A Beautiful days duelling.

Yesterday Saturday Sept 10, 2016
A short Thank You video I made with the photos I had handy this morning.




Once the semi-official photographers have their photos available I will prepare my formal(esque) report.

Here are the new World Champions!

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!

In the meantime check out Jayne Barnard's Clockworks and Crime.
And Madame Saffron Hemlock's Parasol Duelling League on Facebook of course!

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

Only a week to go!

Get your Parasols tuned up ladies, and come out to compete to be the 2016 World Parasol Duelling Champion!

Keep your sightglass full, your firebaox trimmed, and your water iced!
KJ

A Fine day's competition.

Sunday, May 1st 2016 was a beautiful sunny spring day.
Perfect weather for the Second Annual Spring Regional Parasol Duelling Competition.

 The competition was held in the same location as last year, at Weadickville just outside of the BMO Centre in Stampede Park, during the 2016 Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo.

We had done two demos during the weekend and so we had a pretty good crowd of spectators for the competition.

 Katherine Lingwood, Cindy Bedford, Stewart MacPhee, Cali Kyhn,
  Karen Siemens and Deanne Robbins.
Photo by Grant Zelych

I work at a vendor's table at the Expo along with several of the regular duelists from Calgary and earlier in the weekend we had been so busy that we actually missed one of the demos!

Luckily the other members of Madame Saffron's leapt into the breach and conducted an excellent demo. Makes me proud indeed to see our members taking up the reins and elegantly demonstrating our great sport. Please join me in a hearty well done!




On Sunday, not taking any chances, we made sure to head for the Duelling Ground with lots of time to spare. When we got to the site there were already several duelists and quite a crowd of spectators gathered.  With ten duelists signed up it took a few minutes to get things organized.

Our Judge and record keeper for the event was the ever efficient Baroness Daniela Fawkes (aka Dana Teh). Her first official act was to read a "Welcome and Admonition" from Madame Saffron Taxus-Hemlock, who  unfortunately could not attend this year's competition.

Here is a video of this stirring start to the Spring Regionals!

Duelling in the Spring Sunshine!
Cindy Bedford vs Kyra McDonald
Photo by Karlo Keet

There were 10 competitors for this year's Regionals. Two winners of the 2015 World Championships, including the current World Champion, and the 2014 World Champion were amongst the Duelists!

The Regionals also include new duelists some of whom have never dueled in competition before, as well as more experienced Ladies.

Again this year we saw how everyone has continued to improve their duelling figures. There are also clearly developing styles and strategies which are fascinating to watch in action.

Karen Seimens and Deanne Robins
Photo by Karlo Keet

The format of this years competition was to be a true Round Robin where everyone duels everyone else during the course of the competition. Wins were to be awarded 2 points and a draw was awarded 1 point. It quickly became apparent that even running two duels at once, with 10 competitors it would take too long to run the competition in the time we had available.

So after the first three rounds had been fought it was decided to drop the two lowest scoring duelists off the list.

In one of those serendipitous events from which traditions are born, when the first Ladies were told that they had been eliminated, Raven Hawthorne asked all the remaining competitors: "Ladies can we give them a Twirl!"

A beautiful, and elegant way to show the respect due their fellow competitors!
 

The competition was stiff and the Ladies demonstrated their prowess with great speed and poise.  Here is a selection of photos that should give you a good feel for the competition.


The intensity of these duelists is very apparent here!

Raven Hawthorne and Sarafina Kain
Photo by Grant Zelych

Karen Seimens
Photo by Grant Zelych

Audra Balion
Photo by Karlo Keet

Raven Hawthorne
Photo by Karlo Keet

Cindy Bedford
Photo by Karlo Keet

Tamara Horne
Photo by Karlo Keet

 The duelling continued with the lowest scoring ladies being dropped from the list after each round.

Running two duels simultaneously took a bit of getting used to!  In order to prevent confusion only one of the Doctors would do the count but loud enough for both pairs of duelists to hear. This allowed the competition to proceed quickly but smoothly.

Raven Hawthorne and Katherine Lingwood
Photo by Karlo Keet

Nicole Baker and Kyra McDonald
Photo by Karlo Keet

 

Cindy Bedford and Audra Balion
Photo by Karlo Keet

Finally after a further grueling 6 rounds of duelling, three Ladies emerged victorious!

Each was awarded one of these magnificent ribbons created for this event by Raven Hawthorne.

Winner's Ribbons by Raven Hawthorne

Here are the winners of the 2016 Spring Regional Parasol Duelling Competition being presented their winner's ribbons by the Baroness!

 First Place Ribbon to Audra Balion
Photo by Karlo Keet

Second Place Raven Hawthorne
Photo by Karlo Keet

Third Place: Nicole Baker
Who had never dueled in competition before!
Photo by Karlo Keet

Congratulations Ladies!

2016 Spring Regionals
Winners
L to R: Audra Balion 1st place
Nicole Baker 3rd place
Raven Hawthorne 2nd place

Thank you to all the Ladies who participated in the Second Annual Spring Regional Competition.

Photo by Grant Zelych

Thank you also to my fellow Doctor, Dr Johann Portsmouth Adler (aka Stewart MacPhee.) for his sharp eye and strong voice!

As always thanks to the wonderful photographers that make us look so good!
Karlo Keet of Catstar Images
Grant Zelych
and our intrepid videographer Alex Norrington.

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.

Winners!

Here are the winners of the 2nd Annual Spring Regional Parasol Duelling Competition.
Held at the 2016 Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo on May 1st.

The winners!
L to R
Audra Balion 1st place
Nicole Baker 3rd place
Raven Hawthorne 2nd place

Congratulations Ladies well fought!

Stay tuned for a formal report of the competition.
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.

Ladies! Are You Ready?

Join the Ladies of Madame Saffron Hemlock's Parasol Duelling League  and the Steampunk Arts and Science Society (SASS) for the Second Annual Spring Regional competition!

All ages and experience levels are welcome.

The competition will be held in association with the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo. 
You don't have to be an Expo attendee to compete but you should  be a member of Madame Saffron's.

Here is my report from last year's competition. 

We will be competing in the same space as last year so a perfect place to see and be seen too.

Looking forward to seeing this first official competition of 2016!

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.

See you all on May 1st!

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed, and your water iced.
KJ

A beautiful day for duelling!

The Second Annual World Parasol Duelling Championships took place on September 19th, 2015, in Calgary Alberta Canada.

Central Memorial Park in Calgary AB Canada

"Intrude"
Central Memorial Park

The Championships were held in Calgary's elegant Central Memorial Park which was the site of one of this year's Beakerhead installations, "Intrude" by Australian artist Amanda Parer.

The park had three giant inflated white rabbits, a quirky and exotic back ground for the World's greatest Parasol Duellists.

 On the Thursday evening before the competition the Rabbits were lit up with coloured lights and synchronized music which made for a magical evening.

We added a little parasol fun to the event.

  

Cover illustration by
Kipling West

As part of Calgary's annual Beakerhead event we had great coverage leading up to the day, even making it onto the cover of one of Calgary's regular "things to do" magazines.











On Saturday afternoon the results of the coverage showed in the excited crowd that was gathering to watch the Ladies compete.

Soon the Chief Judge Madame Saffron Taxus-Hemlock arrived and was escorted to the Judges table by Doctor Adler joining the other judges for this year's World Championships.

Madame Saffron Taxus-Hemlock, Chief Judge, arrives and is greeted by Doctor Adler

Judges for the event were:

Photo by MetallYZA

L to R seated at the Judges table:
Her Grace, Christine Pearse the Duchess of Argylle, aka Christie Vanderloh.
Virgo Vermeil, aka Char-Min Wade-Creller.
Chief Judge and Black Sash, Madame Saffron Taxus-Hemlock, aka Jayne Barnard.







The Doctors for the event were:

Photo by Peter Justine

Left: Maxwell MacDonald-Smythe, aka Kevin Jepson (me).
Right: Doctor Johann Portsmouth Adler, aka Stewart MacPhee.








We had nine contestants for this year's World Championships.

L to R
Sarafina Kain, Josanna Justine, Nicki Brown, Cindy Bedford, Katherine Eleanor Lingwood, Cali Brewer, Deanne Robbins, Monica Willard and Raven Hawthorne (missing)
Photo by Karlo Keet

After a brief demonstration of the rules for the audience and an explanation of how the afternoon would proceed, we asked if anybody in the audience would like to try it out. Two young Ladies leapt at the chance!

Being shown the ropes by Raven Hawthorne
Photo by MetallYZA

Future Duelists try their hands at doing Snubs
Photo by Karlo Keet

 This year Street Duelling was included for the first time as an exhibition sport. The exhibition was conducted in the form of a "hold the field" type challenge. After each bout the victor held the field against a new challenger.

Steely gazes and intense action ensued!

Monica Willard
Photo by MetallYZA

Here is the bout between the 2014 Compulsory Figures Champion Josanna Justine and one of the most famous Street Duelists, Monica Willard with dual parasols always at the ready.

Photo by Karlo Keet

After a short break while the judges finished their paper work, the formal competitions began with the Compulsory Figures.

 The Ladies were paired off and each pair did three sets of the figures, the order being determined in advance by the judges. The sharpness of the completed figures and the smoothness of the transitions were notably better this year.

Deanne Robbins with a perfect Snub
Photo by MetallYZA

Raven Hawthorne with an elegant Twirl
Photo by MetallYZA

Raven Hawthorne and Sarafina Kain
Snub!
Photo by Karlo Keet

Josanna Justine and Monica Willard
Plant and Plant with Ankling!
Photo by Katie Edwards

The Flirtation Trials, always a crowd favourite, demonstrated the artistic interpretations, and flirtatious stylings of the competitors. The competition was also done in pairs. In addition to the judges score, one point came from a vote from the audience by way of applause at the end of each round.

There was a lot of applause!

Nicki Brown and Raven Hawthorne
Snub!
Photo by Katie Edwards

Cindy Bedford
An elegant Oriental Twirl
Photo by MetallYZA

 

Monica Willard in mid flirtation
Photo by Clare Gibson

The formal Parasol Duelling competition had only eight contestants as one Lady had to leave to attend a family wedding. Timing is everything wot?

The first rounds of the competition showed the speed and intensity increase noted at every competition since last year's Worlds! The Ladies really showed their skills and both the Doctors and the Judges needed to keep a sharp eye on the competitors to make sure each figure was complete at the hold.

Anytime and any place!


At the 2015 World Championships on Sept 19th  Street Duelling was included as a demonstration sport!

Since then I have had some questions about what Street Duelling is and how it compares to the usual Parasol Duelling we are all familiar with.

Street Duelling first appeared in the later years of Queen Victoria's reign and likely originated somewhere in the American West. The reasons for its popularity probably have to do as much with how "exotic" and a bit "unladylike" it was, in comparison to the more stately and formal duelling of the British Duelling Schools as with anything else :-)

Street Duelling is based on the Brandenburg Variations rules that we normally use but with a couple of changes that result in a strong resemblance to an Old West gunfight. Tales of such rough gun play were popular in England long after the real "Olde West" had passed into history.

 A Street Duel is conducted with miniature parasols, typically 8" or so long. These are kept in holsters, like that for a gunfighter's revolver, or tucked into a belt. They can also be kept in a "Parasol Pocket" sewn into a Lady's skirts.The figures are the familiar Twirl, Snub, and Plant. Because the Street Duelling parasol is so short the plant is just held straight down, and the twirl only has to go to the side.

There are some Street Duelling parasols that are even smaller that can be operated with one hand which can make for a very fast duel indeed!


The Duels themselves are typically conducted without a Doctor, the count being done by the duelists themselves. This meant that Ladies could duel anywhere! It also meant grudges and "duels for cause" between Ladies could be conducted in private.

Under Her Majesty's Rules any "duel for cause" must be conducted with a Doctor present.

Street Duels start with the Ladies facing each other, rather than back to back. They stand closer too, only a few paces apart just out of reach of an extended arm holding the short parasol. Much better for giving your opponent the "look".

Monica Willard
Photo by MetallYZA

The Duelists start with their parasols holstered, their arms at their side. Then like a gunfight the Ladies "draw" their parasols quickly and bring them upright in front of their face. The first Lady to get her parasol into position starts the count and the other Lady must follow that count.

From there the duel proceeds like normal.

This sequence of photos from Twitter user MetallYZA, taken at the 2015 World Championships, captures the intensity of the "draw".

Monica Willard is one of the best Street Duelists in the world and carries dual Street Parasols in her tooled leather holster.

Monica Willard
Photo by MetallYZA

The Draw! 

She draws the parasol and holds it up in front of her face.

Her eyes never leave her opponent's face!

Speed is important but so is being able to move smoothly into the figures once the count begins.

Monica Willard
Photo by MetallYZA

Here she has moved into a well executed snub still focused intently on her opponent.

From this position she could easily move into a plant or a twirl as needed.

Two things to keep in mind here:

1) There is no start signal for the draw like there is when the Ladies turn from their paces in a normal duel. This gives great opportunities to try to psyche out the opponent.

2) Counting while doing the figures is trickier than it seems :-)




At first Street Duelling was not permitted in formal competition because it was considered rather unladylike. It was very popular however and many Ladies carried Street Duelling parasols, even sporting elegant leather holsters on finely tooled leather belts imported from the American South West.

In a nod to this popularity Her Majesty decided to allow Street Duelling in competition. However Her Majesty decreed that the duels must be conducted with a Doctor present to do the count. The duelists still face each other and do the draw on their own time but, in competition, the Doctor starts the count when the first Lady gets her parasol into position upright in font of her face.

Street Duelling was never included in the scoring for the World Championships but there were still prizes and awards given for the best duelists.

The Street Duelling at this year's World Parasol Duelling Championships was very well received and the Ladies demonstrated great intensity and speed.

Next year's competition will include a formal Street Duelling tournament and is going to be very exciting indeed.

Keep your sightglass filled, your firebox trimmed, and your water iced.
KJ

To find out more about this great sport go to:
Madame Saffron Hemlock’s Parasol Duelling League for Steampunk Ladies
and
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.

Coming soon!

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.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed, and your water iced.
KJ

A teaser!

Here is a little video Teaser Ad I put together from some of the photos taken at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo where we had 3 demos and the Spring Regional Competition this year.

It is my first attempt at such a thing so a bit rough around the edges.

The photos are by Phi Vernon and Lindsay Dunlop of Third Eye Arts.
As always they make us look good so check out their work.

The music is from the Album "Nemesis" by Two Steps From Hell a track called 'Hunter's Moon".
Their website has the subtitle "Music makes you braver" and these wonderful tracks do just that!
If you like epic music check them out!

Enjoy



Keep you sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced!
KJ

Lay on!

Here is a video, taken by Alex Norrington, of the Parasol Duelling demonstration we did at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo this year in Calgary.

The Demo covers all the basics of Parasol Duelling.

Enjoy

 



Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed, and your water iced.
KJ

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.

Sunday April 19,2015

On the Calgary Stampede grounds, nestled under big cottonwood poplar trees just starting to show their leaves, is the faux Western village called Weadickville. Typically home to displays of Western gun fighting, on the Sunday of the Calgary Comic Expo it was to host a far more elegant kind of duelling.


Madame Saffron Hemlock's Parasol Duelling League and the Steampunk Arts and Sciences Society,  in conjunction with the 2015 Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, hosted the Spring Regional Parasol Duelling Competition.

This was the first formal competition held in Calgary since the World Championships last September.

The 10th Anniversary CCEE was the biggest yet with over 100 thousand attendees! We had two outside demos and one panel on Parasol Duelling and had attracted a lot of attention amongst the attendees.

It was fun to demonstrate Parasol Duelling right after the exciting gun play of the Guns of the Golden West 

A dangerous gang!
Parasol Duelists and Western Gunfighters
Photo by Phi Vernon

When Sunday arrived it was a beautiful sunny spring day and there was quite a crowd gathered expectantly waiting to watch the Ladies duel in their finery.

We had one hour so there was only time to run the duels. There were no Compulsory Figures or Flirtation Trials at this competition.


Madame Saffron Taxus-Hemlock and Baroness Daniela Fawkes were the Judges and Record keepers for the event.

Chief Judge and Black Sash, Madame Saffron Taxus-Hemlock (aka Jayne Barnard)
and Baroness Daniela Fawkes (aka Dana Teh)
Photo by Phi Vernon

Dr.Johann Portsmouth Adler and I were the Doctors for the competition.

Dr. Johann Portsmouth Adler (aka Stewart MacPhee)
and Maxwell MacDonald-Smythe ( me )
Photo by Phi Vernon

Eight ladies signed up for the competition.

The competitors
L to R: Raven Hawthorne, Audra Balion, Katherine Eleanor Lingwood,
Josanna Justine, Sarafina Kain, Cali Brewer, Kyra McDonald
Missing: Laura McKay
Photo by Phi Vernon

 
The experience level of the competitors ranged from two of the World Champions from 2014  to Ladies who had never competed formally before!

The format of the duelling was a modified Round Robin where everyone got to duel with at least two other competitors.

The duelling was fast and furious. The speed of transition between the figures was striking. There has been a significant increase in speed and confidence since the Worlds. The Ladies have been practicing hard!

Here are a few photos to give you an idea of what these first rounds were like!

Katherine Eleanor Lingwood vs Raven Hawthorne
Photo by Karlo Keet

Kyra McDonald vs Laura Mckay
Photo by Karlo Keet

Cali Brewer vs Audra Balion
Photo by Karlo Keet

Raven Hawthorne vs Audra Balion
Photo by Phi Vernon

Katherine Eleanor Lingwood vs Cali Brewer
Photo by Phi Vernon

Cali Brewer
Photo by Phi Vernon

Sarafina Kain vs Josanna Justine
Photo by Phi Vernon

 The last duel of the first round was an interesting situation. The duel was between the 2014 Dueling Champion, Sarafina Kain, and a newcomer, Laura McKay. For the first time ever there were three draws in a row!

A Draw!
Sarafina Kain vs Laura McKay
Photo by Phi Vernon

 Madame Saffron halted the proceedings and conferred with the Baroness and decided to break the tie by conducting a best of three Compulsory Figures.

Breaking the Tie
Laura McKay and Sarafina Kain
Photo by Phi Vernon

Again the duelists were very evenly matched winning one apiece.

 The third round was won by Sarafina Kain.










We look forward to seeing great things from Laura McKay in the future.

Laura McKay
Photo by Lindsay Dunlop

Doctor Adler
Photo by Phi Vernon

The crowd had been steadily growing and whilst Madame and the Baroness prepared the competition list for the Semi Finals, Doctor Adler entertained the spectators with a tale of some alternate competition styles used in Prussia.















After conferring, the Judges announced the Semi-Finalists to the excited crowd of spectators.


The Semi Finalists:
Raven Hawthorne
Sarafina Kain
Cali Brewer
Kyra McDonald

Again the speed and precision displayed by all the competitors was amazing!

Photo by Phi Vernon

Cali Brewer vs Kyra McDonald
Photo by Phi Vernon

Kyra McDonald vs Raven Hawthorne
Photo by Phi Vernon

After two rounds the duel for Third place was fought between Raven Hawthorne and Cali Brewer.
With Raven Hawthorne emerging victorious!

Raven Hawthorne vs Cali Brewer
Photo by Phi Vernon

The final round was between Kyra McDonald and Sarafina Kain.
A lightning two duels were both won by Sarafina Kain!

The final duel!
Sarafina Kain vs Kyra McDonald
Photo by Phi Vernon

The final results of the 2015 Spring Regional Competition were:
First Place: Sarafina Kain
Second Place: Kyra McDonald
Third Place: Raven Hawthorne

The prize ribbons created by Raven Hawthorne

Madame Saffron presents the third place ribbon
to Raven Hawthorne
Photo by Phi Vernon

Madame Saffron presents the second place ribbon to Kyra McDonald
Photo by Phi Vernon

Madam Saffron congratulates the first place winner
Sarafina Kain
Photo by Phi Vernon

The winners of the 2015 Regional Parasol Duelling Competition
L to R: Second Place Kyra McDonald
First Place Sarafina Kain
Seated: Third Place Raven Hawthorne
Photo by Karlo Keet

Thanks to all the Ladies who came out to duel!
It is great to see how the competition is improving.

Looking forward to seeing more Ladies competing in the World Championships in September this year.

Thank you to the photographers who do their best to make us look good.
Phi Vernon and Lindsay Dunlop of Third Eye Arts, and Karlo Keet.
Check out their awesome work!
There are lots more photographs of the demos and competition posted at Madame Saffron Hemlock’s Parasol Duelling League for Steampunk Ladies 


Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your parasol up!
KJ

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.