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Ouch.

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Sir Edward:

Yep, they neglect the need for technique, and they disallow blows that would be very effective (shots to the knee or foot). The rules count "kill" blows as blows to the head and chest, even though they assume everyone is wearing armor in-persona aside from what they're actually wearing, and these are the sorts of blows that the armor is designed to stop. So it's a bit of a paradox.

Sir James A:
I haven't seen any period techniques I can remember that involve wraps (as done in SCA), and SCA combat is HUUUGE on "get in, hug him, and keep throwing wraps". I've heard it called stick tag, and after having done it for a season, that's about all it seems to be. No draw cuts, of course, not much blade-to-blade technique. It's very much like movie combat where they trade clumsy blows back and forth most of the time. Not much in the way of historical recreation, despite the name, unless you think of the late period club tournaments. Also odd is that you can theoretically lose both legs and an arm yet still continue fighting. The whole of SCA combat doesn't make much sense to me.

Except that it's fun. I'll admit, it was quite fun. Mostly to be able to put on armor, grab a SLO, and smack away at each other. As long as it's taken for something done more for fun than historical accuracy, it's enjoyable. It was much more engrossing than classes in loose fitting modern clothes, to be in harness, and actually swinging at an opponent you can make contact with.

Any "Great" weapons, 2 handed swords, etc, are supposed to be banned from any attack requiring more than 90* to swing. So there's no baseball swings or "wind ups", though of course enforcement is another issue. I tried sword & board as well as great sword, so they gave me a brief rundown. I had bruises aplenty after most of the practices, but I think half of them were self-inflicted from the loaner gear that was a bit too large and pinching when I would try to cross my arms too much.

However, I never broke a bone, never peed blood, never missed work the next day; I was no more sore than a really rough day at the gym / playing basketball/football all day. I did wear a full plate harness though; the popular armor seems to be transitional for weight vs protection compromise, and indeed I took far more blows than I landed, but I was in it for nothing more than fun and learning.

It was a group of 4-8 "usuals" for the entire season, so we got to know each other and didn't have much fear that we would wallop each other. I'd imagine fighting other people in tournaments who are out to "prove something", or doing the big events, chance of injury is probably higher.

Sir William:
Sounds like it could be a fun time for all involved...so they use SLOs?  Would never have guessed that...unless you just mean sword like object, but not in the usual negative connotation (stainless steel wallhangers for instance).

Sir Edward:
Right, the SCA uses rattan sticks with basket-hilts, or large cross-guards on the "great swords". The rattan makes them essentially cudgels, so it's more like cudgel fighting than sword fighting. :) It looks like fun, for sure, I just prefer to learn about actual sword combat and play to that.

Sir James A:

--- Quote from: Sir Edward on 2010-11-15, 19:03:03 ---Right, the SCA uses rattan sticks with basket-hilts, or large cross-guards on the "great swords". The rattan makes them essentially cudgels, so it's more like cudgel fighting than sword fighting. :) It looks like fun, for sure, I just prefer to learn about actual sword combat and play to that.

--- End quote ---

Ah, yes, that's what I meant by SLO. Roughly the same length, covered in duct tape, with a cross guard. The thickness requirement is somewhere along 1 1/2" so that it can't fit through helm visors (which must have gaps less than 1 1/2").

There are some european groups that use rebated blades, though I've heard injuries are more frequent (based on headcount) and I've seen mutterings of deaths, but never found any confirming "official" articles.

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