RE: Acknowledgement (long winded? Maybe.)

[Dominica Harlan <DHarlan@RodgersBuilders.com>]

Poster: Dominica Harlan <DHarlan@RodgersBuilders.com>

I'm going to reply to the general nature of this message, not the specifics 
below, as this is a problem I've seen amongst those who do not fight and 
how they view what happens on a field.

I've only just begun heavy fighting and have fought light for four+ years. 
If a fighter feels they have been treated unfairly or dangerously on a 
field, there is a specific chain of people to whom they go in order to 
address that problem. First, they talk to the other fighter. If they don't 
feel the other fighter has reacted appropriately to their complaint, they 
can go to the marshal observing (and demos should always have *someone* 
marshalling) the fight. If still not happy, they go to their group's Knight 
Marshal, then their autocrat and/or seneschale, and then the Barony or 
kingdom Knight Marshal (if not part of a barony). No one is powerless in 
this game.

On the other hand many things that happen on a field look really brutal 
from the sidelines and when it happens to a loved one, a spectator often 
may feel their fighter was unfairly fought or hit overhard. However, a 
fighter takes personal responsibility when walking onto a fighting field, 
and that includes acknowledgement that our fighting can be a brutal 
game/sport/demo and they may be hurt. Conversely, they may hurt someone 
accidentally and must take responsibility for that. It is up to the rules, 
the marshalls and the honor of all those *on the field* to determine what 
happens on the field, no matter how we who watch from the sides may feel 
about a particular blow or fight or opponent. We who fight are told that 
what happens on a field stays on the field or in the marshall's court, and 
what is off the field stays off the field. If you have a problem with any 
of the above as a spectator or your loved one has a problem with any of 
that as a fighter, then perhaps they need to rethink the concept of 
fighting in the SCA or you need to reassess how much pleasure you actually 
get from watching them fight. Anything else personal you implied in your 
message does indeed belong in private email in my opinion, but that is a 
call up to the list moderators. I'm just a fighter who walks on a field 
determined to fight well and honorably but expecting bruises, and a lady 
who keeps her peace no matter how her lord's fight goes (well, I do cheer 
when he wins).

A bit long-winded herself,
Kilmeny

<<RavnScribe quoth: ... you understand about family? And then you have 
friends who are CLOSER than family. When one gets unnecessarily roughed up 
(a certain amount of roughness is expected, yes, but this person did 
something TOTALLY uncalled for), it is VERY hard to just sit here and say 
nothing about it.  :)  It hasn't been recent, if that's what you're 
wondering. So why am I bringing this up? I guess I didn't do a very good 
job of tying it into the former discussion (About how hard one should hit 
when fighting). My point was this:

There is a certain amount of....force...(for lack of a better word) one 
uses
when fighting. The idea of calling heavy fighters "Rhinos" though, is 
because they often remind me of them. Unthinking animals using MORE force 
than is perhaps necessary, just to prove a point. All brawn no brains, to 
use a cliche. I'm not saying *all* fighters are like this. Just some of 
them.

In the interest of peace, I'm dropping the (public part) of the discussion
here. Anyone wants to discuss it further, please EMail me. :)

RavnScribe (That's all the name you'll get for now till my SCA one is
approved)



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