Pro Foam Fighter

Marketing with the Hobbit!

2011-12-20T22:35:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM--4UklaL4

I had forgotten that the first Hobbit trailer was going to be released yesterday. Over the next 2-3 year tens (if not hundreds) of millions of dollars will be spent marketing these two films. An opportunity like this has not presented itself since the Lord of the Rings trilogy was in theatres. Movie series like this present unprecedented opportunity for massive growth of foam fighting organization and groups. We as a community need to work together to harness the marketing $$$ of this movie and point it toward us and what we have to offer the world. During the LOTR craze a few organizations like Dagorhir understood this and benefited massively from their simple attempts. I am a firm believer that if we as a community work together a little effort like that across the board will be multiplied massively. But why stop at a little effort? Lets take this opportunity seriously like the once in a lifetime chance it is and work together! Lets start with some brainstorming people!

Motivational Retreat

2011-12-20T11:39:00.000-08:00

Reteat, sometimes it's a good idea.

Sorry for my lack of posting lately I have been a bit busy filming my first feature film. No its not medieval and doesn't have anything to do with foam unfortunately. Its a scifi. I hope you all can forgive me and I will try to find some new content to post from time to time (if you have any content tips or ideas please let me know!)

Hobbies Motivational

2011-10-15T16:39:00.001-07:00

Hobbies, Because Golf Is For Sissies

Hit Hard, Take Light [vid]

2011-10-02T16:33:00.000-07:00

Hit Hard, Take Light is yet another video class project documentary published striate to the internet. Andrew Meredith has done an excellent job crafting this simple 7min video that looks at Dagorhir in Indiana. Unlike other foam fighting web docs, this film take a slower more relaxed approach with less talking and instead focusing more on Eric Pennycoff's beautiful footage underscored wonderfully by Eric Romary's sound design.

http://vimeo.com/26634977

My fist national level event (Blog)

2011-08-12T12:14:00.001-07:00

A week ago I was finally able to get to my first ever national level foam fighting event. Me and 5 other Canadians traveled to Chaos Wars VX in Hailey Idaho.

After fighting in the isolation of our northern groups for 4-5 years I was eager to see what the rest of the foam fighting world was like. We enjoyed ourselves very much, and got killed allot.

Thanks everyone for having us and making us feel welcome. I hope we will see you at a Canadian Strathclyde event one day!

(More regular weekly posting should resume shortly!)

Barn Door Motivational

2011-07-18T15:32:00.000-07:00

Another motivational poster I ran across. That is one big shield, anyone know who this is?

(Next month I hope to get back to posting regularly, this month has become crazy busy!)

Motivational: Feed a Goblin

2011-06-23T11:25:00.000-07:00

A funny Motivational poster made by Lady Death I believe.

Foam Fighting Documentary [vid]

2011-06-15T11:23:00.000-07:00

This is a nice little 6 min documentary filmed at the Belegarth realm of Rath In Boise, Idaho. I suspect it was made as a school project, it is fairly well made and has some nice fighting footage in it. The youtube description says only "This is a documentary about Foam fighting a rising sport being played everywhere." other than the I know it was made in 2010. I hope you enjoy it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVcMjJH-a40

How not to kick a shield [vid]

2011-06-07T12:18:00.000-07:00

Someone posted this video on the Pro Foam Fighter FaceBook page wall a wile back, unfortunately I can't find the post, but thank you whoever you are for sharing! A mildly amusing video demonstrating 3 ineffective shield kicks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJNk2QkXtFQ

Update, there is also an "out takes" video, thanks Kenneth!

Motivational: Wii Scale

2011-05-31T11:53:00.000-07:00

Blogger has been experiencing technical difficulties for the last wile, but it appears to be back up. Her is another Motivational Poster I have found on my journeys around the internet. Anyone know who made this one?

These little LARP-ers have AMAZING garb (#2 & Response)

2011-05-24T20:29:00.000-07:00

I posted this a few weeks ago, but the post appears to have disappeared in the thin air... Not sure what is up with that, must be some kind of blogger glitch and backup problem, not sure. Anyway, since my original post I have had an amazing amount of response.

On FaceBook my comment accompanying the link read "These kids put your garb to shame. Shame on you, you have just been beet by a 10 year old." and was apparently quite controversial. And wile controversy gets me the most traffic, that was not my intention, and the title was perhaps a bit misleading. So I would like to apologize if you clicked the link and were disappointed. I still think that some of these kids garb is quite inspiring, blue jeans aside. Simple? Yes, but sometimes less is more. Quite frankly, many of the kids in these photos do have better garb than many of our new people, my hope is that some of those sweatpants, t-shirt wearing fighters will be challenged to do better.

I think what really drew me in to this though was less the garb and more the photography. I love the richness and colour of these shots, and really wish I could see some photos like these for our sports, even only a few good ones like in this peace can go a LONG way. What would be better is if they were made readily available for promoting.

Well thats it, if you haven't seen what all the halbaloo was all about yet here is the link and let the rest of us know your opinion! http://www.rollespilsakademiet.dk/pdf/100000swords.pdf

Why garb matteres (motivational poster)

2011-05-04T09:06:00.000-07:00

GARB: Because you don't want to be the one spud ruining the shot.

(Does anyone know who made this poster? Please comment if you do!)

Battering Ram [vid]

2011-04-26T10:52:00.000-07:00

This is one of those videos that just makes me laugh. These guys have built a foam battering ram as a novalty weapon. I was going to give credit to whoever posted the link to these on the FaceBook page, but after 10 min of searching I can't find it. So, whoever you are, thank you to for bringing these videos to my attention.

Comic - Perspective

2011-04-05T07:11:00.000-07:00

Click on image to enlarge and see it without the the side bars obstructing it)

Here is this months Pro Foam Fighter Team comic! I hope you like it. From here on I have plans for a story of sorts to begin to unfold.

Nerdy Game or Reputable Sport?

2011-03-28T07:07:00.000-07:00

I found this article again in my wanderings across the internet and thought I should share it with you all.

"It is nerdy. This is hard to debate. Dressing in Medieval garb and playing make-believe may not fit everyone's definition of "cool", but the core of the sport proves to be much more than PVC and fiberglass."

Foam Fighting: Nerdy Game or Reputable Sport? is an article written by Stephen Jefferies for the Yahoo! Contributor Network in 2009. Read full article here: AssociatedContent.com

Book Review: Battle Gaming: The New American Sport

2011-03-24T06:04:00.000-07:00

"I will be recommending this book to all my realm mates and battle gaming friends. I expect it will end up in my practice bag so I can show it off."

Shortly after I launched Pro Foam Fighter I was contacted by David Graham asking if I was interested in reviewing his recently published book 'Battle Gaming: The New American Sport'. I was pretty excited. I have never been asked to review anything for a blog before so naturally I (as enthusiastically as e-mail allows) said "yes." I had followed this book’s progress casually from time to time over the past few years. I am a strong believer that the more products, books, blogs and movies there are for the public to find the better it is for growing our beloved game. I am ashamed to say that I had intended to show my support for the book by asking for the book as birthday gift from my family but it had fallen off my radar screen until Dave contacted me, asking if I would review it (at which point he offered it for free, and how can I pass up an offer like that!?!).

Author David Graham
goes by the fighting name
of Seldon.

   When I received the book in the mail I was surprised at how thick it was. The book is a good 226 pages and the cover measures 8”x10". The book is also full of really nice diagrams and photos (courtesy Julieanna Davis & Amy Hutcheson). I found that Dave wrote in a very personable manor, and he has lots of great little stories to share that keep things interesting.
   Rather than starting with an existing rule system, explaining it and comparing it to the other systems, David has created a system he calls, “The Warriors Code.” The idea is to start from a neutral base rule set. A player can then easily step in and quickly understand the existing rule sets of the many different Battle Gaming organizations. In a way it is like trying to invent a common ancestor that works as if all the currently existing rule sets came from it, rather than it from them. To be honest, I found this a bit confusing. I have only ever really known my local group’s rules and even those can be confusing at times. I expect however that for a new player who is not already entrenched in a particular rule set's way of thinking it might just help them sort things out. He presents the system in detail in the last few chapters of the book and breaks it all down in a way that makes it easy to digest if you are up to learning it.
   I wish I had had this book when I was first starting in to Foam Fighting. Like most n00bs I was eager to consume everything I could find on the subject of foam fighting and I would have devoured this book. It is a complete beginner’s guide answering all the most common questions, and helping create a foundational understanding of the game. Chapter 5 has a photo tutorial on how to make a sword, complete with materials lists and where to get the materials. Chapter 4 has lots of game/scenario ideas, and another section introduces basic tactics and fighting moves.

An example of what the inside looks like.

   Large portions of the book cover the basic history of foam fighting/battle gaming in America starting with Brian Wiese (who also has written the forward for the book!) through to the diverse variety of organizations we have today. This could be a touchy subject, but I believe Dave did a wonderful job at giving a balanced and fair perspective. From there he described all the major organizations, what they are like and their uniquenesses and differences. I found this particularly useful, as my isolated location has not allowed me the opportunity to explore the other game systems out there and I frequently find myself communicating with people from these systems online.
   There are some formatting type errors throughout the book. However I received one of the last copies of the original printing run and Dave assured me that they have been fixed for anyone who gets a new copy. Honestly though, the errors are minor and worth overlooking, because of the content of the book is very enjoyable.

Conclusion:
   I will be recommending this book to all my realm mates and battle gaming friends. I expect it will end up in my practice bag so I can show it off. A new player may want to read every page, but for most of us the book works well if you just read what catches your eye, and skip what doesn't. It would make a great coffee table book that can start conversations about your hobby. The book would make make a good gift not only for the new player but for the veteran as well. It is the only book on foam fighting I know of, and that alone makes it worthy of note.

Book Cover

You can buy the book on Amazon, but I will make a shameless plea here. If you would kindly consider purchasing the book through the Pro Foam Fighter Store that would be delicious as Amazon then gives me a small (5%) fee that can help me promote this site.

Official book web site: http://www.liveactionbattlegaming.com/

P.S. I found Dave's 'Battle Gaming Book' page on FaceBook yesterday. It is in serious need of some fans (it had 7 'likes' when I found it). Maybe you could find it in your heart to show some support by liking it? Battle GamingPage on FaceBook

3 Motivational to improve your fighting

2011-03-15T06:31:00.000-07:00

James Keiller made a post on the facebook page this week, that reminded me of all the good motivational posters out there. These are 3 of my favorites:

Comic - Nice garb

2011-03-07T12:51:00.000-08:00

(Click on image to enlarge and see it without the the side bars obstructing it)

"Only in Foam Fighting can you get totally beet up by a guy twice your size and then afterwords have a good discussion about sewing and fabric choices on the side lines afterword."

   I wish I could find the exact quote and who said it but It was a comment I read on a forum when I first started fighting, and it is this is the gist of what inspired this strip.
   This is my second panel, I have had it siting around for almost as long as my first. The green guy is the main character (I haven't named him yet, so if you have got suggestions I am willing to hear them) so you will be seeing more of him around.
   Also, a name for the series has been suggested that I like: "Pro Foam Fighter Team" or pfft for short. What are your thoughts?

Comic - Checking Arrows

2011-02-21T08:02:00.000-08:00

Introducing the Pro Foam Fighter comic! I have long been hoping to one day make this in to a full series, and I have some Ideas for more. Here is the first:

(Click on image to enlarge and see it without the the side bars obstructing it)

I posted a test version of this comic about a year ago on some forums where it was fairly well received. I have only now gotten around to making it the way I initially intend it. Here is the the original demo strip:

Please let me know what you think. Also, does anyone have any ideas for a good name for this strip? "I want to be a Pro Foam Fighter" or "Foam Fighting n00b" anyone have any ideas?

Foam fighting helps fight drug addictions?

2011-02-14T09:07:00.000-08:00

Val's fighting name is Sumé. Like many foam fighters his story of his involvement in hard hitting boffers starts in a familiar way. It took Sumé a few years of prompting before he finally joined the foam fighting group about 9 years ago. "I came out here and was like, oh, this is actually pretty fun!" Sumé says. He not only embraced the fighting but other parts of the game as well "I just really love making costumes."
But here Sumé's foam fighting testimony veers from the familiar and becomes inspirational "Six years ago, I was really bad in to drugs...". The foam fighting group gave him a way to escape his old life
"And so I actually came out here to get away from that." says Sumé "To get away from all the drugs and all the people I used to hangout with." Sumé is quick to point to his involvement in the club as a key factor in his ability to change his life "This actually is the one thing that is keeping me sober. And keeping me on my sober path...".

This video is where I learned about Sumé's story:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le0AwjqzXVg

Medieval throw down at football game [vid]

2011-02-07T08:37:00.000-08:00

I just re-ran across an old video that is one of my favorites, the video shows a large number of foam fighters taking the field at an indoor football arena as the half time entertainment. The video info said that this happened in 2006 at a Nashville Kats Game. I would love to hear how they got this to happen, it would be an amazing experience. Click "Read more »" to watch video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtDswaa6sX4

Tips for support/specialized fighters

2010-12-06T11:02:00.000-08:00

Support and Specialized fighters are the the real killers. Support units will have tough time if they try and go it alone, but when working in collaboration with a front line fighter they can be a devastating force. Spear, glaive, red sword, jav, bow, rocks, supper light (Florentine), etc. all perform a specialized function and work best when cooperating with one or more primary or front line fighters (eg. sword and board). Here a are a few tips for Tips for support and specialized fighters.

General:
• Partner up. Find a primary fighter to work with, don't try and go it alone.

• Know your role. When you "partner up" you place the enemy fighter in a tough spot, they will have to always calculate 2 opponents now rather than one, increasing their susceptibility to mistakes. If the opposing fighter places to much attention on you, play defensive, your partner will likely find openings. If the opposing fighter places to much attention on your partner, he will likely open up to you.

• Communicate. Because your position is further back you can often see things better than the front line fighter, who might get tunnel vision. Be sure and ready to vocally and clearly communicate opportunities and warnings with your unit.

Specific:
• Florentine and other light armed fighters should make use of their speed and maneuverability, look for holes, and flanking opportunities, as well as to stop opposing fighters doing the same thing.
• Spear, watch for openings on opposing fighters made by your front line fighters and watch for mistakes made by opponents, disguise your reach and "snipe" the opportune openings.
• Range, even your presence can make an enemy nervous causing them to open up opportunities for your primary fighters. Sometimes it is good to stay low key and snipe, and other times it is good to let your presence be known not firing and just hover over the enemy like a cloud of impending doom.

(As always, feel free to add your 2¢ or disagree with me, I am always willing to learn)

Foam Fighting on local news [vids]

2010-11-30T09:57:00.000-08:00

Local Foam Fighting organizations often go to great lengths to get local TV coverage by their local news stations and result in some great series being told, but often the the stories don't ever get heard beyond the local community watching that night and then is forgotten. I wanted to share some of these peaces with you all. Here are 4 local news spots featuring local foam fighting!

Western Canadian Belegarth TV spot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UG1ZDJ5vjo

Dagorhir in Central Arkansas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVYJM2H4Shc

Hagerstown's City Park Goes Medieval on Sundays6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYrTobfDfk4

Order of the Eternal Flame: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-FikeB3Bn0

If you know of other youtube videos like these please post them, I would love to do more post to share these with the foam fighting community.

4 tips to a stronger front line

2010-11-24T08:23:00.000-08:00

Sword/flail and a medium or large shilled are what ideally make up this part of an army, but occasionally smaller shields, and duel wielding fighters will fit in to the category of Front Line fighter. Here are 5 tips to strengthening your "front line game":

Don't die. Honestly it is your #1 priority. You are the "protector" of the specialized fighters, and make up the back bone of your force. If you die, the rest of your unit will quickly follow.
Let the support fighters do the killing. Don't take a risk that will get you killed (see #1). Give "safe shots" that will keep you well protected and open up your opponent for your units support fighters to take advantage of.
Stop Projectiles. Knock down and stop projectiles with your shilled. In most rule sets only shields can block arrows leaving many of your teammates (who don't have shields) vulnerable, often they won't have time to get out of the way, or don't see it coming at all.
Work with a support fighter. Don't think of support fighters as a crutch, they will help you live longer and get you more kills than if you were to go it alone.

(As always, feel free to add your 2¢ or disagree with me, I am always willing to learn)

Dagorhir featured on Wreckreation Nation (2009) [vids]

2010-11-18T08:57:00.000-08:00

In 2009 the Foam Fighting organization Dagorhir was prominently featured on Discovery's Channel's show Wreckreation Nation. The footage was put up on to you tube and is quite enjoyable, it is nice to see foam fighting portrayed in a positive light and given such large scale exposure on national television. I think exposure like this can only be good for the foam fighting community as a hole. (click "read more" to enjoy the videos)

Part one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fth1GxH255M

Part two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgtgFLQH9Q0

18 amazing LARP photos

2010-11-08T14:00:00.000-08:00

Wile I am not a big fan of LARPing, and I don't go much further than good garb in my foam fighting game of choice, I do love to see the creativity show by some LARP-rs. I am not talking the silly, men dressed in tights with cat ears LARPing, I am talking good costuming and action (see above). Check out these photos!

And wile these are not exactly prevalent to the theme of this site, they are to cool not to share:

And... Just for fun:

These are just some of my favorite found here: http://board.belegarth.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=28301

Renaissance Martial Arts: The Web Documentary

2010-10-27T08:55:00.000-07:00

The Renaissance Martial Arts: The Web Documentary can be found at The Association For Renaissance Martial Arts. The documentary takes a fascinating looks at ancient European combat and how it has evolved and degraded as time progressed. Bellow are links to all 10 parts.

Part 1 The Arts of Mars	Part 2 War, Violence, and Duels
Part 3 Masters of Defence	Part 4 The Noble Science
Part 5 Longsword to Rapier	Part 6 Spirit of the Age
Part 7 The Fighting Man	Part 8 Transition
Part 9 Loss	Part 10 'Renaissance' and Revival

http://www.thearma.org/Videos/RMAWD.htm

10 amazing feats of garb

2010-10-19T14:00:00.000-07:00

And of corse, how could I forget this one? The stone Golum! Not exactly Garb per-say but an amazing feet in costuming for sure!

These are just some of my favorite found here: http://board.belegarth.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=28301

Training on Team Fighting (SKBC Video)

2010-10-14T14:45:00.000-07:00

I am a proponent that team skills are (in general) far more valuable than individual fighting skills. This is among my favorite videos of all time when it comes to FoamFighting. THe video is about basic unit and group battle tactics and the dynamics of field combat. (Click "Read more »" for video)

This is more than just for the "General" types who like strategy, but is useful information for any fighter when determining the best corse of action to take in a fight.

How to beat a shield in 7 seconds (vid)

2010-09-24T09:44:00.000-07:00

Watch carefully, this two handed sword wielder takes out a shield man in less than 7 seconds flat. What were you saying about your skills again? :p Click "Read more »" for videos

Amazing Fights (vids)

2010-09-20T08:28:00.000-07:00

These are two of my favorite battling videos of all time, combining, some solid action, good skill, and decent videography and editing. Priceless. Click "Read more »" for videos

This is the trailer for the duel of Ragnarok documentary. Some absolutely amazing skill in there.

Wolfpack 2010 at Bloomington IL, USA. Some really solid rough and tumble fighting in this one.

Are Amtgard players terrorists?

2010-09-16T10:09:00.000-07:00

The G20 was held downtown Toronto this year with all the standard G8 fan fair. The full time protesters that tour around following the big event, smashing windows and lighting fires (Canadian border "what is the purpose of your visit?" Protester "To smash a few windows, maybe burn a local shop to the ground", Canadian border "Welcome to Canada, enjoy your stay") and of corse the standard "more impressive than the last countries security" riot police. All in all it was a pretty normal G20.
But then the media demanded their standard "what the security overzealous?" questions, and the police brought forth a plethora of confiscated weaponry, machetes, crossbows and other dangerous weapons.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/weapons-seized-in-g20-arrests-put-on-display/article1622761/

But if you are a boffer player, LARP-er, or foam fighter you may have noticed something a little off in the Globe and Mail's photos of the weapons. Many of the weapons shown are... foam padded? Foam padded arrows, assorted boffer foam padded clubs and speed bats, foamcore punch shield, and even a poor guys ring lord scale mail vest.


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/weapons-seized-in-g20-arrests-put-on-display/article1622761/

A Toronto paper is reported as saying "police also included objects taken from a Whitby, Ont., man who was heading to a role playing fantasy game in Centennial Park Saturday morning. As was reported by the Globe on Saturday, Brian Barrett, 25, was stopped at Union Station for wearing chain mail and carrying a bag with an archery bow, shield and graphite swords. His jousting gear was seized by police, but was on display Tuesday, even though he was not charged and police told a Globe reporter it was a case of bad timing." The stance was a bit of a reversal of their original stance where "Police said darts with cloth on the end were intended to be set on fire."

The Amtgard fighter was named Vaskus and on his way to a local event. He described the days events like this: "I had the Department of Homeland Security pull guns on me and throw me into a chair at Union (Station - subway I think), dump my Amtgard bag out and knife a bunch of my swords and spell balls. They then wrote up a bunch of stuff to charge me with and tossed it over to some Metro Police and walked away. The TO cops were kind enough to realize that charging me with domestic terrorism, firearms possession and resisting arrest was a little exessive. Though they did seize my shields, my scalemail and all my weapons etc. till Tuesday and kept me in supervised detainment for 3 hours."

Sources:
http://www.electricsamurai.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=22299&start=15
http://board.belegarth.com/viewtopic.php?f=108&t=35412&hilit=arrows
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/weapons-seized-in-g20-arrests-put-on-display/article1622761/

Once again, this news is a bit old, but our site wasn't around to cover it at the time so I will guess that most haven't heard it, and that makes it worth repeating.

25min to better spear fighting

2010-09-12T10:31:00.001-07:00

Grumio's Spear Fighting tutorials are a fantastic resource for anyone who wants to improve or gain some spear fighting skills. In 4 videos he covers a lot of practical stuff, as well as tactics, tips and tricks.

Foam Fighters on Google Street View

2010-09-08T10:14:00.000-07:00

2 foam fighters face off as the Google camera car roles by.

Now, I know this is old news to some, but since this site has only been around a few weeks I was unable to post about it when it happened. I think it was worthy of posting! Has anyone seen any other captures like this? Please share them with the rest of us!

View Larger Map

3 ways to be a better team player

2010-09-06T09:03:00.000-07:00

Being a team is more than just sharing a name or a look, it is about working togather, here are 3 simple ways you can work togather with you unit mates better.

#1. Communicate.

Communication it paramount to a team working togather, without it, there is no team, just a unified group. Communicating on opposing units maneuvers such as a flank or pointing out a week point in you own line can prove incredibly beneficial, as often only one member of a unit sees something different. But don't neglect the lesser communication ether, verbally calling shots you take (or death) for example is not only courteous communication for your opponent but helpful your your team mates as well to know your status.

#2. Don't be a lone ranger.

You are on a team for a reason, and wile there are some situation that may call for fighting one on one, you should always attempt to fight with your team. If your team gets split up, you are in serious trouble. Place your teams survival above your personal kills score. Double teem your opponents, don't fight one on one, or one on three.

#3. Always seek the advantage

This one ties right in to #2. There is no such thing as a fair fight, if you think that your match up is fair, you are at a disadvantage. Always make sure you are at an advantage if posable, if not, avoid the engagement.

Are new low profile spears safe?

2010-09-02T19:16:00.000-07:00

Low-profile spears, the latest trend in foam tech, are becoming more and more popular. The new pear type is proving very effective, and thus gaining popularity very quickly. The week long summer Belegarth event Chaos Wars saw a large amount of these new spears on the field this year.

As with any new effective weapon there was a lot of "complaining" from fighters on the field, many comments were along the lines of: because the head is so small compared to a traditional poof football head you don't see them coming, they just appear out of no where! And they hurt a bit to. The murmurs of whether they "hit to hard" could easily be chocked down to players no being used to the new technology. After all, most new techs that come along get similar questions at first, but nothing come of it and in a few years it is an acceptable part of the sport that when it has been adjusted to, is no longer as lopsided an advantage as once thought.

Low profile spear construction brake down from http://geddon.org/

Midd week a player was sent to hospital with separated ribs from a spear hit. The spear had passed multiple weapons checks, but was removed from the field for the remainder of the event regardless.

Now the question that is bingeing to be asked around the country and from sport to spot is not only are these spears safe? But, how do we make sure they are safe? Are new rules necessary to govern the new tech? Or is this a unfortunately poorly timed case of "sometimes stuff happens and people get hurt" for a innocent new technology?

8 videos to help get your sword and board game on!

2010-08-30T14:57:00.000-07:00

Kato and Illiak sparring at O-fest 2004. Taken by AnThraxx

When your realm is so far away from connection with the rest of the belegarth world as ours is, it can be hard to progress and grow in your skills. Many new fighters have the benefit of being surrounded by skilled players that bring them up to a higher lever relatively quickly. But not everyone has these advantages so Magnus put togather a 101 basics on sword and board fighting, these videos proved incredibly useful to growing our skills out here in the cold north.
Magnus' Fighting Tutorials parts 1-6, and many of the parts consist of several videos.

Latest break through in foam tech?

2009-11-25T21:35:00.001-08:00

In this webisode of Pro Foam Fighter, Cib takes a look at new foam tech. Sword cover technology designed by Moginheden of Calligarry in Strathclyde.

Since the initial posting of this video some of us have been trying button holes rather than the Gromet/Islet method, they have held up pretty well so far, result in no metal on the weapon. The Gromet/Islets on some of Mog's weapons are beginning to pull out, though this may be due to a week fabric and no reinforced backing.

A good tutorial on installing Islets can be found over at The Stuff Maker Blog called: Eyelets are easy!