Would You Recognize A Person From The Society for Creative Anachronism?

Who are those people wearing funny clothes? Why are those women wearing long dresses in the middle of summer? Why are those people hitting each other with sticks? Well, they may just be members of a medieval recreation group called the Society for Creative Anachronism, or SCA for short.

What is the SCA? Members describe the group as recreating the Middle Ages as they should have been. There are no serf, no plague, no crusades. Only the fun things from the Middle Ages are done in the SCA.

The Society for Creative Anachronism was started in 1966 in Berkeley, California. It actually began as a Lord of the Rings theme party with an armored tournament. Over the last 5 decades, it has grown into a worldwide organization with over 30,000 paying members. Paid membership is not required to participate. It is a not-for-profit educational corporation with offices and board of directors in Milpitas, California.

If you enjoy movies such as Braveheart, Lord of the Rings, or 13th Warrior, you would probably enjoy participating in the SCA. There are a large number of activities within the SCA. The most popular is the armored heavy fighting.

Participants in the armored heavy fighting make or buy their armor. If the armor is purchased, it is still hand made. There are also strict safety rules in place to keep injuries from happening. This type of martial event also has numerous variations within its structure. Participants may fight one on one, in large group battles, or anything in between. Heavy fighting is the most visible activity within the SCA.

Another type of fighting within the SCA is Rapier fighting. This is very similar to fencing. As with the heavy fighting, there are many rules to safeguard the participants. This type of fighting also has several types of tournaments in which to participate.

Fighting is not all the SCA is about, though. There are many other types of activities to participate in. There is primitive archery, sewing, wood carving, music, beading, and so much more. If it was done at any time before 1650 C.E., you can do it in the SCA.