Hilt and Helm Summer 2024 Status Update
This summer has thankfully been a lot more chill than the spring that preceded it. Moving into the new location has come with a lot of tasks that have eaten up much of our time and money, but hopefully you’ll be as pleased as we are with the results! We have managed to make it to a few events so with out further ado let’s get into what the club has been up to recently.
Sword Quench 2024
Robin, Pete, Jessie, and I at Sword Quench!
On August 10th, Hilt and Helm hit the road to Columbus Ohio for Columbus United Fencing Club’s opening event: Sword Quench. For those who aren’t aware, Columbus United Fencing Club (CUFC) is a brand new club that sprouted off of Royal Arts Fencing Club (RAFA). After a series of irreconcilable differences with the owners of RAFA, the HEMA practitioners broke off and made their own club. With black jack! And hookers!
Since this would be their “opening” tournament, they decided to make the medals gilded bottle openers!
The winners of Open Longsword enjoying their brand new fancy bottle opener medals!
First Place: Sam Ryals
Second Place: Brandon Zipplinger
Third Place: JW Pugnetti and AJ Trefney
This time Robin Steele and I competed in sword and buckler. Robin had a rough time with only one win but I did relatively well with only two losses. The first was to Colin McConnel. Now normally this would be where I give an epic play by play of my strategy against him and discuss where my plans fell short. But no … dude beat my ass then went on to win gold in the event. My other loss however was gave me much more to talk about.
I’d never seen Robbie Crockett before. His blue and white gambeson gave me buhurt or SCA vibes but his otherwise unfamiliarity caused me to load my standard mook play list of moves. I’d planned on doing my normal goofy dance then sliding in and cutting his leg while he was trying to figure me out, but as I was goofing around he slid in and struck my leg! Not thinking he’d have the temerity to do it again I went back to my typical hi-jinks and bam! He hit my leg again! It was at this point that the heat was most certainly on. I feinted a goofy step then lunged in for a thrust. As expected he parried it, causing my actual plan of cutting at his head to initiate. Unfortunately he turned the back of his head and I hit him in an invalid spot. Not intentional on his part, but there was definitely face where I was swinging when my attack initiated. After a few more exchanges that ended in doubles he once again got my leg and managed to deny my further attempts at scoring valid hits. This time with skillful parries instead of his spine. In the end time ran out and he was ahead, securing his win. So well done Robbie! I’d say I underestimated you, but in reality your defense against my attacks and your patience until my openings appeared won you the day! I look forward to our next climactic battle!
Absolutely epic picture of Robbie and I's fight.!
Going into elims after beating my first opponent, I gazed across the arena to see Robin fighting Martin Dollinger. I’ve seen him on the scene a fair number of times. In the past he was a decent opponent, but a little trickery went a long way against him. As I saw the fight I looked at the score board and Robin was doing great! Whomever won that fight would be my next opponent. As much as I would have hated to have to knock her out of the competition I was fairly pleased to see her doing so well. It was only after the fight that she came over and I congratulated her that I discovered that there was an error with the score board and those were Martin’s score. At this point, I had to seek revenge for the defeat of my pupil! For the record I’m not serious about seeking actual revenge, it’s just more poetic this way.
During Martin and my fight, I had every intention of waiting for him to create an opening and yeeting myself at it the my signature Shelton flair. Only … that didn’t happen. His defenses were solid. His openings small and easily guarded as soon as I approached. I attempted several times to create openings by threatening one target and disengaging, but he just backed up, gave himself more room, then reposted to MY openings. It was a slow and decisive fight. Where every move on both our parts was calculated and measured. In the end, I wasn’t able to overcome him and he took advantage of my openings as I was trying to entice him into revealing his own. I suppose it is fitting that a once simple to defeat opponent managed to grow and best both of Hilt and Helm’s sword and buckler fighters.
In the end, the guy who beat me hands down in pools and the guy who beat me and Robin wound up on the podium this time. In retrospect, that bottle opener wouldn’t have fit in my trophy case anyway. Better to spread the wealth and leave some medals for the other fencers.
First Place: Colin McConnel
Second Place: Sam Ryals
Third Place: JJ Conlan and Martin Dollinger
After a brief intermission (catered by CUFC with some absolutely outstanding burgers) was Open Longsword. Pete May, Jessie May, and I competed. Pete and I got put in the same pool and though I came out on top there was a really awesome shot taken by their photographer of our fight where I juuuuuuuuuust barely managed to parry his zwerk-hau.
Me juuuuuuust barely managing to parry Pete's zwerk-hau
During a fight with Regina Mendicino, Tim Betz got hit in the foot and had to take a moment and an ibuprofen to get himself together. Afterward he and I were going to fight and I went to inquire if he was ok. Thankfully he was! I mentioned I wouldn’t hit him in the legs (pesky morals wouldn’t allow it). He appreciated the gesture and we went into the fight already liking each other. Here’s a bad ass picture the photographer got of the encounter.
Me stabbing Tim Betz!
In that pool I did have two losses. The first was to Branden Zipplinger (who ended up taking silver) and the second was to AJ Trefney (who ended up taking bronze). In elims, I would go on to face my third loss (JW Pugnetti).
Back when he and fought for Steel City Historical Fencing, I used to be able to beat him pretty consistently for two reasons.
I got to watch him fight. I was able to study his specific attacks and defense patterns and put together strategies to parry his attacks and repost where I knew he’d be open.
He got to watch me, so he was able to study my specific attacks. You’d think that’d be a disadvantage but the key is that I KNEW he knew my standard attacks. This meant I could fake my usual stuff and pull out something I knew he’d never seen me do.
The results were some of my earliest medals from Blue Box, Ascalon, and other tournaments where we’d fought. As the Jarl, my time is divided among teaching class, training other instructors, handling bills, insurance, and assorted club costs, the website, event planning, and what ever other fresh hell running a fencing club throws my way. He’s got a succesful youtube channel where he analyzes fights from HEMA’s top fighters and creates strategies on how to beat them. Granted, I get a whole club full of people to train with, but no one on his level.
After our fight he asked why I wasn’t more aggressive and the answer was that when I tried he’d snipe my hands before I got in. So then I attempted to get him to attack my hands on my terms and when he did I parried and riposted successfully, but after that point dude was in my head. My attacks were met with a slight step back and an attack at my opening (a move I LOVE pulling off on other people but have terrible defense against). And I’m good an enticing people to attack and focusing on the parry riposte game, but dude knew that and just wouldn’t attack! The result was a very patient, very skilled exchange in which he came out on top. And even with my dramatic weight loss, my increased muscle mass, and my increased cardio capacity, there’s no substitution for exceptional skill. I suppose I’ll watch a few more of his videos and try again next time after I’ve trained some of my fighters to replicate his strategies. Either way, congrats to him and the other medalists. You all give me something to strive for.
Pete, Jessie, Robin, and I getting Indian after the tournament
Harvest Fecht 2024
On August 30th, Eric McChesney, Liz Wildenhain, and I travelled out to Cincinnati Ohio for Queen City Sword Guild’s signature event: Harvest Fecht 2024. Held over Labor Day weekend, it features 3 days of food fencing, and fun. There are also classes taught by some of the tri-state area’s top fencers and instructors. If it sounds a little like our sparring camp (Funfecht), that’s because it’s a very similar kind of event with the distinct difference that I didn’t have to run it. In the past I’ve taught a rapier cape class at Harvest Fecht. Although I was a little sad not to have a reprisal of the class I was delighted to see new instructors whom I remember had just started fencing maybe 2 years ago suddenly taking the reigns of the community my teaching classes on dagger fighting, axe fighting, and a myriad of other topics! As fun as all of that sounded, I was there for exactly two things: free sparring as many people as humanly possible and WAR IN THE WOODS!
War in the Woods!
In this event, all of the participants are split in to two teams: the attackers and the defenders. The defenders have 3 check points that they have to prevent the attackers from touching. Those check points act as the respawn locations whenever anyone gets hit. Defenders get 3 lives per check point, and once they’ve lost their 3rd life at one check point they must fall back to the next one. Attackers have roughly 2 hours to touch all 3 defender spawn points. They get infinite respawns, but have to retreat back to their check point in order to get back in the game. This seems like a huge advantage for the attackers until you realize how far apart the check points are located.
This year I was an attacker, and I had a wild idea. Before I’d fought with 2 synthetic katanas and Naruto ran all over the battle field shouting anime catch phrases as I fought with reckless abandon. I did that again, but this time I brought a speaker and my phone in a Hilt and Helm backpack so I could do so with theme music playing!
Pictured: Ben Houck laughing his ass off as my nerdy butt Naruto ran past him with Final Fantasy music blaring out of my back.
This plan worked well for the first check point which was in a field and up a hill. When they defenders retreated back to the second spawn point (which was in the woods), that put a little bit of a damper on my anime fantasy. The juxtaposition of epic battle music and soaring symphonies as I slowly navigated through branches and carefully stepped over a ravine to finally arrive at the check point hot, tired, winded, and exhausted only to be shot in the chest by a javelin was a stark reminder of how shitty it is to fight in the woods and how not - at - all epic forested combat actually would have been.
After being rebuffed from that position twice, I met up with some of the other attackers who had a brilliant plan. As the armored fighters engaged with the enemy, my team and I would sneak around back through the woods and come out next to the barn behind their base. This would require me to turn off my music, but by that time I’d already established that when you hear the music, Chris Shelton is coming! So the removal of the epic boss music would help aid in my stealthy endeavors.
If I thought the first slog through the woods was rough, this new path was much worse since the folliage was much thicker. It’s a good thing I was wearing a full gambeson. I was thankfully able to Homer Simpson my way through the brush.
When we reappeared, I was tired, covered in brambles, hot, tired again for emphasis, but also had a clear line of attack to the second defensive post! I summoned the last of my strength we Naruto ran together to take out the barrel! Apparently our first guy tackled the wrong one and they stabbed him. Thankfully guy number 2 got the right one … and I helped! We still had one more defensive post to take but by that time I was exhausted and I figured the rest of the team would be fine without me as I sat my old ass down. Thankfully I was right and one of our guys sprinted towards their 3rd point before the defenders could get to it.
Boarding Action!
The next day was the boarding action! In it, teams of 4 would take turns attacking or defending the deck of a boat. Since Ohio is very much landlocked, the boat deck was simulated using posts and ropes in the rough configuration of a board deck. Defenders won if they kept the flag from getting taken or stabbed all of the attackers. I got to team up with Michelle Gully, who runs HEMA Lexington. She also came out to Funfecht and taught an amazing longsword class called “Rhythm and Blows”. Thankfully our team managed to win as both the attackers and defenders. I’ll give her credit she’s damn good at what she does and it was really cool getting to fight on a team with a fellow club head. When I have money and time again I’m intending to travel down to Lexington and teach a rapier and cape class for them.
The Night Time Hike
When all of the fighting was done on Sunday and the sun had set, a few of us (Michelle, Eric, Liz, and I) went out on the trails around Ben’s farm to look at the starry night sky. Out there, the light pollution is a lot less intense and you can see a whole bunch of constellations. I enjoyed the social events and the sparring immensely, but what I really love about Harvest Fecht are the quiet moments you get to have with a few really good friends where you can just be outside and bask in the beauty of nature. Between the pond during the day, and the fields at night, Harvest Fecht has an amazing combination of things to do and places get away that make it one of my favorite HEMA events.
… they also didn’t get as huge a crowd this year as Funfecht meaning FUNFECHT IS STILL THE BIGGEST SPARRING CAMP IN THE COUNTRY, BABY!
Ohio Renaissance Festival 2024
At Harvest Fecht, we ran into Sam Ryals whom I’m mentioned in the Sword Quench part of this blog post. He invited Liz, Eric, and I to come out the next morning to see him joust. That’s right, not only did he win gold at Sword Quench, Donny Brook, Queen City Open, and Combat Con, he’s also super tall, impossibly good looking, and is a JOUSTER AT THE FRIGGIN’ RENAISSANCEFESTIVAL! … so unfair. Some people get to have it all. Anyway …
...so we went to the Ohio Renaissance Festival
Eric, Liz, and I in the crowd watching Sam joust!
Hey Look! JJ Conlan's a squire!
The joust starts off with games of skill where the knights take turns getting their lance through bagel sized rings, smacking the heads of targets, and throwing spears at other targets. This has two purposes: the first is to gain points towards winning the tournament that aren’t solely dependent on attacking your opponent, and the second is to practice their hand at aiming at the correct target … which is super important. Both knights are on horses that weight about 1000 ponds on the low end. The horses are traveling towards each other at about 25 miles per hour. Each knight is wearing about 60 points of armor. So when the two of them collide, there is a considerable amount of force being exerted on each knight. They are only awarded points if they hit their opponent’s shield. Making a touch is one point and breaking the lance is 3. Hitting anywhere else results in no points. This is to encourage knights to hit the areas that are the most likely not to result in injury. As you’ll see in the video below, injury is very much a thing that can happen.
Sam jousting at the Ohio Renaissance Festival
Thankfully Sam was ok after that clash. Since he hit his opponent’s shield but hit opponent hit Sam’s helmet, Sam won the encounter and was awarded yet another victory. Still though, shit’s dangerous so be sure to show appreciation to your knights. They’re putting themselves in harms way for your enjoyment.
After the joust we got to hang out with JJ and Sam by the stables. Sam even signed a piece of the lance that broke off and gave it to us as a souvenir! What’s neat about the lances is that they are spiral cut pine so that they make a loud sound when the snap and are more likely to snap into solid pieces. The balsa wood ones tend to splinter all over the place and it creates a hazard for the horses. By the way, Sam’s horse was super cute and friendly. If you have a chance before the fair ends you should go out and see him ride! It was definitely the highlight of the fair, though my husband James would beg to differ since this is where I got him a really attractive amber necklace.
Updates to the Club
Now that we’ve been in the new location for about 3 months it’s finally starting to feel like home! With our logo on the windows and the walls, custom art in the bathrooms, and dehumidifiers to cut down on the stank, this place is looking pretty baller if I don’t say so myself!
Updates to the Officer Roster
We’ve had a few changes in the club officer roster. Life events have caused Julia and Auren to step back from the club for a while. In their absence, Liz and Robin have stepped up as the new club Vice Presidents. We’ve also added Tony Cavaline, Kevin Brough, and Ryan Leonard as instructor, admin, and back up admin. Eric has taken over Tuesday saber, and we’ve set up a gear repair station in the basement to expedite de-rusting of weapons and mending of gear. Taking on the role of interim instructor will be Phil Clark. Also Amelia Deacon has been brought on as our swag manager to help get the online store looking a bit less chaotic and to help get our Etsy shop off the ground!
Knight School Classes for Sept - Oct 2024 Semester
Mondays will now be Intermediate Longsword taught by Chris Shelton
Tuesdays will now be Beginner Saber taught by Eric McChesney
Wednesdays will now be Tibault Rapier taught by Phillip Clark
Saturdays will continue to be Free Spar administered by Robin Steele and Aleksei Bulan
Private Lessons
We are also offering private lessons.
Thursdays with Paul or Liz
6:30 pm to 7:30 pm
7:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Saturdays with the Chris Shelton (The Jarl of Hilt and Helm)
8:00 am to 9:00 am
9:00 am to 10:00 am
10:00 am to 11:00 am
See our class passes page for details.
Once again thank you all for reading, and I’ll see you next update.
