USU Sword and Psaltery Club duels, renaissance style
The clash of swords in the basement of USU’s Business building may be frightening to someone who just walked off the elevator into the midst of a 16th-century battle. But to the students who participate weekly, it is a way to preserve history and have fun at the same time.
The Sword and Psaltery Club at USU was formed nearly six years ago following the downfall of USU’s fencing club. But unlike the former fencing club, those involved in Sword and Psaltery have a flare for the dramatic and the cold steel associated with tactics and fighting, said the group’s sage, a USU alumnus who goes by the pseudonym Spanish Dan.
“You don’t have the funny white suit,” he said. “You wear cool clothes.”
These “cool clothes” are, for the most part, period shirts and gloves, but safety is the main concern rather than style, said Patrick Brown, a USU student who has been fighting since 2007.
“That’s the main difference between us and the community group,” Brown said. “We care more about safety, and if the clothes are of period, that’s a plus.”
Safety is always the number one concern when members have metal swords and daggers flying at them from multiple directions, Brown said. The club has taken serious measures to make sure its record of no injuries continues. Everyone who participates is required to wear safety gear such as a mask, neck guard, gloves and thick padding on their torso. Every sword must be tipped with thick rubber in order to not pierce any of the protective equipment.
Mentors like Dan, Brown and Melissa Ogilvie, help individuals who are new to the weekly competition. Through mentor efforts, new recruits learn combative techniques and how to properly – and safely – handle a sword. Nearly half of each night is devoted to things such as footwork and hitting targets set in a particular place.
Lined up in the hallways of the Business building, club members take a crouched stance. Receiving orders from superiors, new recruits either advance or retreat while using the proper footwork to maneuver up and down the halls.
“I find it fun and challenging and learn a new set of skills,” said Jacob Ehle, an archeology major who has been with the club for a year. “I think it’s a way to connect to our past history and to keep to our heritage and culture and where I was born.”
But “connect to our past history” is not listed in the USU history department’s mission statement, which has a goal to “research, analyze, synthesize and communicate accurate conclusions about change over time by using the historical method.” In this way, the Sword and Psaltery Club fills the gap between learning about history in a classroom and through a book and experiencing history firsthand.
Connecting to history is something many people outside of USU enjoy doing as well, Dan said. Many events happen throughout the year where similar groups gather together to battle. Due to the style of the USU club and the manner of the members’ training, students have been reported to do well at events, he said.
“At the events we go to, we are usually the first ones on the field, the ones who keep fighting while the others takes breaks and the last ones off the field,” Dan said.
Ogilvie, one of the club’s mentors, said team members not only duke it out in the basement of the Business building but also fight in different terrains, including gravel, grass and ice, depending on the time of year.
Some nights, individual contenders will be severely outnumbered.
“When you are outgunned and outnumbered, you can’t lose because everyone is expecting you to lose,” Dan said. “On the other hand, if you win, you’re a hero”.
The group is open for new members to join.
“The more people you have sword fighting, the more fun it is,” Ogilvie said.
Members meet at 7 p.m. every Tuesday in BUS 115.
“It doesn’t matter how old you are, or experience of health,” Dan said. “Just come and have fun.”
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