SCA Tournament Combat

In the SCA, we practice a martial art that re-creates how pre-sixteenth-century armoured combat would look like to the spectators and feel like to the participants, but while protecting the combattants from injury. What we've chosen is a tournament-like combat style, using real armour (some borrowed from other sports like football or hockey, and some created ourselves), but wooden weapons made of rattan (a form of bamboo that doesn't splinter when it breaks).

We don't use steel weapons because we don't want to have to use choreography or quarter-speed moves that people who fight with steel (theatre troupes, for example) need to use. This way, we can attack our opponent full-speed and full-strength and know that he won't be injured even if he fails to block it properly, which makes the fight much more realistic.

It also makes the outcome of a fight dependent on the skill of the fighters -- just like in football, we don't know who's going to win a particular battle -- which is what not needing to choreograph our moves gains us. We don't re-enact particular battles, with the strategy of both sides (and who wins) known in advance; instead, we re-create the fighting style, create our own strategy, and see who can win the day.

If you're interested, please contact one of our Officers for help getting in touch with someone to show you the ropes. Ordinarily, we would send you to the Knight's Marshall or the Mistress of the Lists, but both positions are vacant at the moment. We don't have scheduled fighter practices for that reason, but I'm sure the other officers will be able to get you in touch with someone who can help you.

The detailed rules for our combat style can be found on the East Kingdom Knight's Marshall's web site, located at http://marshal.eastkingdom.org.