Bugger

Well, there goes my buffer of entries. Unfortunately I've been caught up in something and unable to write/study anything for the past couple of weeks.

Pretend this is something witty and insightful and I'll probably be back on schedule after the New Year.

Reflections on HEMA

One of the things that I'm unhappy about is the lack of groups across the country.

Whenever I think about the Swetnam interpretation, I have a slight sinking feeling and confusion about being the best person in the country for this (or at least within the top 10). Not because I've got a lack of faith in my skills or anything like that. It's because I consider myself to be fair and competent... Average, if you wish.

As I've said before- and in fact this was the reason I started this blog- HEMA is fantastic. More people should be doing it. It has a lot of different avenues of enjoyment: fighting, interpretation, history, even something for those people who like shouting at movies. It's a hard interest to pin down because of the wide range of appeal. The fact that a sodding huge bit of pointy metal counters a lot of the traditional disadvantages women face in combative things also widens the appeal.

Maybe it's something to do with the broken tradition and the work that is needed to get a newly discovered book into a teachable form, or doing the same for a curio. But I like that ability to connect with the history.

When I'm swearing at Swetnam and smacking my head against the desk, I'm swearing at him. Several hundred years later and I'm looking at his words and saying "what the hell do you mean by that...?" (or variants of). There is a direct and clear link between me and the originator of the style. Surprisingly, that means a lot to me.

HEMA is great, more people should be doing it.

Advice on Christmas Shopping.

Not much to say this week, unfortunately I've been involved in some quite tedious jiggery pokery.

This is the time when you are likely to be grumpy and fed up with wading through the infinite sea of morons and slack jawed tourists. So, if you find yourself getting stressed and annoyed. Take this advice:

People don't think about London too much, so walk parallel to Oxford Street and only go on to that road when you near the shop you have to visit. Limiting your time on that area is vital to maintaining sanity. If you have to go down Regent's Street then use the back streets between Bond Street and Oxford Circus, leaving the Soho side until you're feeling a lucky.

If you find things getting to you and you're near Selfridges, wander up to the Wallace Collection and bask in the vast array of pointy, stabby, smashy goodness they have there, make yourself an imaginary Christmas list (a challenge for most of you: do not just say "All of them") and then think about how it would ease your tube journey home.

If you're at the other end, you could always relax in the British Museum. It's not quite as satisfying, but it's a good place to regain a little calm.

NEVER and I mean this NEVER visit James Smiths and Son's first. It's a lovely cane shop near Tottenham Court Road, they used to sell sword canes (as shown by their stained glass windows) and they have a passing familiarity with Cunningham, Vichy and Bartitsu. They will be able to supply you with canes that are beautiful, effective and a joy to play with. You do not want to be holding one of these as you walk through the crowds, it could end badly.