Rules are subject to change up to the commencement of the tournament.

Tournament Goal

The goal of this rule set is to promote a style of fencing that is skillful, artful and martial, as well as representative of the lethal nature of the application of smallswords in earnest fencing. This tournament is not intended to simulate the formalities of a historical, ritualized, duel - but to encourage a “hit without being hit” mindset in the stricter confines of modern tournament sport. 

Illegal Actions

• Illegal actions include but are not limited to: lack of control/excessive force, throws, or anything else that has a high chance to hurt somebody. Refer to the General Tournament Rules for more details.
• Exposing the spine or back of the head to the opponent. Note that if your opponent does expose such targets it is still your responsibility to do what you can to arrest the power of your strike.
• All “Body Wrestling” is forbidden. This includes throws and pushing a fighter out of bounds. (It is, of course, still legal to pressure an opponent to back up even if they are at the edge of the ring.)
• Blade grabs of stationary blades are permitted; however the blade must be released after a single action/tempo. Should a fighter continue to hold the blade they will be assessed a non-safety penalty of 1 point.
• Grabbing the opponent’s hilt with intention to twist the hilt and lock the fingers (such that the hand is unable to release the sword) is prohibited.

Scoring Actions

The following scoring actions can earn points:

• A Thrust to any valid target (excluding feet, ankle, and back of head).

Point Values

All scoring actions are worth 1 point. Afterblows will subtract 1 point from the action, which will fully negate points for that exchange.

A match shall conclude when one of the following occurs:

• A fencer scores 3 points on their opponent.
• Both fencers have doubled 3 times in a single match. 
• 90 seconds of fencing has elapsed.

Quality standards for thrusts include some indication of positive penetration of the weapon. See the General Tournament rules for more detail.

Hand deflections (parries) are permitted against thrusts in motion if they are performed by pushing the hand or forearm laterally against the opponent’s blade.

Ranking & Advancement

Fencers with the highest number of points earned divided by hits received shall advance to elimination pools. Fighters shall be ranked based on the formula:
Score = [Number of Clean Hits Scored] / [Total Number of Times Hit]

Wrestling and Takedowns

All “Body Wrestling” is forbidden. This includes throws and pushing a fighter out of bounds. (It is, of course, still legal to pressure an opponent to back up even if they are at the edge of the ring.) An arm or elbow push is allowed so long as it is not pushing your opponent out of bounds. 

Blade grabs of stationary blades are permitted; however the blade must be released after a single action. Should a fighter continue to hold the blade they will be assessed a non-safety penalty of 1 point.

The amount of time permitted for a standing "arm-wrestling" action is a single action after the grappling has been initiated. (Same as a blade grab). Failure to release the grapple after being unable to score in a single action is not a penalty, as it would be in the case of a blade grab. The director will simply call hold and reset the fighters.

Tournament Format

The tournament will be pool based, with the final standings of each stage of eliminations being based on indicator score.

Equipment

All protective equipment and weapons must be inspected prior to competition.

Protective Equipment

All equipment from the General Tournament Standards is required, in addition to the following:

• Leather fencing gloves or equivalent are required for the hands. Padded gloves are recommended for the off-hand.
• A protective torso garment is required. Examples include HEMA jackets (ie SPES/Superior Fencing), padded gambesons, light fencing jackets, and quality maille. Approval is at the discretion of the director. The garment should be made out of thrust-resistant material.
• Hard elbow protection IS NOT required. 
• Hard knee protection is IS NOT required. 

Weapons

All swords will be inspected before use.

Fencers shall bring their own swords. Blades shall be between 30’’ and 35’’ in length. Triangular style and schlaeger style are permitted. Historical grip and guard styles from the 18th century only (epee guards, pistol grips, and foil style blades are not permitted).

Smallswords must have tips with a bright contrasting tip color (such as black tip with gold tape or vice versa). This is to enhance the ability of judges to see thrusted blows.