Looking for a match

[Lasivian Leandros]

I just moved to the Seattle/Olympia area from AZ and i'm trying to dig up some sparring partners.

I fight cut & thrust rapier and open-style shinai.

Thanks

[Benjamin Smith]

Try looking up someone on the Practice partners and study groups list, I'm sure you can find someone to practice with. Be aware that we have completely different rule and equipment sets.

[Ken Dietiker]

Two guys in Seattle (plus one out of Cle Elum) and two of us in Tacoma/Lacey. We practice HEMA, mostly longsword and such, but currently no rapier or shinai type stuff (you'd need a waster at least). Unfortunately, none of the Washington folks are on the study group list yet. I believe the Seattle Group will most likely get there first, eventually...

Anyway, let us know if you're interested.

Cheers!

[Lance Chan]

You may want to contact Tinker and his group. www.tinkerswords.com

I just moved to the Seattle/Olympia area from AZ and i'm trying to dig up some sparring partners.

I fight cut & thrust rapier and open-style shinai.

Thanks

[Ken Dietiker]

Hmm, good point Chan, except that I believe Tinker is also working on Longsword and I.33. Better yet, if you, Lasivian, are more interested in rapier for now, check out Academia della Spada. They're the largest "school" in the area for that sort of thing.

http://www.academiadellaspada.com/

Don't know anyone doing "open shinai", though there is a boffer group in Seattle too, for whatever that's worth. And several SCA groups in the area doing some rapier too (what do they call that? White Scarf or something...).

http://www.antir.sca.org/

Cheers!

[Brian Hunt]

The SCA does have a lot of "rapier" fighters in it's ranks. Some of them are quite good at what they do, though the fights are limited by their rules of engagements and lack of grappling, punchs or kicks. It can be a fun sport. The award of the white scarf is just that an organizational award of recognition to someone who meets the SCA's ideals for a rapier fighter and has nothing to do with taking up rapier fencing within the SCA. If you do decide to learn rapier from the SCA try to find someone who actually studies the historical texts such as Capo Ferro, Fabris, Swetnam, etc. Most SCA fencers (not all) I have come accross use a made up style based on SCA rules, sport fencing, and what I like to call "poke and pray" tactics.

If you could get together with Stewart Feil at some time in the future he can show you some intersting things that he and I have worked out on basic Italian rapier.

If you are just looking for fun and not a martial art boffer groups, the SCA, and other such groups are a fun time. If you are looking to learn to use a sword for martial purposes, you need to be more picky in you choice of training partners. This will limit your choices, but will give you really good training.

all the best in your hunt.

Brian Hunt

Senior Research Scholar

[Ian Woolley]

Im just chiming in as one of the guys in the Washington area so that it i sknown that I do lurk here.
Rapier, bleh no thank you. I did some rapier my bad depth perception is too much a hinderance when using a long one handed thrusting weapon, and Id rather study an outdated weapon of war rather than an over grown poultry spit.
Shinai, did that grew out of it. Some people in the SCA MIGHT do it but not likely it stopped being something the SCA was doing about 4 years ago and most small groups doing shinai are jsut playing glorified games of stick tag.