You are only as good as your opponent.

Are you the best you can be?

Are you sure?

How can you consider yourself good if your opponents are all rubbish or non-existent?

Finding good opponents is a difficult thing for the Hema newbie- I don't mean good fighters, there are certainly quite a few of those around. In fact, that's part of the problem. The good fighters are..glib.. about starting a fight. They know their abilities, are sure of the level of safety they can maintain when fighting. A battle holds little to no real world fear. Sure, injuries happen, but 9 times out of 10 it's been an accident in the truest sense of the word.

Now, I'm no naive fool- I know that confidence is best gained by faking it, and it's something that I'm making moves towards. However, it is intimidating to challenge those who outclass you in many ways. Pain may be a good teacher, but you need to have time to realise why you've just had your arse handed to you- that split second between oops and ow is what teaches me, not when you've been hit five times before you've finished wondering why you were hit the first time. (well, except that time you lost concentration, twat.)

I realise the value of a decent foe. This is why the HemaBoy debacle surprises me.

For a scene that prides itself on being able to beat someone up, shake hands after a fight and then head off to the pub. We're awfully afraid of conflict. SFI (a forum I browse once in a while, but cannot bear to read properly) is reknown for sycophantic behaviour and punishing those who break the status quo. HemaBoy has been the centre of a furore because he was being a bit of an outspoken gobshite and trod on a few toes.

Will people just wake up and realise one little thing- We have come together because of the love of a good fight, it is what we do. We spar with honour, We proudly announce when the opponent has made a good, well placed hit and you compliment your opponent when he has done something well.

Why is the friendly, good natured obliteration of your opponent only ever limited to the battlefield?

Without an opponent, all you're doing is waving a stick in the air. If that's the case, maybe Morris Dancing would be your thing.