SWORDSTOCK Duels Tournament Rules

General Format

The duels tournament is a free-form event where anyone can fight anyone else, with any weapon. People may fight as many or as few fights as they like, and fight whenever they like, to build an atmosphere that is more casual than a structured tournament and more competitive than open sparring.

Once the tournament opens, any participant can challenge any other to a fight. The fighters will then find a judge, who must open the scorekeeping form on their phone or other device. They may ask for a second judge to help. The fighters will fight exactly 5 exchanges, and the judge will record the results on the form, and submit it for points. A pair of fighters can only fight for points once with the same weapon set.

This will be a primarily self-call tournament. When a fighter is hit, they are expected to audibly call the hit and indicate the target area. Their opponent can call back the hit if they believe it was low quality. The judge may also call a hit, or declare a hit low-quality.

At the end of the event the points will be tallied and the top 4 fighters will compete in a finals bracket.

Scoring

The possible scores for each exchange are as follows:

• Clean hit: A hit with no afterblow or double is +2 points
• Hit with afterblow: A hit with an afterblow is +1 point. An afterblow is a strike which begins after the initial strike landed
• Hit to upper target: A hit to the head or top of shoulders is +2 points even with an afterblow. This does not negate doubles
• Doubles: A double is -1 point from both fighters. A double happens when both attacks were in-flight at the same time, they do not need to be simultaneous.
• No exchange: An exchange where no quality hits were landed is no points for any fighter. A grapple which lasts for 5s without a clear winner will be broken up and scored as no exchange
• Penalty: Unsafe or blatantly unsportsmanlike conduct will result in a penalty for the fighter, and will result in -2 points

At the end of the match, the fighter with the highest points will be recorded as the winner. The match score does not affect your tournament standing, only the number of wins*. A tie, or a match with 2 or more double hits, will be recorded as a loss for both fighters.

Safety & Sportsmanship Rules

Due to the free-form nature of the tournament, fighters may agree to fight with rules of their own making, as long as the match format and scoring is followed. The following rules exist for fighters safety and to ensure that fights remain fair and honourable. These rules cannot be ignored or modified. Violating these rules will always result in a penalty. If a fencer repeatedly violated these rules, the judge may end the match as a loss for the offending fencer. If a violation is too severe, it should be brought to the attention of the event organisers and the fighter may be expelled from the event.

Grappling: Takedowns, sweeps, submissions, groundwork and joint locks are all banned.

Targets: The following targets are banned:

• Back of the head
• Back of the Torso (Spine)
• Groin
• Back of the knee
• Feet and ankle

Attacks: The following attacks are banned

• Striking with the body: punches, kicks, elbow strikes, etc.
• Mordhaus or any other strike with the guard or quillons
• Pommel strikes
• Strikes with the edge of the buckler
• Strikes with excessive force

Presenting unsafe targets: Bending or turning to present your spine or back of head to your opponent will result in a penalty, even if your sword is in place to block that target. You must face your opponent throughout the entire fight.

Unsportsmanlike Behaviour: Behaviour such as unnecessary aggression, refusing to call hits or excessively late or hard afterblows will be counted as a penalty.

Weapon Categories

• Longsword
• Rapier & Dagger
• Rapier & any offhand
• Rapier
• Sabre
• Sidesword
• Smallsword
• Singlestick
• Messer/Dussak
• Arming Sword
• Sword & Buckler
• Knife
• Mixed Weapons
• Freeform

The Mixed Weapons category is for any fight where the fencers do not have matching weapons in every exchange. Freeform is for any weapon set or combination not listed here (eg. Spear, sword & shield)

Gear

The minimum protective gear for most weapons is as follows:

• HEMA rated fencing mask with rigid back of head protection
• Rigid gorget
• Padded jacket
• Hard 3-sided protection that covers the knees and elbows
• Gloves which can withstand a hard hit from the weapons you are using
• Groin protection for anyone with testes

You may use lighter gear for light weapons: Rapier, smallsword, and boffers. When fencing with any other weapons, steel or synthetic, you must adhere to the above gear requirements. The light gear requirements are:

• HEMA rated fencing mask with rigid back of head protection
• Rigid gorget
• Gloves which can withstand a hard hit from the weapons you are using
  • When using shields or bucklers, hard gloves are required, even if the weapons are light. (Red Dragons or equivalent, at a minimum)
• Groin protection for anyone with testes
• Soft protection for knees and elbows

*Points per Match

Previously, fencers would get 1 tournament point per match won. This year, to encourage fencers to broaden their horizons, we will be implementing a point system where every win with the same weapon will be worth fewer points. The diminishing returns will happen on a logarithmic scale: your first win with a weapon is worth one point, your second win is worth only slightly less, but your 20th win with that weapon will only be worth half a point. This is only scaled per weapon, so your wins with one weapon will not affect your points with a different weapon.