Tournament Rules



The following rules represent the standard ruleset for Tournaments being held by Royal Arts fencing academy. This includes: Ascalon, Blue Box, Looking Sharpe, and Hemmageddon



Sword & Buckler

11.1 - Arming Sword

All weapons must be properly maintained and safe. The director will visually inspect weapons at the start of a pool or direct elimination. The Director may at any time request to inspect the weapon and invalidate an unsafe weapon.

Weapons may not have loose or incompletely attached pieces and tips must be rendered safe either by weapon design or addition of appropriate materials.

For a Weapon to qualify for use for an Arming Sword in a competition it must have a similar appearance to the picture above. It must have a simple cross hilt (bar only) and fall between the following specs

Full LengthBlade LengthBlade Width
Max40 in36 in 3 in3 lbs
Min 33 in 26 in 1.1 in 2 lbs

Arming Swords from most major weapon manufacturers will fall into the specs posted.

11.2 - Bucklers

Bucklers must be held in the off hand.

Bucklers must be made of metal, plastic or other material that will not splinter or shard if broken.

They may be in any shape, but the longest dimension must be 12 inches or less.

The Buckler’s face must be relatively smooth, so as to not catch on fabric. Spikes, Studs, Nubes or protruding rivets are not allowed.

Punching with the buckler is forbidden, and will result in a yellow card or greater at the directors discretion.