MK Marshal's Handbook - Tournament Field Procedures

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See Marshal's handbook

Tournament Field Procedures

A. General

Promoting safety and awareness helps to ease running tournaments. Checking on the following items will ensure that your tournament runs well:

1. Everyone in the Lists should have visited the List table and signed waivers or/and showed their blue membership cards.

2. Keep the Lists cleared of nonessential people. This includes any tourney officers (Marshals or constables) who are not paying attention to the proceedings. No one should ever stand near the Lists with his/her back to the fighting.

3. Check the fighting surface between bouts for potential problems.

4. Check combatants as they enter for general repair of their equipment. They may have had something damaged in the previous bout or may have forgotten to put a piece of armor back on they removed between bouts.

5. Keep a good sight line between the List table and the Lists.

6. The Marshals should be wearing the designated marshal’s tabard, baldric or badge of office for their activity while on duty.

B. Marshal Requirements

1. Ideally, have a minimum of three Marshals, or if more, then always an odd number observing the combatants.

2. The Marshals should maintain the best clear view of the action, moving as necessary.

3. One Marshal should be designated as the "Presiding Marshal", who is responsible for signaling the commencement of the fight, arbitration and its continuance after any Hold. The role of presiding Marshal can be rotated among the Marshals as necessary.

4. Marshals are strongly encouraged to withdraw and appoint a replacement in tournaments where their affiliations to a combatant may cause their judgment to be questioned. This is very important in Crown Lists, and should not be treated lightly. It is better to voluntarily remove yourself than to have a senior Marshal request you to do so.

5. Marshals are expected to maintain their own tempers, remain objective and encourage calm discourse in the Lists. A cooling down period can be called if necessary to restore order and calmness.

C. Starting the Tournament Bout

As a bout begins, several preliminaries, both practical and symbolic, must be performed:

1. The Marshals must check the combatants to insure that they are wearing all required armor. If they are not, then the bout cannot proceed. Combatants should be encouraged to identify their own, and inspect each other's weapons closely so that each is aware of what they are facing.

2. Prior to the start of the bout all combatants must be asked if they have read and understand the Rules of the List and Conventions of Combat, and if they have signed a waiver. All must have done so before entering the Lists.

3. The formal ceremony of commencing a bout is generally split between the Presiding Marshal and the Field Herald:

a. The Herald tells the combatants to salute the Crown, those that "inspire them," and their opponents, then to heed the Marshals.

b. The presiding Marshal then asks the combatants if they bear any offensive steel on the field, and if they are wearing all of their armor. The presiding Marshal, and only the presiding Marshal, asks if they are prepared and then commences the fight with "EN GARDE, LAY ON" or the equivalent.

4. Once the tournament is underway, and at the Presiding Marshal's discretion, acknowledging all honors as previously given may shorten the preliminaries, or to do such honors as they desire, and then begin the bout.

D. During the Bout As the bouts continue, the Marshals should look for and immediately respond to any condition dangerous to the combatants or the spectators. When it occurs the Marshal must:

1. Call "HOLD" to stop the action

a. Correct the condition or situation

b. If the situation requires repositioning the combatants, make sure they remain in the same relative positions and at the same distance relative to one another as when the Hold was called.

2. Continue the bout with the commands, "EN GARDE -- CONTINUE."

E. Conduct in the Lists and Judging Blow Acceptance

1. Judging blows is the primary responsibility of the combatants, but there are exceptions to this rule. When the blow is not good for reasons the combatants cannot see -- i.e., it is flat or struck with the haft -- the Marshal must inform the combatants. Also, if the combatants ask for an opinion, the Marshal should clearly comment on the "cleanness" of the blow and what was hit, or state that an opinion cannot be given (due to blocked

vision, etc.). It must be strongly emphasized that the combatant who wants an opinion on a blow should ask the opponent involved first. To do otherwise is discourteous. If at all possible, the struck combatant should make the decision.

2. The effectiveness of blows struck in the course of Society combat are judged by each combatant on the honor system, based on the Universal Armor Standard. The honor system creates a complex environment because of the many factors involved; even if two identical blows could be delivered to two different combatants, they may feel them differently. Judging primarily by the force of the blows has led in the past to rapid escalation of force, particularly among long-time or heavily armored combatants.

3. It is the policy of the Middle Kingdom Marshallate that the first consideration in judging the effectiveness of blows should be cleanness, i.e., whether or not the weapon struck with the weapon's effective area without being impeded, glancing, or being partially blocked by the defender's shield or weapon. Blows must, of course, be struck with reasonable force, but a clean blow by definition should be taken unless it is indeed exceptionally light or inherently ineffective.

Note: An inherently ineffective blow, for example, is a saber-style wrist flick, which is very fast but could not penetrate armor. A well-delivered blow that is unblocked should be taken. If an accurate sense of judgment as prescribed by the Rules of the List seems to be lacking in a fight, the Presiding Marshal should recall three things:

a. The Marshal has the informal power to persuade the combatants to correct intentional or unintentional misconduct, and the formal power to enforce the rules through the powers delegated by the Crown.

b. The use of informal persuasion is preferable, whenever possible.

c. The Marshal can formally, in extreme cases, award victory in a fight, eject a combatant from the Lists and/or require reauthorization, or even disassociate the SCA., Inc from an event where the Rules of the List are being ignored.

F. Marshallate Intervention

Marshals (because they are observers) are restricted in their ability to actually judge blows received by an opponent, but in some cases it becomes obvious that blows are not being acknowledged properly. Intervening in a bout when the participants have not requested assistance is one of the stickiest situations marshals can find themselves in. On one hand, we want the combatants to be the first, best arbiters of the bout. On the other hand, we are charged with enforcing the Rules of the Lists and Conventions of Combat—to include calibration of blows and cannot in good conscience stand by when there is a concern that the blows are being missed by combatants. What follows is the preferred protocol for unrequested intervention:

1. Call Hold, preferably as soon as there is a natural break in the action. Wait a second to see if the “break” occurred because one of the combatants is waiting to see if his opponent will register the blow. This may be all it takes to start the dialogue. If not, call the Hold and advance when it is safe to do so.

2. Ask the question in a non-confrontational way and not directed to any combatant in particular. “Gentles, is there anything you need to discuss?” Pause to see if the dialogue starts.

3. If no one speaks up, address the combatant who threw the blow in question. Ask them if they thought the blow was good. Pantomime the blow while asking, using the recipient as a model. This identifies which blow you mean and it might serve to jog the memory of the recipient. If the combatant who threw the blow indicates that the blow was not good this should pretty much be the end of it. Only in the most extreme of circumstances should a marshal pursue the matter past this point. Resume the bout with a brief

apology for interrupting the action.

4. If the combatant who threw the blow indicates that they thought the blow was good, direct your question to the recipient. Avoid sounding accusatory but repeat the comments from the combatant who threw the blow. Encourage the combatants to talk to each other.

5. If the receiver indicates that they did not feel the blow was good, do a quick inspection of the armor in the area of impact to see if there is a physical explanation. If you find something, point out the problem and offer to give them a reasonable amount of time to correct it. Ask the recipient, given what you have found, if they’d like to reconsider accepting the blow.

6. If nothing is found to explain the discrepancies or the recipient is unwilling to accept the blow, the marshals must make a decision. The marshals present in the lists should quickly confer.

7. The senior marshal will then approach the combatants and offer a brief summary of what has happened to that point, ending with the consensus opinion of the marshals. Pause and let the combatants consider some more and try to come to a resolution.

8. If none is forthcoming, the senior marshal must make a quick decision based on their own observations of the blow, the subtleties of interaction between the combatants, and the consensus of the marshals. If the senior marshal feels there is sufficient cause, then they should inform the recipient that the blow is to be counted as good. If not, let the

bout continue.

9. After the combatants have worked through these discussions (with or without input from the marshals), the presiding marshal should indicate to the populace watching the bout in a loud and clear voice what was discussed and the result, keeping in mind the sensitive nature of such discussions and mindful of the honor of both combatants and their consorts.

There are several “themes” running through this process that marshals should keep in mind as a guide in this situation. First, the marshals should make every effort to let the combatants resolve the bout themselves, and encourage the dialogue. Second, the marshals should stay professional, courteous, and impartial. Third, the process should not be lengthy or drawn out. None of these steps takes more than a few seconds. Last, while the marshals have the authority to arbitrate blows it should be an *absolute* last resort.

G. Dealing with Unacceptable Technique Issues

Other problems that may require action by the Marshal include dangerous offensive techniques and illegal defensive techniques. The latter are covered fairly well by the conventions of combat. Dangerous offensive techniques are more serious and require prompt attention. Any combatant who purposely strikes repeatedly at an illegal target area, doesn't appear in control of the weapon or shield, or uses an obviously or patently dangerous technique should be dealt with in three steps:

1. Warning at the first offense.

2. Banning of the technique being abused at the second offense.

3. Forfeiting the fight at the third offense.

H. Equipment Failures

The most serious type is loss or failure of the helm. If a helmet comes off a combatant, or otherwise fails in the course of combat, the combatant is deemed immediately defeated. The reason for the occurrence must be carefully ascertained and steps taken to prevent reoccurrence. In the case of other armor failures, the Marshal should allow a reasonable amount of time to repair or replace the equipment.