Empire of Medieval Pursuits - Heavy Combat Rules

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Empire of Medieval Pursuits - Heavy Combat Rules

Postby Turin » Wed Jun 18, 2008 7:51 am

Taken from the website:

The Empire of Medieval Pursuits
Heavy Combat Rules

The pursuit of excellence in combat arts was central to virtually every ancient culture as its future often depended on its warriors. Throughout the history of armored combat, non- lethal war games have been considered an essential element of training those warriors. The EMP is no different and endeavors to foster those traditions and skills in the relative safety of a Behordium like tradition. The EMP provides a loosely structured environment for its adherents to expand their knowledge and skills at “combat”. Hereafter are the current rules and guidelines for armored combat with the Empire of Medieval Pursuits.

CONVENTIONS OF COMBAT

In the EMP we acknowledge that each combatant is primarily responsible for his own safety and secondarily in care of all other combatants. Therefore, injuries are never solely the responsibility of the aggressor but always some combination of the injured and injurious parties’ skill and intent. If a combatant is found to be a danger to others through either a lack of skill or malicious intent then the appropriate authority shall sanction him.

A. General Requirements:

1. Each fighter, recognizing and embracing the possibilities of physical injury to him or herself in such combat, shall assume unto himself or herself all risk and liability for harm suffered by means of such combat. Other participants shall likewise recognize the risks involved in their presence on or near the field of combat, and shall assume unto themselves the liabilities thereof.

2. All combatants shall adhere to the appropriate armor and weapons standards of the Empire and shall not engage in combat until they have satisfied themselves, at each and every EMP sponsored event, that their armor and weapons are within those standards and are suitable for battle.

3. No fighter shall engage in combat unless and until he or she has inspected the field of combat and satisfied himself or herself that it is suitable for combat.

4. No person shall participate in Combat-Related Activities outside of formal training sessions unless he or she shall have been properly authorized under Empire procedures.

5. No one is required to engage in Empire combat should he or she prefer not to do so.

6. All combatants must be presented to, and be acceptable to, the Sovereign or his or her representative.

7. The Sovereign or the Marshallate may bar any weapon, armor, or individual from the field of combat. Should a warranted Marshal bar any weapon or armor, an appeal may be made to the Sovereign to allow the weapon or armor.

8. Every fighter shall accept full responsibility for the condition of his or her own equipment. Each fighter has the obligation to himself or herself and all opponents, to see that his or her equipment meets all Empire and personal safety requirements.

9. Engaging in any Empire combat activity with the deliberate intent to inflict egregious harm is strictly forbidden.

10. No combatant may bear any weapon onto the field while participating in combat that does not conform to EMP combat standards. (Steel weapons are expressly prohibited)

B. Behavior on the field:



1. Striking an opponent with excessive force is forbidden.

2. All fighters shall heed the commands of the marshals on the field, or risk being subject to disciplinary action.

3. Each fighter shall maintain control over his or her temper at all times.

4. Upon hearing the call of “HOLD” all fighting shall IMMEDIATELY stop.

5. A fighter shall not enter the lists or participate in any form of EMP combat activity while impaired by alcohol or drugs (including, but not limited to: drugs prescribed by a licensed health care provider, over the counter medications, and illegal controlled substances.)

6. A fighter shall not substantively strike a helpless opponent.

C. Target Areas



Torso: All of the body (excluding the head and arms) above the points of the hips including the groin, shoulder blades and the area between the neck and the shoulders will be considered part of the torso.

Face: the area between the chin and the middle of the forehead and between the ear openings.

Head: The whole head and neck except the face as defined above.

Upper leg: The leg from the knee to a line even with the bottom of the hip socket.

Lower leg: the leg from the knee to a line one-inch above the ankle.

Arms: From the shoulder to one inch above the wrist.

Hands: From one inch above the wrist and including the entire hand/gauntlet.



D. The Use of Weapons and Shields:

1. Weapons shall be used in accordance with their design and no part of a weapon not specifically designed for striking an opponent shall be used to do so.

2. Only weapons designed and approved for thrusting may be used for that purpose.

3. The striking surface of a weapon in motion may not be grasped or blocked by the hands or limbs as a means of impeding a blow.

4. A shield may be used to displace, deflect, or immobilize an opponent’s shield or weapon, so long as such use does not substantially endanger the safety of the combatants.

E. Acknowledgement of Blows:

1. Blow Calling and the “Tell” – the method used for determining the victor of a standard martial contest in the EMP is very simple. A combatant honorably yields the fight when he has received a predetermined number of impacts/hits from his combatants. These strikes (or blows) are to be divided into three categories, telling (i.e.: debilitating) minor (i.e.: wounding), and ineffectual (i.e.: glancing or weak)

2. In a standard EMP tournament or skirmish victory is determined by any of several stated conditions. This is hereafter called the “Tell”. Generally, the Tell consists of either one substantive blow delivered to the head, neck, torso, or groin of an opponent, or a total of three minor blows to any part of the combatant excepting those restricted by war convention. The exceptions to this rule are when mutually agreed combatants decide to vary the standard tell to suit their own training needs or in judicial duels.

3. When judging the effect of blows, all fighters are presumed to be wearing “armor as worn”.
a. Under this standard, a telling blow to the face of a fighter with a bar grill representing an open face helm would be lighter than to other portions of the head or body.

4. Telling blows are those that a combatant judges would have either stunned, incapacitated, or outright killed them in the course of a battle using actual weapons. Generally, blows that inflict some measure of pain, stop forward motion, cause a loss of breath, or impress the combatant upon whom they are struck are “telling” blows.

5. Any blow thrown at an opponent who is unaware of the impending shot should be limited to the force of a minor blow but will always be counted as a telling blow regardless of actual impact.

6. Any blow thrown at an opponent who is prone or has more than two points of contact with the ground should be limited to the force of a minor blow but will always be counted as a telling blow regardless of actual impact.

7. Minor blows are those that the combatant can detect but do not measure up to the standard described as a substantive blow. Be definition, these blows do not have to be “substantive” but should not be overly glancing or weak.

8. Any blow to an extremity may be counted as minor at the discretion of the combatant receiving the blow.

9. Any blow directed at a combatant who is not aware of the initiating opponent or prone should never be thrown with substantive force.

10. Ineffectual Blows are those that create no detectable kinetic impact upon those who are struck. (ie: the combatant struck felt no impact whatsoever)

11. If a blow is judged to be ineffectual it need not be counted toward the “Tell”.

12. When a blow is judged to be ineffectual it is in effect requesting the opponent to strike harder.

13. Body to Body contact consists of all forms of grappling, sweeps, and strikes designed to unbalance or disorient an opponent or otherwise interfere with his ability to do battle.

14. Grapples may be initiated and maintained against any weapon or extremity with the exception of the hands, feet, or head.

15. Submission locks and holds are prohibited.

16. Strikes with the extremities may be used to unbalance or disorient an opponent but inflexible objects (ie: pommel weights for weapons) may not.

17. Body to body contact is not considered lethal and any strikes made to armored areas need not be counted toward the “tell”.

F. Conventions of War

1. Due to the extra hazards afforded by group combat certain modifications to the standard EMP combat conventions shall be observed.

2. Striking at or below the knee is prohibited, except by missile weapons.

3. Not more than two individuals can be involved in any form of grapple, unless that combat has devolved to ground fighting.

4. Minor blows are not counted to the body and head, blows to these areas are either telling, or not.

5. Plate is proof against missile weapons.
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Re: Empire of Medieval Pursuits - Heavy Combat Rules

Postby Olos » Thu Jun 19, 2008 1:02 pm

Very interesting. I would definitely not mind trying this sometime. I like the telling blow system as well.
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Re: Empire of Medieval Pursuits - Heavy Combat Rules

Postby Turin » Thu Jun 19, 2008 1:20 pm

Turin wrote:5. Plate is proof against missile weapons.


This is my favorite part, I think. Man, if this one thing were in our ruleset, the amount of plate would jump dramatically; not to mention the lightning power of the archer would take a nice balancing hit.
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Re: Empire of Medieval Pursuits - Heavy Combat Rules

Postby Solusar » Thu Jun 19, 2008 2:17 pm

I like that is says I can punch people in the face as non-fatal blows.
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