Arent the Valkeries for women, non-binary, and trans fighters? Based in Ansteorra and while I think started with light, I don't think they exclude heavy fighters.
https://historian.ansteorra.org/wiki/index.php?title=Valkyrie_Company
The Valkyries are cool!. I’m in the East, so pretty far from their main concentration, but I’ve had good online interactions! Definitely I think more fencers than heavy, but there are plenty of heavy fighters in the Valkyries (I’m an aspiring heavy fighter lol, working on my kit + finding a practice close enough to me to attend consistently).
They’re open to women and trans people of all kinds. It started as a woman-focused organization but they’ve made concerted effort to be more open to non-women who are also marginalized due to gender (to be clear, that includes binary trans men who wish to be included, there’s no requirement to be feminine or woman-aligned). I’m nb and have felt totally comfortable in my online interactions. It is majority women I expect, but explicitly welcoming.
Since you’re in Ansteorra, I bet you’d meet a lot more people who are near you!
"Women & Gender Minority Fighters - SCA Unofficial"
This is a great group to take part in and find community. The current Queen of the West (Jitka Pavlova) is 5' and a terror on the field. As a 6'5" Trans-woman fighter, I love being on the field with her.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/scawomenfighters/?ref=share&mibextid=8oHioR
Do you have any group resources for training female fighters? Tobi Beck's "Armored Rose" is fantastic, but I am looking for a bit of a community. I am helping train a friend and our local area does not have female fighters to ask, so I am trying to adapt what works for me (obviously a lot of mechanical lessons do not directly translate without modification from my physiology to hers) but it's certainly not all straight-forward.
That's awesome to read about. Something similar was tried at an event here, but the autocrat got harassed about it not being inclusive to exclude men. It was a great event, but that left a sour taste to it.
One of the sitting crowns of Artemisia right now is a slight build nonbinary person who fights heavy. You might email them and see what group connections they know about.
I second this. Their majesty is awesome.
I'm a 5'4" ftm man who is a heavy fighter here in Artemisia.
My Barony is small, but about 13% of our population are trans, including our Baronial heavy marshall.
Feel free to shoot me a DM.
Also, Her Grace Signy is a tiny woman and a badass, very strong knight. She was in our Barony for a long time before she moved, and she really fosters a community of femme fighters.
She'd also be a great resource.
I can't help but ask - and explain like I have the dumb
Is "fights heavy" something to do with Trans fighters or do you just mean always + a weight class or 2 ?
The Valkyries (who are gender-inclusive, ofc)! I have friends in it and they'll probably be open to you. Are you on discord, if you're comfortable with that?
I figured An Tir would have something along those lines. I have trans friends who do heavy, but they're in the "it all looks the same" height range for me (as a 5'2" trans guy, once you hit 5'8" or so, I can't distinguish 😅).
We're nowhere near you, unfortunately, but Dun in Mara (Dublin & the East Coast of Ireland) has a heavy practice that frequently has majority of women and has several trans folks. If you're ever over this way, come visit!
https://duninmara.org/armoured-fighting/
I’m new to SCA and the whole everything. But I’m also NB and little intimidated by everyone fighting. But really want to. I’m also in Ansteorra, but trying to find my people.
There is a royal peer in Ansteorra who is 5’3 or 5’4 and fights heavy. Her name is Antigone and is either a duchess or countess. She is lgbtia+ friendly and trains other small bodied folks. Sir Helga Skjaldmaer is a knight from the West that may also be able to point you in the right direction if you reach out to her on Facebook.
Trans fem heavy here. Feel free to reach out anytime. I’m not in a house or guild though. Just a lone wolf.
My experience so far has been that men are more apt to giving me advice now (I’ve been fighting for 10 years), and I’m not as included in the heavy fighter “talk circle” as I was before. I’m just kind of there.
It surprised me how much HRT changed my mechanics and everything; the knights were right - forget the shoulders, it’s all hip lol
There's a whole FB community for women and gender minorities. It has a few thousand members in it, including most of the womxn who have been knighted. Look up SCA Gender and Minority fighting and it should come up.
I'm in the southern Outlands (so nearish to you!) and our shire is full of trans fighters and then there's also little old me the cis lady heavy fighter
I would also suggest to message the society Marshall directly to get in touch. Met her at Conquest this year in Artemisia and is very knowledgeable, has great insight and tips for training female fighters and how body mechanics vary, and can most likely get you in touch with other female and trans or possibly a male that is versed in training female and trans fighters. I've adapted a lot of what I've had to teach my wife into my own style since my body is already starting to break down at only 33 years. Glad to see the old method of "if it hurts you're doing it right" method is going out the window recently.
Might there be some in Midrealms, in the southeastern Michigan vicinity?
My wife is interested in fighting, but is all of 5'1/2" (I've been informed that half-inch is very important) and 100 lb. I'm not exactly large, myself, but there's a bit of difference between being a skinny 5'8" guy and being a fun-sized squeaker and pairing off against 6' 200+ lb. guys.
Arent the Valkeries for women, non-binary, and trans fighters? Based in Ansteorra and while I think started with light, I don't think they exclude heavy fighters. https://historian.ansteorra.org/wiki/index.php?title=Valkyrie_Company
Awesome! I've never heard of them before, I'll definitely look them up more
They are! (I know several of them). They include heavy fighters, to my knowledge :)
I know several too but they are all light fighters, but they don't seem to discriminate.
The Valkyries are cool!. I’m in the East, so pretty far from their main concentration, but I’ve had good online interactions! Definitely I think more fencers than heavy, but there are plenty of heavy fighters in the Valkyries (I’m an aspiring heavy fighter lol, working on my kit + finding a practice close enough to me to attend consistently). They’re open to women and trans people of all kinds. It started as a woman-focused organization but they’ve made concerted effort to be more open to non-women who are also marginalized due to gender (to be clear, that includes binary trans men who wish to be included, there’s no requirement to be feminine or woman-aligned). I’m nb and have felt totally comfortable in my online interactions. It is majority women I expect, but explicitly welcoming. Since you’re in Ansteorra, I bet you’d meet a lot more people who are near you!
"Women & Gender Minority Fighters - SCA Unofficial" This is a great group to take part in and find community. The current Queen of the West (Jitka Pavlova) is 5' and a terror on the field. As a 6'5" Trans-woman fighter, I love being on the field with her. https://www.facebook.com/groups/scawomenfighters/?ref=share&mibextid=8oHioR
Came to say this
Do you have any group resources for training female fighters? Tobi Beck's "Armored Rose" is fantastic, but I am looking for a bit of a community. I am helping train a friend and our local area does not have female fighters to ask, so I am trying to adapt what works for me (obviously a lot of mechanical lessons do not directly translate without modification from my physiology to hers) but it's certainly not all straight-forward.
Unfortunately, I don't. All of my experience comes from working with my Knight and local groups to adapt what is shown to me for my physiology.
Thanks for the reply! And best of luck. We'll figure it out I'm sure
It's definitely a journey! Best of luck to you both!
An Tir has an entire event called Rose and Thorn for female/trans fighters. It’s really fantastic.
That's awesome to read about. Something similar was tried at an event here, but the autocrat got harassed about it not being inclusive to exclude men. It was a great event, but that left a sour taste to it.
It’s gangbusters here. Sold out nearly instantly every year.
im moving to an tir next year so this is exciting to learn!
It’s a rad event. Highly recommended.
One of the sitting crowns of Artemisia right now is a slight build nonbinary person who fights heavy. You might email them and see what group connections they know about.
That's super cool!
I second this. Their majesty is awesome. I'm a 5'4" ftm man who is a heavy fighter here in Artemisia. My Barony is small, but about 13% of our population are trans, including our Baronial heavy marshall. Feel free to shoot me a DM. Also, Her Grace Signy is a tiny woman and a badass, very strong knight. She was in our Barony for a long time before she moved, and she really fosters a community of femme fighters. She'd also be a great resource.
I live in Artemisia, but don't know how to make a connection with anyone. Can I DM you?
Of course. Go ahead.
I can't help but ask - and explain like I have the dumb Is "fights heavy" something to do with Trans fighters or do you just mean always + a weight class or 2 ?
Heavy refers to SCA armored combat, rapier is generally referred to as light.
Omg lol I was reading this thread assuming it was mma 🤣 no wonder all the titles seamed like some silliness (when reading in that context)
The Valkyries (who are gender-inclusive, ofc)! I have friends in it and they'll probably be open to you. Are you on discord, if you're comfortable with that?
There’s a Facebook group for women and gender minority fighters
Context I’m cis male but an tir has a group called girl squad which premotes female and trans fighter I know the two founders awesome people
I figured An Tir would have something along those lines. I have trans friends who do heavy, but they're in the "it all looks the same" height range for me (as a 5'2" trans guy, once you hit 5'8" or so, I can't distinguish 😅).
Up here at unbc in cold keep we had gender minority nights hosted by a few members of girl squad
We're nowhere near you, unfortunately, but Dun in Mara (Dublin & the East Coast of Ireland) has a heavy practice that frequently has majority of women and has several trans folks. If you're ever over this way, come visit! https://duninmara.org/armoured-fighting/
theres a facbook group for trans ppl in the sca which is a super lovely place add in clan blue feather too
I’m new to SCA and the whole everything. But I’m also NB and little intimidated by everyone fighting. But really want to. I’m also in Ansteorra, but trying to find my people.
There is a royal peer in Ansteorra who is 5’3 or 5’4 and fights heavy. Her name is Antigone and is either a duchess or countess. She is lgbtia+ friendly and trains other small bodied folks. Sir Helga Skjaldmaer is a knight from the West that may also be able to point you in the right direction if you reach out to her on Facebook.
Trans fem heavy here. Feel free to reach out anytime. I’m not in a house or guild though. Just a lone wolf. My experience so far has been that men are more apt to giving me advice now (I’ve been fighting for 10 years), and I’m not as included in the heavy fighter “talk circle” as I was before. I’m just kind of there. It surprised me how much HRT changed my mechanics and everything; the knights were right - forget the shoulders, it’s all hip lol
There's a whole FB community for women and gender minorities. It has a few thousand members in it, including most of the womxn who have been knighted. Look up SCA Gender and Minority fighting and it should come up.
awesome!! exactly what I wanted - I tried searching Facebook myself, but didn't plug in the right terms I guess
Yes, this is probably the place that gets the most traffic. It's pretty slow these days, but often picks up during event season.
👀 -Cassian Jaskolski
Hi I’m not part of the sport yet but I love Aotearoa and want to learn to fight in heavy armor and get my set. Also a trans woman.
I'm in the southern Outlands (so nearish to you!) and our shire is full of trans fighters and then there's also little old me the cis lady heavy fighter
I would also suggest to message the society Marshall directly to get in touch. Met her at Conquest this year in Artemisia and is very knowledgeable, has great insight and tips for training female fighters and how body mechanics vary, and can most likely get you in touch with other female and trans or possibly a male that is versed in training female and trans fighters. I've adapted a lot of what I've had to teach my wife into my own style since my body is already starting to break down at only 33 years. Glad to see the old method of "if it hurts you're doing it right" method is going out the window recently.
Eastern ansteorra is having a regional practice on the 9th around i think north houston, you should totally come out!
did you fight at seawinds defender
Might there be some in Midrealms, in the southeastern Michigan vicinity? My wife is interested in fighting, but is all of 5'1/2" (I've been informed that half-inch is very important) and 100 lb. I'm not exactly large, myself, but there's a bit of difference between being a skinny 5'8" guy and being a fun-sized squeaker and pairing off against 6' 200+ lb. guys.