 he
HACA. The Historical Armed Combat Association. Well, in
general the HACA website has a lot of interesting info
about medieveal fighting, the authors tend to extremely
snobbish and anti-SCA in general, so it is often
difficult to read their essays with a fair mind. However,
the often to write on some profound topics, like in this article about lower leg
targeting.In this essay, the
author is endeavouring to convince the reader that not
allowing lower leg targeting in recreational combat
diminishes the worth of said combat and by decreasing the
realism. Well, the author does make several good points,
but it seems like he makes several assumptions (and has a
hidden beef about being pounded by some big brute).
A few of the people on the Armour
Archive thought that the author
had valid points, but that he was ignoring or making
light of the danger presented by adding this target.
Allowing the lower legs WOULD make the
fighting more realistic. Would it make it more
dangerous.... emmm, I dunno. Although I already stand the
chance of getting hit in the knee with a great sword (and
yes, that thought does scare me a bit), the thought of
getting totally knocked off my feet by getting hit in the
shins does bother me a bit. However, since most people I
talk to say that "If they swing for your legs, go
for their head", I don't think it would change many
people's fighting style.
As far as sword and shield go, in my
kingdom (Ansteorra with the big muckin shields)blocking
leg shots would change our shield work a bit, but since
only about 1 foot of my leg is uncovered, not much. What
would change more would be the footwork and the way we
hold shields.
Currently, most people in Ansteorra
hold their shields in a manner which protects the thighs
up to their helms, but which obfuscates the vision. This
stance allows you to know that you are very safe unless
your opponent is very close. This would probably change,
because the need to see the shot would increase, as it
would be possible to stand still and get hit.
In rapier (in which whole body is
allowed) it is very HARD to get the lower leg and foot
without getting ganked. The math is simple. Person A
shoots diagonally (shoulder to foot) with length of sword
forming the hypotenouse of a triangle. Person be shoots
at shoulder level (or a slight angle downward)and hits
him becuase his sword forms the base. or in other words
it has a longer straight line distance.
I think that the biggest benefit in
allowing lower leg shots would be in the fakes there and
with mismatched weapons styles (i.e. sword and shield
versus great sword) and would make the longer weapons
more viable against sword and shield.
As a final nit-pick, I think a more
valid problem with recreation weapons is in the lack of
mass. Current Ansteorra standards allow 1 lb/ft of weapon
(up to 5 feet, 1/2lb per foot after that) which is under
the weight of all but the lightest period medieval
weapons. Weapon mass (and weighting) is one of the most
significant problems I see with recreation.
In service to the
Kingdom and Mooneschadowe
Jean Paul
de Sens
Seconde, Lion Dragon Guard
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