WEIRD OPEN 2024

A Note from the Organizers…

Last year’s WEIRD was probably our largest one yet (but we don’t really track that sort of stuff), and if we’re honest, it was probably just a little too big. With that foremost in mind, we are tightening the reins a little bit and forcing hard caps for tournament registrations. This will help keep the event running smooth and keep things easy for both the attendees and all of our staff.

As we continue to change things up, this year we are excited to host a small Invitational event and have fencers from across the country coming to participate. We are also excited to have a few selected workshops on Sunday morning, so we strongly encourage everyone to stick around and spend the morning with us.

Despite all those changes, WEIRD is still going to be focusing on being a single-exchange event. The focus this year has been a shift from more fights, to more meaningful fights. With the added benefit of getting you even more fights, as well. Expect smaller pools, but more rounds of pools. We will be modeling off swiss-pairs, and pooling folks with the same record into the same pool. This means that each round of pools will be important, and more interestingly, as you get further into the tournament, each pool will be among more equally skilled fencers. Lastly, instead of finals, we’re going to be doing an elimination line-up. Check out the rules for a more in depth breakdown of all these things.

Keeping it WEIRD,

        - Historical Weapons Guild

General Schedule and Information

Tentative schedule:

Competitor Behavior and Eligibility

We acknowledge that competing in a HEMA tournament is a high risk event, and we at WEIRD wish to minimize this risk as much as possible. There will be a zero tolerance policy for excessive force and/or illegal targeting. Any such behavior will be dealt with swiftly and definitively. Additionally,if  you have been removed from an event in the past 12 months (e.g. received a red or black card) please contact us in advance to confirm your participation in the event.

Facility

The event is being held at Austin Sports Academy: 275 Lotus Cir, Austin, TX 78737

This is an indoor soccer field, with a turf floor and those rubber bits that will follow you everywhere. There are men’s and women’s locker rooms on site, as well as individual stall showers that will be open for use all weekend.

Camping

Everyone is welcome, and encouraged, to camp out with us at the event venue itself and the rubber-flecked turf is surprisingly comfortable to sleep on! It can get rather chilly this time of year so we recommend a tent as it really does make a difference in temperature or at the very least sleeping bags.  Also consider cold weather clothing with layers to fend off Texan “winter”. Please note that tents can not be staked into the turf, so anything requiring a stake to be set up will not be usable at this event. We will have a designated camping area set aside on the grounds with a ‘campfire’ and some spare camp chairs, so join in and be part of the group. If you need camping gear or other overnight supplies, please contact us before the event and we will see if we can help get you situated.

Food and drinks

There will be snacks and drinks available all day Saturday -- we will be setting up sandwich fixings and have lots of quick grab snacks available as well. Dinner will be pizza on site.

Sunday morning we will be getting breakfast options as well, actual food to be determined.

**Note: We ask that food and non-water drinks be managed and kept off the soccer turf, and that all trash is properly disposed of. If you do feel the need to snack at/near your tent, keep it neat and don’t make a mess.

Please contact us directly if you have any dietary restrictions or needs and we will do our best to accommodate everyone.

Rules and Format

General Format

For each weapon, all competitors will be grouped into pools (6 for longsword, 5 for other weapons). We will run FOUR full pools of single exchange for all events. There is no hard time limit for this exchange, but the head ref reserves the right to end the fight in a draw / no exchange after 60 seconds if the fencers are refusing any sort of engagement.

After each round of pools, fencers will be seeded based on their current overall score, with the highest ranked fencers matched into one pool, and so on. All fencers will be fencing in all four pools.

After four rounds of pools, the top 25% of fencers will be lined up in order, and starting from the lowest ranked fencer, each fencer will have the option to challenge up the line. This means (for longsword) the 12th ranked fencer will fence the 11th ranked fencer. The winner will challenge the 10th ranked fencer, and so on. Should these matches result in a double, neither fencer will advance further.

Note: We reserve the right to modify these rules and sizes as needed to ensure a smooth and timely event.

Hits and after blows

WEIRD Open is attempting to simulate a fight with bladed weapons; as such, the overarching mantra should be “Don’t get hit.” Any sort of hit in an exchange that happens “In Tempo” (roughly 1-2 actions) will be considered a ‘double’, and both fencers will be considered to have been struck.

We will be continuing the scoring checklist, of “hit, deep, and high”, to help keep scoring simple, and to encourage/reward good fencing, but these are minor compared to the scoring value of the actual clean attack.

Scoring
The “hit, deep, and high” ruleset is a pass/fail scoring system that allows for easy judging of the intention of an action without getting overly bogged down by hard to distinguish things like location. And while at the outset this sounds slightly counter intuitive, the end result is a much easier, and generally fairer, scoring system. Each point serves as a checkpoint for the next value of scoring.

Hit - Was quality contact made? +1 point (net: 1 point)
Quality is considered things like good edge alignment, structure, angle of rotation of the blade, etc

Deep - Was the strike deep? +1 point (net: 2 points)

A deep strike is considered a strike being made where the blade -could- hit a deep target, regardless of where/how the strike was made. This generally means that, even if the arms were struck, if the blade was en route to a deep target (torso, head, or legs), the Deep qualification would apply

High - Was the strike to an upper target? +1 point (net: 3 points)

Imagine creating a V from armpits to solar plexus. If the target was above this line, it is considered an upper target. This means that, if you’re attempting to strike an opponent in the head but their arms get in the way, the hit would still be high.

Points:

Targets

All parts of the body are valid targets, except for the back of the head and spine. Strikes to the feet and groin are discouraged, but will not be penalized, though excessive force to these targets may result in a warning.

A “Deep” target is one that is roughly the same depth as the mid-thighs or elbows.

A “High” target is determined to be made by a “V’ connecting the solar plexus to the arm pits.

If there is indecision between the targets and point values, the lower value will be used. These points are “tie breakers” and will have minimal effect on the overall standings. Note: a hit can not be high if it is not also deep.

Throws

Throws are allowed, but must be done with control. Throws where your opponent’s body is  fully above your hip will be considered excessive.

Throws do not need to be finished to be awarded, and a safe set up with control and positioning will be scored exactly the same as a full throw. There is zero tolerance for any sort of joint manipulation. There is zero tolerance for excessive force used in a throw. If you are in a position where you feel you can not finish a technique without injuring your opponent, call “Halt” and the fight will be reset.

E.g. Kyle has moved into a throw that has failed, and is left with no weapon but still has his arms wrapped around his opponent’s arm. He is able to do some sort of shoulder lock into a throw, but an uncooperative opponent would lead to injury. Instead of attempting the action, Kyle can call “Halt.” and get the fight reset.

*note: some judges may be able to identify the throw / set-up in this situation and is allowed to award points in this situation

Disarms

If you manage to take, or otherwise remove, the weapon from your opponent’s hand(s), this will only stop the exchange if there is a clear separation of the fighters. If the fighters are still in contact, the fight will continue until a clear hit is made -or- shown. If the fighters disengage, the fighter who is missing a weapon will be considered the loser, and their opponent will score one point. This includes instances where a fencers, unprovokedly, drops their sword.

Note for S&B tournament: if you lose your buckler you are free to continue fencing; not doing so/requesting a halt will result in a loss and a “High” value assigned to the opponent.

Individual Events

Sword and Buckler:

Bring your own sword:                

Standard makers are okay (Regenyei, Ensifer, etc), blunts subject to approval.

No complex hilts.

No knuckle bows, no side rings, etc.

Max blade length 35”

Max overall length 40”

Swords will be inspected at gear check for burrs, sets, etc.

Loaners will be available for use - contact AHWG ahead of time.

Bring your own buckler:

                Maximum buckler size is 14”

                Circular bucklers only

                Steel bucklers are allowed

                Wooden bucklers must be in good repair and not splinter / leave a mess

                Buckler may not have any extruding points or flanges (i.e. no Talhoffer bucklers)

                Loaners will be available for use - contact AHWG ahead of time.

Gear:                SHFL Standard - gorget, elbows, knees, heavy gloves, mask with back of head protection and jacket.

                A lacrosse or other padded glove is allowed on the buckler hand.

                Shin guards are -highly- recommended but not required.

Scoring:        Hit, Deep, High

Throws are -only- allowed with control, and will be worth 3 points.

                A disarm will score 1 point if a separation occurs, but will otherwise not stop the

      action (i.e. continue to hit or show intent)

An uncontrolled throw (both fighters on the ground) is worth 0 and the match will be scored as a draw.

Pommel strikes will only count as 1 point unless you’re using the second hand to control the opponent (arm wrap, sword control, ringen actions, etc)

Buckler strikes* will count as 3 points (Deep and High), with no expectation of wrestling controlling actions.

* Buckler strikes can only be done with the center of the buckler and should be placed. Excessive contact will result in warnings and may be immediately escalated up to expulsion from the event

Longsword:        Bring your own sword.

Standard makers are okay (Regenyei, Ensifer, etc)

No blunts (Albion Lichtenauer, etc)

                Swords will be inspected at gear check for burrs, sets, etc.

                Loaners will be available for use - contact AHWG ahead of time.

                        Max overall length 54”

Max blade length: 40”

Gear:                SHFL standard - gorget, elbows, knees, gloves, mask with back of head protection and jacket.

                Shin and forearm protection is highly recommended but not required.

Scoring:        Hit, Deep, High

                Throws are -only- allowed with control, and will be worth 3 points.

                A disarm will score 1 point if a separation occurs, but will otherwise not stop the

      action (i.e. continue to hit or show intent)

An uncontrolled throw (both fighters on the ground) is worth 0 and the match will be scored as a draw.

One-armed strikes will only count as 1 point unless you’re using the second hand to control the opponent (arm wrap, sword control, ringen actions, etc)

Pommels, unless part of a wrestling controlling action (as above), will count as 1 point.

Sidesword:        Bring your own sword

                All swords must be tipped

Blade length: 34” minimum, 42” max (contact AHWG for exceptions).

        Note: this is measured from the crossguard

Complex hilts are allowed

No off hand weapons

No blade grabbing - hand use is permissible to deflect, but no grabbing.

Gear:                SHFL Standard - gorget, elbows, knees, gloves, mask with back of head protection and jacket.

                Lacrosse or other padded gloves are permitted on both hands

Lighter jackets are OK, but required to be Newton-rated

Scoring:        Grappling is forbidden - at clinch the fight will be stopped and reset from corners. If

this happens more than once per exchange, the match will be called a draw.

You can place a hand and control the opponent with a push or deflection. As soon as the opponent reacts and grabs back, the fight will stop.

No blade grabbing. The off hand can be used to deflect attacks, push the arm, etc, but their blade must remain free.

No grabbing the opponent’s weapon. While historical in context, and martially valid actions, complex hilts and fingers don’t mix. Open hand actions are allowed.

Blade grabbing and weapon grabbing will result in a warning. Two warnings (in one match) will result in a loss of the match.