Last Sunday

I'm late in publishing this. I don't have any excuse for that beyond laziness though, I've just not really felt like writing in the blog for a while now. Still I have friends who want to read this, so I'm putting this here for their sake as much as mine. This is what I wrote on the sunday just gone, whilst watching (and sometimes participating) in their weapons practice:

As I write this I am sat in a field at the back end of Vivary Park (the one with the soccer goal and the overgrown rifle ranges), whilst listening to a classic rock tune by Bon Jovi (Blaze of Glory). I am here with a bunch of my best friends (and my brother), to watch them practise fighting with rubber weapons.

They all play in LARP (Live Action RolePlay) games over weekends away now and then (Tony is soon to join them in this hobby), and they want to hone their skills. So I'm sat here in the middle of the field, next to an impressive collection of rubber swords, daggers and spears, as they battle around me, my words written to the thuds of these weapons hitting against each other and also the people involved. Right now Tony, Gareth, Dan and my brother Rhys are here, but apparently some more are due to turn up soon.

Every now and then some other members of the public walk into the field, staying well clear of our madcap group and glancing oddly at us as they walk around the fields perimeter. I wonder whether the four dancing about hitting each other in furious melee, or the one sat quietly writing in their midst is perceived as the most unusual?

A little later on: They are done with the fighting for the moment. I'm now laying down watching as Dan is stood facing the other three, teaching them a few basic Kung-Fu moves, a sequence of hand positions he refers to as a kata. I can't hear a word any of them are saying, as I'm too close to the stereo Dan brought with him. I do catch a snippet of their conversations now and then whenever the song changes over though, plus I get the added hilarity of seeing one or all of them burst into laughter suddenly, without hearing the cause, which is actually quite funny to see in its own right!

A cold wind is blowing, the sun up above only rarely showing itself from behind a cover of clouds, which seem to be growing increasingly grey. Certainly it is darker now than when we arrived, and I get the feeling that rain won't be long in coming. I just looked up then to see all of the other four looking at me and grinning. Seems I missed out on a shared joke there.

Later still: Well Kung-Fu training came to an abrupt halt when my brother picked up a spear and attacked Dan with it. So Rhys and Gareth are trying out dual weapon fighting now, each of them using a sword and dagger. Meanwhile Dan is training Tony in the use of Nunchuks (of the non-rubber variety). Part of me is tempted to pick up a weapon and join in. However, I know my mates well enough to know that I'd likely get attacked by all of them should I do so. Still no sign of the others who were supposed to have been joining us.

Even later again: Dan is now running the others through the spear/staff fighting routine which I watched him teaching Gareth in this same field back on Wednesday afternoon. Needless to say the couple hours practice then is showing, as Gareth seems to be doing quite well in this lesson. Dan's tuition mostly focusing on Rhys it seems.

Yup, even later again: Well the grey clouds have blown over, looks like I was wrong about rain being imminent. I've had a couple battles with Gareth, putting my old fencing lessons at school to good use. Dan is now trying to phone up those who haven't turned up. Time I was heading off I think as I want to get to the cinema to watch "Snakes On A Plane" a bit later on.

Well that is what I penned while sat in the field. As I was leaving, the other two who were due to join the group finally turned up (Emil and his girlfriend Charlie. Not sure if I've spelt either of their names right there!). They didn't stay long though, as I ran into them and Rhys as I was walking through town a little bit later on, on my way to the cinema. It's been a good day all in all and as I don't seem to get much work on Sundays of late (which I'm not happy about), I'll likely tag along for future sessions.