Fightcamp 2012

[Cutlery Penguin]

Thanks to Matt and Lucy for a fantastic event. It was better organised and ran more smoothly than ever before.

Thanks to all the Marshalls for their hard work manning the desk and generally being dog's bodies. Special mentions to James and Nigel for doing the A&E run, though only two broken fingers, one sprained ankle and a lacerated finger seems good going for such a big event with four tournaments (did I miss any?).

Massive thanks to everyone that did my sessions, it was lovely to see so many people with so much enthusiasm for inflicting extreme pain on each other and eve bigger thanks to the small, select group that played cards with me on Saturday morning, you guys rock!

It was great to see old friends again, specially those who I only get to see at Fightcamp, it was brilliant to carry on my endless bout with Jonathan (Next year I will finally beat you God damn it!) and fantastic to make new friends (special mentions to Ty, Lany, and Jed).

Congratulations to Mark Gilbert, Piermarco Terminiello, and Simon Thurston for their respective tournament wins, I was sad to find myself up against Milo in the second round, but more sad still for us both to go out on doubles after a ridiculous number of exchanges. Next year it is mine!

Having booked into a local hotel and had a decent nights sleep every night as well as regular hot showers Fightcamp is now pretty much my perfect event. Can we do it every week?

[Paul B]

Thanks to Matt and Lucy for a fantastic event. It was better organised and ran more smoothly than ever before.

Thanks to all the Marshalls for their hard work manning the desk and generally being dog's bodies. Special mentions to James and Nigel for doing the A&E run, though only two broken fingers, one sprained ankle and a lacerated finger seems good going for such a big event with four tournaments (did I miss any?).

1 minor concussion in the Fightcamp Passage of Arms. The concusee underwent an on-site exam with the doctor, had a rest and went on to win the prize for valour.
Never was it better earned.

[knirirr]

I was sad to find myself up against Milo in the second round, but more sad still for us both to go out on doubles after a ridiculous number of exchanges. Next year it is mine!

I would be delighted to encounter you once more on the piste, should fate once more cause us to meet.

It was a fun event this year with some interesting classes and a good competition. I liked the competition software, which I had not seen before.

[Wyte Phantom]

Thanks to all the Marshalls for their hard work manning the desk and generally being dog's bodies. Special mentions to James and Nigel for doing the A&E run, though only two broken fingers, one sprained ankle and a lacerated finger seems good going for such a big event with four tournaments (did I miss any?)

I dealt with a couple of very minor cuts/briuses, but nothing serious

[fullplate]

Can only echo the comments made above, a very successful, enjoyable, slickly run event from start to finish.Even Fridays crappy weather didn't put a dent in my enjoyment. So thanks to Matt and Lucy for putting the whole thing together, thanks to the folks from the Grange for having us, the Marshals for doing their thing without fuss or fanfare, all of the instructors for their time and expertise and finally to everyone else who attended or helped in any way. Simply a great, great time.

Have to say I have never been much of a tournament fan, but the excellent organisation and quality competition in Sundays tournament had me hanging on every fight(sorry didn't see the Saturday competition)
For three guys to end up so equally matched right at the end spoke volumes for a good rule set, firm control from the officials and excellent attitude from the fighters.
This was my sixth Fightcamp, each one an improvement on the previous one, I hope to see a good few more.
Phil

[Cutlery Penguin]

I would be delighted to encounter you once more on the piste, should fate once more cause us to meet.

In general I love to fight you, but when I really want to win I'd rather be up against almost anyone else. Out of all the people in the tournament I have the worst record against you. You fight with a level of aggression and commitment that very few other people do and I find that very tricky to deal with. Most people spend some time jockeying for position and looking for an opening which gives me time to assess and act accordingly. You just attack.

Of course the answer is to fight you more often...

[knirirr]

Most people spend some time jockeying for position and looking for an opening which gives me time to assess and act accordingly. You just attack.

Sorry about that. I'd love to play off the riposte but find the most opponents aren't willing to oblige, so the only way to get anything to happen is to get stuck in with some attacks. The unfortunate result at back-sword is too many doubles/afterblows.

Of course the answer is to fight you more often...

Bring it on!

[TyHar7]

It was great to see old friends again, specially those who I only get to see at Fightcamp, it was brilliant to carry on my endless bout with Jonathan (Next year I will finally beat you God damn it!) and fantastic to make new friends (special mentions to Ty, Lany, and Jed).

Thanks Oz, so many names get thrown about its really nice to meet and get to know everyone, we had a really great time. It was really nice to have a huge level of support from you guys for my first tournament as well, I feel bad for letting folks down but determined to be better prepared for next year. In general however we had huge amount of British talent pushing through to the later stages of the competitions which was great to see. Feels like the Olympics have inspired us all

[Knife Thrower]

It was indeed a fantastic event, I think the best one yet. More people, more classes and yet it never lost the feel that you could find almost everyone in one place and still get a really good social vibe, especially at the bar in the evening! Thanks to Jim and everyone at the Grange for having the site so ready and for some fantastic food!

It was great to see so many friends again, to drink with them and to fight some of them too I thoroughly enjoyed Scott's class that I dragged myself to even though it rained so much that I was wetter than I have ever been from rain in my life! Thanks to the capricous nature of the weather I somehow dried by the end of the day. I still managed to get some sunburn during the event despte putting my tent up and taking it down in the rain!

Some special moments have to be watching the raucous game of cards that was happening on the Sunday night, which I think came from Marguerite, Chloe and Jeanne, shooting stars on the Saturday night, Andreas Engstrom's brave attempt to finish a 1l bottle of whisky on his own, Jennifer Garside's fantastic corsets, which seemed to go down a storm with the ladies and the endless conversations about which animal would win in a fight, a polar bear or a Siberian Tiger, I expect the debate to rage for months

The tournaments were excellent and as Martin mentioned absolutely full of fantastic fighting, whether it was someone pulling themselves into a tournament situation for the first time, which is bloody nerve wracking and deserves serious kudos regardless of the outcome, or some extremely tense fights between some fantastic and experienced fighters. Special note to Pim for winning the Rapier tournament and Mark Gilbert for the Passage of Arms AND the Backsword tournament although a great standard and temperament was displayed by all fighters. Unfortunately I won't be competing again for a while as I broke my arm patting myself on the back Obviously I am well pleased and all my opponents should be receiving their money soon

Lastly a massive thank you to Matt and Lucy for once again pulling off the insanely difficult by arranging and organising such a huge and popular event that went so smoothly, lets get it on for next year!

[Cutlery Penguin]

Thanks Oz, so many names get thrown about its really nice to meet and get to know everyone, we had a really great time. It was really nice to have a huge level of support from you guys for my first tournament as well, I feel bad for letting folks down but determined to be better prepared for next year. In general however we had huge amount of British talent pushing through to the later stages of the competitions which was great to see. Feels like the Olympics have inspired us all

You certainly didn't let anyone down, it takes a huge amount of courage to step into the tournament arena, never more so than the first time. Now you have some idea of how it feels you can better prepare for it next time (though to be honest I hate the hour or two before fighting every time). A lot of it is simply down to the luck of the draw, after all, look at who won the Eggleton Cup! (please don't hurt me Simon)

[the_last_alive]

Thanks Oz, so many names get thrown about its really nice to meet and get to know everyone, we had a really great time. It was really nice to have a huge level of support from you guys for my first tournament as well, I feel bad for letting folks down but determined to be better prepared for next year. In general however we had huge amount of British talent pushing through to the later stages of the competitions which was great to see. Feels like the Olympics have inspired us all

You certainly didn't let anyone down, it takes a huge amount of courage to step into the tournament arena, never more so than the first time. Now you have some idea of how it feels you can better prepare for it next time (though to be honest I hate the hour or two before fighting every time).

Totally agree, that hour or two are the worst. Finding a way to occupy yourself and not over think it is the key.

And Ty, you really didn't do badly. Besides, you'll just bounce back better for next year.

[Wyte Phantom]

Jennifer Garside's fantastic corsets, which seemed to go down a storm with the ladies

I think some of the gents were enjoying them just as much as the ladies

[Andreas Engström]

Andreas Engstrom's brave attempt to finish a 1l bottle of whisky on his own

Well, I kind of failed that since I was trying to fill the glass of everyone around me who happened to have an empty one all the time. But I did get more than enough left for myself as well. Sunday evening is nice, no responsibilities next day apart from being able to pack up your tent and get to the airport.. which I did manage without problem.

Well, since I'm writing stuff here now anyway I might as well thank everyone (especially Matt, Lucy and the marshals and Jim and the Grange staff) for yet another fantastic event. Also thanks to everyone who enjoyed my classes, been getting lots of positive feedback and feel quite pleased. And thanks to Marcus and Daria for interesting sabre workshops (also to Colin and Carlo though I only watched parts of yours), and to everyone I fought with (Marcus, Bryn, Michael S, Payson, Scott Brown, Carlo, Newton, Dave, Ties, Marguerite, Simon and many more - you know who you are...)

Fightcamp is just getting better and better. Now, a steel sabre tournament would make it pretty much the perfect event for me...

-Andreas

[admin]

A steel sabre tournament as well as a steel longsword feder tournament is certainly on the cards. I am just trying to find the appropriate steel sabres (for us rather than the guys who already have options) and the right gloves.

[Stevie T]

I'd like to say a big thanks from Dragon's Tayle to Matt, Lucy, and the rest of the fightcamp team for such a stonking weekend!

Thanks to everyone else for fghting us, drinking with us, and putting up with my drunken ramblings!

Can't wait for next year!

[Batfink]

it was brilliant to carry on my endless bout with Jonathan (Next year I will finally beat you God damn it!)

I'm only sorry my weapon broke before we could spend another half hour edging our way to another point roll on next year's installment... eventually one of us will die... probably of old age...

1 minor concussion in the Fightcamp Passage of Arms. The concusee underwent an on-site exam with the doctor, had a rest and went on to win the prize for valour.
Never was it better earned.

Nigel is a machine. Between him and Darren was never short of good bouts. Was great to see him win the prize. Thanks for another brilliant Passage of Arms, Paul.

Unfortunately I won't be competing again for a while as I broke my arm patting myself on the back Obviously I am well pleased and all my opponents should be receiving their money soon

Thoroughly deserved... was great to watch such quality fencing. Congratulations! And big congratulations to all the other winners and everyone who took part.

Massive thanks to Matt, Lucy, the whole Fightcamp team and all the Grange staff.

And massive thanks to [too many to mention] for fighting, drinking, chatting and generally creating an amazing atmosphere.

[Knife Thrower]

Jennifer Garside's fantastic corsets, which seemed to go down a storm with the ladies

I think some of the gents were enjoying them just as much as the ladies

That, I think, goes without saying

[TyHar7]

Thanks Oz, so many names get thrown about its really nice to meet and get to know everyone, we had a really great time. It was really nice to have a huge level of support from you guys for my first tournament as well, I feel bad for letting folks down but determined to be better prepared for next year. In general however we had huge amount of British talent pushing through to the later stages of the competitions which was great to see. Feels like the Olympics have inspired us all

You certainly didn't let anyone down, it takes a huge amount of courage to step into the tournament arena, never more so than the first time. Now you have some idea of how it feels you can better prepare for it next time (though to be honest I hate the hour or two before fighting every time).

Totally agree, that hour or two are the worst. Finding a way to occupy yourself and not over think it is the key.

And Ty, you really didn't do badly. Besides, you'll just bounce back better for next year.

Thanks guys, just gonna put my head down and train harder now.

[admin]

A bunch of fights from the Eggleton Cup tournament here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/Marnudd/videos

[KeithFarrell]

Reinis Rinka has written a review of the event, a review which has now been posted onto Encased in Steel:
http://historical-academy.co.uk/blog/2012/08/24/review-of-fightcamp-2012/