Greetings everyone and happy warm weather!

I have posted a link to LARPSpace on the California Amptgard group I am now hanging out with so I will also add the meetup link here.

The Wavehaven group has fighter practice on Wednesday evenings and has a larger outing every Saturday.  I may start working the King's Mountain group stuff up there though I will have to talk to the local officers to see what they think.

www.meetup.com/Wavehaven-of-Amptgard/

Best,

Wayne

Hard to think that summer is nearing its end.  Great ROC event and another to come in ... wow two weeks.

Lots of new faces and bodies to smack with packets and weapons.  Some good roleplay too.

Happy spring time folks.  Been busy with Grad school.  Having a great break atm and hope all of you are as well.

Will be posting a date in the next few days for another King's Mountain Fighters Guild session.  Last time we had a few more folks show up from San Jose and I would like to thank them for that.  We got to test a few things with small player groups and quickie custom mods with both undead and goblins.

The basic drills seem to be going well.  There was a request for combat instruction and fighting styles with a round shield and I will work up something that covers the basic stuff that I have been exposed to.

Just crafted a Chinese short sabre (34in overall length) and once I put the round quillion on it I will put up a pic and post it's weight.  The base core of the weapon was crafted by Dale of Larponry.  I just striped the 'blade' off and designed it based on real examples of the blade itself.  It feels almost like the real thing, though obviously a bit lighter.

Best,

Wayne

Hello everyone.

A new group has been added.  This group is for all those interested in participating with the Monterey Fighters Guild.  This group is assiciated with the LARP Alliance fighters guilds and will be working with them to further the hobby of LARPing in the local demographic area.

Practice dates will be posted and the goal is to make them consistant, educational, and fun.  Different fighting styles, various weapon training, shield use training, unit tactics, and fighting in armor is the goal as well as introducing people to the LARPing scene.  Once the practices are in full swing, it is my plan to invite local martial art groups out to show them how much fun it is to LARP and potentially increase the player base for local LARP organizations.

Best,

Wayne

Happy February everyone.  I will be building a bunch of blogs on LARPing and conditioning to help be a better, safer fighter via fitness and foundational techniques.  These will be accompanied by videos in the future.

LARP Fighter Basics 100 (or get off yer butt and play!)

There are many videos out there on LARP combat techniques. Few to of them address the basics of any combat sport; balance, breathing, flexibility, and conditioning. With these basics understood from the start, many new LARP enthusiasts will better grasp the techniques shown to them as they are built upon a firm foundation.

The common view of LARPer's is of overweight weekend warriors that just want to smack each other with padded weapons. While this may be partially true, many LARPers are in good enough shape to hike for a few hours, fight three of four huge battles, eat a sugar/carb loaded lunch and do it again, and again. Sometimes all weekend long. The reason I list these things as John/Jane Q Public would probably not be able to do these things without a little visit to the bathroom to hurl.

What this is:

This document will touch on the above listed topics. Very basic knowledge that hopefully can make its way into the hands of a new LARPer so they understand that this is indeed a sport and your level of physical fitness can and often times does impact how well you do during a game session.

What this is not:

This document is not a fitness guide or intended as a prescription to prevent or cure an illness. This document is provided as is and the reader accepts all responsibility for their own actions.

Balance:

A good rule of thumb is “Balance before movement.” This simple information can save an injury from happening and increase your overall control during combat. Work on how you stand. Never lock your knees, or straddle out so far you can not return to a stand without placing all of your weight on one foot and balancing without a huge amount of movement. Try to never let your knees collapse inward when you fight. Try to not let your knees bend enough forward that they are beyond the tips of your toes. Once you have a good balance, challenge yourself more by adding other drills so you will be more prepared during a LARP fight.

Breathing:

Oxygen is your friend. This is not a plug for Oprah, it is just the simple truth. The average person, when placed in a stressful situation, either tenses up and holds their breath or they panic and breath shallow and rapid. In both situations you are robbing your bodies ability to operate at full capacity and will create fatigue at a much higher rate.

Flexibility:

This does not imply that you must be able to do the splits, though if you can great. What is does mean is being able to move your body with limited compensatory assistance. Muscles that are tight or not well conditioned will ask for 'assistance' from nearby muscles that may not be used to a higher load. Our body is an efficient bugger however this assistance can and often times does produce aches and pains that just do not feel right and may take longer to heal.

Conditioning:

Being athletic can be a great outlet for a multitude of reasons. There are volumes upon volumes on this topic and are beyond the simple scope of this document. Conditioning for any sport includes the movements you will be making, cardiovascular exercise, and depending on the sport medium, speed-agility-quickness drills, strength training and stretching. All of these things can help to reduce injury and allow you to experience your activity with better focus and control.

Next Blog: Technique

Cuisse rig completed.  High Impact plastic w/out back padding.  Test strikes useing "boffer", Calimacil sword, and Larponry Hybrid weapon were great.  Even the Calimacil sword was a well distributed "tap" w/out the back padding.  Since I will only be useing it for medium contact I will not add the padding at this time.

Type: Cuisse

Color: Anitque Bronze

Use: LARP

Tunic completed w/gussets and gores.  Arming cassock completed without ties.

Leg plate rig pieces finished.  Need to rivet and mount the harness.  Will upload pics when I get the chance.

Wool over tunic being modified to better fit entire outfit.

Shield and Mace completed.  (might mod the mace to not have duct tape at all)

6 days to go