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Bartholomew's Four Rules of Combat Archery
Happiness
Greetings, archer!
I have nothing but encouragement to give you on the path of combat archery. It is a form of combat that has the potential to add
significantly to our concept of re-creating medieval battles, and with it, an equal potential to make things miserable for large groups of people. I
have found it to be a fascinating and positive element to my enjoyment of the
SCA, and I hope you do, too.
When I do combat archery, I try to keep several rules in my mind. By practicing these conventions, I've found that I can
help keep our battles more interesting for everyone. I encourage you to adopt them as well:
1. Be thee certain of thy overshoot. Always look beyond your target and ask yourself where your arrow is likely to go in the
event that you miss. If there is ever the slightest danger that your arrow could cause harm to a marshal, waterbearer, or spectator (even if they are
in the 'wrong' place), then you should turn and walk away, so that you can reposition yourself at a safer angle.
2. Let he who has been struck judge the soundness of the blow. Don't call your shots. Only the person being hit can do that.
If you feel somebody is ignoring your shots, just move on. If well-intentioned marshals or other fighters start calling your shots, ask
them politely not to do so.
3. Go thee not a-hunting hats. Try to let the captains do their captaining. If you see a knot of knights in the far back talking
things over, resist the urge to loft a few arrows in there. When they take up arms and head into the fray, treat them as you would any other
fighter.
4. Target not the acts of chivalry. When single combat is granted to your foe, do not spoil it with an unkindly quarrel.
Toward the end of battles, I usually choose to put down my crossbow and let those
brave foes who are left die with honor at the close hands of their enemies, or in the case where I am on the losing side, I accept my death with quiet
grace. |
Artemisia Missile Combat 