Safety Protocols? thread of another discussion about safety.

[Chantelle]

Please do not skim read any of this

The below is broken into the ISSUES raised and the SOLUTIONS people have suggested

The SOLUTIONS are NOT the agreed upon solutions – they are simply the solutions that have been suggested so far

The below are YOUR WORDS people – taken from your posts, if I have missed anything it was not intentional – please let us know

very wise words....
we need clear communication from OLD to NEW people and then back again in all we do – so tell everyone you know about these threads and even if they don't think GD is a good forum for this / have access – help them to view it, or get them on here to follow and discuss from the beginning of the threads

When we finally come together to discuss these issues and to come to some conclusions please remember

come to the table
swallow your pride
listen respectfully
our similarities should engulf our differences
we are all there for each others sake and the love of our community and sport

Suggested steps for action now

discuss some more
consolidate
arrange a meeting place to place down some rules etc???? thoughts on this?


SAFETY PROTOCOLS

ISSUES

accidents happen – we play with swords after all

getting people to adhere to these – some say is impossible

too many styles / different manuscripts to do something solid

re-enactment tournaments need to be focused on historical fencing standards or some won't agree on much – i.e.Colin will never agree on a non-lateral blow tournament

people get confused when there are not standards they can expect from event to event


SOLUTIONS

hearing is a problem – need one word specified as the stop / hold command
minimum safety equipment needs to be agreed upon at a general meeting

2-3 practice bouts fought before a tournament being watched by trainers / marshals

a visual aid may be needed as well as a command

a loud hailer could help with commands

more than one person has said that .......
every club should post their individual training and grading syllabuses / rules sets and equipment requirements – these need to be analysed and compared to establish common ground

if clubs don't have the above - maybe create them as we move towards an era of accountability

different fighting weights / armor categories

all re-enactment battles / melees / tournaments should be fought with rubber swords

need a minimum set of safety equipment if we have so many fragmented sets of rules etc like we do now

when accidents happen – don't just point fingers – work out WHY it happened

one warning then out?

two warnings then out?

can't allow right of reply – otherwise the tournament becomes a brawl

don't accept non combatants / friends / those that offer to marshal just because

needs to come from club level to train their members safely

will never agree on everything (like fines on speed limits) but we should agree on minimum standards to put in a governing body

Auckland Sword and Shield's first grading is about fighting without hurting your opponent

head turns to be banned

break falls should be mastered

Stop - usually quiet a short sharp sound, and starts with a sibilant fricative, which has less volume
Break - the ay sound is a higher pitch than the oh sound, and break also starts with a fricative
Hold - Great initial volume, and the O sound carries well over distance