STEEL LONGSWORD RULESET
The following are the procedures and rules we will be using for the combative longsword tournament event for Winter Ring 2023.
General Rules and Terms
Tournament Staffing
All tournament staff will be provided by Steel Ring Academy LLC. Staff are trained and appointed to their role(s) and may rotate through several roles throughout the course of the tournament. There will be one (1) Proctor, three (3) Judges, one (1) Pit Boss, and a minimum of two (2) Table Staff.
Proctor controls the ring and the fight. The proctor maintains safety, expedites point calls, and relays information with the Table Staff. The proctor does not make engagement calls other than grapple and ring out, which will be confirmed by the judges.
Judges make calls for each exchange during a bout. Judges will rotate positions around the ring between bouts. Judges will use red and blue batons to display flag semaphores as follows:
Table Staff will time bouts, tally points, track exchanges and operate the bracket system.
Tournament Structure
The Winter Ring 2023 Open Steel Longsword tournament will be run in two sections: open pools and double elimination bracket. Fighters will be seeded into open pools at the start of the tournament. Those who perform well will advance onto a seeded double elimination bracket to compete for first, second, and third place.
To determine which fighters will advance from open pools to the elimination bracket, the top half of fighters in each pool who have the highest wins, or the most points gained in case of a tie, will be selected to advance onto the double elimination bracket.
General Bout Information
Fighters will be randomly assigned Blue or Red for each bout, identified by two arm bands worn during the bout. Fighters’ names will be called “in the ring,” “on deck” and “in the hole”. Fighters “on deck” and “in the hole” must wait in the called competitors area in the assigned chairs for their bout. Fighters must be fully geared in the called competitors area. If you are called to the ring and you are not prepared you have 30 seconds to be in your place or you forfeit the match.
Bouts will have a limited number of exchanges and time limit to engage and attempt to earn points. When the tenth exchange passes, or the time runs out, the bout will be called. Throughout the event, the time allotted for each bout will change depending on the stage of the tournament. The exchange limit will not change. Open pools will have a 60 second time limit, elimination brackets will have a 90 second time limit, and the finals will have a 120 second time limit.
Exchanges have a potential to earn a maximum of three points. The exchange begins at the order of the Proctor. When a scoring action has been identified, the judges will proceed with scoring. After scoring calls have concluded, the next exchange begins.
Winning the bout is achieved by a fighter reaching 7 points, or by the fighter with the most points within the limits of time or exchanges. In the event of a tie, the bout will move to sudden death and the fighter with the next clean point will win the bout.
Coaching may be provided to a fighter between exchanges of a bout by one coach per fighter, who must remain in the marked coaching square for the duration of the bout. Coaches may not interfere in any way with judges, exchanges, or any other tournament activity.
Salutes will not be conducted at the beginning of individual matches. Fighting begins immediately after proctor’s start. In place of individual salutes, a “Grand Salute” will be conducted during the opening ceremony.
Post-Match fighters will be asked to immediately move to the marked post-match square near the called competitors area for arm band removal. Fighters are also asked to reserve embraces, fist bumps, chit chat etc until after they have moved to the marked post-match square to ease transitions in the ring.
Scoring is conducted after each exchange and determined by the judges. If any judge sees an appropriate action (contact, ring-out, or disarm), “hit” is called. The proctor orders a hold and scoring begins. Scoring is conducted in a three-level evaluation pyramid, described as such to indicate that the score builds up as each level of the pyramid is awarded. Thus, if the middle tier - Quality is not awarded, the Control point cannot be considered. The levels of the evaluation are: Contact, Quality, and Control. Special exceptions for grapples, disarms and ring outs may be awarded 3 points, as outlined below.
Contact
Contact is defined by one fighter successfully connecting their sword’s wounding edges or tip to their opponent fighter. There are multiple scoring actions:
The Three Wounders
Quality
Quality is defined by a deliberate edge strike, thrust, slice or pommel strike connecting with an opponent in a clearly targeted and technically sound way. Quality points can only be gained if the hit was made in the defined target areas of the fighter’s shoulders, head, torso, or legs above the knee.
One-Handed Technique and Quality One-handed techniques which are executed without control of the opponent's weapon, e.g. geisling and flying thrust, are capable of scoring the contact point, but not the quality point.
Note that there is a subjective nature to the quality point. The term “technically sound” should be considered by the fighters as an encouragement to conduct themselves with sound form.
Control
Control points are awarded when the scoring action is performed on an opponent who is unable to immediately respond due to intentional techniques performed by the scoring fighter. Control can include attacks from swords in the bind which trap or frustrate the opponent’s weapon, off-hand grapples which allow for an undefended strike, and slicing or pushing actions which unbalance an opponent prior to striking (the follow-on strike must still be performed).
Control is not awarded for striking an opponent who has missed wildly, fallen down, voluntarily turned their back, or has otherwise become ineffective through their own actions.
The Judges must rule that the scoring fighter has actively controlled his opponent’s ability to immediately respond or defend himself with his weapon.
Special Exceptions - Worth 3 Points
No Points Awarded for double kills, failure to withdraw (successfully), or permissible non-scoring techniques. There will also be no points awarded if the judges fail to agree on the action.
Double-kill
Double-kill occurs when combatants choose to strike simultaneously in such a manner that harm comes to both of them, the result is a Double-kill. Judges determine a Double-kill based on the instant in which the fencers started their actions without regard for their opponent’s actions. It is irrelevant if there is a hair’s breadth difference in the timing of the landing of these strikes. The Double-Kill is characterized by the fencers’ shared decision to commit to unsafe actions. No points will be awarded for exchanges resulting in Double-kills. Three Double-kills in a match will zero out all accumulated points and the next clean point wins.
Failure to Withdraw (Successfully)
In the context of a tournament procedure, the withdrawal is only of concern after a scoring strike has been made. A fighter who strikes against an opponent, but then is struck during the tempo for his withdrawal may not score for the exchange. This is referred to as Failure to Withdraw.
Permissible Non-Scoring Techniques
Warnings/Penalties
If the Proctor perceives that a fighter is not acting safely or with unsportsmanlike conduct, they will call a HOLD and speak to the fighter to assess a penalty or remove the fighter, depending on the actions of the fighter.
Any fighter to receive three formal warnings over the course of the tournament will be ejected from the tournament. If any action is deemed too egregious, the fighter may be ejected immediately without prior warning at the discretion of the tournament administration. Any warning issued to a coach is applied to every fighter under the coach.
Examples of unsporting behavior include:
Forbidden Actions
Gear Requirements
All participants must wear required safety gear in all bouts. Gear is subject to individual inspection and potential exclusion if deemed unsafe by tournament staff. All gear will be provided by the participant, no gear will be provided by Steel Ring Academy LLC. All participants must have:
General Rules and Terms
- All participants must register and pay for the events in which they are participating. Registrations and payments are non-refundable, but may be transferred to another participant in the event the original fighter is no longer able to compete.
- All participants must have signed Steel Ring Academy LLC liability waivers.
- All participants agree to abide by all rules and regulations established by Steel Ring Academy LLC.
- All participants agree to respect the Winter Ring tournament staff at all times and accept tournament staff has final say on any issue(s) that may arise during the tournament.
- All participants agree to wear all required safety gear, as outlined below, participate in the gear check conducted by Winter Ring tournament staff, and acknowledge all gear is subject to individual inspection and possible exclusion if not deemed appropriately safe.
- All participants agree to prioritizing safety for all for the duration of the tournament. All fighters have the responsibility to call out “HOLD” to stop a dangerous or harmful activity.
- All participants will follow any rules or restrictions imposed by the SunCoast Renaissance Festival venue.
- Fighters must refrain from all intoxicants prior to and during the tournament, including, but not limited to, alcohol.
- All participants acknowledge and give permission for their image and likeness to be used during and after the event on the internet and social media as Winter Ring 2023 will be both photographed and filmed.
Tournament Staffing
All tournament staff will be provided by Steel Ring Academy LLC. Staff are trained and appointed to their role(s) and may rotate through several roles throughout the course of the tournament. There will be one (1) Proctor, three (3) Judges, one (1) Pit Boss, and a minimum of two (2) Table Staff.
Proctor controls the ring and the fight. The proctor maintains safety, expedites point calls, and relays information with the Table Staff. The proctor does not make engagement calls other than grapple and ring out, which will be confirmed by the judges.
Judges make calls for each exchange during a bout. Judges will rotate positions around the ring between bouts. Judges will use red and blue batons to display flag semaphores as follows:
- Contact, Quality, and Control – Single points, all indicated by the flag extended straight to the appropriate side (red or blue).
- Failure to Withdraw - One flag straight out to the side indicating the successful initial hit by the appropriate side, the other flag straight up from the elbow to indicate the secondary hit that was within the fight tempo.
- Double Hit - Both flags extended out to either side.
- No-Call - Both flags crossed downward in front of the judge’s face.
- Grapple -- Proctor’s call, no semaphore used.
- Ring Out - Both flags pointed at the fighter who stepped outside the ring.
- Disarm - Appropriate colored flag pointed at the fighter who took the weapon. The flag of the disarmed fighter crossing over to touch the shoulder of the extended arm.
Table Staff will time bouts, tally points, track exchanges and operate the bracket system.
Tournament Structure
The Winter Ring 2023 Open Steel Longsword tournament will be run in two sections: open pools and double elimination bracket. Fighters will be seeded into open pools at the start of the tournament. Those who perform well will advance onto a seeded double elimination bracket to compete for first, second, and third place.
To determine which fighters will advance from open pools to the elimination bracket, the top half of fighters in each pool who have the highest wins, or the most points gained in case of a tie, will be selected to advance onto the double elimination bracket.
General Bout Information
Fighters will be randomly assigned Blue or Red for each bout, identified by two arm bands worn during the bout. Fighters’ names will be called “in the ring,” “on deck” and “in the hole”. Fighters “on deck” and “in the hole” must wait in the called competitors area in the assigned chairs for their bout. Fighters must be fully geared in the called competitors area. If you are called to the ring and you are not prepared you have 30 seconds to be in your place or you forfeit the match.
Bouts will have a limited number of exchanges and time limit to engage and attempt to earn points. When the tenth exchange passes, or the time runs out, the bout will be called. Throughout the event, the time allotted for each bout will change depending on the stage of the tournament. The exchange limit will not change. Open pools will have a 60 second time limit, elimination brackets will have a 90 second time limit, and the finals will have a 120 second time limit.
Exchanges have a potential to earn a maximum of three points. The exchange begins at the order of the Proctor. When a scoring action has been identified, the judges will proceed with scoring. After scoring calls have concluded, the next exchange begins.
Winning the bout is achieved by a fighter reaching 7 points, or by the fighter with the most points within the limits of time or exchanges. In the event of a tie, the bout will move to sudden death and the fighter with the next clean point will win the bout.
Coaching may be provided to a fighter between exchanges of a bout by one coach per fighter, who must remain in the marked coaching square for the duration of the bout. Coaches may not interfere in any way with judges, exchanges, or any other tournament activity.
Salutes will not be conducted at the beginning of individual matches. Fighting begins immediately after proctor’s start. In place of individual salutes, a “Grand Salute” will be conducted during the opening ceremony.
Post-Match fighters will be asked to immediately move to the marked post-match square near the called competitors area for arm band removal. Fighters are also asked to reserve embraces, fist bumps, chit chat etc until after they have moved to the marked post-match square to ease transitions in the ring.
Scoring is conducted after each exchange and determined by the judges. If any judge sees an appropriate action (contact, ring-out, or disarm), “hit” is called. The proctor orders a hold and scoring begins. Scoring is conducted in a three-level evaluation pyramid, described as such to indicate that the score builds up as each level of the pyramid is awarded. Thus, if the middle tier - Quality is not awarded, the Control point cannot be considered. The levels of the evaluation are: Contact, Quality, and Control. Special exceptions for grapples, disarms and ring outs may be awarded 3 points, as outlined below.
Contact
Contact is defined by one fighter successfully connecting their sword’s wounding edges or tip to their opponent fighter. There are multiple scoring actions:
The Three Wounders
- Strike - An edge-aligned hew executed with the cutting edge of the blade.
- Thrust - A point-first motion in the direction of the blade, normal to the surface of the target. A glancing thrust executed with a resultant bouncing motion away from the target will be disregarded.
- Slice - A draw cut in which the blade executes an edge-aligned path while the blade’s edge is pressed against the target.
- A strike deliberately placing the pommel to the opponent’s mask front. Only strikes to the mask, not any other body part, will be valid. Pommel strikes must be controlled, use light force and buffered as must as possible with your glove.
- Contacting only the clothing of the target without the depth or momentum to affect an injurious strike, thrust, or slice against the opponent.
- Flat strikes are not sufficient strikes and should neither stop the motion of the fight, nor receive points. Flat strikes may be used to position the blade for another attack, or to harass the opponent, but will not score points.
Quality
Quality is defined by a deliberate edge strike, thrust, slice or pommel strike connecting with an opponent in a clearly targeted and technically sound way. Quality points can only be gained if the hit was made in the defined target areas of the fighter’s shoulders, head, torso, or legs above the knee.
One-Handed Technique and Quality One-handed techniques which are executed without control of the opponent's weapon, e.g. geisling and flying thrust, are capable of scoring the contact point, but not the quality point.
Note that there is a subjective nature to the quality point. The term “technically sound” should be considered by the fighters as an encouragement to conduct themselves with sound form.
Control
Control points are awarded when the scoring action is performed on an opponent who is unable to immediately respond due to intentional techniques performed by the scoring fighter. Control can include attacks from swords in the bind which trap or frustrate the opponent’s weapon, off-hand grapples which allow for an undefended strike, and slicing or pushing actions which unbalance an opponent prior to striking (the follow-on strike must still be performed).
Control is not awarded for striking an opponent who has missed wildly, fallen down, voluntarily turned their back, or has otherwise become ineffective through their own actions.
The Judges must rule that the scoring fighter has actively controlled his opponent’s ability to immediately respond or defend himself with his weapon.
Special Exceptions - Worth 3 Points
- Grapple - The unbalancing of an opponent in a controlled grapple. The Proctor will conduct a silent count to four when a grapple begins. When that count concludes, Proctor will call “Hold” and ask the judges for the call. DO NOT THROW AN OPPONENT. Tripping, throwing, or casting your opponent to the ground is not permitted. No points will be awarded if your sword is released from your grip while trying to grapple your opponent.
- Disarm - Disarming an opponent by knocking or seizing their weapon out of their hands.
- Ring Out – Ring Out is a forced ejection of a combatant across the ring boundary. Both feet must leave the circumference of the ring. Points are only awarded for a ring out that is forced by the opposing fighter and not an accidental step out. Fighter forcing the ring out must have both hands on their sword and not use any form of ringen or kicks to force the ring out.
No Points Awarded for double kills, failure to withdraw (successfully), or permissible non-scoring techniques. There will also be no points awarded if the judges fail to agree on the action.
Double-kill
Double-kill occurs when combatants choose to strike simultaneously in such a manner that harm comes to both of them, the result is a Double-kill. Judges determine a Double-kill based on the instant in which the fencers started their actions without regard for their opponent’s actions. It is irrelevant if there is a hair’s breadth difference in the timing of the landing of these strikes. The Double-Kill is characterized by the fencers’ shared decision to commit to unsafe actions. No points will be awarded for exchanges resulting in Double-kills. Three Double-kills in a match will zero out all accumulated points and the next clean point wins.
Failure to Withdraw (Successfully)
In the context of a tournament procedure, the withdrawal is only of concern after a scoring strike has been made. A fighter who strikes against an opponent, but then is struck during the tempo for his withdrawal may not score for the exchange. This is referred to as Failure to Withdraw.
Permissible Non-Scoring Techniques
- Blade grabbing - is allowed provided the weapon’s energy has dissipated or the weapon is generally static. Grabbing a blade immediately upon parrying is acceptable, but as it executes a cut is not acceptable. Grabbing a thrusting blade is acceptable provided the grab is performed in a fashion consistent with the thrust. Judges have discretion in determining whether a blade-grab has been performed or whether to score a hit against the grabber for the blade contact.
- Open hand shove - is allowed to reposition an opponent or their weapon. Closed hand strikes are not permitted.
Warnings/Penalties
If the Proctor perceives that a fighter is not acting safely or with unsportsmanlike conduct, they will call a HOLD and speak to the fighter to assess a penalty or remove the fighter, depending on the actions of the fighter.
Any fighter to receive three formal warnings over the course of the tournament will be ejected from the tournament. If any action is deemed too egregious, the fighter may be ejected immediately without prior warning at the discretion of the tournament administration. Any warning issued to a coach is applied to every fighter under the coach.
Examples of unsporting behavior include:
- Excessive force, generally defined by a deliberate strike strong enough to cause serious bodily harm requiring medical attention.
- Striking well out of tempo to land an “afterblow.”
- Continuing to engage after “Hold” has been called.
- Failure to engage the opponent in fencing action, by judges’ discretion. If it is clear that one’s actions are clearly just intended to Dodge and run the timer out it may be deemed unsportsmanlike.
- Executing any Forbidden Action.
Forbidden Actions
- Deliberate attack to the back of the head, neck, groin, breasts, spine.
- Pressure, strikes, or thrusts against the spine or larynx.
- Releasing the sword during Ringen am Schwert.
- Half-Swording.
- Throwing, pushing down or dropping your opponent.
- Strikes or pressure on joints against their natural direction (i.e., joint locks at full extension, breaks, or strikes).
- Any strike deliberately made which prevents an opponent from continuing to participate in the tournament.
- Closed-fist punches.
- Striking with the cross of the sword, including punching with the cross and “mortschlag” type techniques.
- Throwing the sword, buckler, or other equipment.
- Intentionally striking a fallen or incapacitated opponent.
Gear Requirements
All participants must wear required safety gear in all bouts. Gear is subject to individual inspection and potential exclusion if deemed unsafe by tournament staff. All gear will be provided by the participant, no gear will be provided by Steel Ring Academy LLC. All participants must have:
- Steel Longsword Feder free of burrs. NO blunt swords permitted.
- Fencing mask
- Back-of-head protection
- Gauntlets
- Gorget
- Gambeson
- Protective pants or skirt
- Elbow Protection
- Knee Protection
- Shin Protection
- Cup and/or chest protector, dependent on anatomy.
- Appropriate closed-toe shoes
- No visible skin
