{"id":28,"date":"2015-09-23T21:08:21","date_gmt":"2015-09-24T01:08:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/youthcombat.aethelmearc.org\/?page_id=28"},"modified":"2019-03-05T09:28:57","modified_gmt":"2019-03-05T14:28:57","slug":"sparring-marshals","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/youthcombat.aethelmearc.org\/index.php\/sparring-marshals\/","title":{"rendered":"Youth Sparring Partners"},"content":{"rendered":"

Youth Sparring Partners\u00a0are experienced adult fighters who are authorized to fight full contact against youth fighters using youth weapons, calibrations, and rules.<\/p>\n

Sparring partners\u00a0are only permitted to fight against youth fighters under the direct supervision of a warranted Youth Combat Marshal.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Youth Sparring Partners\u00a0of \u00c6<\/em>thelmearc
\n<\/strong>Sparring Partners\u00a0must reauthorize when their other heavy weapons authorizations expire. Expired sparring partners may not fight with youth fighters other than their own children until they renew their authorizations.<\/em><\/p>\n

The following fighters are authorized as youth sparring partners:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Count Andreas Morgan\u00a0 \u00a0 (Sylvan Glen)\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/em>through\u00a010\/4\/2019<\/span><\/span>
\nLord Angus Azurwolf\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0(Ballachlagan) \u00a0 \u00a0through\u00a012\/28\/2021
\nLord Angus the Bull\u00a0 \u00a0(Thescorre)\u00a0 \u00a0through 5\/31\/2022
\nCountess\u00a0Ariella of Thornbury \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0(Debatable Lands) \u00a0 \u00a0through 3\/26\/2021
\nSir Arnthor inn Sterki \u00a0 \u00a0 (Hunter’s Home) \u00a0 through 2\/23\/2021
\nMaster Clewin Kupferhelbelinc \u00a0 \u00a0(Debatable Lands) \u00a0 \u00a0through\u00a09\/9\/2021
\nBaron Cormacc mac\u00a0Gilla Brigde\u00a0 \u00a0 (Endless Hills)\u00a0 \u00a0 through 12\/26\/2019
\nLord Dyrycke Hastings\u00a0 \u00a0 (Angel’s Keep)\u00a0 through 5\/19\/2021
\nPrince Gareth Kincaid\u00a0 \u00a0 (Misty Highlands) through 12\/9\/2019
\nTHLord Garreth Whytbull \u00a0 \u00a0 (Ballachlagan) \u00a0 \u00a0through\u00a08\/18\/2021
\nLord Gunnar Thorbjornson \u00a0 \u00a0(Hunter’s Home) \u00a0through\u00a08\/3\/2019
\nLord Halfdan Rauthkinn, aka Drake \u00a0 (Hunter’s Home) \u00a0 \u00a0through\u00a01\/22\/2020
\nCount Isenwulf Thorolfsson \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0(Debatable Lands) \u00a0 \u00a0through 2\/14\/2020
\nLord Jakob Krahe\u00a0 \u00a0(Endless Hills)\u00a0 \u00a0through 5\/9\/2021
\nMaster\u00a0Jussie Laplein \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0(Steltonwald) \u00a0 \u00a0through\u00a04\/3\/2021
\nLotharius qui et Segimundes\u00a0 \u00a0 (Endless Hills)\u00a0 through 7\/11\/2021
\nMaster\u00a0Kieran MacRae \u00a0 \u00a0 (Debatable Lands) \u00a0\u00a0through\u00a03\/29\/2022
\n<\/span>Duke\u00a0Magnus Tindal \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 (Sterlynge Vayle) \u00a0 \u00a0through 11\/9\/2019
\n<\/span>Lord Metheus Weasel \u00a0 \u00a0(Hunter’s Home) \u00a0 \u00a0through 1\/7\/2019
\n<\/span>Master Morien MacBain\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0(Atlantia)\u00a0 \u00a0 through 5\/19\/2021
\n<\/span>THL Nikolas the Bastard\u00a0 \u00a0 (Hunter’s Home) \u00a0 \u00a0through 3\/21\/2020
\n<\/span>Baron Rauthbjorn Lothbroke \u00a0 (Hunter’s Home) \u00a0 \u00a0through\u00a04\/14\/2020
\n<\/span>Lord Robert MacEwin of Thornhill \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0(Debatable Lands) \u00a0through\u00a05\/7\/2021
\n<\/span>Lord Robert Pour Maintenant \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0(Debatable Lands) \u00a0through\u00a09\/20\/2021
\n<\/span>THLord Rouland of Willowbrooke \u00a0 \u00a0 (Sunderoak) \u00a0 \u00a0through\u00a05\/19\/2021
\n<\/span>Lady Runa Thorigrimsdottir \u00a0 \u00a0 (Sunderoak) \u00a0 \u00a0 through 6\/24\/2021
\nBaron\u00a0Silvester Burchardt\u00a0 \u00a0(Abhainn Ciach Ghlais)\u00a0 \u00a0through 1\/15\/2022
\n<\/span>Earl\u00a0Thomas Byron of Haverford \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0(Debatable Lands) \u00a0\u00a0through 10\/26\/2021
\n<\/span>Sir Thorgrim Skullsplitter \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0(Sunderoak) through 4\/11\/2021
\n<\/span>Lord Thorstein Thorgrimsson \u00a0 \u00a0 (Sunderoak) through 7\/19\/2021
\n<\/span>Traygor\u00a0 (Tuchux) \u00a0through 7\/23\/2021
\n<\/span>Master\u00a0Uillam macanTsaoire \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0(Debatable Lands) \u00a0 \u00a0through 8\/29\/2021
\n<\/span>Lord Ulf Halfdansson\u00a0 \u00a0 (Hunter’s Home)\u00a0 \u00a0 through 7\/23\/2019
\n<\/span>Lord Vassilis Monevassios\u00a0 \u00a0 (Endless Hills)\u00a0 through 2\/10\/2020
\nSir Vladimir Mechnik \u00a0 \u00a0(Sunderoak) \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0through 9\/29\/2021
\nEarl Yngvar the Dismal (Delftwood\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 through 5\/23\/2021<\/p>\n

\n

Why would you<\/em><\/strong> want to be a Youth Sparring Partner?<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. To make it possible for kids in small groups to fight even when there are no other kids their age participating in youth combat. <\/strong>One of the reasons youth combat programs are hard to create and sustain, especially in shires and cantons, is that there just aren\u2019t that many kids. If you have one kid, or two kids of very different ages, it\u2019s hard to have a youth fighting practice because they can\u2019t meaningfully fight with anyone. Adults can bridge that gap. If you have a single youth fighter, he or she can fight with an adult sparring partner, have some fun, and learn something new each week. And even if your Youth Combat Marshal\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0a heavy fighter, kids can benefit from learning more than one person’s style and technique.<\/li>\n
  2. To provide youth fighters with real training in SCA combat<\/strong>. Frequently, youth marshals are the parents of youth fighters, and have taken the job so their kids can fight. Many\u00a0of them have no experience as SCA fighters. They need adults with fighting experience to help train their youth fighters, so the kids aren\u2019t just whacking away aimlessly at each other without understanding how to improve their technique. Sparring partners\u00a0can help kids become more effective fighters.<\/li>\n
  3. To hone the skills of the best youth fighters<\/strong>. Often, the\u00a0really good youth fighters plateau because they\u2019re the best among the kids and don\u2019t know what the next step is. By working with adults, they can learn some of the finer points of combat, like how to take out an opponent with a specific weapons form, how to take advantage of an opponent on their knees, how to turn an opponent\u2019s size or stance to their advantage, etc. Nuances like these can turn good youth fighters into great ones, and better prepare them for transitioning to adult combat.<\/li>\n
  4. To help shape and improve the next generation of SCA fighters. <\/strong>Youth fighting has been around for years, but many kids have had trouble making the transition from youth combat to adult. It\u2019s not just that the calibration levels are higher; the mechanics of adult fighting are actually very different from youth fighting. Blows thrown from the wrist, without any shoulder or hip in them, work just fine in youth combat. Blows that strike a shield or sword but still make pretty decent contact with the helm or body can be killing blows. Kids who go from that to adult combat get frustrated when their blows aren\u2019t accepted, because they may not understand why<\/em> those blows aren\u2019t good. Sparring partners\u00a0who tell them \u201cThat wouldn\u2019t have worked in adult combat, but the calibration was good for youth so I\u2019ll take it\u201d are providing youth fighters with valuable information. Further explaining how to strike the blow the right way can clarify technique issues with kids.<\/li>\n
  5. You\u2019ll be teaching not only the youth fighters, but also the Youth Combat Marshal<\/strong>. Marshals without fighting experience can learn from you right alongside the youth fighters, which will make them better marshals because they can pass along your suggestions to other youth fighters in the future. This will help both the YC Marshal and the kids, because the youth fighters will start with the right techniques, and won\u2019t have to unlearn bad habits.<\/li>\n
  6. Teaching kids will make you more mindful of your own technique<\/strong>. Nothing really ingrains a skill like teaching it to someone else. As adults work with kids, adult fighters\u00a0have to think through how and why they do various moves, stances, and blows, which reminds them to use the proper techniques when they fight adults.<\/li>\n
  7. To model appropriate behavior<\/strong>. Kids look up to adult fighters, and seek to emulate them. By showing chivalry both on and off the field, you can help youth fighters learn how to be both respectful and respected as a warrior. You can model being gracious in victory and defeat, being willing to take it easy on a new fighter so they learn and improve (rather than pounding them into the ground just because you can), and having fun while still keeping a competitive edge.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Youth Sparring Partners\u00a0are not<\/span> required to get background checks<\/em>, because they are only allowed to\u00a0work with kids under the supervision of a Youth Combat Marshal and in the presence of someone who does have an SCA Background Check. The only exception is that, of course, parents are always permitted to spar with their own children.<\/p>\n

    Sparring Partners also\u00a0do not\u00a0<\/em>need to be paid members of the SCA.<\/p>\n

    If you are interested in becoming a Youth Sparring Partner, please contact the\u00a0Kingdom Youth Combat Marshal<\/a>. Make sure to also talk to your local Youth Combat Marshal since you will need to work with him or her. If your group doesn\u2019t have a Youth Combat Marshal, but has kids hungry to try combat, you could become a Youth Combat Marshal, start a youth combat program, and also authorize as a Sparring Partner.<\/p>\n

    \"A<\/a>

    A division 3 youth fighter working with a sparring\u00a0partner<\/p><\/div>\n

    Updated October 4, 2018.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Youth Sparring Partners\u00a0are experienced adult fighters who are authorized to fight full contact against youth fighters using youth weapons, calibrations, and rules. Sparring partners\u00a0are only permitted to fight against youth fighters under the direct supervision of a warranted Youth Combat Marshal. Youth Sparring Partners\u00a0of \u00c6thelmearc Sparring Partners\u00a0must reauthorize when their other heavy weapons authorizations expire. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-28","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/youthcombat.aethelmearc.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/youthcombat.aethelmearc.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/youthcombat.aethelmearc.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youthcombat.aethelmearc.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/youthcombat.aethelmearc.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28"}],"version-history":[{"count":53,"href":"https:\/\/youthcombat.aethelmearc.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":574,"href":"https:\/\/youthcombat.aethelmearc.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28\/revisions\/574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/youthcombat.aethelmearc.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}