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Non-Contact: In these tournaments, fighters throw fullforce
blows at each other but must stop just prior to touching
the target. This prevents injury except in rare cases (a
critical failure). Judges stationed around the ring or square
judge the effectiveness of attacks. Points are scored for proper
techniques aimed at specific targets. Typically, play halts
after each “hit” so that the judges can score. Then the fighters
return to their start positions. Non-contact contests use
either Combat Art or Combat Sport skills.
Light Contact: Light-contact bouts are similar to noncontact
ones, but some physical contact occurs and fighters
must pull their blows to avoid inflicting injury. Alternatively,
blows are dealt with some force, but armor, padded gloves,
or (for weapon competitions) specially designed weapons
prevent serious injury; for details, see Training Equipment
(pp. 232-234). Non-striking sport styles like Greco-Roman
Wrestling and Judo, which forbid holds that can cause
injury, are also light contact. Use Combat Sport skills to
resolve these matches.
Full Contact: In full-contact bouts, fighters exchange fullstrength
blows. Because of the risk of injury, such tournaments
are rarely unprotected. Most use padding and armor,
as well as gloves and foot coverings designed to soften
blows. They often restrict “legal” targets, too. For example,
competitive Tae Kwon Do only scores points for techniques
that hit hard enough to move the target, but limits kicks to
above the waist and punches to the torso, and encases competitors
in padded chest and head protectors. Full-contact
competitions are common in non-striking styles, which usually
only forbid holds prone to causing injury (choke holds,
damaging arm locks, etc.). Muay Thai, Lethwei, and
Kyokushin “knockdown” tournaments (which forbid only
punches to the head) are unprotected full contact, while
Kendo and Tae Kwon Do are protected full contact.
Protected contests use Combat Sport; unprotected matches
use actual combat skills.
No Holds Barred: These tournaments are full-contact
matches with few (or none) of the niceties mentioned above.
Despite the name, some tactics – usually choke holds, hair
pulling, and attacks to the eyes – are barred for legal and
safety reasons. Mixed martial arts competitions, ancient
Greek Pankration matches, and early Sumo tournaments
are no holds barred. Use standard combat skills to resolve
such bouts.
Other Competitions
Some varieties of tournament combat are less “friendly”
than even the most brutal sporting matches . . .
Judicial Combat
Many societies, especially those of medieval Europe,
allowed for trial by combat (p. B508). The fighting was in
earnest. Witnesses regarded the winner as having been
judged innocent – and the loser, guilty – by God.
Judicial combat often had many rules. For example, if a
man faced a woman, he would fight from a waist-deep hole
armed with a club, and she would have a shield and a mace
with which to subdue her handicapped foe. Knights typically
faced each other with matched weapons in a small ring or
square, and fought until one party was slain or incapacitated,
or surrendered. Pollaxes were common for knightly contests,
as was the ahlspiess (p. 212).
Some fighters made careers as paid stand-ins for
aggrieved parties; see Duelist (p. 34). This could backfire, as
the practice was often illegal. One such English fighter had
a foot cut off as a judicial punishment for selling the use of
his sword arm!
Use actual combat to game out judicial contests, not the
abbreviated methods under Roleplaying Tournaments
(p. 134).
Melees and Jousting
Medieval Europe also featured tournaments to allow
knights to practice their combat skills and demonstrate
their valor off the field of battle. Melees pitted a mass of
knights against each other on a field. Combat was nearly as
violent as actual warfare, and injuries and fatalities could
result.
In jousts, knights practiced their skill with horse and
lance. Competitors often used heavier armor than they
would wear in battle, fought with blunt-tipped lances
designed to shatter on impact, and were separated by a rail
to prevent horses from colliding. Even with these protections,
deaths occurred. The best target to hit to knock an
opponent down was the visor, which didn’t always prevent
lethal lance shards from penetrating. Falls from horseback
could also prove deadly, especially if the knight was trampled.
Geoffrey of Brittany died in this way in 1186, which let
John Lackland take the English throne in 1199 – a pivotal
event in Western history.
Use combat skills (and possibly actual combat) to resolve
early competitions. Later in history, Combat Sport skills –
notably Lance Sport – are more appropriate.
Religious Combat
Tournaments may be held to honor the gods or spirits, or
to promote a religious philosophy. A modern example is
Sumo, which still has Shinto ritual deeply embedded in its
customs and rules. Some faiths regard bloodshed in religious
combat to be an ill omen – but in certain settings
(especially fictional or fantasy worlds) blood may be
required for the tournament to be deemed a success!
COMBAT 135