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Author Topic: Chivalrous deeds at renfaires and events.  (Read 22365 times)

Sir Matthew

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Re: Chivalrous deeds at renfaires and events.
« Reply #15 on: 2009-04-09, 21:47:21 »
This is a very cool thread.  I know that one of the main reasons I wear my armor (and put up with the weight, heat, etc of wearing it) is to get to talk to people at Faire.  I get an amazing mixture of adults and children with never-ending questions and requests for pictures.  At Parf, my home faire, there are quite a few of us, ranging from a Viking to a Templar Knight to a Roman Legionaire.  We all gather in a group outside of the Joustfield exit after first joust for group pictures and chat.  One very memorable moment last season for me was when a young child, maybe 10 or so, asked to hit me in the head while I was wearing my mail coif and barbute helm.  I figured it would be a light tap, like most people do, but this kid hauled off and hit me about as hard as he could.  I felt nothing through the armor and padding, but his hand really hurt (luckily he did not break it).  Afterwords, I took off my helm and showed him the mail and arming cap under it.  His freinds and mother stopped and talked to me all through the chess match, over half an hour!  They had alot of good questions to ask and really paid attention to what I had to say.  Who knows, maybe in a few years we'll have a few new Knights as a result!

Sir Edward

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Re: Chivalrous deeds at renfaires and events.
« Reply #16 on: 2009-04-10, 01:52:10 »

Yeah, some kids really want to test the armor that way. :)  Usually I tell them not to hit (partially so they don't hurt their hand, but also because I don't want to encourage kids to hit people), but I let them tap the armor, or feel the edge of it or tug on it. Usually it seems to satisfy their curiosity.

I really love the ones who are totally wide-eyed and just awe-struck that they're standing in front of a knight, and getting their picture taken together. Especially if they're in costume armor. :)
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Das Bill

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Re: Chivalrous deeds at renfaires and events.
« Reply #17 on: 2009-04-10, 02:28:17 »
I remember one Halloween party a few years ago where I put my plate on. Guys kept coming up to me and punching me really hard in the breastplate, then scream, "OW! That really hurt!"

I'm not sure what I was more surprised about, the fact that people thought it was socially acceptable to punch a complete stranger in the chest really hard, or the fact that they thought punching a steel plate wasn't going to hurt.
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Sir Edward

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Re: Chivalrous deeds at renfaires and events.
« Reply #18 on: 2009-04-10, 14:07:35 »
I'm not sure what I was more surprised about, the fact that people thought it was socially acceptable to punch a complete stranger in the chest really hard, or the fact that they thought punching a steel plate wasn't going to hurt.

No kidding. I haven't had too much trouble with it, but occasionally people strike the pauldron as they walk past, especially if they have a rolled-up program.

I know I've told several people here about this before, but the worst case I've had was a woman, totally smashed drunk and with a baby on her hip, who came up and unexpectedly open-palm punched the face of my great helm. I took the helm off, and not entirely sure what to make of the situation just basically gave her a "WTF!?" sort of look, and then she reeled up to do it again, but stopped and muttered something like "oh, you took it off". I was disgusted and walked away. What else can you do when there's a baby there?
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Sir James (Fiat Lux)

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Re: Chivalrous deeds at renfaires and events.
« Reply #19 on: 2009-04-13, 20:12:39 »
I really love the ones who are totally wide-eyed and just awe-struck that they're standing in front of a knight, and getting their picture taken together. Especially if they're in costume armor. :)

I tend to scare kids, personally. I don't even try to! After my first serious live steel fights, I noticed a 4-6 year old posing near one of those ornamental tinman type suits, so I figured I'd pose as well to make the shot authentic. I was borrowing someone's gear, and they had a mainly leather dark-ages based kit. I've got my helm off and crooked under one arm, the other slung over the tinman's shoulder, and the poor kid turned, looked up to a smiling face, and shrieked, running for his life! I feel bad for those reactions, as I've had plenty of kids come up and congratulate or ask for photo ops, but it does happen.

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Re: Chivalrous deeds at renfaires and events.
« Reply #20 on: 2009-04-13, 21:01:34 »

Yeah, I get my share of frightened kids too, but luckily they're in the minority. Something I would sometimes do to help with this is to kneel down and get down closer to their level. Unfortunately my new chausses don't really allow for that (I'd split about 30 rings each if I tried, probably).
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Sir Brian

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Re: Chivalrous deeds at renfaires and events.
« Reply #21 on: 2009-04-13, 21:23:53 »
lol my problem is getting back up after kneeling down to interact with
the younglings!  ;)
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