Amtgard Online Week 5

This week was a bit light on content compared to previous weeks. It’s getting harder and harder to find people to do content but that doesn’t mean people haven’t been trying to scare up some people.

I for one added to the online content this last weekend. I did a short sword basics class on Sunday for Dusk Hollow. You can watch it on my YouTube Channel, HERE. It was certainly a learning experience.

I originally did it on Facebook Live, so the video quality isn’t the greatest, but I think the content is there. There is no actual fighting so the video quality doesn’t matter as much. I was very anxious going into the video. The preceding hours my stomach was tight and I was on the verge of throwing up a few times. I have no idea why my anxiety was so bad, but it was.

I fought through my anxiety and did the stream, although I didn’t feel that great about it at the time. My pacing was off, I finished the teaching content in about 15 minutes and thinking back I felt like the content was slightly disorganized. I also left out some of the explanations of why you should do some of the things.

I had some engagement with those watching, so I was able to answer questions, to fill in time. I also asked my brother, who was doing the camera work, if he had any questions and he did, which helped. All in all the video was about 24 minutes long. I was aiming for half an hour, so that worked out well enough.

Afterwards I talked to some people about my stream and they only had positive feedback, which was very uplifting. Oromis said that I provided good content and Miller Time even reached out to me, without being asked and said I good job. Gustav also said I did a good job, but he added some constructive criticism. He suggested explaining more, which I mentioned early I had already noticed I needed to do, but he reaffirmed that assessment.

The feedback I got really changed my opinion about my stream. I was dubious about its quality and worth but having quality fighters say I did a good job teaching the basics turned it around for me. I was going into the video with a lot of self doubt, which probably added to my anxiety.

I was questioning my right to be teaching fighting to a larger audience. I only have 4 orders of the warrior after all, why would people want to listen to me? I had proclaimed for the last few years that while I might not be a top fighter, I am a quality coach. Coaches should be able to teach, right? Of course! However this was my first “put up or shut up moment” when it came to that claim. I have taught a class in person once, and to individuals several times, but nothing this public. Looking back on my anxious thoughts I felt like I was putting my reputation on the line

In the end it was a good experience and having those good fighters say I did a good job really made the whole endeavor feel positive, at least in retrospect. I’d like to teach another fighting class, but I’m not sure what it would be. When it comes to narrowing it down, I get rather scatterbrained and can’t seem to come up with enough material for another class.

In addition to my stream on Sunday, Darb and Cid did a druid class. I was only able to watch about half of it before I had to start getting ready for my own class. You can watch it HERE if you’d like.

Also on Sunday Devry did a battle game and quest class for Greenwood Keep. I was unable to watch it live but I did watch it later in the day. It is a good resource for battle game and quest design. I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately, considering the last article I wrote, World Building: Quest Basics. That is also the next topic for Beers with Baelnorn.

On Saturday Gen did a general class chat for Inland Ocean. He started talking about the barbarian class but most of it was general questions. I was there for most of the stream. You can watch it HERE.

Dalos of One Grind Nation has also dedicated himself to putting out content. This week he has done two videos, On the Grind with Anatoe and Xion and On the Grind: Foam Fighting Fundamentals. Tonight (4/24/2020) at 6pm CST he plans doing another stream entitled “Boon Companions”, where he will be chatting with Sponge, Michael Hammer of God and Arthon.

Next Week

It looks like there will be a lot more content this weekend. Northern Lights is doing an online ithra and they have several classes lined up for Saturday (4/25/2020). They will be hosted on the Northern Lights Kingdom’s Facebook Group. As you can see from the schedule below they have a full day of classes planned!

Northern Lights’ Ithra Schedule

• 12: Pasti-Dip Shields with Thorfin Hillbreaker
• 1: Cooking with Murphy
• 2: Playing Bard with Gen
• 3: Tournaments and Fighting Footwork with Guin
• 4: Armoring with Heron
• 5: Molding and Casting with Soon
• 6: Chainmail with Mithius

Dalos also plans on doing a weekly class video series for One Grind Nation. The target day is Wednesdays but that could change. Keep an eye out on the One Grind Nation’s Facebook Page for more information. I think the class series will be pretty great and worth while.

That’s it for streams this upcoming week. Saturday is looking pretty strong for content. I’m not sure which ones I’ll actually watch, I doubt I’ll watch each one. Sunday is looking very bare. I know that Ozzward of Dusk Hollow put a call out for people who would like to stream on Sunday but I don’t know if he has had any luck.

I think my next stream will be my second episode of Beers with Baelnorn, which I host on my Twitch Channel. As I mentioned early it will focus on quests but I will also spend some time talking about world building. The content is coming from my World Building article series. I’m really looking forward to the stream. I hope to get a more engagement than I did before. I’m thinking this will happen in two or so weeks. I plan on announcing it soon.

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