"For years there were excuses.
I can't because of... distance, time, money, reasons.That ended a little bit ago when my wife said that if I wanted to go to Combat Con 2014 for my birthday weekend that we would figure out how to make it happen. Sometimes that is all it takes."
That was, where it all began, for years I had sat behind a keyboard complaining about how it was not fair that everyone else in the community got to go to events and I never had. I complained about the costs for it, the costs for equipment, the costs to go to do something outside of my local area. I was, in many ways whiny and to be honest I can imagine looking back at it now I was rather annoying.
Then in June of 2014 I did something that I feel like changed my life for the better. Moving from the idea of "I can't" to "how can I" I attended my first large HEMA event at Combat Con 2014. That experience changed my life. I met friends I consider family in many ways at that event and over the years at other events. But more than all of that, Combat Con made me realize that though I was not always sure how I would make things work, if I put my mind to it I could do and accomplish great things.
The following year, they had added a cutting qualifier to the steel tournaments and as I had never cut with a sharp sword I failed it. Bound and determined to do better I applied myself where I was put and though it did not go as well as I had wanted, I showed up and gave it my best.
The next time I was there and attempted it, and having put in the work, practice and focus I passed.
Combat Con has been a home where I could teach classes that I enjoy teaching whether or not they are "HEMA Specific" and some of my more popular classes where we work with different things people do not always have experience working with.
Combat Con was the place where after crashing my motorcycle I decided that when I was there again I would passed my HEMA Alliance Instructor certification.
I have been teaching at the event for years now, and even when I feel like I do not always have the most to bring to the table, people show up to hear what it is that I do I have to say, whether that is a class on Rule #1 Don't die, or Getting the things in our lives that we really want, or good old fashioned how to beat someone with a pole hammer. Combat Con has been a home for me and more than that it has been a place where I could learn and grow and get better at doing the things I love doing.
In 2022, I won my first medal at an event that was not local at Combat Con and though it was only a bronze the cheers from the crowd when I won, and the support of the community I felt when it happened are like nothing I have ever felt. To my community, to my friends, to the people who supported me, it was a proud moment whether they had much to do with me winning or not.
I have laughed, and cried in both joy and sorrow at this event. Been proud of myself, and had people I respect and love tell me they are proud of me. I have stayed out until the sun came up, and in the last few years, spent time with some of my favorite people and went to bed at a reasonable hour because "I have to fight in the morning"
This year, my last class is going to be an interesting one. I am teaching how to be strong by being weak. None of my classes, or at least none of my favorites, stand alone as "only a sword class" it is not how I am built. Rule #1 is about not dying but what I talk about there is rather than focusing on not dying, do what you can to be safe and live intentionally, in all you do in and out of sword.
Being strong by being weak has a part to it that is using good body mechanics to give the strong man a different direction to channel that strength, but again, I can't just write a "Sword" class. Being strong by being weak means sometimes it is ok to be sad. Sometimes it is ok to feel your feelings and let that be alright. We may be doing difficult things but its ok sometimes to take a moment to breathe and take care of ourselves. If there is a final message that I have to give to the community of Combat Con, it is that. It is ok to feel sad that things are going away and we will never have those moments again, it is also ok to dance like you are dressed like a 16th century monarch with reckless abandon because as much as we want to hold tightly to those things, they too shall pass. All we can do is our best, make the memories and take the pictures we remember to take and remember that we are a family not of flesh and blood but of common cause and care. And though we may find ourselves miles away from each other it is that camaraderie that binds us.
Combat Con has changed my life for the better and I am grateful for all the time and effort put into it for all the years. I also know that acorns do not grow in the shade of the mighty oak, and it is ok to let it go, because for a time we had this place, and it will live forever within us, and that is a gift that no one can ever take away.
