MEDIEVAL
RAPIER COMBAT GLOSSARY
Baseline
Weapon: The standard weapon that cannot be refused on the
field (i.e. the #5 foil)
Bell:
A guard device placed just above the grip that is designed
to protect the hand.
Cutting
Edge/Point: The area of the blade on an SCA legal weapon that
is assumed to be sharp and lethal.
Dagger:
Any SCA legal weapon significantly shorter than a rapier which
is intended to represent any real weapon that has a sharp
point and is designed to deliver stabs and thrusts. Daggers
which are considered standard weapons are: 1) rattan, 2) plunger,
and 3) flexi.
Draw Cut:
A valid draw cut is any cut applied with a drawing motion
(not a chop) using at least 10 inches of a blade's assumed
cutting edge and delivered with sufficient pressure to create
a wound considering the presumed sharpness of the blade.
Equivalent:
Refers to the impact and/or penetration resistance, impact
distribution, and impact absorption abilities of the specified
material or item.
Fencing
Mask: A piece of commercially available fencing equipment
that can be readily adapted and used as head protection for
SCA Rapier Combat Activities. The approved mask for period
fencing is the Three Weapons Mask and must pass a 12 kilo
punch test.
Grounded:
A grounded opponent is a fighter who has lost either one or
both of their legs. A grounded fighter should assume a position
on the ground either sitting or kneeling. A fighter sitting
upon the ground will not rise or left themselves up in order
to attack an opponent. A kneeling fighter will not move his
body below the waist. A fighter attacking a grounded opponent
will confine his attack to within a proscribed arc in front
of the grounded opponent.
Hand Guard:
A bell or other type of guard used to protect the hand on
SCA legal weapons used during SCA Rapier Combat.
Impenetrable
Material: Materials that have passed the standard punch test.
These usually include four layers of standard trigger cloth,
four ounce leather, or other material that have passed the
punch test (The standard test which impenetrable material
must pass is the ability to withstand four hard thrusts from
a broken foil blade landed at the same location on the material
when it is laid upon a penetrable surface.)
Improvised
Weapons: A subset of non-standard weapons constructed primarily
for use in melees and based upon period objects that might
be used in a brawl (i.e. mugs, bottles, lobsters, fish, etc.)
Like all other non-standard weapons, they must be approved.
Non-standard
Weapons: Non-standard weapons are those weapons that require
the approval of the Sovereign and Kingdom Earl/Rapier Marshal
or their designated representative. Each use requires the
approval of your opponent and the marshals. Examples at legal
non-standard weapons are double wide epees, musketeer blades
and improvised weapons.
Pistol
Grip: A non-period style of grip that is shaped, as the name
suggests, like a pistol's grip. (Not legal in this Kingdom).
Pommel
Weight: A weight placed on the pommel of a rapier or dagger
to achieve a desired balance and/or overall weapon weight.
Progressive
Resistance: For thrusting Ups on padded daggers, progressive
resistance is the ability of a thrusting tip to compress on
impact without folding over or allowing contact with the base
material of the weapon.
Quillions:
The cross guards on a dagger or rapier blade just above the
grip.
Rapier
(non SCA combat definition): A real weapon with a long, narrow,
stiff blade with an extremely sharp point and edges, and a
cup, cage or shell hilt. It was designed for quick thrusting
and cutting without necessarily chopping or hacking.
Resistant
Material: Sturdy cloth that resists tearing under normal SCA
Rapier Combat stresses. Material such as cotton gauze, nylon
tights or stockings, or other thin cloth materials will not
be considered acceptable.
Standard
Weapons: Standard weapons consist of two categories: 1) the
baseline weapon and 2) all other standard weapons. The #5
foil is the only baseline weapon in this Kingdom. Other standard
weapons are the epee, flexible daggers, rattan daggers, plunger
daggers, cloaks and bucklers. All other weapons will be considered
non-standard. Any combatant may refuse any weapon or weapons
combination that he/she is not comfortable with except for
the base line weapon. Standard weapons do not require special
permission of the marshals.
Thrust:
A valid thrust is any thrust of sufficient pressure to produce
a two inch bend in a No. 5 French foil. (Note) - A two inch
bend requires only about 1/2 inch of forward compression with
a foil. A valid thrust with an epee or other type of blade
will be measured by the same pressure, and not necessarily
the same bend, as the No. 5 French foil.
Thrusting
Tip: In reference to padded daggers the thrusting tip is the
padded and typically enlarged end of the weapon that is designed
to deliver a thrust.
Tip: In
reference to rapier blades and flexible daggers, the tip is
the enlarged end of the blade used to deliver a thrust or
stab. Standard rubber or plastic tips (preferably brightly
colored to better enable the marshal to determine when a blade
is tipless) for fencing gear are typically used. When taping
tips onto a weapon, do not tape over the end of the tip. (See
WEAPONS STANDARDS for information about requirements on such
tips.)
Torso:
The torso begins at the base of the neck and is bound by lines
leading vertically from the armpit to the ball joint of the
shoulder and diagonally from the center of the hip bone to
the groin along the crease of the leg.
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