XVI ARC 2011 TOURNAMENT RULES

In 2011, the Australian Living History Tournament Championships, hosted annually by Danelaw, will be held at the XVIARC2011. Winners of each individual Tourney will receive a prize and the overall winner bears the title of Grand Champion for 2011.

The following tourneys will be held:

Dagger
Single Weapon
Two weapons
Spear
Sword and Shield
Open Individual
Open Team

The purpose of the tournaments is to showcase combat skills in a carnival atmosphere that captures the feel of 14th century pageants.

Points will be awarded for every round that a combatant is victorious in for each individual tourney.

Example of Tourney Score Sheet

Tourney	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Combatant 3	Combatant 4	Combatant 5	Combatant 6
Dagger	4	2			1
Single Weapon	1	2	4	5	6
Spear		1				4
Sword & Shield	1	2	5		4	1
Open Individual	5	4	3	2	6	1
Open Team	2	2	2			1
Total Points	13	12	14	7	17	5
Overall Rank	3	3	2	5	1	6
Championship Results	Dagger & =Open Team	=Open Team	Sword and Shield & =Open Team	no place	Single Weapon & Open Individual & XVIARC2011 Grand Champion	Spear

Venue

Each tourney will be held in the tournament ring or in surrounding areas if rounds are being held concurrently.
All final rounds will be held in the Tournament ring.
The tournament ring is a 6m diameter octagon with a gravel floor. A combatant may continue to fight with one foot inside the tournament ring but, if both feet are outside the ring, it will count as if the combatant has received a legitimate killing blow.

Blows

Blows are strictly to be directed at legitimate target areas in accordance with the accepted Guidelines for Interclub Combat for the event.
Blows should be firm and "showy". No "wristy", glancing or dubious blows will count. Safety will still be paramount; this means no excessively hard blows.
Judges will monitor each fight and will determine what is excessive.
Any dangerous blow to an illegal target area resulting in injury may result in immediate disqualification.

Armour

Armour will not count (treat as personal protection only) in the following tournaments:

Dagger
Single Weapon
Two weapons
Spear
Sword and Shield

These tourneys are meant to compare skill, not armour, so the victory goes to the first to land three legitimate killing blows regardless of what the opponent is wearing.

Armour will count as follows in the Open Individual and Open Team tournaments:
If you are wearing PREDOMINANTLY:

Tunic/Padded Gambeson etc = 2 hits
Mail/Leather Lamellar/Leather Scale etc = 3 hits
Coat of Plates/ Brigandine/Steel scale/Steel Lamellar etc = 4 hits
Plate/Mail + Steel lamellar/Mail + Steel Scale/Mail + Brigandine etc= 5 hits

PREDOMINANTLY means over most of your body.
Eg. Knee length Mail Hauberk + Knee length Steel Scale = 5 hits
Knee length Gambeson + Mail sleeveless vest = 2 hits
Knee length Mail Hauberk + Breastplate+ Pauldrons + Thigh Plates = 5 hits
Armour Classification will be agreed upon between combatants and judges before the fight commences

Judges

Two judges will monitor each combat.
Judges will be Head Combatants from each club and their appointed most experienced combatants.
No inexperienced or non-combatants will be allowed to judge tournaments.
Judges will be selected from a list/pool of Judges with appropriate experience held in the Marquee.
Judges will be responsible for declaring when a combatant receives an adequate killing blow. Both judges must agree on killing blows.
The person administering the blow has the right to veto the call of the judges and declare a blow as "No harm done".
The person receiving a blow has the right to veto the Judges decision and declare the blow they received as "Fatal".
In this way, the tournament still uses honesty, and the judges will help to determine fair outcomes and maintain safety.
Judges will not have the right to declare someone as "living" if the victim says it was a fatal blow nor "dead" if the killer says the blow was no harm done.
The two Judges, by agreement only, can disqualify a combatant on the grounds of:
- Dangerous combat or behaviour
- Bad Sportsmanship.
A minimum standard of etiquette will be set to maintain a positive attitude throughout combats. (ie salute your opponent, shake their hand, congratulate them on their victory/thank them for a good fight). Failure to adhere to etiquette may be interpreted by the judges as a display of bad sportsmanship and result in disqualification.
Aside from the rules above, all other aspects of Tournament Combat will be in accordance with the accepted Guidelines for Interclub Combat for the event.

Entering tournaments

You will be able to enter your name in the lists in the marquee prior to the tournament commencing.
Combatants will be chosen at random from the lists.

The right attitude to tournaments

It is important to distinguish that there is a big difference between tournament combat and other types of combat. Because it is a competition for prizes, judges are necessary as is a point based system to determine each competitor's ranking.

We hope that the tournaments will be both friendly and competitive and will be as big a success as Tournaments held in previous years. The idea is to allow for genuine competitive fighting in a controlled and fun environment. Good sportsmanship and a positive attitude are essential for anyone wanting to participate in the tournament and get the most out of being a tournament competitor.