in the ribs after a great fight. He went to semi-finals out of the
winner’s bracket before losing to Brennan in two fights. (in the East, normally,
a fighter out of the losers bracket must beat a fighter out of the winners
bracket twice to advance to finals—in other words, the fighter out of the
winner’s bracket come in clean while the fighter out of the losers bracket
comes in with a loss).
(one of the most amusing things about fighting in both the East and the West is how lists are normally organized: one kingdom uses a single-bracket double elimination system taken from Judo competitions, the other uses a two bracket double elimination system common in sports like Volleyball. Both kingdoms sometimes combine this with round-robin pool play taken from soccer. Fighters, marshals, and especially lists-ministers in each kingdom HATE the system used by the other kingdom, and describe it in terms that range from “silly” to “dishonorable.” The best wine is from home…..)
My next fight was against Sir Thomas. Thomas has finaled in
two of the previous four crowns. He is a tough, tough fight. After a hard long
fight I killed him with an on-side but I can’t remember if it was wrap or a
snap. I had hit him with one earlier that I had called flat, to it was probably
a wrap. This was one of the most intense fights I’ve been in in a long time. It
was as tough as any fight in a final round.
My next fight was against Ketil. I had beaten him in a crown
not long ago. He’s a good unbelted fighter. I tried to take his leg and he was
fighting sword-foot forward. I cupped him, which I was sorry for. But I felt
lucky to get out of the fight. This was his second loss.
My last fight was against Dimitri, who had beaten me in
Mudthaw. Once again—big, tall, with a long sword and a HUGE kite shield. This is a really interesting
fight. I thought that, until he took my leg, I was fighting really well,
basically controlling the fight, my defense was strong, and my combinations
were moving him around. Thomas said I looked tired and slow, certainly slower
than in my fight with him. My lady said
I looked anxious and desperate, that I was not in control at all, that I was
trying to use tricks to finish it. She has a point—I did use a back spin. It
didn’t work. But the technique where I lost my leg was the foot-stomp. Thirty
years of using that technique I think this is the first time I’ve lost my leg
doing it. I might have done it a bit slowly, but he looked at that and just
plowed my leg. Once that happened the fight was basically over. He stood at
range and sniped at me till he could kill me.
Tally was good enough to post videos of the two fights that
I lost. They are great. In both these videos I see things that I am doing well, things I am doing wrong. I see things that make me want to question my calibration, and things that make me think "damn! I should have seen that during the fight! I might have won!!
The first one starts after Ivan has already taken my leg, so
there’s not a lot to see. At 56 seconds and at 1:09 he throws the same
combination, both of which I get a basket/sword block on. The second time it is
so fast I can’t see it. I had to look at it frame-by-frame and at one point the
sword just disappears. I don’t know how I got that sword block back there, because
on video I can’t see the sword coming at all. He kills me using Radnor’s rule
of three. He throws that same combination again, and I get the sword block up
there again, but the third time he hits me in my ribs. Break that pattern the
third time. Note how he steps a bit to the left each time before closing—he’s
not circling, but he’s moving so he can get a better angle past my shield. I
did not move with him and I probably should have.
The second video, my fight with Dimitri, shows more of the
fight. I like it because I can see my thought process in all of it, and make
out what I think is his. I still feel I was in good command of the fight until
he takes me leg. My back spin looks slow
but it is well timed. He hits my shield as I do it, so I should be able to get
him, but he recovers too quickly. There’s
a good angle on my throwing the foot-stomp, and you can see that he just
triggers on it, disappears behind his shield (I had no chance of hitting him)
and plows me. He is totally hunting my arm, especially after he takes my leg.
The fist shot he throws looks pretty good, and I don’t know why I don’t take it
(I hope it was light). The rest I pick up. He also triggers on me when I peek
past the leading edge of my shield. He is precise and really on with his targeting.
You can see what both of us are doing. He is staying back, sniping, controlling
range and not letting me have any opportunity to hit him. I am trying to draw
the arm shot again. At least once I almost get him with the snap when he sets
up a bit too close, and once I draw the arm shot and I block it, but my counter
is too slow and he gets out of the way. It is beat – beat – beat, when it
should be beat-beat/BEAT—using Radnor’s dictum that all fights are won in
between beats (or on the up-beat). If I time that better and throw the shot as
I block instead of after the block, I probably win the fight. Thomas was right—I
was tired. All the time he is giving me one and only one possible target—his off
side leg. It’s the only thing that’s really in range. This is the Lucan style
of fighting goofy foot with a long sword so you are always out of your opponent’s
range while still being able to attack. I avoid going for the leg, knowing it’s
a fool’s errand, but finally I give in and take the bait, and he thrusts me in
the face quite beautifully. He had very
good reactions in this fight, and totally worked for this win.
This was an good list for me. It was great to have my
lady there to watch me fight. I had lots of fun. I fought really really well.
All of my opponents seemed to have fun fighting me. EVERYONE I fought was a
really good fighter—there were no walk-overs. I had a blast.
I was SO tired afterward. I hit that “I just fought in Crown”
wall later that night at the cheesecake factory. My shoulders are stiff and my
legs are rubber. I slept all day yesterday. All of this means I had a great
list!
It is 81 days until the Pennsic war. I will not be in armor
this week.
