Youth Armoured Combat Draft:Rules of All Combat

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General

1. Conventions can be modified for a specific tournament, as long as the changes are explained to all of the combatants. Which of these are conventions?
2. All combatants in a division must wear at least the minimum armor required, and follow the weapons standards for that division.
3. All youth combatants must have their armor and weapons are inspected by a youth combat marshal before combat at each and every SCA event or fighting practice.
4. A rostered youth armoured combat marshal can prevent the use of any weapon, or armour deemed to be unsafe.
5. All combatants must be courteous and chivalrous at all times.
6. No one is required to participate in youth armoured combat activities.
7. Throwing weapons is not allowed in tournaments.
8. The instructions of the marshals on the field must be followed at all times.
9. If there is a safety issue, the marshal will call "HOLD" and all combat activity in the list must stop until the marshal indicates that it is safe to resume.
10. Each fighter must maintain control over their temper at all times.
11. Fighters must not take deliberate advantage of an opponent's chivalry or safety-consciousness, or take deliberate unfair advantage of an opponent.
12. A fighter must not deliberately strike a helpless opponent. Examples of a helpless opponent include those who have fallen down or lost their weapon.
13. Any fighter who has been warned by the marshals about obtaining an unfair advantage by repeatedly becoming "helpless" may be required to yield the fight the next time it happens.
14. No striking an opponent with excessive force.
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

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.
8. Shots to the groin and throat are legal, but discouraged.

Acknowledgement of Blows

Figure 6.1: Kill and Wound Zones

Kill: Wound: Illegal Target:

Table 5 Calibration

Division	Calibration	Description
Division 1	Intentional touch	Clean, unimpeded blow that is readily felt through a single layer of medium weight cloth, but is not hard enough to leave a bruise on bare skin. Face thrusts are not allowed.
Division 2	Positive contact	Clean, unimpeded blow that is readily felt through 6 mm of open cell padding, but is not hard enough to leave a bruise in an area covered by medium weight cloth. Face thrusts have touch calibration.
Division 3	Light force	Clean, unimpeded blow that may be readily felt through 12 mm of open cell padding, but is not hard enough to leave a bruise through 6 mm of open cell foam padding. Face thrusts have touch calibration.

1. The different divisions have different calibration as shown in Table 5. We 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 will be removed from the field and can 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 does not judge the effectiveness of their own blow. Information not available to the combatant being struck can 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 will intervene and call blows.
5. Special tournaments or combat rules can redefine what areas of the body are armoured, and to what extent, so long as all the participants are made aware of the special conditions prior to the start of combat.These rules don't talk about presumed armour, so this rule could be irrelevant.
6. An effective blow is one that was properly oriented, and struck with sufficient force.
7. A blow that strikes with sufficient force and proper orientation is considered effective, regardless of what it hits before striking the combatant.
8. A blow that includes the dropping of the striking weapon at the moment of impact will not be counted.
9. The minimum effective thrusting blow to the face is a touch. A correctly calibrated face thrust touches the face grill of the helm but does not move the head.
10. Areas deemed illegal to strike: the hands from 25.4mm (1 inch) above the wrist and below, the legs from 25.4mm (1 inch) above the knees and below; is considered safe from all attack.
11. An effective blow to the head, neck, or torso is judged fatal or completely disabling, rendering the fighter incapable of further combat.
12. An effective blow to the arm above the wrist will disable the arm. The arm is then considered useless to the fighter and must not be used for either offense or defense. A second blow to a disabled arm is considered to have struck the torso.
13. 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.
14. The minimum effective blow from any thrown weapon is touch.
15. Javelins, when used as one-handed thrusting weapons, require the same force as any other thrusting weapon appropriate for that division.
16. 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.