Youth Armoured Combat Draft:Rules of All Combat

General

1. Conventions may be modified for a specific tournament with the full explanation of the changes given to all of the combatants.
2. All combatants shall use the minimum armor and weapons standards for their division
3. All youth combatants shall have their armor and weapons are inspected by a youth combat marshal prior to combat at each and every SCA event or fighting practice.
4. A rostered marshal may disallow use of any weapon, or armor, deemed to be unsafe from use upon the field of combat.
5. All combatants shall act in a courteous and chivalrous manner at all times.
6. No one may be required to participate in combat related activities.
7. No weapons shall be thrown within the Lists of a tournament.
8. No striking an opponent with excessive force
9. The instructions of the marshals on the field shall be followed at all times.
10. Should a safety issue arise the marshal will call “HOLD” and all combat activity in the list will stop until the marshal indicates that it is safe to resume.
11. Each fighter shall maintain control over their temper at all times.
12. No behavior that takes deliberate advantage of an opponent’s chivalry or safety-consciousness, or that takes deliberate unfair advantage of an opponent
13. A fighter shall not deliberately strike a helpless opponent.
14. Any fighter who obtains an unfair advantage by repeatedly becoming “helpless” (for example, by falling down or losing their weapon) may, after being warned by the marshals on the field, be forced to yield the fight at the next occurrence of such behavior.
15. No grappling, tripping, throwing, punching, kicking, and wrestling
16. No deliberately striking an opponent with a shield (shield bashing)
17. No grasping an opponent’s person, shield, or weapon

Target areas

1. The following target areas apply to youth armoured combat:
   1. Torso: All of the body (excluding the head and arms) above the points of the hips, the groin, shoulder blades and the area between the neck and the shoulders will be considered part of the torso.
   2. Face: The area between the chin and the middle of the forehead and between the ear openings.
      1. Thrusts to the face are not allowed in Division 1.
   3. Head: The whole head and neck except the face as defined above.
   4. Thighs: The leg from 25.4mm (1 inch) above the top of the knee to a line even with the bottom of the hip socket.
   5. Hips: Area between the bottom of the hip socket to the point of the hip (iliac crest).
   6. Shoulder: From the point of the shoulder down to a line even with the top of the underarm.
   7. Arms: From the shoulder to 25.4mm (1 inch) above the wrist joint.
2. Shots to the groin and throat are legal, but discouraged.

Acknowledgement of Blows

1. The different divisions have different calibration
   1. Division 1 : Intentional Touch. This is a clean, unimpeded blow that is readily felt through a single layer of medium weight cloth, but is not hard enough to sting on bare skin.
      Face thrusts are not allowed.
   2. Division 2: Positive Contact. This is a clean, unimpeded blow that is readily felt through 5 mm of padded cloth, but is not hard enough to sting in an area covered by medium weight cloth.
      Face thrusts have touch calibration.
   3. Division 3: Light Force. This is a clean, unimpeded blow that may be readily felt through 9 mm of closed cell foam, but is not hard enough to hurt through 5 mm of padded cloth.
      Face thrusts have touch calibration.
   4. It is recommended that marshals use material of the appropriate thickness to demonstrate levels of calibration.
2. Excessively hard blows are not permitted in any division.
3. Any combatant who persists in hitting too hard after appropriate warning shall be removed from the field and may be subject to additional sanctions such as having their authorization suspended.
4. Youth combatants are encouraged to honorably judge the effectiveness of blows they receive. The opposing combatant may not judge the effectiveness of their own blow. Information not available to the combatant being struck may be supplied by the opposing combatant or the marshal, including blade orientation upon impact, apparent force transmitted, or apparent location and angle of the blow’s impact based upon the observer’s angle of observation. When necessary, the marshal on the field shall intervene and call blows.
5. Special tournaments or combat rules may redefine what areas of the body are armored, and to what extent, so long as all the participants are made aware of the special conditions prior to the start of combat.
6. An effective blow will be defined as one that was properly oriented, and struck with sufficient force.
7. The minimum effective thrusting blow to the face shall be a touch. A correctly calibrated face thrust touches the face grill of the helm but does not move the head.
8. Areas deemed illegal to strike: the hands from 25 mm above the wrist and below, the legs from 25 mm above the knees and below; shall be considered safe from all attack.
9. An effective blow to the head, neck, or torso shall be judged fatal or completely disabling, rendering the fighter incapable of further combat.
10. An effective blow to the arm above the wrist will disable the arm. The arm shall then be considered useless to the fighter and may not be used for either offense or defense.
    A second blow to a disabled arm is considered to have struck the torso.
11. An effective blow to the leg above the knee will disable the leg. The fighter must then fight kneeling, sitting, or standing on the foot of the uninjured leg.
12. The minimum effective blow from any THROWN weapon is touch.
    1. Javelins, when used as one-handed thrusting weapons, require the same force as any other thrusting weapon appropriate for that division.
    2. When judging the outcome of a delivered blow, all fighters are expected to take into account the nature of the weapon being used by their opponent and the location of the point of impact of that weapon.
    3. A blow that strikes with sufficient force and proper orientation shall be considered effective, regardless of what it hits prior to striking the combatant.
    4. A blow that includes the dropping of the striking weapon, at the moment of impact, shall not be counted.