Liking Things: Everyone's First Mistake

As a person who does things, I'm frequently met by the killer of all fun times; the guy who does the "better" version.  We all know that particular individual, either they did it first, or they did something different that was in someway better than what you do.  For the sake of vagueness, we'll focus on today's topic: the SCA.

Years ago while I was prepping my armor (before I broke, and attempted to remove my face), I was working on a rooftop with this guy my own age.  We both liked swords, hitting people with those swords, and then spending time on exactly how we could hit people with swords better.  Should have been the Easybake Oven of friendship.

I explained the SCA, and he laughed.

He explained that the SCA wasn't like real combat, because they used modern armor and "baseball bats" for weapons.  Also, they had all these rules on limbs, and points, and all manner of things that turned it from a "martial activity" to basically a LARP with shinier armor.

I let him have this moment, not because I am benevolent, but because his shining example of warrior prowess was that he was a reenactment fighter.  They wore real historical armor, and used real swords.  It was all very impressive until one remembered that reenactors are only allowed to hit certain parts of the body (parts that are specifically armored), and use only certain attack styles to give a better show.

It's full contact playfighting, and there wasn't anything wrong with that.

The issue comes from the mentality, that in order for his system to be worthy, mine has to be weak and flawed.  This is the trap that so many fighters (SCA, Martial artists, and much else) fall into: they close off so much else, because they want to do the "right" hobby.

Many of my martial artists friends will look down on a martial art, or elevate one based on the silliest notions.  My two favorites: "Street" practicality, and "Hitting".  The first being how useful something would be in a "street" fight, which is like asking which gun you'd like to own based on the color of the shirt of the man you plan to shoot with it.  There is no such thing as an "average" street fight. They are all different, and in truth, spending years mentality preparing your mind to defend yourself will save you more than which style of punching you use/don't use.

"Muay thai is the best because they actually hit eachother in training!"  "They hit wooden poles instead of soft bags, so they're stronger!"  I've heard every argument for the "best" martial art, and this argument is brought up each time: that hurting yourself makes you a better fighting.  If that were true, all you'd need is a sledgehammer and a free afternoon without shoes, and by dinner you'd be Goku.  Pain does not equal good training, it usually means the opposite.  Hurting yourself in training is the singular dumbest thing one can do.  Training yourself to use a technique that hurts you when your life isn't on the line, is asking for injury in the field.

If I were to thrust so far that I almost blew out my knee while I practiced, risking that with a person trying to hit my with a piece of metal is asinine.

These two mentalities will ruin someone as a person.  There is no style/hobby that is greater than the others because... it's simply that enjoyment is enjoyment.  I have done SCA, LARP, D&D, MMOs, and a list of other things for so many years I can't even remember the start date anymore.  It's just a part of life.  Enjoyment of things widely popular shouldn't be something to be ashamed of, a guilty pleasure isn't "liking to spend your weekends dressed as an elf, stabbing orcs", a guilty pleasure is enjoying actual murder.

Many people in the SCA look down on LARP, and while I'm not into LARPing, I can see where it would be awesomely fun.  Me?  I would enjoy it more if the weapons weren't foam, and it was like the SCA in regards to combat.  Seriously, how awesome would a DnD themed SCA event be?  A weekend of orcs, elves, magic, with all the normal SCA fixings of battles, taverns, songs, and general fun?  We'd all sign up for that.

Many fencers look down on sport fencers, completely forgetting that they're also "sport" fencers.  I prefer to use the terms "Swashbuckling" or "European swordwork" when explaining it to people who can't tell the difference between a rapier and an electric foil.  It's not their fault, it's my hobby.

Many heavy fighters look down on things like LARP, or Ampgarde (is that still a thing?), or reenactors, forgetting that they too are looked down upon by ACL fighters, who are looked down upon by people who actually kill people with live steel.

We're all people enjoying hobbies, to the degree we enjoy them.  Using how much pain we endure, or how "realistic" it is (realistic swordfights allow throwing, thrusts to anywhere, and throwing sand in your face), as a measure for how much "better" it is than another... it's stupid.

Seriously though... I want a fantasy themed, SCA style event... that would be ballin'.