Saturday Longsword Tournament

Here you will find the rules for the 2008 tournament, run by the Arts d'Armes (Paris).

This tournament will be open to a limited number of contestants, who will have to register beforehand to the organising team over the course of the event.

Contestants are required to show a perfect knowledge of the said rules - in this purpose, they are specifically available for all to read here.

All misbehaviour will be severely punished.

Rules of the 2008 Dijon tournament:

Participants and weapons:

Anyone may participate to the Dijon Tournament. Weapons are one-handed or two-handed weighted shinaï with cross-guard; off-hand weapons such as dagger, short sword (padded or shinaï), buckler (wood or leather) or cape are allowed.

Judges of the Main Tournament:

There will be five judges for the Main Tournament, preferably instructors from various groups: one Main Judge, two Assistant Judges, and two Advisor Judges (judges with special prerogatives).

There will also be one person responsible for timing the bouts, the Time Keeper.

The Main Judge can move around the area during the fight, but the other judges must stay put - the Assistants at the sides, and the Advisors seated in the first row among the spectators.

The distribution of roles among the four judges (Assistants or Advisors) will be decided by bouting before the main tournament. (The Main Judge will not participate in these bouts).

Before the beginning of the tournament, the Main Judge will explain the rules in detail and answer all questions by the spectators or fighters. (It is mandatory for fighters to attend this briefing.)

Bouts between judges:

Before the start of the main tournament, the four judges will be paired randomly and fight once (so two bouts in total). Each bout will last 2 minutes. The bouts are self-controlled free fights. The purpose of these fights is to give a good show and set a good example for the spectators and fighters of the main tournament.

Before each fight, the Main Judge will introduce the two combatants, stating their name, the name of their groups, and the systems/manuals they study. After the introduction, each combatant are required to display a short flourish (or "Parat"), to display his/her skill with the weapon.

After the flourishes are finished, the Main Judge will give the start command "Fight!" When time is up, the Time Keeper will give the command "Halt!".

The Main Judge should not interfere during these bouts, as the instructors/judges are supposed to give a good example of control and good behaviour.

There will be no winner/loser of a bout between judges. However, when the two bouts have been fought, the Main Judge will ask the spectators which fight they liked best. By popular vote, the two combatants that gave the best show will thus be elected as Advisor Judges.

Special prerogatives of the Advisor Judges:

The two Advisor Judges are the only ones in the room allowed to give loud comments during the course of the fight. For example: "Todd, you're striking out of distance!", "Hermann, you lack control!", "Both of you, do something!"

Main tournament:

It is a direct elimination tournament. The bouts are self-controlled free fights (any type of technique is allowed, except throwing the sword).

The fighters will step on the fighting area with their masks off, so that the spectators may recognize them. Before each new fight, the Main Judge will introduce the two combatants, stating their name, the name of their groups, and the systems/manuals they study. (After the first set of fights is finished, the Main Judge does not need to fully introduce the combatants -- stating their name is enough).

As stated before, the Main Judge can move around the area during the fight, but the other judges must stay put - the Assistants on the sides, and the Advisors are seated at the first rank of the spectators.

At any time during the bout, the Main Judge can stop the fight with the command "Halt!" ­- for any reason he sees fit. The other judges cannot stop the fight, but are allowed to raise their hand (not their voice) to signal the Main Judge if they feel something is wrong.

Judging a bout :

Each bout will comprise two rounds of 1 minute with a 20 second break.

The Main Judge will give the start command "Fight!" After the 1 minute round is up, the Time Keeper raises his hand. The Main Judge can choose to stop the fight immediately or let the combatants continue for a few seconds (if they are in the middle of an exchange of blows). When the Main Judge decides to end the fight, he calls "Halt!".

The fighters are not required to acknowledge hits and interrupt an exchange of blows by themselves. The Main Judge calls "Halt!" whenever a fighter receives a clean hit ; the combatants are required to take a few steps back; they resume fighting when the Main Judge calls "Fight!". (After calling "Halt!", the Main Judge is not required to announce which one of the fighters has received the hit.)

If the Advisors feel that the first round of a bout has been boring, they may, on a whim, decide to give handicaps to the two fighters during the second round (but they should use this prerogative sparingly). For example: "Todd, you're only allowed to thrust, now.", "Hermann, you cannot lift your left foot from the ground.", "Gabriel, you can only attack from Pflug, but you're allowed to parry as you like."

After both rounds of a bout have been fought, the five judges elect the winner. (A bout can be won or lost by both combatants at once).

Final bout of the tournament: Before the final bout, both combatants are once again fully introduced by the Main Judge and are required to display a flourish. The Advisors then give each fighter a handicap for the first round. However, each fighter is unaware of the nature of the handicap of his/her opponent. After the first round is finished, the Main Judge reveals each fighter's handicap to the spectators.

The second round is fought freely.

Penalties:

As stated before, the bouts are self-controlled free fights. Any technique is allowed - except throwing the weapon. Grappling is stopped by the Main Judge after one of the fighters seems to have gained the advantage.

Fighters are required to display control and chivalrous behaviour at all times.

Breaking the rules include:

- Hitting the ground involuntary with a weapon, or dropping the weapon.

- Hitting with excessive strength and insufficient control.

- Not stopping after the Judges' command.

- Annoying or disrespectful attitude or clearly unchivalrous behaviour.

- Other inappropriate behaviour, at the discretion of the judges.

If a fighter breaks the rules once, the Main Judge and the Advisors are allowed to stop the fight and give him/her one warning. If the same fighter breaks the rules for a second time, the Main Judge or Advisors stop the fight. Then, the Main Judge (alone) can decide to give a light penalty.

When a fighter receives a light penalty, he/she is fined for the price of a bottle of beer. (Note: the bottles bought with the fines from the tournament will be added as prizes for the raffle.) Alternatively, the Main Judge may decide to tell the fighter to do push-ups if he/she strikes too hard.

If a fighter breaks the rules for the third time, the Main Judge can decide to give a Heavy penalty.

The fighter receiving a heavy penalty has to pay the price of a bottle of beer AND is required to wear during the rest of the bout a silly hat which will be attached to his/her helmet by an elastic band (or duct tape). If, for any reason, the fighter loses the hat during the bout, he/she loses automatically the fight.

If a fighter does something particularly bad during the fight (for instance, having to be pried off his opponent with a stick) the Main Judge may decide to give directly a heavy penalty, skipping the warning and the light penalty.

If a fighter commits an act of serious misconduct during the fight, the Main Judge may decide to expel him/her.

Fighters not respecting a handicap given to them by an Advisor automatically receive a light penalty.