Your best bet would be to ask Kyrian. I think he was in amtgard for quite a while.
My background: I participated in Amtgard for about two years when I was stationed at Ft. Bliss, TX near El Paso, where the Kingdom of the Burning Lands is located. I met my wife, Sorcia, through Amtgard. At an event, we were fighting together on a castle wall with her using a polearm while I had my shield pressed up against the wall protecting her from our opponents. We started talking and the rest is history…
These were some of the things that I was able to bring from Amtgard:
1) Introduction to new construction methods. All hail the mighty kite spar!
That's changed lately since we implemented the weight limits but, at the time, it was a way for making light, quick weapons. The curved round shield that I have was also inspired by an Amtgard design.
2) Improving reflexes. Combat can literally take place at the speed of thought. If you can develop the muscle memory to block shots in Amtgard, that can be helpful in Belegarth.
3) Fighting against flails. An Amtgard-legal flail can have up to 18 inches of ball and chain. Many of the flails I saw had a ball of about 3 inches in diameter and 15(!) inches of chain. Learning how to fight against these makes you look at Belegarth flails a little differently.
4) Similarity in combat systems. Ditch battles (battles without the classes, levels, and magic) are very similar to our melees. I still remember the first time I fought at Amtgard. Once I remembered not to bash or grapple
, I found the rest of the combat system to be virtually identical. I think the only things I recall being different was that stabs to extremities counted towards the two-limb rule and that shields can’t be broken.
5) Knighthood as a means to recognize all forms of achievement. Amtgard has four different orders of knighthood: Knight of the Sword—for martial prowess, Knight of the flame—for service to the Kingdom, Knight of the Serpent—for excellence in the arts and sciences, and Knight of the Crown—for serving in Kingdom-level offices. I like this system because it recognizes all forms of excellence, not just on the battlefield or in service. This is very similar to how knighthood is today. I don’t think there’s been a knighthood given for something done in battle for quite a while. However, several people have been conferred knighthood for their contributions in their field of endeavor such as Sir Anthony Hopkins and Sir Elton John.
6) Emphasis on the arts and sciences. As I mentioned before you can be knighted for excelling in the arts and sciences. If you wish to run for a Kingdom office such as monarch, you must enter Crown Qualifications. You must have entries in at least seven different arts and sciences categories and each of these entries is judged. You must achieve a passing score in at least four (I think) different categories. Some of the categories include: cooking, vintners, feast garb, fighting garb, armor, weapon construction, shields, garb accessories such as belts, belt favors, bardic, poetry, fictional writing, factual writing, 3-D art, flat art, active construction—something that actually moves such as a catapult, passive construction—like a chair, and sculpture. All candidates must also pass a heralds (known as reeves in Amtgard) test. If you haven't seen them before, Amtgard has a very comprehensive set of rules.
7) Inspiration. In Wolfpack, we tried out the game of jugging adapted from the Amtgard rules. I also used this as the basis for Blood Bowl. People in Amtgard have developed classes and monsters that mirror many of those in Dungeons and Dragons. Who’s to say that we can’t use some of these ideas in developing scenarios for Belegarth?
Amtgard really helped me see what we do in a different light and probably had the biggest impact on my perspective of knighthood. Much of what I'd seen in Amtgard provided inspiration for my squire requirements.
"...change requires action, it doesn't just happen. Define your actions by how you think the game should be, not how the game is. The game will follow."--Big Jimmy