Writing & Fighting

. . Writing & Fighting HOMEPAGE OF O.G.OSBORNE Contact about fighting anytime!

Fighter Profile

Ring Nickname: Under speculation, possibles are Sir Cadbury, Pivot, Juggernaught, Tank, Roadblock, Dreadnought, Sweaty, or even T-Cut! Suggestions welcome!

Height: 5ft 8in
Weight: 238lbs to 245lbs
Armoured: 300lb to 320lb
Weapons: Arming Sword & Buckler, Longsword, Katana
Studies Pending: Poll-axe, Sickle, Ringen
Armour Type: Mixed G. Transitional Plate, SCA Helm/Saxon Spangen
Shield Type: Buckler or Heater, SCA Shield Basket Guard
Colours: Primary Azure Blue, Secondary Navy Blue
Heraldic Arms: Modified Kelmarsh Shield
Torse Colours: Emerald Green & Garnet Red (Lady Morwyneira)
Trained Styles: Liechtenaur (Longsword), Royal Armouries 1.33 (Sword & Shield)
Styles In Study: Regimental Highland Broadsword
Study Groups: Glamorgan School of Arms, Sentinels
Availability: I am willing to be approached for duels, or to act as second

* Welsh Martial Art It seems like the martial prowess of the Welsh nation is doubted. However, both of the Welsh martial weapons, the Welsh Hook (Bachyn Cymraeg)also known as Llavnawr, and Welsh Longbow were both assimilated into English armies as they were highly effectiveand very very difficult to deal with. I have no need to speak of the Welsh Longbow, that is a known and proven weapon. The Welsh hook was a feared anti-knight weapon and as bill-hooks go, or glaives, they would have functioned as dismounting tools and then as can openers. They could be used in formations however, references to infantry squares seem to speak of spear rather than hook. Old welsh laws speak of the requirements of the man to hold spear, sword and bow. The sword, 'cleddyf' would be a close quarter weapon and the shield may have been (as far as I can tell) a round wooden one covered in leather much like the Scottish targe.

I have modelled this Bachyn Cymraeg from some old illustration. I have no way of knowing if the V shape was sharp, I have made it so and also the socket area is rectangular rather than round. It was simply easier to model this way however, if i was going to make one new, I'd do it this way and build it from 3mm thick HC steel, and fix the cut plate into a slit in a haft and bolt it securely. The weapon has a spear head, a spike for hammering through steel, an axe for chopping and also a deadly entrapment area in that vicious V shape. It would go on a six to eight foot shaft. Maybe ash. The Welsh used mobility and usually, wore lighter armour such as padded leather studded with nails and only the higher ranking warriors using maille and possibly transitional plate mail. Back into the dark ages, it could be assumed that the Welsh fought in the late Roman style and after the abandonment of the towns they moved to a guerilla style band warfare, rapidly moving and concealed, using ambush and harassment as primary methods and using terrain to great advantage. The vast chain of occupation castles in Wales is testimony to the dragon like resistance this small beleaguered nation put up against a better armed, vastly more numerous enemy. It took, from the start of the Saxon invasions, till the shotgun marriage of Wales with England under the Normans, about a thousand years of continued warfare to finally conquer Wales. Such spirit of resistance and love of freedom is liable to be the butt of jokes by the occupiers who were heavily wounded in the process...hence the arrival of the Monty Python sketch 'Llap Goch'. No. Welsh martial prowess is not funny, it's 'fucking deadly'. With hindsight, what would Wales have become if it's resources hadn't been raped and it's vast offspring hadn't been nudged away as pilgrims and victims on convict ships? It's half the size of Holland and only has about 20% of the population of Holland. If we double the size of Wales we still have only about 40% of the population of Holland. I believe (rightly or wrongly) that this deficit in Welsh population is due to economic, cultural and religious oppression by the English dominated 'Union' making life abroad far more appealing for any Welshman. The Shield of O.G.Osborne

This shield has not yet been implimented. The original Osborne shield is utilised here, being shared from the ancient source at Kelmarsh, Northampton, England. My line goes through Temple Newnham back to about 1620 when records seem to vanish, the family still there on the templar farmstead. I believe but don't have the documentation for it, that the Osborne families around Kelmarsh House were all related to the main Osborne family. The Dukes of Leeds were raised to ducal power using the Kelmarsh shield with lots of supporters and I have my suspicions they lived at the Priory. My side I suppose has the shield but nothing else. So I took the original Kelmarsh shield and changed the golden cross to four golden runes and changed the ermine spots (demarkating royal ancestry) and replaced them with pentalpha stars, to signify my belief in the geometric harmony of the universe as a personification of the celestial divine. The Dragonshield

Many thanks to Alan for wearing the shield :-) It has been said that Uther Pendragon was a British/Celto-Roman general fighting against the Saxon invasions of the British Isles. Wales is full of symbolism on this and the English later stole the legends and symbolism away in an attempt to subvert and diminish the remaining Welsh. For many years the 'Red Dragon' positioned on the green and white background (Tudor House) has symbolised the nation unofficially, but recently it was granted officially to the Welsh as their flag. In my research for a shield design to use to attend the Owain Glyndwr festival in September, I came across Owains heraldry and also, Prince Llewellyn's heraldry which as similar but different in stance. I purchased an Owain Glyndwr flag (yellow and red quarters with alternate yellow and red lions counterimposed) and it is very striking indeed and instantly recognisable by welsh nationalists who regard it with awe, more sacred than the welsh national flag even. But my reasoning that, as there already is a knight and squire there going as Glyndwr, I can't really go there as Owain. By accident, I saw another flag, a white field with a rampant gold dragon on it. What was this flag? It was carried to battles by the welsh but never taken into the fray...it was positioned behind the lines and the Welsh carried their own arms into battle. A very special golden dragon...it was known as Pendragons flag, the arms of Uther, father of Arthur. Knowing that, for me to paint my shield up and use this flag as a shield would be to make the claim that I was King Arthur, I've snuck in a modification that only heralds would understand. Gold on white is illegal in the laws of heraldry (mainly as it clashes and gives recognition problems at a distance and also denotes a sacred badge) so I dumped the white and painted the shield up with a deep red background. The daffodil yellow colour used for the dragon itself is legal, as yellow is a correct use for gold. This took about two hours and I admit, is supernaturally striking to look at. It creates an effect on the viewer which is charged with energy and supposes death is about to be met full force. The red works better than the white which seems more passive and kingly. The red seems to reek of violence! The picture here is subdued due to the limitations of my phone cam and lighting. Enjoy. The thing needs some little touch ups with yellow paint to complete it. The Wiki on Glyndwr: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owain_Glyndwr * Dragonskin Armour

Here's Dirk wearing the prototype for 'Dragonskin' - made to measure for him. Built from 1.0 and 1.2mm thick stainless steel inversely lapped plates, it's covered in 1.5mm leather out and in. The whole suit weights 30lbs and is very quick to put on and take off, tassets and spaulders are also deteachable. This is essentially a suit of cavalry armour, and the legs are very bendable to help with the changing movements of being mounted. The whole suit is dismantled with a screwdriver and spanner, all the buckles and clips can be undone, worked on, mended or upgrades and then reattached. Doesn't rust, doesn't creak or jangle. I think it's a good suit. Main Battle Armour

One I put together from SCA and other sources, tweeked to work...not the full suit but enough for a quick photo at my brothers. The Aegis is a custom ritual item made by myself, one of two in the world. The gauntlets are high gothic. The maille hauberk is 16g riveted and 28lbs in weight. It's astonishing that, my full armour weighs in at about 80lbs I think, or even more with weapons and shield, cloak is also a very heavy addition. The best armours such as Henry XIII's weighed in at 60lbs, but you know, he would have had access to the best armourers of the time, also, would the Kings armour ever be tested in battle? I know that a simple transition from 18g steel to 16g can cause huge weight gains and some goes down to 14g and 12g. Add to it all the gambeson, boots, belt and inner gloves, we have a heavy suit indeed. But you know, if a guy sticks to 18g then he's going to be as light as a ballet dancer. Problems with 18g can happen, it's not so thick you know although provided the maintenance is done, repairs done, the 18g is okay for blades. If you get to fight axes, hammers and staffs, I'd go for 14g minimum. 300

After the 300 came out, I got to say, dudity was in for a short while. I got myself some spartan gear and did some moves and stances...no no no! This naked fighting stuff may be sexy for the ladies to watch but it's NOT an option for heavy guys. We need armour and lots of it.

Gorget Modification

The gorget (bishops mantle) is very uncomfortable. Below is the same gorget with the tweek. When the arms are extended into Longpoint, the neckline rises and chins my gob! Modifications above...The mods were needed desperatly. Okay the looks are spoilt, but this does work great now... :-) Coat of Plates

My coat of plates 1.2mm thick stainless and 2mm leather. Hessian straps dyed deep blue. It's comfortable, very flexible and can be worn in the car and doesn't cause problems fitting into places. Doubles up as a girdle to keep the flab in. LOL. This was developed to replace the ceremonial aegis as the ceremonial guards only the center line. This is bypassable with a quick wrist twist to the left of right. A few stabs in the side of the guts was enough to get me to make this. May make some tassets to hang down over the leg joints in the future. Writing Book 6 in progress, 'Stormpainter Series'. Things are going well. Turris Magna Knights Games Group has been set up to cope with game turns. Characters are currently probing a fortress known as Memhaden Hyde. Fighting

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These are the local stocks!

Some Links http://theringlord.com http://www.by-the-sword.com/index.html http://www.zornhau.de/ http://www.thearma.org/essays/armoredlongsword.html http://www.medieval-arms.co.uk/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_fitzOsbern http://www.castlewales.com/osbern.html http://www.shikanda.net/ancient_models/gen3/TALANTA1.html http://www.chronique.com/ http://www.fioredeiliberi.org/intro/ http://homepage.mac.com/dodecatheon/21F.html http://www.goddess-athena.org/ http://www.kismeta.com/diGrasse/ http://www.leonpaul.com/ http://www.schwertkampf-ochs.de/ http://www.grex.cz/vyrobky/vyrob_e.htm http://www.bladeseller.com http://www.thearma.org/ http://www.bfhs.org/ http://www.the-exiles.org/ http://www.hollowearthswordworks.com http://www.darkheartarmoury.com/ http://www.jelldragon.com/ http://www.swordmaiden.com/ http://www.mashs.org/ http://www.thearma.org/essays/armoredlongsword.html http://www.fabri-armorum.cz/ https://www.reliks.com/