by Freyson » Sat Jul 16, 2005 10:35 pm
Basically there are 4 possibilities:
1) Fighter A has the weapon by the non-striking surface, fighter B has the weapon by the striking surface. Result - B looses arm.
2) Fighter A and Fighter B are both holding the non-striking surface. Result - 2 guys playing tug o' war.
3) Fighter A and Fighter B both have a grip on the non-striking surface and a grip on the striking surface. Result - Depends on the herald watching, either both loose a limb or neither loose a limb.
4) Fighter A and fighter B both have a grip on the striking surface. Result - Same as #3.
This basically all depends on possession, not ownership. The ?opponent?s? weapon in the rule is the weapon in possession of the opponent, not one lying on the field. The tough stuff comes in when possession is contested or not apparent at the same time as a gripping of the striking surface, like in examples #3 and #4. Originally the rule was applied only to gripping a blade. The reason for this was that there is no way someone can hold onto a sharp blade while someone else was trying to rip it out of their hand. Plus it is infinitely easier to hold onto a compressible piece of 3? wide foam than a real blade. The rule was changed to include all striking surfaces for safety reasons. One guy holding onto a weapon handle and yanking while someone else holds onto the foam and pulls the other way is not too good for the safety of the weapon. It was easier to call someone limbed for gripping the striking surface than to recheck a weapon after a good grapple.
In #3 both have possession of the weapon and neither have possession. Both are holding by a non-striking surface and a striking surface. Even with a sword, in reality both would be moving both hands in such a way that until one of them let loose the hilt there would be little chance of a real injury. I can see why for safety reasons a herald may call both limbed, but if a herald is close enough for that they are close enough to do a quick safety check on the weapon right after.
In #4 both are holding the weapon in a way that neither is able to do much more damage to the other guy?s hand without doing it to their own. Neither can get a good enough grip on a blade, and if it was a club type weapon it wouldn?t matter. Again, it is a safety issue of the foam.
In Southern Marches we grapple quite a bit. It is not uncommon to see a grapple every fight. We usually would not call limbs on #3 and #4. But as soon as the possession was established then the limb would be lost. I would say that these are situational depending on the weapon and reality. Let the herald decide, that?s their job.