THE RULES - A QUICK GUIDE

PARTICIPANTS

Skirmishers – the fencers.

Officials – the Conductor (the referee) and Judges.

CHAIN OF COMMAND

1. The Skirmishers should fence as cleanly as possible, thereby making the job of the officials as easy as possible.
2. The Judges must give quick and clear signals for the Conductor.

3. The Conductor must make quick and decisive judgements.

Each bout is a story, the Conductor is the narrator of that story.

The Conductor directs the play to create the manner of fencing that is desired – light, fast, fluid and playful swordplay is the ultimate goal.

SKIRMISHING

The foundation, rules and rituals of Skirmishing have been built and developed with two golden pillars in mind:

i. To reward and encourage martially responsible swordplay.

ii. To create a fast, flowing and exciting spectacle that is both enjoyable to play and entertaining for the spectator.

Skirmishing is primarily a simple game of parry-and-riposte, one that places the emphasis on being defensively minded. With a few notable exceptions (see points 7 & 9), a player may not riposte until they have successfully defended (parried or voided) their opponent’s attack.

Bouts last a maximum of two minutes and are played and scored in the same format as a tie-break game in tennis: Love – Advantage – Game.

If, after the two minutes are up, no player has scored Game Point, the player who has Advantage is declared the winner. If the scores are level (at Love), the player who scored the first hit (First Blood) is awarded the bout. Should First Blood not have been scored, the player with the least amount of Warnings is awarded the bout. If no or an equal amount of Warnings have been issued, the bout is declared a draw.

THE DECK

The Deck is the arena of play.

The Rails are the baselines of The Deck.

MARKING THE DECK

One foot must be kept on The Rail of The Deck at all times.

i. A player loses the bout for grounding a foot (or any other part of their body) behind The Rail.

ii. A player receives a Warning if both feet come off The Rail and onto The Deck.

THE SERVE

The players take turns to begin the action with a “serve”.

The serve consists of:

(i) a beat with the sword on the opponent’s blade,

followed by

(ii) a strike delivered above the opponent’s waist.

The serving player chooses whether to engage with their opponent’s blade on the Inside or Outside Line.

A point cannot be scored on the serve. (This is to discourage players from hitting too hard.)

After the serve has been delivered, the whole body becomes a valid target.

The role of server is swapped only after a point has been awarded.

SCORING

Skirmishing is scored like a tie break game in tennis (LOVE –

ADVANTAGE – MATCH).

POINTS ARE WON by delivering a clear, clean hit (a cut or a thrust).

A light blow may be dismissed as a “SCRATCH”.

A strike with the hilt should be demonstarted but not delivered.

POINTS ARE LOST for receiving two WARNINGS.

Sterner punishments may be awarded for infringements of the rules (see below).

PROGRESSION OF PLAY

1. The Conductor asks the players to mark their distance. The Rails & the length of the Deck are set.

2. The Conductor asks the players to salute.

3. The Conductor calls “ENGAGE.” The players engage blades. The player delivering the serve decides whether they will engage blades on the inside line or the outside line.

4. The Conductor calls “READY?”

5. If there are no requests otherwise, the Conductor calls “PLAY!”, the clock is started, & the bout commences.
6. When the Conductor calls “HALT” play must be immediately suspended.

7. At the end of the bout, the players salute & shake hands.

WAYS TO WIN THE BOUT

1. A player scores LAST BLOOD (match point) within the allotted 2 minutes.

2. Should the bout go the full 2 minutes:

i. The player who has ADVANTAGE wins the bout.

ii. If the score is at LOVE, the player who scored FIRST BLOOD (the first hit – cut or thrust – of the bout) is awarded the game. (A point awarded by Warnings is not considered to be First Blood.)
iii. If the score is at LOVE & no player has been awarded FIRST BLOOD, then the player with the least amount of Warnings is declared the winner.

iv Should the score be at LOVE, FIRST BLOOD has not been awarded & the players have an equal number of Warnings, the bout is declared a DRAW.

PUNISHMENTS

1. WARNINGS:

i. Beginning the serve before the Conductor calls “PLAY!”

ii. Delivering a foul serve.

iii. The player receiving the serve moving their blade out of the way of the serving player’s beat attack.
iv. A player striking their opponent when they do not have the right of way.

v. Changing the line of the attack, making a feint, or delivering two consecutive strikes without the opponent having made a successful defence and riposte (see 4).

vi. Faffing – Holding up the flow of the game (taking too much time to make an attack, not being able to riposte through loss of balance, etc.).

vii. Striking, or attempting to strike, the opponent with too much force.

viii. A player hitting themselves with their own blade.

ix. Speaking on Deck – SKIRMISHERS MUST REMAIN SILENT WHEN ON DECK. Players cannot call their own hits – i.e. declare that they have made a hit or have been hit.

x. Not saluting or shaking hands with the opponent at the end of a bout.

2. LOSS OF A POINT

i. Delivering a Stop-Hit against a serve. (See Extraordinary Rules.)

ii. Using the OFF-HAND (the hand that does not hold the sword) in such a manner that the Officials deem that it would have been damaged – for example parrying a cut with the hand or grabbing the opponent’s weapon anywhere other than at the forte of the blade or the hilt.

3. LOSS OF A POINT & A WARNING

i. Being responsible for a double-hit (the fault lies with the defending player – i.e. the player who does not have the RIGHT OF WAY).

ii. Failing to defend the opponent’s riposte after having executed a Stop-Hit (See Extraordinary Rules).

4. IMMEDIATE LOSS OF A BOUT

i. Stepping off The Deck, i.e. grounding a foot behind The Rail – FLEEING THE DECK
ii. Both feet stepping forward, off the Rail & onto The Deck – OFF THE RAIL.
iii. Losing the sword – being disarmed or dropping the sword

iv. Disputing the Conductor’s decision.

v. Discourteous behaviour.

EXTRAORDINARY RULES

Skirmishing is a simple game of parry & riposte, however, there are a few “extraordinary rules” designed to make the game more fun & exciting, & to encourage good (martially sound) swordplay.

1. STOP-HITS – A Stop-Hit is a blow delivered between the time of the defending player’s parry & riposte.

i. STOP-CUTS – can only be delivered to the opposing player’s sword arm. All other Stop-Cuts are ignored and a Warning is given (this is to stop the game descending into an exhibition in sniping).

ii. STOP-THRUSTS – can only be delivered with blade opposition (contact) &/or the line of attack clearly closed.

The exception to both is when the attacking player attempts a strike to their opponent’s legs.

2. STOP-HITS DELIVERED AS COUNTERS TO ATTACKS TO THE LEGS – If the attacking player strikes a blow to the legs but gets hit, in tempo, with a Stop-Thrust to the head or torso or a Stop-Cut to the head, both players receive a Warning: the attacking player has delivered a reckless strike to a (potentially) non-fatal target, the defending player has broken the golden rule of fencing – HIT WITHOUT BEING HIT.
However, should the attacking player miss with their attack, the defending player’s Stop-Hit is valid & they are awarded the point.

3. BROKEN-TIME – A player is allowed to execute Broken-Time attacks (a strike delivered with a slight pause, withdrawal or stutter in its execution). However, the target of the delivered blow must the same as that of the feint, as must the type of attack – i.e. a cut cannot be turned into a thrust, or vice versa.

Should the defending player make solid contact with the initial feint, the attacking player immediately loses the RIGHT OF WAY & must go on the defensive.

For a more in-depth look at the rules of Skirmishing see – “Skirmishing – The Rules of the Game.