Face Thrust
From MiddleWiki
A blow with a rattan sword equipped with a thrusting tip which lands on the faceplate of an opponent's helm. Not that since all combatents are assumed to be wearing open-faced helms, only thrusts to the "open" area of the helmet is considered good. Thrusts to the sides or back are not to be taken. It is perfectly legal (although not always advisable) to turn you head to avoid a face thrust.
The face thrust was not a legal technique In the Middle (as spelled out in the Middle Kingdom Rules of the List) until A.S. XXX, when the Earl Marshal approved it for experimental use. This began to bring the Middle into line with many other kingdoms which used face thrusts in armored combat. For an experienced combatant, an accidental face thrust was usually merely a faux pas, but it was taken as a lack of control in a combatant learning thrusting technique.
The knowledge that other kingdoms used the face thrust was for long regarded with a kind of mild and amused horror in the Middle. Now it is a conventional part of the sport.
Calibration
The calibration of face thrusts is addressed in the "conventions of combat of the SCA, Inc." and is reproduced in the Middle Kingdoms Armored Combatant Handbook, section 1.2.4, "Legal Target Area" which reads, in part:
"An acceptable thrusting blow to the face shall be a directed touch and would be substantially ligher than to other parts of the body."
"Directed touch" is a subjective description, but the MidRealm has decided that face thrusts shall be a touch convention, that is to say, the tip of the sword need only contact the face to be considered good, no real force is needed behind the blow. Note that thrusts to the throat use the same touch convention. It is often said that "there is no such thing as a light face thrust."
Even with the above defination, the reality is that the calibration of face thrusts differs from Kingdom to Kingdom, from full-force (as a body thrust) to only a touch.
Calibration at Pennsic
The Pennsic War uses the face thrusting convention of the East Kingdom. This is "positive force," and can best be described in words as a good "boink" to the face. The strength of the blow is much less than a similar slashing attack to the head (but marginally stronger than the touch convention of the MidRealm), and should never be so hard as to rock the head backwards. Note that excessive face thrusts do occur, and while it is acceptable to warn your opponent of the force, there are no grounds to refuse to accept the blow simply because of its power. Note also it is possible for a face thrust to land too light using this convention.
