Ask.com Employee Spotlight: Dmitriy Ryaboy

There is a small steel catapult on my desk, which we use to occasionally shoot M&Ms and breath mints at the guys in Product Development.  That’s just scratching the surface when it comes to my medievalism. I was fascinated by knights from the very beginning. When I was a kid, stories of King Arthur, Ivanhoe, and Richard the Lionhearted filled my imagination as I shadow-fenced with a stick for a sword and a pot lid for a shield. Most boys go through that phase, and unlike me, most grow out of it. I, on the other hand, have long abandoned the pot lids and shadows in favor of full armor and flesh-and-blood knights.

As a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), I engage in full-contact armoured combat intended to simulate the tournaments and wars of a medieval knight. The group is multi-faceted, with members practicing all sorts of medieval pursuits -- calligraphy, heraldry, brewing, blacksmithing, and so on -- but the most visible activity, and the one that drew me in, is the fighting. Every Thursday night, I put on my armour -- a mail shirt, steel arms and legs, a heavy helmet -- take up my sword and shield, and fight my friends in the glaringly unmedieval Rockridge BART parking lot. That's fighter practice. On weekends, we gather in significantly more picturesque parks and fairgrounds, and hold tournaments, complete with banners, heralds, our ladies' favors, and all the other accoutrements of a proper deed of arms.

 
Photos courtesy of Dmitriy and Kelli Thompson

The fighting itself is intense and highly competitive.  It is not uncommon for 2mm-thick steel to get dented from the impact of the rattan 'swords'. Shields get battered and splintered, limbs and bodies turn purple with bruises. People have devoted years of practice and study to this pursuit; over time, whole schools have evolved around the basic concept of smashing another guy in the helmet before he smashes you. All the fighting is on the honor system, even the most prestigious tournaments.  There are no judges, only safety monitors.  The one who is struck decides whether the blow was sufficient, and chooses to yield the fight. This arrangement fosters trust among the competitors, and builds a platform for understanding and discussing the concepts of the virtues of chivalry – prowess, honor, justice, mercy. It also builds a good platform for keeping the management just a little bit scared.

Dmitriy Ryaboy
Data Engineering