Step 1: don't be a dick
It's important to remember that when you approach a new combat system that you treat it with the respect that it's due. You are coming onto THEIR turf to try out THEIR thing. If you want to do YOUR thing on YOUR time, you can do so. Don't try to change THEIR thing and make it YOUR thing. That's just being shitty. Explain to the people running the thing that you are new to the system and try to make sure that you ask when you don't understand things. Generally speaking if you fight well and are courteous most places will be happy to have you. When adapting to their rules don't tell them that their rules are stupid (even if it's true). Take the time to learn their rule system in its entirety and ask questions to clarify any grey areas (because there are always grey areas). When you think you've got the system well in hand spend some time sparring with another person who knows the system well to get used to the new rules.
Not too hot
Additionally their hit threshold may vary from the sport you are used to. Belegarth, in general, expects more force behind their hits then does Amtgard. In Belegarth hits from Amtgard that would be perfectly fine in Amtgard are going to be called lite. If you don't understand that higher hit threshold then you'll think all of your opponents are cheating. To be fair, some of them may be, as with anything there are going to be people who are less then honorable. But it's important to start with charity and assume the best then to immediately feel victimized and assume that you're being singled out. When in doubt, ask questions and people will tell you, you just need to swing harder. Ask them to demonstrate what a valid hit would be and then calibrate appropriately. Also realize that things that aren't legal in your sport might be legal in their sport. If you switch from amt to bel you'd be very surprised to suddenly be either shield kicked while prone or shot directly in the face. But both of those things are legal in belegarth and very much a part of the game. Understanding these distinctions is what allows you to adapt to the transition easily rather then becoming extremely offended about how the opponent is either angry at you or trying to harm you.
Not too cold
The reverse case is also equally valid. You want to make sure that you aren't throwing shots with too much force, or to target zones are illegal. Head shots when fighting with shinai are totally legal, but you're also required to wear a facemask to prevent anyone from being stabbed directly in the eye as getting a wooden sword to that target location could easily kill you. Throwing the equivalent shot in belegarth is not only a dick move but also dangerous for the other person. Head shots happen and the weapons are padded enough that theoretically this should be fine, but, put enough force behind a swing and you can still give opponents concussions.
You also don't want to come off as inherently angry or over aggressive. If a bel fighter throws bel hits at an amt event they may very well leave bruises on their targets even if they aren't intending to throw any particularly vicious swings. (Don't get me wrong we do this to each other, it's just that in bel we know what we're getting into). If you do that on an amt field you may injure people as they haven't been fighting in such a way as to take those hits, and generally speaking they're just going to have a really shitty opinion of you. This goes back to sparring with someone beforehand. Have them demonstrate what a good hit is and then tone your hit taking and the force of your own throws down (or up) to that level.
Safety First
In each fighting system the rules are there for a reason. It's important to make sure that you follow the rules as written in order to make sure that everyone stays safe. As one example of this in larp systems arrows are often made out of nerf rockets or other similarly bored things like a roll of cardboard on the backside. If this comes back at someone because it bounced off a target it's not really a big deal. On the other hand in bel we use real arrows with a modified padded head. If the rear end of that arrow strikes someone there's a very good chance they'll get impaled because we haven't done anything to the knock. Since it's made form plastic it's not a danger to most of the time but if someone swings at it to knock it out of the air it means you've got a knock spinning through the air at eye height and that's just bad news for everyone. So understand and follow the rules, if not for your own sake then for the sake of those around you.
Friends with Benefits
Forcing yourself to have to tune your hit taking threshold up and down is a really useful skill set to learn. Being able to be in tune with your body and feel the feedback from all your fights will improve your hit taking overall not just in any specific system. Fighting with a different hit threshold will also force you to develop more control over your swings so that you can add or remove force while still throwing the shots you're used to throwing. The ability to modulate how much force is behind your swing is incredibly useful. The musculature that this builds in your arms means that pulling head shots is easier and it also means you can provide additional force for a thicker opponent without having to resort to swinging wildly. As different systems make different assumptions about how to fight you'll also likely learn new skill sets or new shots. Not all of them may transfer but some of them will. Transferring from bel to amt taught me a lot of holes in my guard that are only really present when you move fast enough. Learning to block at those locations meant that when I went back to bel I was harder to hit. When going from amt to bel I notice that many fighters in amt do not attempt to block for their legs, so leg shots, as well as hip wraps disguised as leg shots become super easy. The first person to figure out that I'm taking those swings in amt is going to suddenly have a much easier time killing me :-P.
That guy...
Assuming you've followed all the stuff I've said above there shouldn't be any. The downsides of cross gaming come when someone has done it poorly. If you do it poorly then you develop a poor reputation for yourself in that particular sport. If you aren't taking hits because you haven't adapted to a new hit threshold then you're a cheater. If you haven't toned up your hits to the required force then you're bad. If you haven't toned down your shots to the right threshold then you can also be an asshole, a brute, etc. If you don't follow their rules then you're rude and disrespectful. If you don't clarify and work to understand their system then they'll assume you don't care. All of this is bad reputation and makes you look bad. But what makes it worse is that if you are the first person from your fighting system to interact with them they're going to assume everyone else is like you. So not only do you ruin it for yourself but you ruin it for anyone who comes after you, by leaving it up to them to have to fix the bad perceptions you've not placed on your system.
So go out, have fun and see what all is out there. You may discover in your travels that you've been in the wrong family all along :-P.
No comments:
Post a Comment