Conventions of combat
Conventions of Re-Creationist Combat
Recreationist combat follows a number of conventions which must be adhered to at all times for safety and legal reasons, such as armour and weapons standards. For these reasons, all combatants shall undergo inspection before going onto the field by the marshal, although each individual accepts full responsibility for his/her equipment.
In the SCA fighters must adhere to these rules or face their authorisation card being pulled.
Combatant Conventions in the SCA
For more information on SCA Combat Conventions, refer to page 6 of the Marshal's Handbook
Conventions of combat include behaviour on the field:
- There shall be no striking with excessive force. This is considered to be an unchivalrous act.
- All fighters must obey the marshal's commands, or be removed from the field and subject to disciplinary action.
- Any disagreements with marshals must be resolved as outlined in Procedures for Grievances
- Each fighter must remain in control over his/her temper at all times
- You must not be under the influence of drugs or alcohol while participating in any SCA combat.
- All fighters must immediately stop upon hearing HOLD! and must convey the order by calling out "Hold" themself.
- Any behaviour that takes deliberate advantage of an opponent's chivalry or saftey consciousness, or that takes deliberate unfair advantage of an opponent, is prohibited.
- A fighter may not deliberately strike a helpless opponent.
- A fighter may not gain unfair advantage by repeatedly becoming "helpless" (eg. falling over, dropping weapons) after being duly warned by marshals on the field, be forced to yield at the next occurrance of the behaviour.
- A fighter may not strike a non-combatant (which should be appropriately marked as such)
- A fighter may not strike a light fighter, but must instead get to within 5m of range and (while in control of the situation) exclaim loudly "My Lord/Lady, you are slain" (or similar).
Target areas, where you are allowed to strike your opponent:
- The torso - considered to be anwhere above the points of the hip, including the groin, shoulder blades, and the areas between the neck and shoulders are considered to be the torso.
- The face - between the chin and middle of the forehead, and the area between the ears.,
- The head - the whole neck and head, excluding the face as outlined above.
- The thigh - One inch above the knee, to the bottom of the hip socket.
- Hips - area between the bottom of the hip socket, and below the point of the hips.
- Shoulders - The point of the shoulder down to a line even with the top of the underarm.
- Arms - shoulder to one inch above the wrist.
- Blows that land outside these areas shall not be counted
Combat Conventions in Re-Enactment
As re-enactment groups are many and varied as are their rules and focus, combat conventions are almost as varied. When coming to together for events a standard is usually set by the host group. In Australia, the standard is usually set in concordance with the AustralianGuidelines for Interclub Combat.
Behaviour
Individual standards vary a great deal, but some general conventions that are set and almost universally followed include:
- Combatants under the influence of drugs or alcohol may not participate in combat.
- Excessive force is not to be used. This can vary between countries and groups. Anecdotal evidence indicates, that UK re-enactors have lighter standard for blows than Australian ones.
- All fighters must obey the marshal's commands, or be removed from the field.
- Each fighter must remain in control over his/her temper at all times
- All fighters must immediately stop upon hearing HOLD!(or a similar command).
Target Area
Again individual groups will use different conventions. In addition, displays may include target areas not usually included in a groups combats.
Australian Target Areas
Heavily paraphrased from the Australian Guidelines for Interclub Combat.
- Head only when struck from directly above.
- Arms excluding elbows, wrists and hands.
- Legs above the knees
- Torso excluding the groin and collar, throat and neck.
- Thrusting blows may only be delivered to valid target areas that exist below the line of the armpit.
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