Your Advice is Much Appreciated

[sashakhan]

As a western Asian persona (Ottoman Turkish) I'll second the networking aspect.

I'll also repeat the importance of 'doing it better than the Europeans'. We have a fellow in my kingdom who wishes that the SCA was 'all Western European, ALL the time' and a proud moment when he said to me "I HATE that you do the Turkish thing, but you do it so well, that I really can't complain..."

How you comport yourself has a lot to do with how seriously you are taken, as does making the best efforts **possible** in your clothing and personal gear.

Being serious in your presentation can be a hard road, but it is also a richly fulfilling one. Again, I will point at the example of Date Saburou Yukiie, who lived for a while in my barony, and who was part of my inspiration when I started over with a new-to-me persona.

The target may be out of our grasp, but the journey? Amazingly fun.

[Deleted]

Apr 11, 2012 15:42:11 GMT -5 Sō Haruko said:

I have been warned that there are folks that are anti-Asian personae in my kingdom.

Here in Aethelmearc, Sir Ogami Akira has been a knight for more than 30 years and heads a clan of dozens of people. Sure there are those with Euro-centric views of the SCA, but even those people realize we aren't going anywhere.

The key is just trying to do it as well as you possibly can. Even if somebody thinks Asian personae are inappropriate to the SCA, they have to realize that plenty goes on that is even less appropriate. When the last pair of elf ears departs the SCA forever, I'll consider hanging up my wafuku.

[jetgirl86]

Couldn't resist this one; normally, I prefer staying in my "ninja cat" (hidden) mode. Logically, I can't find anything wrong with pursuing an asian personna. I've been in the SCA for more than 20 years, and no one in my Barony has ever discouraged me from choosing my Heian period Japanese personna. If it's what you want, do it! Japanese warriors accept their fate, whichever way it goes! So, if you think it's difficult being a Japanese personna, try explaining a Japanese female fighter! Break the myth-conceptions!

[Sō Haruko]

Ishiyama-dono, I completely agree with you. I think the people who told me were only trying to help, so that I would not be taken by surprise if someone said something. (Elf ears? Really? I've never seen anyone wearing those ... but I've never been to a War, either.)

I will note that I have some small hangups on "as well as I possibly can" ... I would like very much, for example, to take up Japanese-style archery. I don't have anyone local to teach me how to care for and shoot a yumi properly, and I certainly can't afford one right now. While it's *possible* for me to do this, it isn't *practical* at this point. So I make do with a Western bow and arrows for now, until the right sensei comes along.

Am I a bit concerned that someone's going to give me grief over my kit? Yeah. /: Should I worry about it? Probably not, but there it is. I've been pondering a response to that for a while, which is something on the order of, "I lost everything but the clothes on my back to the Mongols while I was making my way to your country. Your people were gracious enough to teach me the ways of your bow, so I use it for now while I wait for a ship to arrive."

[Saionji Shonagon]

Apr 11, 2012 17:33:14 GMT -5 Sō Haruko said:

(Elf ears? Really? I've never seen anyone wearing those ... but I've never been to a War, either.)

And fairy wings. And there was the guy that showed up wearing horns and furry pants (forever known as Satyroo as said pants had pockets). The SCA draws from fantasy fandom and occasionally one has a close encounter with someone who hasn't figured out the paradigm.

[Please Delete]

Don't be discouraged because you can't do it perfectly. It is the *attempt* that matters--as much as it gets used as an excuse by people to be lazy, people also understand that it is a sliding scale. We are not a reenactment group with the strict guidelines that entails, and that is part of the reason the SCA is an international phenomenon that gets thousands of people together in Pennsylvania every year. Imagine Pennsic as a monoculture, removing everyone that doesn't "fit" the mold of the SCA.

I recently re-read Corpora. One of the things that I found striking was that the wording, at least to me, indicates that the SCA structure is based on the Western European model, and so our Asian personas might not always fit in quite right. Okay, we need to have *some* sort of model, and the medieval tournament structure is definitely at the core of the founding of the SCA. That doesn't mean you can't be from somewhere else, though.

Have fun. Do the research. And always remember to look to the log in your own eye before worrying about the speck in your neighbor's.

Gambatte!


-Ii

[solveig]

Ii dono!

Greetings from Solveig!

Apr 11, 2012 19:34:39 GMT -5 Please Delete said:

I recently re-read Corpora. One of the things that I found striking was that the wording, at least to me, indicates that the SCA structure is based on the Western European model, and so our Asian personas might not always fit in quite right.

The evolution of Corpora is rather interesting. As I recall, one of the recent rewrites moved things in a more restrictive direction. The pending rewrite of the Rules for Submission of the College of Arms moves the ban on Asiatic group names from precedent into the rules themselves. As a group, we should possibly take a greater interest in getting onto rewrite committees when they are constituted. The Euro-Centric rewrites ill serve the Society as a whole as they tend to codify an overly narrow view of history. In reality material culture made it across the silk road. Oh well. I'm preaching to the choir here aren't I?

[chiaki]

What can I say that hasn't already been said? One of my favorite things about SCA is the variety of cultures and times people play. Frankly, if everyone dressed as vikings I'd be bored out of my mind.
The only downside on playing Japanese, depending on kingdom, is the merch shopping zzzz trim trim trim, beads and drinking horns. Of course you can flip that to a positive and think of it as saving money to be better spent on lovely silks. ;D

[Lash]

Ii-dono is so right you guys put up with my lame attempts in armor and garb for YEARS!!! hahah!!!
and Chiaki-dono coming soon to a row near you sho-rasshu's shop of oddities>>
my lady sholeh and I are thinking of opening a shop geared towards asians as she is from han period china .
we have a pretty god list of feast gear and possibles for the shop plus items designed to mask mundane items like camp chairs, propane tanks and the wal-mart prairie pimple tent !! portable jin-maku's !!
we will let everyone know when we are going to launch it. we will be doing an experiment at uprising to see if it will fly.

so hopefully for those felt left out in the barbarians wilds we will have an oasis of harmony and tranquility *cue flute music*