I was able to finish assembling my practice pell with the help of my neighbor Alan. I've been hitting the bike lately and now I will be adding sword drills into my routine. I know I get a little obsessive about new things, and then my interests wane over time. I'm hoping the infusion of new blood into the incipient shire after the latest MEFCC will keep me motivated.

Changes

I've been doing status updates and publishing life events for the past few years on Facebook only. I just got back from a Pearl Coast meeting where blogger was being discussed, and I realized I've been letting this sit idle too long. I have also stopped using my alt email address in order to simplify things in my life. I gave myself admin rights here, so I am planning on posting through my primary account from now on. I should also be doing Marshal reporting on the pearlcoast.blogspot.com as soon as I am given authoring permission.

Last weekend saw me at a fighter practice for the first time in about a year. My calves are still sore from the drills and movement that I haven't done for too long. Still, I was motivated to go out and finally complete a training pell. It is about 80% completed. I'm really looking forward to getting out and practicing the basics. Muscle memory is important.

I need to contact the Drachenwald KEM to renew my authorizations in Heavy Combat and Marshalling so that I can start training others over here in Abu Dhabi. I'm only planning on staying a few more years, and it would be nice to leave a functional Shire when I leave. Although there are so many different aspects to the SCA, fighting is an attention getter. If we want to do recruitment demos, we need a few fighters to attract attention. I think I will also work on Rapier authorization. I have found a Fencing club here in the UAE, and I believe there may be some crossover interest.

That is all for now. Lets see if I can keep the posts going now.

Rowany FP

My most recent flight to Sydney happened to be on Rowany's Fighter Practice night. I took the train from Circular Quay to Burwood. I met a bunch of great people. I was able to join in doing some light work and training. There were a bunch of new people the Barony had just recruited from the University. Most of them were working on the basics. I was also able to do some slow drills with a guy who had bruised his ribs the week before.

Still plugging along

I have been enjoying the new destinations work has been taking me too. I have met several wonderful people over the past months. I know I am slacking about posting here, but it is much better to be out and about than sitting on the computer talking about things I could have done. December was particularly nice. I went to the Botticelli exhibit in Frankfurt with Judith, her sister, and a visiting friend.

I am looking forward to an upcoming trip to the Barony of Stormhold in Melbourne. It will be my first time in Lochac. I am hoping to make it to their Tuesday practice for a little while, followed by some socializing. I just hope I am not wiped out from the 15 hour trip to get there.

Back for more

I really haven't been using this blog the way I wanted to. I will try to be more proactive. Jo's tweeting reminded me I originally wanted to use this as a journal to keep tabs on what has been happening.

In the past 2 years I have recieved a Silver Oak for brewing, and two of my guilds (now combined into one) have recieved Purple Frettys. I have moved from the Midrealm to Drachenwald, and spent the last Pennsic camping with friends from back in Ayreton and Ealdormere.

This past week I had dinner with some new friends in Frankfurt, Germany. I was also contacted by an individual in Dubai who is an authorized fighter He is interested in getting more active here in the UAE. A brief discussion was had about the possibility of starting a shire or stronghold here. One of the names for the new group is 'Shat al Lulu', which is arabic for 'The Pearl Coast.' Something with Falcons or Peregriens might also be appropriate.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Well, I must admit I was expecting to make more entries than this when I started this blog. Work has been keeping me busy. I have also recently lost a promotion I was expecting, so I have started looking elsewhere. I have been putting out my resume, and am finally having some success. I have several interviews to prepare for, so I have put much of my fighting and brewing on hold.

I did have the pleasure of attending an open armouring session at Master Talbot's last weekend. I worked on a pair of Wisby gauntlets. They look much the same as when I started, but I actually did work on them quite a bit. I learned quite a bit, and feel I should be able to get them worked out in the near future.

Wiped Out

Yesterday we held out first outdoor practice at the new practice site. I was there at 6:30. I wanted to be early in case anyone else showed up and was unsure where to go. Jacob actually got there before me and left while I was en route. He contacted my lady, who told him I was on my way and that he should head back there.

Lady Francesca arrived with a friend in tow. I can't recall his name, but he is interested in learning to fight. Unfortunately, he is not yet 18 and we don't have any other youth fighters. They arrived as I was sitting down to work on my weapons. We sat and discussed weapon construction and I briefly explained some of the combat rules the SCA has.

Jacob is a member of Belegarth, another group which practices medieval martial arts. He brought his weapons over to compare the weapons he uses to the ones we use. The weapons the SCA uses are made of rattan. The weapons Belegarth uses are made of PVC and foam. The Belegarth weapons Jonah brought weigh about 1/3 of comparable SCA weapons, and he was complaining his weapons were on the heavy side for Belegarth.

Gareth and Tancorix were running late. They are straightening up their house and working on several home improvement projects. As happens while cleaning, things got misplaced. It took them a while to get their armor together, and then they had a heck of a drive to get to practice. They finally did arrive at around 8:00. We armored up and went at it for about 45 minutes, until it got too dark.

I realized that I need to do more conditioning, because I was getting exhausted after very short bouts. My breathing was off and I got winded way too easily. I think this may be in part because I was experimenting with my gorget, and it may have been effecting my breathing. It may also have been due to the fact that we have been practicing indoors in the air conditioning. Gareth and Tancorix were also fighting with pole arms, while I was using sword and shield. This difference in weapon styles required me to be more aggressive in order for me to get into weapons range.

Either way, at the end of the 45 minutes I was completely wiped out.