1. Courteous behavior shall be observed at all times.
2. All combat shall be supervised by the SSI Marshal.
3. All combat shall take place in the round.
4. The Marshal shall act to ensure that the Rules of Combat are
followed and safety issues are not compromised.
5. All attacks shall be executed and counted as if with a sharp weapon
on an unarmoured surface.
6. All areas of the body are valid targets.
7. Blows should be struck with just enough force to be felt by the
recipient through their clothing.
8. Maximum control should be employed when thrusting to the face or
neck.
9. A thrust or cut may be parried by the hand, arm, foot, etc. The
weapon may be parried at any point along its length, including the hilt. Fencers are
strongly reminded to beware having their fingers trapped in a swept-guard hilt.
10. Restraint should be exercised at all times when making a cut.
11. Open hand contact with an opponent's weapon arm is permitted, as is
gripping an opponent's wrist, arm, or body.
12. Blades may be grasped momentarily by the hand. However, if the
blade is draw or pushed across the palm of the hand, it is deemed to be cut, which counts
as a wound (see below).
13. Grasped blades may NOT be twisted or wrenched.
14. Offensive use of the buckler or the sword hilt MUST be with the
maximum of controlled force.
15. Offensive use of the dagger MUST employ light force with maximum
control.
16. At a combatant's call of "Yield!" the combat will cease
immediately.
17. At the Marshal's call of "Halt!" both combatants will
cease fighting immediately.
18. A Halt will be called after each Kill but NOT after each wound.
19. A Halt will be called if both blades are grasped simultaneously and
extended grappling ensues.
20. A Halt will be called in the case of an impasse at grappling.
21. A Halt will be called if a blade point is grasped to prevent the
rubber blunt from being pulled off.
22. A Halt will be called if the Marshal deems a grappling move to be
unsafe (a danger to the combatants or likelihood of damage to the blade).
23. A Halt will NOT be called automatically in the event of a combatant
being disarmed or accidentally dropping his weapon. It is up to the disarmed combatant to
either call "Yield" to stop the combat, or to continue the combat and attempt to
retrieve his weapon, or grapple or disarm his opponent.
24. Combatants should alert the Marshal if they deem a weapon to be
unsafe, or if an opponent is not accepting right and true blows.
25. The Marshal will advise combatants as to their observation of these
rules, and may declare a victory to the opponent of a combatant disobeying any one or more
of them.
