I'm returning to this blog for this post. I don't know that I will post here often. I changed what I was doing and this blog no longer fit it's main purpose, as a journal of my fighting. I've gone back to a paper journal (though I'm not good at keeping that one either), so this was no longer necessary. But I can record a few things here. 

I haven't written in this blog since the beginning of the pandemic, in 2020. A lot has happened. Ed, Horic, Liam, Olan, Stephan, Jimmy Lee, Targon, David Anderson, and a number of family members, have died. We endured a long pandemic of no fighting, or of surreptitious fighting in people's back yards, under vague threat of sanction if we were found out -- as if the SCA, or the Kingdom, can control what we do on our own time. I even snuck off to fight in a multi kingdom practice at the height of the pandemic. We were masked, and followed the recommended protocols of the time, but we didn't tell a lot of people about it. There were only about 15 fighters there, tops, and ten were in armor when I was (five of them were from Tribe Rot Mahne, from three different kingdoms). 

During the Pandemic, I've been working with Duke Ronald to train me up for winning another crown. We don't have a target. We are just trying to improve my fighting so I can get better over time. Since we were doing so much by Zoom anyway, I've also been working with Sagan. Sagan is one of the most successful coaches in the SCA. We have zoom meetings about once a month, the three of us, to watch video of my fighting and discuss both what I'm doing and where my head's at. It's been helping a lot. I don't think I'm quite as good at triggering off my opponent now as I was in November, but I'm pretty good. I'm fighting almost as well as when I got knighted. 

During the pandemic, we also fought in two crowns. For me they were (if my count is accurate) #101 and #102. The first one was delayed until July 2021. To keep numbers down, we had feeder tournaments: Two of them, each had two pools of fighters, the top four fighters from each pool would advance to the actual crown tournament a few weeks later. I advanced, and lost in a blistering heat to Cullyn and Mathias in the double elimination portion. 

The next crown I made it to the semi finals. The only person to defeat me all day was Ryo, who won. He beat me in the second round, after a double kill, and then again in semis in our first and only bout of that round (I had to win twice, he only once). Along the way I killed Beatrix, Cullyn, and Vlad, which was a good day. I was really only two blows away from finals. 

But I was frustrated. I'm not in crown to "do well" at this point. I want to win -- not so much that I will obsess about it, but I'm not going to pretend, as som many do, that the ultimate goal is not to be king. 

This past Saturday was Crown 103. It was held in Trois Rivieres, Quebec. I had a great day. I advanced from my pool without a loss. In that pool I beat Sir Mohammed, the eventual winner of the day, with a beautiful slot shot. I also be Galbraith, a big unbelted fighter from Quebec. In the double elimination section, I lost to Sir Mathias Gurnwald, I beat Sir Angus Grove, I beat my squire Padraig, I beat Jan Janovich (normally my kryptonite), and I lost in a rematch with Galbraith. 

I was trying to fight a reactionary fight. Instead of forcing the offense, I was trying to let my opponent tell me how to kill him. But I think that made me too cautious.   

My current project is to improve my wrap, both the targeting of my leg wrap, and the power of all my wraps. 

My next time in armor will probably be this Sunday, but I might take a day off. 

The next event I plan to fight at is War of the Roses on Memorial Day Weekend. 

It's 80 days until Pennsic.