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Longpoint - MD KDF event

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Sir Edward:

--- Quote from: Das Bill on 2011-01-24, 01:15:28 ---You're absolutely right, and to be honest, that will happen in any tournament format. People get competitive, and they start playing to the rules to gain points rather than focusing on techniques that would be used if your life were really on the line. Having said that, I saw less of that than usual, and I think there was also some really good fencing going on (though some guys REALLY need to dial down the power).

--- End quote ---

I think there was less of it in the ring you were judging. :) All in all, it was great fun. I wasn't playing for points, so I knew I'd do badly on the score. But the judges didn't start counting doubles and after-blows in my bouts until maybe my 4th bout. They'd go for quick sniping shots without controlling the line, so I'd just hit them back, and lose.  :-\ At least that's the way I remember it. I'll have to see the videos. Admittedly some of those were some messy binds. I doubt it would have made much of a difference since I was playing to have fun and they were playing for points, I just would have liked to have had the chance to have more exchanges where they couldn't get away with a snipe that didn't close the line. Once they started actually counting the doubles, I scored a few points, finally, since they weren't getting away with it anymore.

I agree completely about the power. In fact, I wanted to raise a concern with it. I'm starting to feel that they should disallow hand-strikes completely. I hate adding artificial rules to restrict target area, especially with valid historical techniques that involved shots to the hand, and I don't want to encourage people to over-expose their hands either. But I think it's very difficult to adequately pad the hands under these conditions with the power ramped up. I feel like I saw way too many hand injuries this weekend. David took a shot to his knuckle that swelled up. Chris Wheeler had a purple fingertip. The dude in the finals this morning who had to go to the hospital with a crushed fingertip. And I think I saw at least one or two other people with ice-packs on their hands. I received a half-inch blood blister from a shot that squarely hit the padding of my glove just fine. And Mike Edelson apparently took some sort of hit too (I just know I had to shake hands with him with left hands). To me, this indicates a problem, especially since we all need our hands in our day jobs.

Oh, I was also wondering... when did the idea of saluting each other go away?

I don't want to sound like I'm complaining. It was a fun event, and there will of course always be rough corners to iron out over time with this sort of thing. I hope everyone else had a blast, because I certainly did. :)

Sir James A:
I went to spectate, but ended up signing up for classes. I took the beginner's longsword in the morning, and cutting class after lunch. I think I was the only one in the afternoon cutting class that got 3 clean strikes through the full tatami mat - I kept a piece of it as a keepsake.

The tournament was interesting and even though I don't have a great, or even good, understanding of most longsword techniques, it seemed like there were almost no counters. Hopefully the videos will be posted to Youtube.

Overall, it was a really fun event. I got to meet some new people and I had a great time. Unfortunately, handling that sharp albion for the cutting class has really spoiled me. I don't look at my swords the same now.

It sounds like the tournament got a bit more aggressive on the second day. I wonder if steel gauntlets should be a requirement, rather than just padded gloves? There will always be someone hitting too hard, but if they're told they hit too hard and keep doing it ... they should probably be removed from that tourney as a safety liability.

Sir Brian, did you make it out Sunday to watch?

Sir Edward:
I just wanted to add a few thoughts. I realize my previous post sounded a bit negative. It was an excellent event overall. Some highlights:

* They kept the tournaments flowing quickly and smoothly. There was some confusion at times as to who was up and when, but only momentarily and combatants were almost always ready immediately, and things kept moving smoothly.

* David (from VAF) ROCKED the dussack tournament. He only narrowly lost the 1st place position, but he held the "king" position for a crazy amount of time. It was amazing to behold.

* I got to meet some new people, and I got to see a lot of others that I only see occasionally at events like this. I'd say just about everyone I've ever met at these events are really great people.

* The classes were top-notch, as I've come to expect from these sorts of WMA/HEMA events. For something that started out fairly small last year, this event came together very well and didn't sacrifice any quality when it got to become more elaborate.

* There were a lot of really good fencers in attendance this year. Despite my criticisms of certain aspects of the tournament, it was nice to see a lot of good fighters, good fights, and to be able to participate right along with them.

* And I can't emphasize enough how nice it is to have an event like this that is actually close by. :)

Sir Brian:
Yes I did Sir James and was really pleased to see Bill as well as a few of my fellow MASHS students where three of the four that participated in the tournament made it to the finals. I concur with Bill and Ed with their concerns about the need for some of the contestants needing to ratchet down the power a bit.  :-\

And yet the rule that you are automatically disqualified if you injure your opponent to the point they can’t continue seems excessively harsh and unfair since when it was applied during the finals it disqualified Rick Corley after his hit injured the reigning king’s hand and consequently ending his very impressive run of winning 12 consecutive bouts. Nobody could ever accuse Rick Corley of being excessively aggressive or negligent. In fact I had a very strong impression that he was controlling the initiative of the match very well up until that injury when IIRC he would’ve scored his second point to the king’s zero if the guy hadn’t been injured.

Anyways the point I am attempting to make is that the rule although in place for safety’s sake is too restrictive. I would rather they changed so when a person is injured the judges and referee consult and determine if the person inflicting the injury was using excessive power and aggression or if it was just an unfortunate accident, especially those hand injuries. If the judges and referee decide not to disqualify that contestant then they would be given a warning and for the rest of the tournament if they injure anyone else then they are automatically disqualified.

The one cheesy tactic that was used a few times (especially by the tournament champion) and I considered to be totally unsafe yet was completely allowed were those one handed helicopter cuts to the lower legs. One of them hit so hard it echoed! The reason I thought it was really unsafe was because only a couple of fighters was wearing any type of shin protection. Most, even the tournament champion only had stockings on, no padding whatsoever. I remember after the tournament, when everyone was showing their various wounds, one guy had a nasty welt on his calf from one of those cheap cuts.  :(

Sir Edward:

Yeah, when it comes to the hand injuries, it's a really tricky matter. Sometimes they're hard to avoid, and sometimes they're more the fault of the person receiving it than the one giving it.

With the disqualification, I had a feeling they'd go through with it since that was the agreed upon rule. The previous day they had let one slide, and I'm glad they did, since it was a twisted knee and not a result of the other fighter's actions.

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