I am, in another life, a Catalan merchant by the name of Jaume de Monçó, born circa 1500 in the city of Barcelona (which is, at present, under the dominion of Carles, King of Aragon and Castilla, and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire) but currently resident in Kappellenberg, a canton in the Kingdom of Atlantia.

Historical recreation is many things to many people. Much like SF0, it's not a hobby, but a framework in which to pursue all sorts of activities. Personally, I brew, I dance, I cook on occasion, and when I'm less than entirely sober I have been known to sing. But mostly I fence.

For those that don't know, we in the Society for Creative Anachronism do two types of sport combat. One is called "heavy" or "armored" fighting, and derives from the earliest days of the society. This sport involves people whaling away on each other with sticks of rattan. The other is a sort of fencing, derived from the Olympic sports but substantially different. In both cases, the object is to come as close as is safely possible to a sport whose ideal tactics are substantially similar to those needed to win a real fight with historical weaponry. I've done both, but here in Atlantia the heavy fighters hit hard enough that I'm not actually capable of delivering a lethal blow, by local standards. Besides, heavy practice and fencing practice are at the same time and I'd rather be fencing.

The blades we use in SCA fencing are called "schlagers." They were originally designed for stage combat, and they're stiffer and heavier than foil or epee blades. This matters, because you can't move them with the hilarious speed of a foil fencer. The ends are rounded, but they can still injure you even through padded clothing, which is why we put rubber tips on the end, with washers in place (fitting snugly into the end of the tip) to keep the end of the blade from wearing through the rubber and stabbing someone. By the rules of the sport, the rubber tip and the tape used to secure it in place must be of contrasting colors so it's easy to tell when the tip comes off.

This past February I was at an event, fencing in my lame-ass pseudo-Viking garb (it was a Norse-themed event, and I don't like to fence in my good garb for fear of damaging it) - a red tunic with a modern fencing jacket underneath.

The strap that goes between my legs came undone. Figuring I was still protected, just a little uncomfortable, I kept fighting, planning to fuss with the jacket after the fight. Bad idea. It wouldn't have been a problem if my opponent's tip hadn't come off in his previous bout. He replaced it, and it was taped on securely, but somehow in the meantime the washer had wormed its way out of it and he now had a very old and worn tip with no washer in it on his blade.

I landed a blow on his leg, which makes him have to sit and fence from the ground for the rest of the fight. Now he was pointing his blade at an upward angle at me, and managed to land a thrust that was perhaps a bit stouter than he had anticipated as a result of me stepping in toward him just as he made it.

This constellation of factors combined in exactly the wrong way to give me the only open wound (as opposed to some nasty bruises) I have personally been witness to resulting from SCA fencing. His blade slipped under my jacket, poked itself through the tip on the end, and punched a small hole in my tunic, leaving a neat little elliptical puncture in the skin of my abdomen, above my belly button.

The chirurgeons (first-aid volunteers) slapped a band-aid on it and it healed quickly, but I've still got the scar.