The General Rules
These rules will apply to both the Smallsword and the Smallsword & Dagger Tournaments.
Please review the rulesets for each tournament you are entered in specifically in addition to our general rules.
Smallsword Ruleset
Smallsword & Dagger Ruleset
Event Goals
At a high level, the goal of the Summer Stabbin' tournaments is to showcase fencing which:
- Displays good sportsmanship by everyone involved. If everyone isn’t having fun, then the event isn’t worth running.
- Has a high level of competitive drive and promotes skill development and recognition.
- Showcases historical techniques applied in a modern context.
- Demonstrates a knowledge and familiarity with the use of sharp swords and high-quality striking mechanics.
- Lets you legally stab your friends elegantly and safely.
Forbidden Actions
Any strike thrown with unrestrained force on the part of the attacker. Competitive martial arts fighting involves throwing forceful strikes with full intent to make contact, however each competitor is expected to maintain a respect for their opponent’s safety at all times. Should a safety issue arise, a fighter must do everything in their power to arrest their strike in progress.
Throws and leg locks/wraps are prohibited in all tournaments.
Strikes to the ankle/foot is are forbidden in all tournaments, as are strikes with the hilt, pommel strikes, violently twisting the opponent's hilt, and striking with a body part other than sword to deal percussive damage (punches, elbows, knees, headbutts, etc).
Throwing anything or dropping any weapon is prohibited and will result in a safety penalty.
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.
Dangerous action - Actions that directors agree create a dangerous situation, such as diving for a target with no intention of landing on your feet, or throwing yourself on the ground for any reason.
Individual weapon tournaments may have additional rules in place. Be sure to read the rules for any tournaments you are entered in.
A dog may not participate in sword fighting matches.
Ring Outs
Should both of a fighter's feet leave the ring, a hold will be called and they will receive a non-safety penalty for a ring out (-1 pt). Should a fighter ring out with such speed that they leave the immediate ring area, they will receive a safety penalty.
Any action executed by a fencer who rings themselves out will "not have happened".
This includes actions before AND after the hold has been called. If you are running out of the ring after a hit has been delivered you will be penalized.
Match Conduct
- All fighters will be expected to fight with both skill and control.
- Fighters are expected to act professionally, and respectful to the officiating staff.
- Fighters are expected to follow the commands of the tournament staff at all times.
This is a martial arts tournament and all fighters are expected to conduct themselves with respect for the weapon, their opponent, and the tournament staff. Any fighter that is deemed to pose a danger to themselves or others will be addressed at the discretion of the tournament director.
The tournament director will serve as the ultimate authority within the ring. The disciplinary procedure will generally constitute first a yellow card (warning), then a red card (penalty), then an expulsion from the match or tournament; however, it shall remain at the discretion of the director. Fighters who have been banned from attendance from other major HEMA tournaments, must contact staff before attempting to register for any tournaments.
Self-Calls
Fighters are able, and encouraged, to self-call attacks received; however, this is not required. A fighter who self-calls is only able to provide information to the match director, who may choose to use or discard the information as appropriate (eg, if the attack was flat). A fighter may only self-call in a manner which rewards their opponent. Valid self-calls are:
- Indicating they were struck if judges missed the call.
- Indicating they were struck in a higher value target than the judges are indicating.
- Indicating that they did not strike the opponent or their strike lacked quality.
- Indicating that they struck the opponent in a lower value target than indicated.
- If a fighter being awarded a clean hit self-calls a Double Hit the exchange will be recorded as a No Exchange.
- If a fighter in a Double Hit calls their strike back it is up to the director if they will accept the self call or not, depending on their certainty of the original ruling.
Penalties
Penalties will be assessed as Safety or non-Safety. Safety penalties are escalating in nature, and follow the following escalation:
- Yellow Card - Warning
- Red Card - Point deduction (3 points)
- Black Card - Match forfeit
- Expulsion from the tournament
Based on the severity of the infraction a director may choose to skip steps of escalation. Safety penalties are tracked across all tournaments and the director will base the escalation of the first offense based on the fighter’s prior safety record.
Non-Safety penalties (aka White Cards) are a 1 point deduction, and do not result in any escalation or disciplinary action.
Any fighter who is awarded a penalty will have any scoring actions they performed be invalidated (aka they never happened).
Promptness
All fighters are expected to be ready to fight as soon as their match is called. This includes:
- Being queued up behind their corner.
- Having all their gear on.
Not being ready when your match is called will result in a penalty. It may only be a few seconds to you, but it adds up over hundreds of matches! Be courteous to everyone's time and be ready to start with no delays.
Match Length
Point Cap
All matches will be conducted until a point cap of 3 points is reached.
Time Limit
Matches will run using a stopped clock. At no point will a hold be called based on the clock expiring, and all time-outs will be based on the current time after the director has called for an exchange to end.
If no fighter reaches the point cap before 90 seconds the match will enter overtime. If a fencer in the lead is awarded a point after overtime begins they will win the match. However if they are unable to gain a point then the match will continue. (Aka if you are behind after 90 seconds you still have the potential for a comeback over multiple exchanges. If you are winning after 90 seconds you need to only score a single point to seal the deal.)
Should the clock exceed 150 seconds (2.5 min) at the conclusion of an exchange the match will hit the hard-cap and the fighter with the higher score will be declared the winner.
Bracket Advancement
After the conclusion of the pools the fighters will be ranked by indicator score. It will be announced on the day what percentage of fighters will be advanced into a single elimination bracket.
Scoring Actions
Quality Standards
Points will be awarded for cuts/thrusts/slices/etc. in accordance with the rules of the individual tournaments. Scoring actions must display:
- Deliberate intent and targeting on the part of the attacker.
- Sufficient depth. Cuts with the tip of the sword or shallow thrusts are not scoring actions.
Cuts
Cuts must be delivered with sufficient cutting plane, body structure, and blade arc.
- Cutting plane is defined as the blade moving in line with a deliberate plane (edge alignment) and the sword moving along such a plane for the position of its movement immediately before striking the target. Special attention will be paid to horizontal strikes, as these typically display poor cutting plane and edge alignment.
- Sufficient body structure, which is not indicated by how hard the cut hits, but in demonstrating connection between the body and sword at the time of impact.
- Your dagger must display rotation before contact with the target, typically in excess of 60 degrees. Arc should not be considered the only determinant of quality, as some strikes may be acceptable given a very good cutting plane and body structure with shorter arc, and cuts with no structure/cutting plane will not be valid no matter how large the arc.
Thrusts
Thrusts must demonstrate the ability to penetrate into the target beyond a superficial depth. This is at a bare minimum of at least 3” into the target and can be demonstrated by a bend of the blade or visible force reaction at the point of contact. Should a fighter deliberately shorten the extension of their arm to lower the force of a thrust it will also be considered as a quality attack.
It is understood that due to the design of HEMA masks a thrust to the mesh will have a high instance of being deflected on contact. It is further understood that the movement of a fighter may allow them to ‘roll out’ of contact from a thrust. A thrust that ‘glances off’ is a product of our protective gear, real sword points stick! (Though a thrust that misses and is pushed against the target with the flat is of course not valid, no matter how much the blade bends.)
Pommel Strikes
Pommel strikes will not be considered valid strikes in any capacity in these tournaments. Please note that actually performing a pommel strike on your opponent will be considered a Forbidden Action.
Targets
Target Area Definitions
“Upper opening”, for the purpose of these rules, includes both the head and cuts landing on the top of the torso, in an area from shoulder seam to shoulder seam. This is to both reduce judging error for head strikes, and reward fencing based on intention (fencing for high targets) rather than luck (they moved their head out of the way). Should there be any lack of clarity if a blow struck the “upper opening” or arm target area a default of arm shall be taken - because you already missed the head by a wide margin.
Arm strikes will also include hand strikes. A strike to the handle of the sword will be considered as a strike to the hands. Note that full quality requirements are also in place for strikes to the hands.
Torso is the remaining area above the waist, Leg is below the waist. (Typically indicated by the bottom of the jacket.)
The foot/ankle is an illegal target in all tournaments
In the event of disagreement from the judges on the target area struck the point value will be decided at the discretion of the director. Typically, this will mean defaulting to the lower value target.
Blade Grabs & Disarms
Disarms, intentional or accidental, are not scoring actions. A fighter must follow up a disarm with a valid scoring action (they don’t have a sword, just give them a light tap!). Should a fighter lose their weapon they may also concede a maximum point strike instead of attempting to enter distance for a grapple. (Running away is considered conceding.)
A blade may only be grabbed if it is not in motion, otherwise it will be counted as a scoring action to the hand. If the sword was in the process of attacking a high point value target, Target Substitution rules will apply.
Target Substitution
If an arm is struck and
- It is not currently holding the sword,
- The strike was likely to be a high value strike had it not hit the arm (cut/thrust head, thrust torso),
the attack will instead be registered against the higher value target. This is a point substitution, and not a warning/cardable offense.
Timing Of Actions
Double Hits
A double hit is defined as any time both fighters land valid scoring actions that were “in-flight” at the same time. It is possible for the hits to not be simultaneous, so long as the later hit was already moving forward when the first hit landed.
- Example: [A] is circling their sword around to chamber when the strike from [B] lands, after which [A] swings the sword forward and strikes [B]. The attack from [A] was not started before they were struck, and it is not a double hit. (See the section on afterblows.)
- Example: [A] see’s [B] circle their sword back to chamber, and launches an attack into the opening. By the time [A]’s strike lands the attack from [B] has already begun moving forward, and the attack from [B] lands shortly after. This is a double hit because both attacks were in flight at the same time.
Double Hits are recorded as no match score for each fighter, and are factored into the overall indicator score. There is an increasing deduction for each double hit, cumulative over the entire pool. (-1/-2/-3/ etc).
If 3 double hits are recorded in a pool match, the match will end with no winner.
If a double hit is very obviously the result of one party ignoring the threat of the opponent’s weapon an additional penalty will be assessed to this fighter.
- Example: Attacks to the lower torso or legs when the opponent is chambered to cut to the upper opening.
Afterblow Definition
The afterblow is a valid scoring hit landing as the next action after a clean (aka non-double) hit. Any attack, step, or feint consumes the chance for an afterblow. An afterblow will deduct -1 from the point value of the initial attack’s score.
Pulling of Attacks
In just about all cases an attack that is “pulled” before it makes impact is not a valid scoring action. To be awarded points you must strike your opponent! (Though it is certainly considered good sportsmanship to strike as softly as possible when presented with an opening your opponent has no hope of defending.)
The exception to this rule is if their opponent has created an unsafe situation through their own actions (eg: expose back of the head, fall down). Should there be any risk to safety, for any reason, a fighter is expected to make every effort to pull back a strike in progress and/or not launch a strike to begin with. However, if a fighter can demonstrate they retained the wherewithal and capacity to launch an attack they will receive the maximum allowed point value for the exchange.
Should a dangerous situation arise due to an action outside of the fighter's control (eg: gear failure) both fighters should immediately stop fighting and any actions delivered during or after the safety hold will not be valid scoring actions.
- Example: A fighter’s elbow pad falls off and they hit their opponent in the next action. It will be assumed that their opponent was attempting to withdraw at the sight of the equipment failure, and therefore they were not fully committed to the fencing actions occurring.
Equipment
In the interest of promoting a professional HEMA image we do not allow heavy armor (breast plates, ect) or fantasy styled armors. In addition no protruding/dangling objects may be added on to tournament protective equipment or masks, except for those which are intended as safety modifications (i.e. addition of additional protective plates). Any equipment which serves as a distraction to judges or participants (bells, inappropriate mask paint, etc) is not permitted. Disqualification of equipment rests at the discretion of the tournament manager, the event is under no obligation to allow you to use your custom or non-standard equipment.
All protective equipment and weapons must be inspected prior to competition.
The following equipment is required for all sparring tournaments:
- Masks with back of the head protection are required. (Back of head protectors which are are capable of sliding down are not acceptable. Example ↓)
- Trachea protection that protects the throat from a direct thrust is required.
- Testicle protection is required, groin protection is recommended for all participants.
- Rigid chest protection is recommended but not required.
- Hard elbow protection that covers the 3 points of the elbow is recommended but not required.
- Hard knee protection that covers the knee is recommended but not required.
- No exposed skin will be permitted. (This also means on the back of your shins!)
The equipment standards for the following are dictated by the weapon tournament:
- Gloves
- Jacket
- Shin/Forearm
