Once upon a time...
You may have noticed that I and others post images and stories that put a Parasol Duelling Spin (TM) on otherwise historical events. This may be an affectation but it is also intentional. Very early in the modern (re-)creation of our sport Jayne (Madame Saffron) and I made the conscious decision to always treat parasol duelling as a real historical competition. Surprisingly our friends and fellow Duelists agreed to play along.
I was asked once by a Steampunk blogger if Parasol Duelling was "real". My answer was, "Of course it is real!" Then he said, "No. I mean is it really a Victorian sport?". I paused for a moment and said, "In our Steampunk world it is" :-)
At all the demonstrations and competitions we have done we always treat the sport as real, and therefore worthy of taking it seriously, at least a little bit. By placing Parasol Duelling in the context of real Victorian and Edwardian history we get to tag along with all the wonders, and gorgeous clothes, of that age. But in order to make that work we have to be a bit subtle. This works best when our stories, and the "gloss" that we add to otherwise mundane history, are just realistic enough that the greater non-steampunk world is likely to ponder whether it is true or not.
Steampunks, of course, do not have a problem with alternate histories. In my experience of large Steampunk gatherings there are likely to be any number of alternate histories being discussed, sometimes as many as there are people present in fact. People like to have a back story for their costumes and personae after all. But what makes the one in the background of Parasol Duelling so much fun is that it is shared.
It is not just Steampunks either, our sport has attracted people in various historical re-creation groups as well. The very thing that would have made Parasol Duelling a good sport for Ladies in Queen Victoria's time, elegance, skill, honour, and decorum with a touch of aggression, and intense competition, make it a great sport for cosplayers,Victorian/Edwardian aficionados, steampunks, and even our non-costumed friends and families.
There is an alternate history in the back ground, you can read it here on this blog and on the pages of Madame Saffron Hemlock's Parasol Duelling League, but all of you who enjoy our elegant sport are helping to write a very real history indeed.
Thank you for joining us on this journey to create the real sport that is Ladies Parasol Duelling.
Spread the word!
Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed, and your water iced.
KJ
On Alternate History
Third Annual Parasol Duelling World Championships Sept 10 2016
An elegant afternoon of competition!
The 2016 World Championships were held on September 10th on the elegant grounds of the Lougheed House in Calgary.The weather in September can be pretty variable but this Saturday was a beautiful Autumn day, cool but mostly sunny.
There were still lots of flowers in the gardens but some of the leaves on the trees had started to change.
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| Photo by Antonina Taskaev |
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| Photo by Antonina Taskaev |
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| Photo by Antonina Taskaev |
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| A beautiful day for a competition. Photo by Karlo Keet |
There were eight competitors in this year's World Championships, including two previous World Champions, Karen Siemens and Sarafina Kain, as well as previous Duelling, Flirtations, and Compulsory Figures champions. As you might expect this made for some intense competition!
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| The Duelists L to R Doctor Adler, Sarafina Kain, Monica Willard,Cindy Bedford, Raven Hawthorne,Karen Siemens,Josanna Justine, Briona Justine, Cali Brewer Photo by Grant Zelych |
The event started with a Grande Promenade of the competitors and Doctors around the stately Lougheed house. In addition to giving the judges a chance to get organized it also allowed the spectators and photographers a chance to get some good photos.
This year the previous year's champions were permitted to wear their winner's sashes during the competition as you can see in the promenade pics.
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| Cindy Bedford and Josanna Justine Photo by Grant Zelych |
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| Cali Brewer and Raven Hawthorne Photo by Grant Zelych |
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| Karen Siemens Photo by Karlo Keet |
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| Briona Justine and Lyric Justine( Junior Doctor) Photo by Karlo Keet |
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| Baroness Daniela Fawkes (aka Dana Teh.) and Madame Saffron Taxus-Hemlock (aka Jayne Barnard) Photo by Peter Justine |
The Judges for this year's Worlds were Madame Saffron Taxus-Hemlock (aka Jayne Barnard) and Baroness Daniela Fawkes (aka Dana Teh.)
Doctors for this event were Maxwell MacDonald-Smythe (aka Kevin Jepson) and Dr Johann Portsmouth Adler (aka Stewart MacPhee.)
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| Maxwell MacDonald-Smythe (aka Kevin Jepson) Photo by Grant Zelych |
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| Dr Johann Portsmouth Adler (aka Stewart MacPhee.) Photo by Antonina Taskaev |
Madame Saffron welcomed all competitors with the now traditional Welcome and Admonition, first given at the Spring Regionals back in April.
The first competition was the Compulsory Figures competition.
The Ladies competed facing each other in pairs. The judges set the figure that the duelists must end on but the order of the first two figures was at the competitors choice.
You can see the intensity of this formal competition in this picture of two previous Champions during the Compulsory Figures:
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| Josanna Justine and Sarafina Kain Photo by Grant Zelych |
And
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| Raven Hawthorne and Cali Brewer Photo by Grant Zelych |
During one of the bouts Raven Hawthorne experienced a technical malfunction due to an over aggressive snub resulting in a "French Tulip".
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| Raven Hawthorne's "French Tulip" Photo by Grant Zelych |
The next competition was the Flirtations Trials.
Always a crowd favourite.
The ladies were again paired and were given the figure to complete by the judges.
Elegance and creativity were the bywords this year.
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| Cali Brewer Photo by Karlo Keet |
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| Raven Hawthorne Photo by Karlo Keet |
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| Monica Willard Photo by Karlo Keet |
During one of the trials between the first World Champion Karen Siemens and Street Dueler Extraordinaire Monica Willard there was a "Bloomer Incident" .
Captured in this video by Grant Zelych.
A fine way to break the tension that!
Once the Flirtation Trials were complete there was a short break for tea and cakes supplied by the Victorian Society of Alberta.
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| Christie Vanderloh and crew from the Victorian Society of Alberta Photo by Lougheed House |
The formal Duelling competition included a new procedure this year, a Duelling Card. Designed by Raven Hawthorne. This yellow card, very much like a old fashioned dance card, makes keeping track of the wins and loses easier and gives each competitor a record of how they did during the competition. |
| Explaining the Cards L to R Briona Justine, Cali Brewer, Raven Hawthorne, Maxwell MacDonald-Smythe, Josanna Justine |
The Chief Doctor Maxwell MacDonald-Smythe explaining the new Duelling card to the competitors before the Formal Duelling competition begins.
Another change from previous years was how draws were handled. In the event of multiple draws in a bout the result was determined through the use of Audra Balion's delightful Duelling Cards. Each card has a picture of one of the figures. Each competitor draws a card and the the result of the duel is determined best two out of three.
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| Parasol Duelling Playing Cards By Audra Balion |
Again this year there has been a steady improvement in the speed and control of the Ladies in their duelling.
This video by Antonina Taskaev, of a bout between two of the fastest duelists I have ever seen, Briona Justine and Cali Brewer, gives pretty good idea of the speed!
The intensity of the formal duelling competition can be seen in these photos.
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| Sarafina Kain Photo by Antonina Taskaev |
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| Briona Justine Photo by Antonina Taskaev |
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| Raven Hawthorne Photo by Antonina Taskaev |
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| Josanna Justine Photo by Antonina Taskaev |
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| Raven Hawthorn and Karen Siemens Photo by Antonina Taskaev |
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| Cindy Bedford and Josanna Justine Photo by Antonina Taskaev |
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| Karen Siemens vs Monica Willard Photo by Karlo Keet |
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| Cindy Bedford vs Cali Brewer Photo by Karlo Keet |
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| Raven Hawthorne vs Cali Brewer Photo by Karlo Keet |
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| Monica Willard vs Cali Brewer Photo by Karlo Keet |
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| Monica Willard Photo by Karlo Keet |
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| Raven Hawthorne vs Karen Siemens Photo by Karlo Keet |
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| Briona Justine vs Karen Siemens Photo by Karlo Keet |
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| Briona Justine vs Josanna Justine Photo by Karlo Keet |
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| Briona Justine Photo by Karlo Keet |
Each Duelist was given two duels and after the first round the competitors with no wins were eliminated As each eliminated competitor was announced they were given the now traditional Twirl by the other competitors. Those Ladies with two wins were given a by for the next round.
After three rounds and another short tea break the semi-finalists were announced.
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| The Semi Finalists L to R Cali Brewer, Cindy Bedford, Briona Justine, Karen Siemens |
A further two rounds led to the final bout between Cali Brewer and Karen Siemens.
Captured in video by Instagram user Celtsnite
Cali emerged victorious having been undefeated in the duelling competition!
While the judges compiled and checked their results to determine the World Champion a Street Duelling tournament was held as a "Hold The Field".
A competitor stood against all comers till eliminated when the victor would take the field against the others.
This was the first official Street Duel competition held in modern times and the Ladies showed that they had been practicing since the demonstration bouts at last year's Worlds Championships
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| Raven Hawthorne Photo by Antonina Taskaev |
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| Briona Justine Photo by Antonina Taskaev |
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| Cindy Bedford Photo by Photo by Antonina Taskaev |
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| Cindy Bedford showing off her two elegant Street Duelling Parasols purchased recently in Budapest Photo by Photo by Antonina Taskaev |
Cindy Bedford was very well armed indeed displaying a total of FOUR street duelling parasols in a custom holster.
Those parasols served her well and she won the competition thus gaining the honour of being the first World Street Duelling champion!
A hush fell over the crowd as Madame Saffron Taxus-Hemlock called all the competitors before her to announce the winners of the 2016 World Championships!
As each was announced the previous champions presented their sashes to the new champions.
The 2016 World Champions
Compulsory Figures Champion Josanna Justine
Flirtation Trials Champion Raven Hawthorne
Duelling Champion Cali Brewer
Street Duelling Champion Cindy Bedford
Junior Champion Briona Justine
And finally Madame announced the new 2016 World Champion Karen Siemens.
Karen was also the first World Champion in modern times. Congratulations on your victory Karen!
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| The new World Champion of Parasol Duelling Karen Siemens Photo by Elizabeth Howerton |
Here they are, all the 2016 World Parasol Duelling Champions!
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| 2016 World Champions Standing L to R Monica Willard (Creator of Street Dueling), Cali Brewer Duelling Champion, Karen Siemens 2016 World Champion, Cindy Bedford Street Duelling Champion Seated L to R Raven Hawthorne Flirtation Trials Champion, Josanna Justine Compulsory Figures Champion Missing Briona Justine World Junior Champion |
Congratulations Ladies!
Each of the champions received a prize bag containing items created especially for the winners.
The World Champion received a special prize.
These beautiful Street Parasol Holsters custom created for the World Champion by Master Holster maker Ricardo dos Reis of Old West Leather in Portugal.
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| Fit for a World Champion! Custom made Parasol Holsters by Ricardo dos Reis |
And so another great World Championship came to a close.
Special thanks to the Lougheed House for letting us use their elegant grounds.
Thanks as always to the photographers that make us look so good.
Karlo Keet of Catstar Images
Grant Zelych
Antonina Taskaev
Lougheed House
Elizabeth Howerton
Barb Sand
Peter Justine
Thanks to Christie Vanderloh and the Victorian Society of Alberta for making sure we had tea and scrumptious goodies to keep us going through the long afternoon of competition.
Thanks to all competitors, Doctors, Judges, and spectators.
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| Photo by Antonina Taskaev |
See you all in 2017!
Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed, and your water iced.
KJ
For more information and to find out more about this great sport go to:
Madame Saffron Hemlock’s Parasol Duelling League for Steampunk Ladies
Click here for information on the history and development of Parasol Duelling
or click the Parasol Duelling tag.
The Rules for Parasol Duelling are here.
