Info: Caer Mear Fighter Practice, ***, Three Star Rating

[Lance Harrop <lharrop@mrj.com>]

Poster: Lance Harrop <lharrop@mrj.com>


Unto the patrons of the Merry Rose does Lord Leifr Johansson the very 
bruised send greetings,

Upon the invitation of the Knight Marshal and the Warlord of Caer Mear, 
and with their very good directions, I attended last night's fighter 
practice, and would like to share, especially with the other fighters of 
Northern Atlantia, my impressions.

The drive down was a breeze, meaning I had the greatest good luck, 
leaving a Pentagon parking lot at 4:20, stopping for gas and some food 
along the way, and beating almost everyone else to the site by 6:20.  
This may never happen to me again, but it certainly put me in a good mood 
for a few hours of hard fighting.

The gym at Ridge Elementary School is a basketball court sized room with 
a carpetted floor.  This is an excellent surface for both heavy and 
rapier fighting, as one will not slip on such a surface (by the way, 
Stierbach's Friday night practice site offers just the same sort of 
flooring).  In consideration to their hosts, the Barony provides a strip 
of rug on which leg-wounded fighters should kneel.  This is a nice 
courtesy for both the fighters (who get more padding under their knees) 
and the school.  Definitely a full star for excellent footing.

Other heavy fighters began arriving about 6:30, and kept coming in until 
at least 8:00.  There was a wide variety of choice in opponents, such as 
knights (Sir Corby and Sir Almaric), Court Barons, senior squires, 
an Ansteorian expatriate (who fought me three different forms ;-), 
Angelseis, and a number of newbies.  I got a chance to fight both sword 
and shield and great sword against a variety of opponents ranging in 
skill from newbie to expert, including one left-handed fighter who just 
owned my offside head (I definitely need to find more lefties to fight on 
a regular basis ;-(.  A full star for both a wide choice of opponents and 
enough opponents to keep me fighting as much as I could.  Sadly, the famed 
half-dozen lady fighters of Caer Mear was represented by only one newbie 
in armour her second time, as well as a few others who did not armour up ;-(.

In addition to the heavy fighting, there were at least four rapier 
fighters active, including a Midrealm immigrant.  A large number of 
officers seem to be attending, as did both of their Excellencies of Caer 
Mear.  Also, there were a large number of lady spectators, which is 
always nice when one is fighting ;-).  Half a star, I think, for good 
local attendance of the practice.  The night also seemed to bring out a 
number of people just becoming acquainted with the SCA, as well as people 
transfering in from out of Kingdom.  From what I could see, all this 
people were well supported by the members and officers of the group.  
In addition, what training I had time to focus on (other then that I was 
providing ;-) seemed to be helpful and well presented.  Half a star for 
both training and chatelaining.

Unfortunately, this reviewer cannot extend a fourth star to this 
practice, as the room proved to be rather cramped for the number of 
fighters in attendence (a relatively large turnout compared to recent 
nights, somewhere between 16 and 20 fighters) and the room was also a 
rather long walk from the parking lot (though not nearly as bad as George 
Mason in Ponte Alto).  Most of the Caer Mearens were observed using 
wheeled storage cases for transporting their armour.

Fighting ended at 9:00, and I had to decline the invitation to join many 
of the participants at Applebee's after the fighting, as I was looking at 
a two hour drive back to Manassas.  On which hangs a tale, for as the 
drive down was totally free of construction, and therefore a relative 
breeze, on the way back there was construction on eastbound I-66 for 
about two miles before I-95, a detour off I-95 onto Route One from 
Thornbury to Fredericksburg, and more construction on I-95 from VA 619, on 
the border of Prince William County, up towards DC (I bailed at the next 
exit, which leads towards Manassas).

I learned a lot of good things last night, such as:

	1.	I hate lefties,
	2.	I love Angelsey retangular shield with rounded corners,
		I got the same blow combination on one of them at least
		three times, (but then, I got that same combination on
		the King three times in pickups last Saturday ;-) ),
	3.	Lord Niall owns my leg,
	4.	Lord Bryce de Byrum has a most beautifully open slot, which
		I might only be able to get on him when he is tired, but
		which I got time and time again last night (yes, I did end
		up showing him how I got it :-), I'm not that mean),
	5.	Don't fight Sir Corby greatsword when you are tired, 'cause
		he'll tell you that you have lazy feet (the hardest hit I
		took last night was from Sir Corby wielding Sir Almaric's 
		bastard sword one-handed, ouch!!!), and
	6.	I think, with the possible exception of the Ansteoran, I
		was the individual fighting the most last night.  In fact
		people were commenting about my level of energy.  Endurance
		does not seem to be a trait yet of our southern cousins, but
		I understand Sir Almaric is working on that ;-).

In conclusion, I recommend anyone who can fit a trip down to Caer Mear on 
Tuesday night into their busy schedule to try and make this practice 
occassionally.  Not only should you be able to get all the fighting you 
need but you will doubtlessly provide the locals with a bit of variety 
;-).  Everyone I spoke too seemed pleased to see me come down, and 
appreciated that effort I made, which is certainly nice.

In Service,

Leifr Johansson, AoA
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