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The Challenge[]

I've technically already issued this challenge to Cory and he accepted, but I realize that the point of these challenges is to make them public, so here is the official announcement. I've met Cory several times, and think he's not only a damn good guy (as are all of the MEMAG members I've met), but a damn good fencer, too. I've always admired his clean form and dedication to the Liechtenauer tradition, and yet it dawned on me: For some reason he and I have never crossed swords.

He and I will both be teaching at Chivalric Weekend this summer, so I felt that this would be a perfect venue for this, particularly since there will already be two other martial challenges there. He suggested that we use the Hanwei "federschwerter", and I consent to that. I think we should meet at the pond right after the challenge between Jessica & Theresa and Todd & Jason, if Cory has no objections.


The Acceptance[]

Bill,

You are a upstanding guy and a good, graceful fencer, and it is my honor to formally accept your challenge including all conditions and rules that you have posted.I'll be asking my chosen judge today if he is willing to offer his services, and will ask him to post here upon acceptance.I'm fond of Dopplebocks, Imperial Russian Stouts, and strong India Pale Ales... Do you have an preferences?I'm looking forward to it!

-Cory

The Rules[]

Cory: I have a proposal of how to do the bout. Please feel free to make any suggestions or refusals to it. My thoughts are:

-We bout to 10 "hits against". (In other words, every time a fencer is hit, he receives 1 hit against, and if someone has had 10 hits against then that person loses.) After each hit, the bout is reset. A hit against must be considered any soild but controlled strike or thrust. A schnitt by itself will not count as a hit against, but is still a viable technique for opening the opponent up for follow through attacks that do count.

-For the most part, hits will be called by the fencers, however the marshal and judges can halt the action or overrule anything the fencers say if there is any question. While I have complete faith in Cory's honesty, it is sometimes difficult for the fencers to know what happened without third party assistence, particularly with the Hanwei swords since they are very flexible (sometimes its hard to tell if it hit cleanly or not without another person there to watch).

-A double hit will count as 1 hit against both of us. In the event of a double hit, we will also invoke a rule that I call "At Fault". Essentially, this means that the marshal decides that if one person completely ignored the threat (e.g. one person clearly ignored an attack to the head just so he could make a thrust to the torso, etc), then that person will have 2 hits against him, while the other person still has 1 hit against.

-If one fencer is hit, but then the opponent is hit within a "beat" of time afterwards, this will count as a double hit. Therefore the action should not stop immediately when there is a hit, and both fencers must continue to guard themselves even after a successful hit.

Additional rules:
-Technical Points. If the marshal feels that one fencer performed an action of exceptional technical ability, the marshal is allowed to award a technical point. Two technical points will offset 1 hit against. In the event of a draw, the technical points can be used to offset the draw.

-A clean, successful disarm will count as one hit against.

-Grappling actions are allowed so long as they are controlled. A successful take down or any action that gives one fencer a clear advantage over the other will count as a hit against, but the marshal is allowed to halt the action at any point or otherwise overrule anything for safety reasons.

-Controlled strikes with the pommel or hilt are allowed, provided they are done with safety in mind. A clean strike will count as a hit against.

-Winner owes a beer to the other fencer.

How do those rules sound?

Also, I would like to have one marshal to officiate, and two judges to assist the marshal.

Cory, if you don't mind, I'd like to request Christian Tobler as our marshal, if he has no objections. I think he would be a fair and impartial officiator, and he has had experience with various tournament formats before.

As for the judges, I think you and I should each ask a person to be a judge, and if those people accept then we can post whom they are here.

The Result[]

The martial challenge ended with a result of 10-7 in favor of Cory Winslow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkE-TrIZf3U

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