03-26-2012, 10:21 AM
Sempronius, I concur... I was nodding a lot while reading your post, and would like to add that this is minimum armor standards but you might want more. Vambraces for one, getting a solid blow on an unprotected forearm is almost a guaranteed broken arm if hit hard enough. and the area just above the knee is unbelievably painful if someone with serious power gets you there and its not covered... personal experience there. I found people seem to instinctively target uncovered body parts. As cool as the Caligae are and after seeing some I found myself wanting a pair just to wear around during the summer, the cloesd toe requirement is simply because blows go awry smetimes and you can get hit in non target areas. Unprotected toes and a rattan sword travelling 60 miles an hour don't mix well. But one thing about the idea of a rattan gladius, I think if you have alanyard and some whomping good clamshell gauntlets, you could use one, providing it was tourney safe and legal. The thing to remember is SCA combat really did not begin with Rome in mind, they were thinking medieval combat. Again, SCA period only begins with the fall of Rome in 476AD so there's a little wiggle room but not a lot. You just have to accept some things and decide if you can live with it or not. The faster you decide the sooner you can get out there and start fighting which is the real fun. Find enough other people in your group of like mind and form a war unit so you can try some romanesque things.
Caesar audieritis hoc
