A New Battle Form

[wismetalman]

I don't yet know what it is going to be called, but a friend and I are setting up a new fighting group based around the rules of Belegarth; borrowing some elements from mixed martial arts fighting with an emphasis on solo fighting and arms training. I have been fighting for a decent amount of time and feel that fighting sports should be more closely related to weapons training. I've taken some hard blows and realize that, for some people, a single soft boffer strike is all they can take. Our sport is all about endurance and truly pushing the body to its limit as they would have done in medieval training.

This is the basic premise: Tournament competition with full contact that would be acceptable in MMA fighting. We are allowing full contact hand to hand fighting in MMA approved gloves. The weapons hit like a good punch and are as heavy as a real corresponding weapon. Weapons including axes, spears, swords, hammers, daggers, maces, polearms... etc. (Belegarth approved weapon types) are allowed. No snares and hooking weapons (same rules as Belegarth). In essence, the rules are a battle till the inability to fight, not 2 limb strike count or critical strike. This is more about mimicking training than it is about actually fighting. Fights are usually held in free for all, small team, and one on one formats. Larger team fights follow the same rules as Belegarth.

In a sense, it is very brutal... but the general intention is to create a battle environment that mimics real medieval battle training. By allowing boffer type endurance fighting with minimal armor and full contact brawling, we are trying to recreate the use of squire's training weaponry. We plan to develop real fighting styles and a sport that is real fighting. Yes, It's going to hurt. Yes, you can potentially get injured, but at the end of the day, it is really no more painful than boxing.

I am looking for any suggestions, comments, questions... etc. I really want to develop this fully and potentially get it up and running as a spin off of Belegarth.

[Sir Anastasia]

I have so much trouble finding liability insurance and protection for my realm and events with as much emphasis on safety that we already have. How can people afford to insure these types of sports?

I know groups like the SCA have deeper coffers for insurance and require considerable armor for combat participation, but I can't imagine a sport with mass weapons where you fight to submission and you do not wear extensive armor.

The advent of boxing gloves greatly increased the incidence of fatalities in that sport because beforehand people had the sense not to break their own hands when punching someone - with that removed - people could hit harder and more people died. What will be the consequence of having mass weapons? Are you planning on having people wear full armor? Will it bother you when someone dies (at least 3 people have died in the last year in official MMA sanctioned events)?

Other than the obvious conclusion that you are probably going to make my insurance premium go up after someone is seriously injured, have you considered the risk of this activity in earnest? What type of legal protections have you considered for your group? Does your insurance carrier insure this for a good price?

My recommendation is to look carefully to the SCA on advice as to how to proceed. With an excellent safety record, the SCA has had tens of thousands participate in heavy combat over the years without fatalities.

[wismetalman]

Thank you so much. You're correct that it is potentially very dangerous and full contact could become messy legally. We are currently considering revisions that implement Kensyobudo rules. To prevent injury, the weapon mass has been modified to make weapons blade light and handle heavy (less striking force but maintained weapon weight realism). We are considering incorporating elements used in Kensyobudo like critical strikes, disables, light hand to hand striking, and grappling. There will always be the option to tap out or stop at any time and if safety is ever a question, we are implementing a ref system as well. Any continued support would be helpful.

[Sir Anastasia]

That's interesting. I found one video on Kensyobudo where the combat looked neat and the weapons almost looked like padded weapons, but another video had different combat weapons, so I'm not sure what it is exactly. Both the videos had more interesting combat. At least if the mass is more behind, that should help with liability and risk. Good luck.

[Kyrian]

You might want to look into the Empire of Medieval Pursuits (EMP). They use rattan and armor but also allow bashing and grappling under a counted-blow system.

http://www.empiremp.com/

[bangor]

Look into ARMA and HACA as well. What you are getting into is actual martial arts, not battlegaming.

[Celtic Christ]

Before Bel I came from a practical CQC background. I was taught the muscle memory by slow repetitive strikes and half speed sparring drills. i'm all for building up a game that reinforces skills that could potentially save my life, not so much at the expense of having the **** beaten out of me though.

[Mefit the Merciless]

Also check out ACL and the IMCF for all your full contact, full force, medieval combat.

[Orkin]

As long as you have everyone sign waivers, there shouldn't be too much problem.
Look at what Dog Brothers does, for Crom's sake.