BFHS BGM at Cressing Temple

Discussion in 'Western Martial Arts' started by Rob Lovett, Jun 6, 2005.

  1. Rob Lovett

    Rob Lovett Valued Member

    Hi everyone,

    What can I say!

    First and foremost - thank you to everyone that turned up and made this meet one of the best that I have attended, my only gripe is that I did not have a chance to take part in workshops.

    Secondly, this weekends success was down largely to the hard work that everyone in The Exiles put in, obviously and most notably Mark L and his wife Anne, and Rita who from the moment of turning up on Friday just got stuck into all tasks with Anne. Little Marky B needs to be mentioned in despatches, he was simply brilliant keeping an eye on the timing of events, the safety of everyone there, and making sure that everything was running smoothly. I am proud of the effort each and everyone of The Exiles, some just returning from the US just to help out.

    We lost only one event, namely the 14th Paradox discussion, due to the pressures of having to move one of the CI assessments from the Sunday to the Saturday. But against all odds, the last event the Glorianna Cup ended just before 5 o'clock. We could not have planned that better.

    Cressing Temple itself was idyllic. From the moment that I arrived there was a calm serenity about the place, which seemed to infuse through everything that happened throughout the weekend. When Mark L first started pushing for Cressing Temple I had misgivings about the lack of indoor space for training, I am pleased that I trusted his judgement and let him run with the venue. It was perfect. There were only a few times that the rain stopped play but surprisingly it did nothing to dampen enthusiasm. The site caretakers also were extremely happy with the event, and even more impressed at how the site had been kept tidy by all, and when we had finished packing up at around 8 last night it was as if we had never been, all the rubbish from the event safely tucked into the back of Mark L's van.
    Cressing Temple is pleased to have both the Exiles and the BFHS return in the future, and I think that we have all made some real friends there.

    The banquet on the Saturday was excellent, plenty of food for all, a decent vegetarian option, a salad made with herbs from the Cressing Temple gardens, and to be honest it was the first time that I had ever eaten daisies and purple flowers, I still don't know what they were, but they were great. Everything hand prepared and hand cooked. It was brilliant as well how we were treated to the divine voices of Anne and Alison, who later tried to organise us into some sort of singing round! Which was absolutely great, even though it must have sound terrible! I am sure that the Cressing Temple ducks will never be the same again, and I know that they were giving me some weird looks in the morning.

    The tournaments went well, with more of an emphasis being placed upon style then actual hits over time bouts, and although this took longer for the tournaments to run, it gave both fighters a chance to show more of themselves and to give the crowd something more to watch. It was great to see the first rush of frantic activity calm down, as the two combatants realised that they had lots of time to go, settle down into a more tactical approach, and then realising they only had 20 seconds left to shine and impress. There were exhibitions of real skill, sometimes real luck, and most inspiring the spirit and courage shown even when it appeared that contestants may have been severely mis-matched.

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    The winners were everyone that took part in the competitions, there were no losers. But for those who place importance in such things:
    Alan Ethel took the Unarmed tournament, though from what I heard Bethan nearly topple this giant.
    Gordon H from Schola G, I think, took the Long Sword tournament, though most inspiring displays of skill, courage and spirit were given from Spike (exiles) and Jo (Schola G).
    The Gloriana Cup was won by Matt "Pirate" Easton, who armed with a cutlass, had the weapon advantage over Jonathan Miller (LSD) who armed with a small sword displayed such skill and dexterity of movement that I thought for a second the Jonathan may take the prize.
    As I said before the winners were everyone who took part, the skills and courage and spirit was excellent.

    The prize of the Paul Chen Practical Longsword, a token gift really, went to Ian MacIntyre, who in the opinion of many, displayed those qualities of a BFHS member that we should all aspire to. He was not the only one I hasten to add, everyone conducted themselves most excellently and I am proud, honoured and humbled to have been surrounded by so many excellent gentlemen, ladies, scholars, and martial artists.

    There was a real buzz to this weekend that has to be honest reached inside me and re-energised my jaded spirit. I cannot thank you enough for the gift of all your companies. Now before I get too sentimental I am going to stop here.

    THANKYOU ONE AND ALL!

    Regards
    Rob L.
    PS. One last thing, can anyone that has pictures of the weekend please send them to me so that I can get a photographic record of this excellent weekend.
     
  2. Louie

    Louie STUNT DAD Supporter

    Hi Rob,
    Sounds like a great event, if you get some photos please post a few....

    Cheers!

    Louie
     
  3. Rob Lovett

    Rob Lovett Valued Member

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