[Ansteorra-rapier] Agreeing on weapons

James Crouchet james at crouchet.com
Sat Oct 13 12:58:57 PDT 2012


Some things that have been said about this subject are inaccurate so I
wanted to clarify and eliminate any confusion.

During one of the rules rewrites years ago I dropped the foil as the
"standard blade" for Ansteorra.  The standard blade was the blade which, if
they fighters could not agree on what weapon to use, would be the default
they MUST use.  I did NOT designate a new standard blade.  At the time this
was a controversial decision but I felt that our fighters should be mature
enough to decide between themselves on which blades to use.  The wording in
the the current rules is:

*It is the responsibility of fighters to agree upon what weapons or
optional blow calling conventions (such as "armor as worn") shall be used,
and to so inform the marshals, prior to combat. If this agreement cannot be
reached, the fighters may not engage in combat. The Marshal-in-Charge of
the combat activity will then make the determination as to how this
situation will affect those fighters' continued participation in that
event's activities.*

Obviously, *no one can be forced to fight with a weapon with which they are
not authorized*; that would violate Ansteorran and SCA rules.  So, there
are 3 possible situations to consider:

*1. One fighter is authorized in both styles but the other is only
authorized in one.*
The solution here should be obvious.  Since the fighter who is only
authorized in one style CANNOT fight the other style,  the fighter
authorized in both should fight with the weapon his opponent is authorized
to use, unless there is a very good reason not to.  *
Example:* I enjoy fighting Cut & Thrust but many of my opponents are not
authorized for it.  Most are authorized for rapier, as am I, so that is
what we fight.  If I entered a tournament and refused to fight with
anything but C&T, even when my opponent was not authorized for it, I would
expect to be sanctioned with a loss for any bouts I refused.

*2.  The two fighters are not authorized in the same style.*
The easy solution here is for the two fighters to be re-paired with other
people.  In Ansteorra fighters generally discuss and agree on weapons just
after the pairings are announced.  If there is a problem it should be
brought to the MIC at once so the pairings can be adjusted. Waiting until
the fight may mean there is no one left to pair them with.  As another
option, they could both face a destructive bye.  There are very few
situations where one of these solutions will not work, but one of those is
if these two fighters meet in the final bout of a tourney.  While I have
never seen an instance where the two finalists were not authorized in one
common weapon, it could happen.  In that case, there is still one offensive
weapon that is legal for all fighters: the single dagger.   Obviously, any
decision about what to do in the finals of a tournament must be in
accordance with the wishes of the sponsoring noble (baron/ess, queen,
etc.).  *
Example:* Several years ago when most Ansteorrans still started with epee
and several did not yet have authorization for (heavy) rapier, we had a
visitor from the Midrealm who was only authorized with with rapier.  In
general we tried to pair him with opponents also authorized with rapier but
in one round that would have meant pairing him with an opponent he had
fought one or two rounds before.  Instead, he and his opponent fought with
dagger.

*3. Both fighters are authorized in both styles.*
Ultimately, this is just a case of stubbornness unless there is a good
reason.  Again, the simple solution is to re-pair the fighters, though this
is rewarding bad behavior.  Alternately, both could face destructive byes
(I would tend to pick out very destructive byes) or they could both be
given a loss.  Again. they could fight with daggers.   I don't think I have
seen a situation where two fighters, authorized in the same weapons simply
could not pick one, but it could happen.
*Example:*  About 2 years ago my opponent in a bout was Don Miguel de
O'porto.  He was just coming back to the rapier field from a shoulder
injury.  He said he was cleared to fight, but handling the rapier was still
uncomfortable.  He asked if I would face him with epees.  Not being a total
ass-hat, I agreed.

Solutions that work in all 3 situations are:

   - Agree to fight with daggers
   - Re-pair the fighters
   - Have both face a destructive bye


Note that this method of negotiating weapons works, even for styles that
did not exist when the rule was written, such as C&T.  It also covers a
number of other conditions, such as blade grabbing and armor as worn.  The
Ansteorran fighters have stepped up and shown themselves to be reasonable
and courteous on this issue so problems have been extremely rare and
generally were easily resolved.  And, frankly, if two fighters are so
contentious that they cannot agree on weapons, I would be concerned for
their safety should they meet on the field.

If you do not wish to fight with epee the solution is simple:  do not
authorize with it.  Not only will you *never* be forced to fight with it,
you will not be allowed to fight with it in tournament.


Don Christian Doré
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