What type of structure do you envision to support our general marshal activities? Seeing as I personally am involved in Archery, Throw Weapons, Heavy List and Fencing, I would appreciate if you could give all of us a view of the "big picture". As Baron/Baroness, what would you try to put in place to encourage the growth of each of these activities? Or do you envision a single structure that could support all of them at the same time?

We like fencing. It's spiffy, fun to watch, gives an opportunity for noble deeds and eloquent challenges, and the participants dress well. The same can be said of most other martial activities to a greater or lesser extent. Currently, Aleksandr fights, and in the past we have both fought. Morwenna has fenced (Aleksandr has also, but outside the SCA), and has ridden (again, outside the SCA). We both shoot, casually rather than actively. Thrown weapons is an activity of great interest to Aleksandr, but one he just hasn't found time for -- yet.

It has been our experience that, in all areas of the SCA, there are those who just 'do their thing'. Some just participate in martial activity, some solely in commedia dell arte, or some just cook. We feel that one of the joys of the SCA is participation -- to be part of the Society. We look to the leaders and other members of those communities to introduce all those who participate to the rest of the SCA. The place of the martial arts in the barony is a two-way street; it is better assured when the baronial populace sees the participants as part of "us", rather than as "them".

I think that Champions were instituted to attempt to bring martial prowess into focus in the barony, but it is my impression that there is something of a burden in sustaining the Champions we already have and reliably producing a successor.

I had a discussion with Jehan on this issue and he had the idea of establishing a guard made up of the different martial arts forms chosen by consultation. (And I definitely give credit to him for this guard idea.) This guard could have representatives of each of the martial forms practiced in the barony and essentially be a modification of the CRC that represents all the martial arts instead of one. Certainly all the candidates for the baronial coronet that I have spoken with have mentioned pageantry as one of their goals, and a guard certainly adds pageantry.

It's possible Carolingia could support both Champions and a guard. In any case, I think the issue of martial support is going to require some reevaluation by the incoming baronial coronet. The barony has demonstrated that particular martial activities benefit from the attention of the baronial coronet, but, if that attention is focused only in one area, then other martial activities suffer. I recognize the problem, but do not have a solution at this time. I think it is a problem that cannot be solved by the baronial coronet alone.

I do think it is important to recognize and encourage those of the barony who participate in and support our martial activities.

This explicitly does not mean we have any intention of going in and summarily eliminating the current Champion positions, or even radically shaking them up. More a matter of discussions with the various communities concerning their needs for support and visibility, how well the various champions meet these needs, what works and what's still not working yet, and matters like that - all so that we can set up this Guard structure (if we still think it's a good idea) to include or to complement the Champions structure in a way that works well for all concerned.

So to finally give a short answer to your question, I in general favor an inclusive "single structure" path, but I don't think I have a clearer view of a "big picture" than you do at this point.

One of the great things that has emerged recently has been more venues for beginners to learn martial arts. The "newbie practice" for heavy list is a great idea, as are the fencing classes. It's important to make it easy for people, so that they don't feel intimidated. Not everyone feels comfortable learning a new skill by serving as a pell. So I would do all I could to encourage these kinds of things. I don't know if the "class" approach applies to archery and TW, I would need to consult with those communities. Even running a short class once a year might help motivate people to say to themselves, "hey, I've always wanted to learn , why don't I do it now?"

The baron/baroness can't really change anything by fiat. All the good stuff in the barony has come from people with bright ideas and enthusiasm. The baron can watch out for those people, encourage them, and be visibly supportive of these kinds of efforts. And when someone comes up with a good idea that works, make sure everyone else knows about it too :).

I would like to find a way to inspire more pomp in the Baronial court and activities. One of the things that worked well in the past was the CRC and the uniform of the matching cloaks. I am tempted to revive a version of that where the Fencers would once again don blue half cloaks, heavy list would don 3/4 length cloaks or winged tabbards and the archers would don shoulder length hoods. It would make processions interesting...

At minimum I would like to outfit the Baronial champions and the baronial guards in this manner, but it would be nice to be able to do so for any Baronial member who is willing to pledge fealty to support the barony. I personally can probably swing the base cost and patterns to start, but would look for some assistance from the community to see how much support the idea has.

Each weapons discipline would have a captain, a champion, one or two possible lieutenants and the rank and file members. How to decorate for each position would probably be similar to the CRC method.

It would also add a bit of ceremony to court as the various Carolingian martial orders called in new candidates and bestowed cloaks/hoods upon them.

Yes there will still be friction between groupd, but as all members will be pledged to the betterment of the Barony, and there will be an overlap, hopefully the friction will be kept to a minimum.

While we have personally focused on archery, we support events without it. Specialty events themed around a martial art are great, and we agree that the Champions tourneys should be focused if at all possible. But events where most or all of the martial arts are offered are also a lot of fun: Yeliz has been to several events where there were only a few people doing each art, but inexperienced people rotated through and had a chance to try them out. This sort of activity could even be a stand-alone thing or held as part of a single "guild fair" to attract new participants. Imagine a demo evening or afternoon where people could come and try a martial art without obligation, just to see what it's like. They could be held all at once, or on subsequent weekends. In fact, this would be possible at our home, which actually could accomodate very small (2-3 ppl at a time) simultaneous bouts of archery, TW, fencing and fighting in safety, or larger groups on separate days. Unfortunately, equestrian really requires accomodations we can't provide, but it shouldn't be forgotten.

We have also been thinking of an event with both A&S and martial arts in a decathalon-type format. Then, Marian mentioned finding a period reference to an Olympics-type event, which was exciting. Imagine having a person emerge from this competition as someone who has excelled at numerous types of martial and creative competition - that's a Carolingian!