Bad Behavior at Modern Sword-Tourneys

[Jeffrey Hull]

Thanks all for your feedback.

My apologies for any misinterpretation or mistaken notions by me of otherwise goodwilled behavior via the little screens & boxes of InterWeb accessing droids which present the recorded footage of sword-tourneys. Being there in person would make for true witnessing of such events.

Richard's query - as usual the most merciless, stinging & damning - requires this direct reply:

I confess, I have no sense of humour whatsoever - which may explain a lot of things.

That said, I do realise that a modern tourney is not the same as a judicial duel - sorry for my unintended conflation there.

However, even the civic-burghal Master J. Meyer spoke of his fencing as part of the Ritterlich Kunst (Chivalric Arts). I think that is significant.

Accordingly, you guys must parktake of such competitions for fun/sport (Schimpf)...or do you...

Enjoy,

[Richard Marsden]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WPmSSeYUVQ&feature=plcp&context=C3f7c6e4UDOEgsToPDskKrZrgDtsR2LLYzlANsYrUs

2:00 in... Meg and she's not chanting my name. Morally crushing for me. Later that day she slit the tires on my bike.

[Ben Michels]

Please, I appreciate that the tourneys exist. But frankly, I have been put off by the videos which evince that such bad behavior is allowed. If I was at such an event, I would become absolutely enraged at witnessing such, and desire to leave.

Honestly, if I saw you getting 'absolutely enraged' over people shouting at an open format tournament that involves a large crowd, I'd probably desire that you leave too. Coaches coaching mid-fight is not rare in western competitive events, whatever type they may be. Crowd members shouting their support is perfectly common in western competitive events. A chant for country is definitely not rare either. I see no reason that shouting detracts from the legitimacy or seriousness of a competition. Maybe if it were a formalized, non-open competition? Maybe. But the videos you've seen are not those.

Edit: And to make it clear, I don't actually care one way or another. I'd be fine with either shouting or polite clapping. What I find ridiculous is the comment I quoted.

[Peter S]

I think I'd find shouting for a country in an individual competition a little off-putting, but the rest seem fine.

[John Harmston]

As HEMA tournaments get more "serious" (bigger crowds, bigger pools of competitors, prize money or whatever) I think we will see more and more of all of this stuff. It will clearly be up to the individual tournaments or governing bodies to decide if any behavioral rules would need to be established. The HEMA community is so diverse, however, that there will likely never be a complete consensus on what is acceptable.

I don't personally have issue with any of these items mentioned, except I agree that booing and jeering is bad form (although it is unfortunately a seemingly "acceptable" behavior in most other competitive sports, especially those fueled by adrenaline).

[Lee S]

I fail to see how this is 'bad behavior'.

As a competitor I find it invigorating that other people are as passionate about the fight as I am.

You should show up to the PNW gathering this year Jeff, it is with in driving distance. There will be some good fights, good people, and will be a lot of fun.

[Darijan R.]

Sound is a very important part of judging, you may not be able to see a hit sometimes but you may hear it happening; this is the case in kendo too. Therefore (and other reasons), imo, total silence should be enforced during the exchanges.

[Ben Michels]

Sound is a very important part of judging, you may not be able to see a hit sometimes but you may hear it happening; this is the case in kendo too. Therefore (and other reasons), imo, total silence should be enforced during the exchanges.

I'm pretty sure it's been kind of standard for the events I've been to to require judges to actually see a hit, not base their judging on sound.

[Lee S]

Sound is a very important part of judging, you may not be able to see a hit sometimes but you may hear it happening; this is the case in kendo too. Therefore (and other reasons), imo, total silence should be enforced during the exchanges.

Enforced silence... Sounds like this would be a boring event...

[ShaunnM.W.]

Sound is a very important part of judging, you may not be able to see a hit sometimes but you may hear it happening; this is the case in kendo too. Therefore (and other reasons), imo, total silence should be enforced during the exchanges.

Enforced silence... Sounds like this would be a boring event...

I think what he means is during the actual fighting - not during halts or between matches. I think it tends to be quiet(er) during these times (active fighting) anyway which leads to a natural time for applause or cheering (after an exchange or after a match)...this has been my experience in person, and also this is what I recall of the Swordfish footage that I watched online. Not absolute silence, but not a distracting cacophony of noise coming from the crowd either, and the Swordfish footage that I watched had a sizeable crowd, so it could easily have been much, much noisier than it was. I wasn't watching the footage for crowd reaction specifically but it did not strike me as out of control or obnoxious. I felt it was an appropriate show of support for the fighters, with a low noise level during exchanges.

Again - HEMA is too diverse for us all to agree 100% on anything, let alone everything.