We welcome you to the fifth Glasgow HEMA Open, Scotland’s largest HEMA tournament.
Following from last years tournament and the feedback we got from it, we have decided to expand the Open and make a number of changes, in our continuing mission to make it the best event possible for all those involved.
As last time there will be two opens: A Steel Longsword Open and a Steel Sabre/Broadsword Open.
Alongside these Opens, sparring areas will be available for the duration and, for the first time, there will be a cutting competition for both Longsword and Sabre.
Note: Some of the following information may be subject to minor change without notice.
Registration is now closed! Thank you to all those who signed up and if you missed out we hope to see you next year!
Prices are:
Entry to both Opens (including their cutting competition) - £50
Entry to one Open (including its cutting competition) - £30
Attendees who are happy to help out will also be given a £5 discount on the day per shift of line judging or staff.
All competitors should read our Terms and Conditions here.
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Thanks to all those who gave feedback after last year we have brought about a number of changes, the most prominent of which you can see here:
We have a new venue which we have all to ourselves, meaning no disturbance from other users. With it comes a larger hall, meaning we will be able to give people more space as well as…
Sparring Space! This year we will have open sparring available during all the pools for those not fighting - this will equate to about 4 hours on each day - this was a request we received numerous times last year, and we’re elated to be able to offer this.
The cutting competition as already mentioned and which will be discussed in more detail later.
More time for briefings. This too was an aspect a number of people requested and so we will be allowing more time for judges and fencers to be briefed on the various aspects of the tournament on the day.
More accessible scoring. Throughout the tournament we will have scoring be readily accessible to everyone so you can keep track of how you or other fencers are doing.
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Saturday (Longsword):
11:00 - 11:30 Registration and Arrivals
11:30 - 16:30 Pools, Cutting and Open Sparring (breaks will be factored into this)
16:30 - 17:30 Finals and prize giving
17:30 - 18:00 Event CloseFollowing the close of day on Saturday there will be a social that everyone is invited to.
Sunday (Sabre and Broadsword):
11:00 - 11:30 Registration and Arrivals
11:30 - 16:30 Pools, Cutting and Open Sparring (breaks will be factored into this)
16:30 - 17:30 Finals and prize giving
17:30 - 18:00 Event Close -
Head Judges and Event organisers will have final say on whether kit is suitable or not, if you are in doubt please contact us before the event starts and we may be able to advise you.
Steel Sabre/Broadsword:
CEN 1 Mask with back of head protection (full overlay is recommended)
Gorget
350N HEMA Jacket (this must be a jacket designed for HEMA and includes lighter jackets like the SPES Officer’s and Red Dragon Light, but not newton rated hoodies)
Joint Protection (Elbows and Knee)Shin and Forearm Protection
Groin Protection (mandatory only for Males, recommended for all)
Steel Sabre or Broadsword, free from major damage and defects.
If using a Broadsword you must have a minimum of a light glove.
If using a Sabre, you must be wearing a minimum of Red Dragon Gloves or similar.
You may wear any additional kit at your own discretion.Bare skin should not be visible once in full kit
Steel Longsword:
CEN 1 Mask with back of head protection (full overlay is recommened)
Gorget
350N HEMA Jacket (this must be a jacket designed for HEMA, excluding jackets like the SPES Officer’s and Red Dragon Light)
Joint Protection (Elbows and Knee)
Shin and Forearm Protection
Heavy Gloves (For example Sparring Gloves, SPES Heavy Gloves, Koning Gloves etc. NOT Red Dragon Gloves or any other Lacrosse style glove)
Groin Protection (mandatory only for Males, recommended for all)
Steel Feder or Longsword, free from major damage and defects.
You may wear any additional kit at your own discretion.Bare skin should not be visible once in full kit.
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(Some changes may be coming to this ruleset, though it is unlikely to be anything major)
Match Rules:
Matches may last up to 150 seconds or until one of the fencers reaches 15 match points
Disarm or Successful grapple: 7 match points
Cut or thrust to the head or neck: 5 match points
Thrust to the torso: 5 match points
Pommel strike to mask: 5 match points
Cut or thrust to any other target: 3 match pointsDraw cuts, or slices will be counted however, missed thrusts against the body will not be considered draw cuts.
(Longsword Only) One handed strikes will not score any points, unless made as part of a grapple.
Only cuts and thrusts supported by good body mechanics and edge alignment will score points, at the judge’s discretion.
Fencers are encouraged to call hits on themselves if the hit was missed by the judges, though they are not permitted to call hits against their opponent.
Likewise, a fencer may discredit a hit they made, if they feel it was a poor hit and shouldn’t be scored.Eliminations and Finals:
Elimination fights will be the same as pool fights, with the following exceptions:
Warnings will warrant -2 match pointsIf fencer’s scores are at tied when the match time runs out, the match will continue until one fencer has a 5 point lead over the other, if this hasn’t happened after a total time of 4 minutes, the next successful strike, without a double or afterblow, will win the bout.
Final fights will be same as the elimination fights, with the following exceptions:
Match time will be extended by 60 seconds to 210 seconds
The point cap will be removed.Doubles and Afterblows:
Double hits will be any hits that strike simultaneously - these will not score any point and will be recorded as they effect progression through to eliminations.
Afterblows will be any hits that land in a short space of time after the first hit landed, or before ‘Halt’ is called. After blows will score, with the lower points value target being deducted from the higher, and remaining points being awarded
e.g. Red scores a hit to the body (3 points), but Blue scores a hit to the head (5 points) as an after blow . Thus blues higher score of 5 will be reduced by 3, awarding them 2 points.Grappling:
All successful grappling techniques will be worth 7 match points.
Throwing an opponent is allowed, though fencers do not need to complete a throw to score points. If a fencer off-balances their opponent, dominates a grapple or otherwise clearly shows that they could have thrown their opponent, they will score points.
Throws will only score points if the fencer remains standing on their feet.
Any throw that results in both opponents falling to the ground will not score points, “hold” will be called and before fencer will return to their corner.Fencers may choose to drop their weapon to gain an advantage in a grappling situation and will not be penalised for this.
Any throws which lift the opponent off the ground (i.e. any suplex or double-leg takedown) are banned and all throws must be done in a controlled manner.
Judges have a broad authority to warn any fencer who throws their opponent in a way that is deemed unsafe or if they throw their opponent with excessive force. Repeat warning can result in disqualification.
Striking an opponent once they have been thrown to the floor is banned.
Disarms:
All successful Disarm techniques will be worth 7 match points.
Controlling an opponents sword arm or their weapon as part of a grapple will also score points. If a fencer controls their opponent’s sword arm or weapon with one hand while maintaining free use of their own weapon in the other hand, they do not need to strike their opponent with the sword to gain points, but only need to demonstrate control or dominance over their opponent.
Disarming an opponent will also score points, but points will only be scored if the fencer wilfully and purposefully disarms their opponent, or otherwise clearly demonstrates that they could strike their disarmed opponent. An opponent simply dropping their sword will not result in points being scored by itself.
Warnings:
Warnings will be given at the head judge’s discretion for all unsafe or inappropriate behaviour (including but not limited to):
Lack of control (hitting the floor, blows landed after ‘Hold’ called, etc.)
Unsportsmanlike behaviour (showing frustrated or angry reaction, excessive swearing)
Suicidal or reckless fencing (consistently ignoring incoming attacks, attempting to double, charging in to attack, etc.)
All warnings will be issued at the Head Judge’s discretion, repeated offences may result in disqualification.Illegal Targets and Techniques:
Presenting or striking the following targets is illegal: feet, back, back of the head, groin.
If a fencer deliberately strikes or presents an illegal target, they will be given a warning by the judges.Joint locks or joint manipulation.
Strikes with the cross guard, basket, knuckle bow etc..
Grappling moves that take both the opponents feet off the ground.
Striking an opponent once they have been thrown to the floor.
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The first stage of the opens will feature pools of 6 fencers.
Wins will be worth 3 points
Draws will be worth 1 points
Losses will be worth 0 pointsYour second, and each subsequent warning will be worth –1 point
After all pools fights finish, the two fencers in each pool with the lowest number of doubles will be rewarded with 2 points.
The eight fencers (accross all pools) with highest progression score will proceed into the elimination round.
If a pool is understrength, the scores for that pool will be weighted as if it were full.
If a tie between fencers progressing into eliminations happens, the outcome will be determined by the highest score in the following order: most technical points, least doubles, least warnings, most matches won, most matches drawn.
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There will be a cutting competitin on each day for the respective weapon, with each being split in to two parts, eliminations and a final.
Safety:
We understand that not every fencer will be familiar with cutting, and if you do not wish to compete you are free to make this decision.A seperate area will be used for cutting, with pools being allocated a time slot for their cutting. Only one fencer, along with the judge, will be permitted to enter the cutting area at a time.
On the day, strict safety requirements will be laid out for all attendees, breaching any of these safety rulles may result in immediate disqualification from either cutting or the entire event at the judges discretion
Eliminations:
In the eliminations our intention is for fencers to display control and accuracy, as well as a diverse selection of cuts.In the eliminations, every competitor will have a single 90cm straw mat target. With a 5 minute time limit, you will be required to perform as many cuts as possible on the target.
Cuts will be considered to have failed if they do not travel all the way through the target (be this from mountaining, or from simply failing to cut through to the other side)
You must successfully perform 3 different cuts before repeating an earlier cut you made.
You may continue cutting until there is no less than 10cm of mat above the stand.
For each successful cut you make, you will gain one point.The top 6 competitors will proceed to the finals. Ties will be decided first by the least number of failed cuts. If fencers are still tied then both will go through
Finals:
In the finals, fencers will have 2 tatami mats.
You will be required to perform pairs of cuts, of your choice, without repeating any pair you have done previously
For example, a longsword fencer may choose to use a Right Oberhaw followed by a Left Unterhaw. They may not repeat that pair later, but they would be permitted to use a different pairing involving these cuts, such as a Left Unterhaw followed by a Right Oberhaw.
You will be awarded 2 points per cut. Scalloping (where the cut is curved) will inccur a -1 point penalty.
Failed cuts (cuts that do not travel all the way through the mat) will not recieve any points.
You may continue cutting until there is no less than 10cm of mat above the stand, at which point you will continue to your second mat.Ties will be deicided by the fencer with the fewest failed cuts, followed by the fewest point deductions.
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Most Technical Fencer:
Technical points will be awarded in the pools at the head judge’s discretion to any fencer that performs an impressive technical feat (disarming the opponent, mutiren, abschneiden, or other ‘wow-ing’ moves. Commonly used techniques such as zwerhaw, zornhaw etc. will not award technical excellence points in and of themselves). Both fencers can score technical points in a match.
The fencer who scores the most technical points will be awarded the “Best Technical Fencer” prize.
There will be a most technical fencer award for both the Longsword and Sabre/Broadsword Opens.Best Sportsperson:
We will have a prize for the “Best Sportsperson”. We are still discussing how best to decide how to award this.
There will be a Best Sportsperson award for both the Longsword and Sabre/Broadsword Opens -
Opens - The top 3 of both opens will each recieved engraved medals, with the 1st place recieving an engraved Scottish Quaiche.
Cutting - The top 3 of both cutting competitions will recieve engraved medals with 1st place recieving an engraved Sgain Dubh.
Best Sportsperson - The best sportsperson will recieve an engraved medal and a 50% discount if they wish to enter next years open.
Most Technical Fencer - The most technical fencer will recieve an engraved medal and a 50% discount if they wish to enter next years open.