The Battle Born Ruleset
for HEMA Tournaments
Battle Born IV – 2024
Looking for the Single-Life Tournament rules? Click here!
Introduction
We have created this ruleset in an attempt to encourage styles of fighting that are historical and artful. We have tried to maintain simplicity in so doing.
Match Overview
Each match will last 120 seconds, but will be ended early if one fencer gains a lead of 9 points over the other.
Each exchange will begin when the Referee calls “Fight!”
As soon as a judge sees a scoring technique occur, they will call “Point!”, and the Referee will allow for a moment for a single step/cut to be thrown before calling “Break!” As soon as “Break!” is called, the fighters must immediately cease all fencing and return to their respective corners. No strike landed after “Break!” has been called will be counted as a scoring action. Furthermore, after “Point!” has been called, the fighters are permitted only a single “afterblow” strike. The Referee will then, after consulting with the other judge, call the type of action and the score for the table, before beginning a new exchange.
Once time has been reached, the current exchange will be allowed to continue until a point is called and the Referee stops the fencers.
Scoring
For Broadsword, all targets are considered high priority.
For Longsword, Rapier, and Smallsword, targets are divided between high priority and low priority.
High priority targets include:
Head & neck
Shoulders & upper arms
Chest
Low priority targets include:
Hands & lower arms
Hips
Legs & feet
If a fencer strikes their opponent without being struck in return:
If a fencer strikes a high priority target without being struck, they receive 4 points.
If a fencer strikes a low priority target without being struck, they receive 1 point.
This counts as a clean exchange.
If a fencer strikes a high priority target and their opponent strikes a low priority target, they receive 1 point. This counts as a dirty exchange.
If both fencers strike a target of equal priority, no points are awarded. This counts as a dirty exchange.
If neither fencer is struck by a scoring technique during an exchange, it is counted as no exchange.
Please note that there is no distinction between initial strikes or doubles, nor between them and afterblows to high priority targets. Afterblows to low priority targets will be ignored if the opponent’s strike was to a high-priority target.
If a fencer disarms their opponent without being struck and while still retaining a sword, they receive 4 points, regardless of whether or not they have stricken their opponent in the process. This counts as a clean exchange.
Grappling:
Standing grappling is permitted with all weapons. When a grappling action is initiated, the Referee will begin a steady 3-count, after which “Break!” will be called if no scoring action has occurred. Grappling is never, by itself, a scoring action.
Forbidden Techniques:
Blade grabs are permitted in the longsword tournament, but are forbidden in the rapier, broadsword, and smallsword tournaments. A blade grab in rapier, broadsword, or smallsword will be treated as a strike to the grabbing fencer’s hand with no opportunity for an afterblow. Any movement that traps the opponent’s blade between two parts of the same hand will be considered a blade grab.
Intentional strikes to the spine are always forbidden.
Takedowns of any kind are forbidden.
It should not need to be said, but the following actions are also always forbidden:
Throwing objects of any kind
Striking with any weapon other than an approved sword
“Mordschlag”-style strikes
Strikes with the cross
Any other action which is obviously unreasonably dangerous in a tournament setting.
Dangerous defensive behavior (such as intentionally blocking a cut with the hand) may be penalized by the judges and treated as a strike to a high priority location if the judges believe it may have been done to reduce the opponent’s ability to strike a scoring blow.
Fencer Conduct:
Fencers are expected to compete with composure and decorum. Any perceived attempt to influence the judges' decision to that fencer's benefit will be immediately met with an escalating penalty, starting at 1 point. To be clear: Fencers should remain quiet and composed until the judges have finished calling the point. If a fencer is injured in such a manner that they are unable to retain composure while they wait for the judges’ call, they will be encouraged to withdraw from the match and seek medical attention immediately. Unnecessarily unruly or disruptive behavior after the call has been made may still be penalized at the referee’s discretion.
Violations:
Violations of these rules will generally result in progressive penalties, starting with a warning, and escalating to 1- and 4-point penalties. Continued infractions may result in forfeiting a match or disqualification from the tournament. Severe infractions, or those that seem clearly designed to give an advantage, may result in a fencer receiving higher initial penalties at the judges’ discretion. Fencers who fail to heed the instructions of the Referee or judges may be likewise penalized.
Ring Outs:
If one fighter steps entirely out-of-bounds with both feet, their opponent will be awarded a single point. No points will be awarded if they have been physically forced out of the ring! If any other scoring action occurs before the ring out, the ring out shall be ignored.
Injuries:
Any fencer who injures their opponent to the point where their opponent is prevented from continuing to fence on the advice of a medical professional will have the match counted as a LOSS for the fencer who caused the injury. At the Referee’s discretion, this may be waived if the injured party was engaging in grossly unsafe behavior (such as by blocking an incoming cut with an open palm). Be mindful of the safety of your fencing partners. Harming your opponent will not be rewarded.
Needless to say, if a fencer can no longer continue to fence, they will be forced to forfeit their place in the tournament.
Valid Strikes (Longsword):
Valid strikes may be cuts (“hews”), slices, or thrusts. All strikes must be performed with two hands on the weapon to be considered valid, except when undertaken as part of a grappling action. Blade grabs are not considered grappling—one-handed strikes from a blade grab will be ignored.
Cuts: Cuts must land with proper edge alignment and demonstrate at least a 45° arc of travel to be considered valid. Incidental contact does not a cut make!
Slices: For a slice to be counted, it must a) involve a draw or push in a single direction with at least 10” of total blade-on-target contact with proper edge alignment, and b) not be performed against or over the opponent’s weapon. Incidental contact does not a slice make! Additionally, slices against the torso (under the opponent’s arms) will be ignored.
Thrusts: Any touch with the point that obviously makes contact while the point is moving forward towards the target will be considered a valid thrust.
Pommel Strikes: Must be to the front (mesh) or top of the mask only. Pommel strikes anywhere else may be penalized. Pommel strikes should always be thrown with a minimal amount of force for safety.
Valid Strikes (Rapier):
Valid strikes may be cuts, slices, or thrusts.
Cuts: Cuts must land with proper edge alignment and demonstrate at least a 90° arc of travel to be considered valid for rapier. Incidental contact does not a cut make! Additionally, cuts to the torso (under the opponent’s arms) will be ignored.
Slices: For a slice to be counted, it must a) involve a draw or push in a single direction with at least 10” of total blade-on-target contact with proper edge alignment, b) not be performed against or over the opponent’s weapon, and c) be performed against the neck or head. Incidental contact does not a slice make!
Thrusts: Any touch with the point that obviously makes contact while the point is moving forward towards the target will be considered a valid thrust. Thrusts to the sword hand are not a scoring action for rapier.
Pommel Strikes: Pommel strikes are not a scoring action for rapier.
Valid Strikes (Broadsword):
Valid strikes may be cuts, slices, or thrusts.
Cuts: Cuts must land with proper edge alignment and demonstrate at least a 45° arc of travel to be considered valid. Incidental contact does not a cut make!
Slices: For a slice to be counted, it must a) involve a draw or push in a single direction with at least 10” of total blade-on-target contact with proper edge alignment, b) not be performed against or over the opponent’s weapon, and c) be performed against the neck, head, or wrist. Incidental contact does not a slice make!
Thrusts: Any touch with the point that obviously makes contact while the point is moving forward towards the target will be considered a valid thrust.
Pommel Strikes: Pommel strikes are not a scoring action for broadsword.
Valid Strikes (Smallsword):
Thrusts are the only scoring action for smallsword.
Thrusts: Any touch with the point that obviously makes contact while the point is moving forward towards the target will be considered a valid thrust.
Pommel Strikes: Pommel strikes are not a scoring action for smallsword.
Tournament Structure
All fencers will be divided into pools, and should receive the opportunity to fence a match against each other fencer in their pool.
Fencers will be ranked by normalized Wins-minus-Losses, with the top fencers moving onto the Eliminations.
Resolving Ties
If this ranking results in a tie at the threshold, any ties will be resolved in favour of the fencer with the higher cumulative “Clean Fighter Indicator” (CFI). If this still results in a tie, it will be resolved by an extra “Sudden Death” match, where the first fencer to gain a single point will win the tie.
Semifinals
Semifinals will be double elimination: All fencers who reach the Semifinals (Top 4) will fence until they have won or lost two matches. If they win twice, they will fight for Gold. If they lose twice, they will fight for Bronze.
Finals
Finals will be single-elimination best-of-three, with fencers initially being matched against fencers from a different pool. Each Finals matchup will consist of three different 90-second matches between the same two fencers. At the end of the three matches, whichever fencer has more Wins-minus-Losses will be considered the victor. Ties, if any, will be resolved by an extra “Sudden Death” match, where the first fencer to gain a single point will win the tie.
Clean Fighter Indicator
At the end of each match, the number of clean and dirty exchanges shall be tallied, and these are to be noted alongside the fencers’ scores.
For any given fighter, a “Clean Fight Indicator” (CFI) can be determined by subtracting the total number of dirty exchanges they participated in from the total number of clean exchanges they participated in. Thus, CFI = [# of Clean Exchanges] - [# of Dirty Exchanges]. CFI is always cumulative for the entire tournament—it does not reset in the Finals or after each match!
Example: Fighters are placed into pools of 5. 2 fighters from each pool will be allowed to continue into elimination rounds. In Pool 3, the fighters have won 1, 1, 2, 2, and 4 exchanges. Because only 2 fighters from the pool are allowed to continue, a tie-breaker is necessary to determine which of the fighters that won 2 fights will be allowed to continue. In this case, Fighter #3 has a CFI of +2, while Fighter #4 has a CFI of -1. As such, Fighter #3 would enter eliminations, while Fighter #4 would not.
Equipment Requirements
Protective Equipment (Longsword)
Fencers competing in Battle Born’s longsword tournament must wear full steel-caliber longsword protective equipment. This includes:
Head: Fencing mask with back-of-the-head protection
Throat: Throat protection / gorget
Torso: Padded HEMA jacket (with no gaps at the armpit)
Hands: Steel-caliber longsword gloves (Sparring Gloves, SPES, ProGaunlet, etc.)
Longsword gloves that have a poor reputation for fencing with steel longswords (e.g., Red Dragon gloves) do not qualify!
Arms: Hard elbow protection required, and forearm protection is strongly recommended
Legs: Hard knee and shin protection is required
Groin: Groin protection (e.g., a cup) required where anatomically appropriate
Additionally, fencers must have no skin exposed while fencing in the Tournament
Protective Equipment (Rapier)
Fencers competing in Battle Born’s rapier tournament must wear full steel-caliber protective equipment. This includes:
Head: Fencing mask with back-of-the-head protection
Throat: Throat protection / gorget
Torso: Padded HEMA jacket or 350N+ puncture-resistant garment covering the torso with no gaps at the armpit
Hands: Gloves
Arms: Hard elbow protection required
Legs: Hard knee protection is required, and shin protection is strongly recommended
Groin: Groin protection (e.g., a cup) required where anatomically appropriate
Additionally, fencers must have no skin exposed while fencing in the Tournament
Protective Equipment (Steel Broadsword)
Fencers competing in Battle Born’s steel broadsword tournament must wear full steel-caliber protective equipment. This includes:
Head: Fencing mask with back-of-the-head protection
Throat: Throat protection / gorget
Torso: Padded HEMA jacket or 350N+ puncture-resistant garment covering the torso with no gaps at the armpit
Hands: Gloves
Arms: Hard elbow protection required, and forearm protection is strongly recommended
Legs: Hard knee and shin protection is required
Groin: Groin protection (e.g., a cup) required where anatomically appropriate
Additionally, fencers must have no skin exposed while fencing in the Tournament
Protective Equipment (Smallsword)
Fencers competing in Battle Born’s smallsword tournament must wear appropriate protective equipment. This includes:
Head: Fencing mask with back-of-the-head protection
Throat: Throat protection / gorget if fencing mask bib does not tuck securely under jacket collar
Torso: 350N+ puncture-resistant garment covering the torso with no gaps at the armpit
Hands: Gloves
Arms: Hard elbow protection is recommended
Legs: 350N+ puncture resistant garment covering the legs is recommended. Hard knee protection is recommended
Groin: Groin protection (e.g., a cup) required where anatomically appropriate
Additionally, fencers must have no skin exposed while fencing in the Tournament
If you have any questions about whether or not your protective equipment qualifies, please contact us and we’ll be glad to let you know.
Longsword Feders
The following Feders are explicitly pre-approved for use at Battle Born I:
Aureus (Swoosh)
Blackfencer Federschwert
Chlebowski (All)
Ensifer (Long & Standard)
Kvetun (FFG, FFG Light, & Lichtenauer)
Regenyei (Paratschwert, Short, Trnava, Wide- & Italian-schilt Customs)
SIGI (Concept, Gothic, King, Lichty, & Maestro)
VB (Tournament Feder)
Feders not listed here may be allowed—please contact us for approval in advance!
All models of sword without integral safety tip/button/rolled tip at least 1 cm across must be tipped with a metal washer (or equivalent), covered by a plastic or rubber blunt, and secured with strong tape.
Rapiers
Must have a thrust-oriented blade 41” or less measured from the cross.
The following Rapier makers are approved for use at Battle Born:
Arms & Armor
Balefire
Castille
Danelli
Darkwood Armoury
Hanwei
Historical Fencing Armory
Kvetun
Regenyei
Zen Warrior Armory
Rapiers not listed here may be allowed—please contact us for approval in advance!
All models of sword without integral safety tip/button/rolled tip at least 1 cm across must be tipped with a metal washer (or equivalent), covered by a plastic or rubber blunt, and secured with strong tape.
Steel Broadswords
Only Armour Class broadswords with “Stocatta” or “Manitoba” blades will be permitted in the steel broadsword tournament. Battle Born will provide broadswords for fencers who do not bring their own.
Smallswords (Blade requirements pending)
Fencers shall bring their own swords. Blades shall be between 30’’ and 35’’ in length. Triangular style and schlaeger style blades are permitted. Grip styles must be historical (pistol grips, and foil style blades are not permitted).