Post by schlager7 on Apr 8, 2007 11:44:43 GMT -6
copied from a SCA site...
In case any of you have received questions from folks in your area about the pandybat competition at the upcoming Bjornsborg Festival of Fools, here's some info:
The pandybat is a weapon whose wielding is as likely as not to result in the demise of the wielder rather than the opponent. Weapons must meet tourney-legal standards, i.e. striking and thrusting surfaces must be safe according to the normal marshallate rules. Other than that, the sillier the better. (This is a Fools event, after all.)
Since really good pandybats never actually hit anything, safety is not usually a big concern.
The tournament will be a challenge format; prizes will be awarded to the victor as well as the wielder of the finest pandybat (who will, by definition, be unlikely to win the tourney). Group entries are allowed; if your pandybat is of sufficient quality (sic), it should be possible for a four-man team to lose to a single opponent.
Here are a few general classes of pandybats...
Thrusting pandybats: have included the thrusting crutch, thrusting breastplate, thrusting helm, and thrusting codpiece. Where can you put a thrusting tip to make it most comical and least effective?
Modified weapons you may already have: like the "turnpike", two normal pikes (with butt spikes) lashed together and wielded by a four-man team like a revolving door; or the "repeating spear" wielded slingshot-like through a tube tethered onto the wielder's hand. How about Florentine shields?
Culture-specific: the "whirling dervish blade", a modified hula hoop(surprisingly effective), the "pandy bolo" made from duct-tape covered tennis balls, or the "French tickler", which I am going to leave to your imagination...
Pun-ishing weaponry: "turnpike", "shield hook", "(can of) mace", "butt spike", "broadsword", etc. Don't ignore siege weapons like "battering ram" and "catapult" (not to be confused with the hand-held weapons, the kat-ana and the moggy-nada).
Implements of war: there is a long and honorable (sic) tradition of turning almost anything into a pandybat by adding the word "war" in front of it, like the "war spoon" and the "war sofa" (honest, three guys pushing an old sofa, one of whose arms was duct taped red and turned into a giant thrusting tip).
I didn't think they'd let me on the field with it: most fighters have had an idea for a weapon that they knew the marshals would never go for. Here's your chance!
You should be prepared to present your weapon and explain its function to your potential opponents. A herald will be on hand to assist you in introducing your weapon to the populace at large.
Some of the rich history of the form can be learned here:
history.westkingdom.org/TheSillySide/TheSillySide.htm
In case any of you have received questions from folks in your area about the pandybat competition at the upcoming Bjornsborg Festival of Fools, here's some info:
The pandybat is a weapon whose wielding is as likely as not to result in the demise of the wielder rather than the opponent. Weapons must meet tourney-legal standards, i.e. striking and thrusting surfaces must be safe according to the normal marshallate rules. Other than that, the sillier the better. (This is a Fools event, after all.)
Since really good pandybats never actually hit anything, safety is not usually a big concern.
The tournament will be a challenge format; prizes will be awarded to the victor as well as the wielder of the finest pandybat (who will, by definition, be unlikely to win the tourney). Group entries are allowed; if your pandybat is of sufficient quality (sic), it should be possible for a four-man team to lose to a single opponent.
Here are a few general classes of pandybats...
Thrusting pandybats: have included the thrusting crutch, thrusting breastplate, thrusting helm, and thrusting codpiece. Where can you put a thrusting tip to make it most comical and least effective?
Modified weapons you may already have: like the "turnpike", two normal pikes (with butt spikes) lashed together and wielded by a four-man team like a revolving door; or the "repeating spear" wielded slingshot-like through a tube tethered onto the wielder's hand. How about Florentine shields?
Culture-specific: the "whirling dervish blade", a modified hula hoop(surprisingly effective), the "pandy bolo" made from duct-tape covered tennis balls, or the "French tickler", which I am going to leave to your imagination...
Pun-ishing weaponry: "turnpike", "shield hook", "(can of) mace", "butt spike", "broadsword", etc. Don't ignore siege weapons like "battering ram" and "catapult" (not to be confused with the hand-held weapons, the kat-ana and the moggy-nada).
Implements of war: there is a long and honorable (sic) tradition of turning almost anything into a pandybat by adding the word "war" in front of it, like the "war spoon" and the "war sofa" (honest, three guys pushing an old sofa, one of whose arms was duct taped red and turned into a giant thrusting tip).
I didn't think they'd let me on the field with it: most fighters have had an idea for a weapon that they knew the marshals would never go for. Here's your chance!
You should be prepared to present your weapon and explain its function to your potential opponents. A herald will be on hand to assist you in introducing your weapon to the populace at large.
Some of the rich history of the form can be learned here:
history.westkingdom.org/TheSillySide/TheSillySide.htm