#cynnabar

If you haven’t guessed it, I went on another fight binge. This one was more  intense than the last ones. I feel that I pushed myself to the absolute maximum both physically and mentally. Issues at home and a death in the family propelled me to fight harder than I ever have before.

Fighting keeps me focused on a goal when I have problems I can fix. It’s a cathartic release of pent-up energy.

That being said, when the mundane world isn’t cooperating, it can effect your focus and skills in the SCA world, namely with some gnarly bruises.

The Grand Day of Tournaments hosted by the Barony of Cynnabar took place in Ann Arbor on Nov. 5th. The Valkyries made their first official public appearance together. We fought all day long and three out of four of us retired to my friend’s house for the evening for fight stew and physical therapy. And some friendly towel-snapping.

My friend Erica has been a rock for me over the years, especially after my car crash when I was in physical therapy for over a year. She gets how my body works better than any one else I know.

This visit she greeted me (and my friends) as athletes. I keep forgetting that swinging a sword around for several hours is a lot of physical exertion. Erica treats many athletes in her day job as  physical therapist. The bruises we sustain through fighting are no different than the ones that hockey players get on the ice.

She explained to me, that sports bruises are particularly special in that the injury is dealing with micro-tears from building new muscle and from the contusion of the hematoma itself. So, when your muscles really hurt and are sore the next day, they’re actually torn and trying to heal themselves. Add a bruise on top of that tear, and you know the meaning of pain.

Like all fight binges, I went in with the intention of coming out unscathed. However, several polearms over the course of the week at two different practices had different ideas of what my hips should look like. I went to Grand Day of Touraments nearly healed (see far left picture).

And then again, at Grand Day of Tournments, a pole arm decided to make itself a happy little home on my hip. Lesson: I need to fight polearms more so this stops happening.

That nice purple welt C/O a badass knight with a penchant for pole arming me in the hip. You know who you are. Next time you won’t be so  lucky. *Side note: thanks for showing me where the peripheral view of my helmet is and offering advice both times you kicked my ass and took my lunch money at the Tourney.*

The color of a bruise immediately after impact is usually a good idea of its severity. The darker the bruise right away, the more spread out the injury is. Bruises are simply blood trapped under your dermis. To get a bruise to heal faster, there is are several things you can do.

Move. Don’t sit for long periods on a new bruise. We fighters are all very guilty of just jumping right back into a car after a day of fighting. Take 20 minutes to do some good stretches before leaving.

Not moving and sitting on a bruise can cause the blood to congeal and in a worst-case scenario, you might have to have the bruise drained. Draining a big bruise isn’t fun. It’s painful and more damaging than the initial injury. Stretch often and rub or massage the injured area.

Move the fluid out as quick as possible. If you have a particularly large bruise, often the center will swell and be hot to the touch. Go against your better instinct and poke it. Better yet, grab a lacross ball and really put some even pressure all over it.

Use the wall or the floor for better leverage. You really want to get in there and work it out. Use a lacrosse ball over a tennis ball because tennis balls tend to slide around and also have more give in them. Twenty minutes of this, albeit painful, will reduce overall swelling and redistribute the trapped fluids under your skin.

TAPE IT WITH KT TAPE. I am enamored with KT tape.  It lifts the skin and supports the muscles so that injuries can heal faster. That huge bruise? Totally gone three days later. Erica showed me the basics and I’m learning more patterns to help my friends with their ouchies too. Don’t let this blog fool you, I’m not the only one with huge purple welts on their ass. 

    Hank the Asstopus.   

    I had a lot of great fights and connected with some amazing people, but by far the best lesson was learning how to better take care of my body and realize that despite battle bliaut and smiles, I am an athlete and this is a high-intensity sport. Treating my body like an athlete now will help me be a better fighter and last longer.

Had such an amazing time at Midrealm Coronation yesterday. I did Guard Duty for two hours (Which is what the photo was from), Helped with lunch tavern, was with the ladies running the list table watching some spectacular fighting from the heavy fighters. 

Someone who impressed me yesterday with his fighting prowess and chivalric attitude was Cameron of the botherhood. He won the pointed time tournament which last for almost three hours. He scored 116 points (Second place was 87 and the average point scale was 30's) and every time he came up to the list table to tell us his points it was a two ma'am, thank you ma'am, yes ma'am. Where as other fighters would grunt a number and walk away he took time, made sure we had the number, and thanked us. It was very impressive and I wished I had a token to bestow upon him. Whoever his knight is should be very, very proud.  

All around lovely experience and very proud of my home barony of Cynnabar for running a smooth and awesome event!