| GLOSSARY - FOR LIGHT WEAPONRY (SUCH AS RAPIERS) 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. |