Okay, this was one of the more interesting sets of questions we've
gotten, so I've gone and slept on them. I don't know if the following is
so much "answers" as "thoughts".
<p>
First of all, with your indulgence, I'd like to step aside from the
actual questions you asked. As stated, most of them beg
Mom-and-Apple-Pie answers ("The Baron and Baroness will provide love and
support for the fencers", yadda yadda yadda) when the matter deserves
more thought than that. Since the questions are really quite closely
related, I think it's easier to look at it by unifying them together.
<p>
It looks to me like these questions really boil down to, "What is, and
what should be, the relationship between the Baron and Baroness, and the
fencing community?" with a soupcon of, "Where should the fencing
community be going?". I'll address those; forgive me if this goes on a
bit, because it gets into some philosophy that really matters to us.
<p>
The former one first, because it really underpins the latter. IMO, it is
neither the B/B's right nor responsibility to decide the course of
fencing in the Barony. That sounds obvious when stated that way, but it
has some unobvious consequences.<p>
Consider the CRC. There's a certain longing for the glory days of the
CRC among many of the fencers in the Barony. I share in that: I was a
CRC cadet for a couple of years myself. (Joe kept trying to put me in a
cloak, but I declined; I was never serious enough about fencing to feel
comfortable as a guard.) I've still got some truly lovely CRC medallions
that I picked up from a craftsman (down in Texas of all places), sadly
shortly before the CRC ceased to be.
<p>
But consider this also: it wasn't Patri's idea. Oh, he was heavily
involved in it, both in sanctioning the idea and providing some input
himself. But the formation of the CRC, as I remember it, was really
driven by the founding guards themselves. Patri *supported* the idea
wholeheartedly, but he didn't really *drive* it.
<p>
IMO, that's more important than it may appear on the surface. Something
like the CRC clicks when it's really a grassroots thing, not driven by
the Baronial leadership. From the idea up, it's really got to come from
the people if it's going to feel that *cool* to everyone. The B/B's job
is to support and nurture that, and yes, to provide ideas and critique,
but they shouldn't be driving it.
<p>
Now, that out of the way, my personal druthers. I adore the CRC
conceptually, mainly because it is *different*. It was a way of
recognizing the value of both individuals, and of fencing as an
activity, without just Another Bloody Championship. (Don't get me wrong:
I have the utmost respect for the folks who have been Baronial Fencing
Champs. I just don't think the idea of the Champions is anywhere near as
interesting as the CRC was.)
<p>
This is a point on which I think Caitlin and I feel more strongly than
most: we don't like the Society's tendency towards homogenization.
Especially when it comes to recognition, the SCA tends to shoehorn all
situations into a very few models -- ranks/awards, Champions, and
honestly not a heck of a lot more. That's sad, because period furnishes
us with so many more models to work from.
<p>
What do I want for the structure of fencing? (And the other martial
arts?) I'm not going to give a concrete answer, because I don't have
one. What I *do* want is brainstorming for ideas that are new and
different. What I *don't* want to see is simply more of the same.
Because when you get right down to it, more of the same usually just
isn't as *cool* as using some imagination. And the surest way to support
an activity is to help it be cool...
