Talk to Meg. She's a fighter, and so is her husband Cedric (who is also newly Knighted, and hence a Noble, after 10 years of working for it - this is a high honor in the SCA, btw, not the "knight whoever for a gig thing, and sometimes it means something" that often happens at faire (at least in the noble groups I am involved with). You may remember Cedric, as he used to do faire with the Cliff Basset's group Azure Cross, and I think he helped develop the CIRGA rules on combat when he was with Cliff's group - as I remember him at Hanford meetings when those were being discussed. Cedric *will* strongly recommend SCA over Faire, as he is a big convert, just a headsup on that.
The local fighters do combat practice on Friday evenings, at the park on Marks south of Shaw. I think it is Rotary park, the one with the skateboard ramps, starting around 6pm or so, I think. I've yet to go, but you can both go, talk to the lords and ladies who are involved, some of the women just go to chat & knit, while other women are in full armor practicing.
Is the balance worth it? Only you can decide. I suggest you give it a try for awhile at the very least. You can go to the events *you* want to attend, go to Baronial Council Meetings (BCM) where you can meet the local people, and find out what's going on, and just socialize a bit with people. I think you and Lady Kaolin will get along well, as she's the big crafter in our Barony (and she loves to share her knowledge). Cedric does armor smithing, as do a couple of other guys. There are upcoming events, which you can attend a day if you want. One is Treasure Chest, at Kearney Park at the end of April. It is the same weekend as Visalia, and sadly CostumeCon (which I will be attending). You could do one day at one event, and do the other day at the other event if you want.
And you may also want to join the local Baronial yahoo group. Most of the info will be on this mailing list. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/baronyofnordwache/ Feel free to join up, and listen in for a bit. The people there have been very willing to answer questions you have, and are a bit of a laid back, whacky group.
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The local fighters do combat practice on Friday evenings, at the park on Marks south of Shaw. I think it is Rotary park, the one with the skateboard ramps, starting around 6pm or so, I think. I've yet to go, but you can both go, talk to the lords and ladies who are involved, some of the women just go to chat & knit, while other women are in full armor practicing.
Is the balance worth it? Only you can decide. I suggest you give it a try for awhile at the very least. You can go to the events *you* want to attend, go to Baronial Council Meetings (BCM) where you can meet the local people, and find out what's going on, and just socialize a bit with people. I think you and Lady Kaolin will get along well, as she's the big crafter in our Barony (and she loves to share her knowledge). Cedric does armor smithing, as do a couple of other guys. There are upcoming events, which you can attend a day if you want. One is Treasure Chest, at Kearney Park at the end of April. It is the same weekend as Visalia, and sadly CostumeCon (which I will be attending). You could do one day at one event, and do the other day at the other event if you want.
And you may also want to join the local Baronial yahoo group. Most of the info will be on this mailing list. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/baronyofnordwache/
Feel free to join up, and listen in for a bit. The people there have been very willing to answer questions you have, and are a bit of a laid back, whacky group.