FightCamp 2016 Information Pack Welcome to FightCamp 2016! The UK’s most popular Historical European Martial Arts event. FightCamp is an annual event, brought to you by Schola Gladiatoria and our dedicated team of Marshals. The event will be held at The Grange, Frog Lane, Balsall Common, CV7 7FP. On site facilities include a shower block, toilets, bar, sports hall and extensive fields. Classes and tournmanets will be held in the sports hall or adjacent fields, as indicated on your timetable. Merchandise All FightCamp merchandise will be available to order online in advance of the event. If you want to wear your official clothing to the event, make sure you place your order in time for it to arrive with you before you leave home. Online ordering means that you are able to ensure you get the top you want, in the colour you want and in the correct size. Registration When you arrive on site report directly to FightCamp reception to sign in and receive your wristband. This must be worn at all times during the event. Reception will open from 6pm on the 11th August, as will the campsite and parking area. Please note - visitors and spectators are not permitted on site, and attendees must be over 18 years of age. Only attendees who have booked and had their places confirmed in advance may attend. Classes & Free Sparring A copy of the class timetable is included at the end of this document. There will be a copy on display in reception too. But for your convenience, please try and bring your own printout. Please note that the timetable may be subject to change at any point. The timetable will display the class location in the appropriate timeslot, along with the subject title and instructor. Some class numbers may be limited, so arrive early to avoid disappointment and make sure you bring appropriate equipment. There will be a designated sparring area in the main training field. This will be used for official tournament pools at points during the weekend, but will still be open for free sparring. When sparring you must follow the safety rules as set out in this document. Meals & Evenings Cooked breakfast will be available from 8.30am each day. Snacks and refreshments will be served throughout the day. Alcohol will only be served after classes have finished. On Saturday night there will be a group BBQ dinner – provided free of charge as a part of the event. We hope that you will all join us there. Although The Grange is a rural site, they do have close neighbours. Please respect them by keeping noise levels down after 11.30pm. Camping & Facilities The campsite is adjacent to the training field, and a conveniently located toilet and shower block. The hot water is limited, so it will be appreciated if you try and keep your washes brief! Remember that the English weather is unpredictable. Pack your rain coat and sunscreen, regardless of the forecast. Tournaments There will be six tournaments running throughout the weekend. The Eggleton Cup, Assault at Arms, Rapier Tournament, Steel Sabre Tournament, Federschwert Tournament and Team Melee Tournament. Registration for the five individual tournaments was taken in advance of the event. Registration for the group melee tournament will open at the event itself. Ensure that you have adequate equipment and have read and understood the rules before arriving on site. You can find full tournament information here: http://www.fioredeiliberi.org/fightcamp/tournaments/ Safety Rules All attendees appreciate that FightCamp is an event for practitioners of weapon-based martial arts. It is therefore important for us all to endeavour to reduce risk and increase safety by following the rules. • Be careful when handling weapons, regardless of whether they are sharp or blunt • All weapons must be put away in your tent or car when classes finish for the day • Wear appropriate protection when training or sparring • If a FightCamp team member feels that an individual is behaving in an unsafe manner, they will be prevented from continuing to fight. Either for that fight, that day or in serious cases for the duration of the event. • If a FightCamp first aider believes you should stop fighting for your own health, then you will not be permitted to continue unless you have obtained a doctors note confirming you are safe to do so. • Alcohol consumption is not permitted until classes have finished each day. If you are seen drinking before this time you will have it confiscated, and may be banned from the event. Rules for steel sparring: • You must use a fencing mask from a reputable retailer (CEN 1 or 2), without signs of rust or serious deformation (dents etc), fitted to the wearer and secure on the head. • You must have cut-resistant back of head protection (eg. Padded, leather or hard plastic), that can be worn under the mask OR attached to the mask OR part of an overlay that sits on top of and around the mask. • You must wear padded/hard throat protection (must provide competent protection against a stab getting to the throat under the mask), in the form of a gorget, OR stiff plate in the fencing jacket collar (must be under the mask bib), OR a Polish-style leather apron with leather "blade catcher" pocket on the outside. A simple fabric collar will not suffice. • Fencing plastrons (800N) for BOTH right and left sides (or the double- sided type) must be worn, OR an 800N fencing jacket worn underneath the chest protection and outer jacket. This is obligatory to prevent broken blades entering through the outer jacket into the armpits. If the outer jacket is 800N rated by itself, including the arm-pits, that that will suffice by itself. • Men must wear a cup, box or jock-strap. These are also highly advised for women. • Gloves appropriate to the weapon being used – the cuffs MUST well overlap the bottom edges of the jacket sleeves in all motions. • Wear an outer fencing jacket appropriate to the weapons being used, with fully enclosed upper body and arms. This can include 350N/800N sport fencing jackets, HEMA-specific fencing jackets or gambesons (where the whole upper torso is enclosed, without openings such as at the armpits). • Knee and shin protection must be worn. Rules for Steel Sparring Weapons: • All weapons must be in suitable condition for use, being free of rust and pitting, having no sudden kinks or bends to the blade or tang, having no deep notches in the edges, the hilt being entirely solid on the tang, edges and hilts being burr-free and smooth. Weapons must be maintained to this standard throughout the event. • If any weapon blade becomes bent such that it is likely to have become fatigued or work- hardened to a dangerous degree in that portion of the blade, then it should be retired from use immediately. Most known weapon breakages at FightCamp have been in weapons which have been seriously bent and then straightened before continued use. This creates a weak portion in the blade which can break very suddenly and turn your blunt blade into a very sharp one instantly. Please help us to prevent this from happening. • All steel weapons must either have: a) a rolled forged blunt tip, (eg. Regenyei feders); b) a spent brass rifle cartridge securely fixed on the end (or equivalent METAL fitting); c) a rounded blunt blade tip at least 20mm across. Rubber blunt tips are NOT permitted because of the number of failures they have had. • Hilts should not have sharp protrusions. FightCamp 2016 Programme FightCamp 2016 Instructors and Class Titles Martin Austwick (English Martial Arts Academy, UK) • WW1 trench wrestling by George de Relwyskow Dave Banks (Black Boar Swordsmanship School, UK) • Smallsword and foil training for the sabreur Alex Bourdas (Academy of Historical Arts, UK) • Additional techniques from early Liechtenauer longsword Newton Bowmer & David James Murray (North Lakes Historical Fencing, UK) • English longsword Chris Chatfield (The 1595 Club, UK) • Saviolo sidesword introduction Fabrice Cognot (De Taille et d’Estoc, France) • Codex Wallerstein longsword Matthew Crane (School of the Sword, UK) • Bolognese sword and buckler introduction Andreas Engström (Gothenburg Historical Fencing School, Sweden) • Avoiding blade contact and voiding in military sabre Keith Farrell (Academy of Historical Arts, UK) • Functional oberhau in longsword • Longsword duplieren and mutieren Colin Fieldhouse (Schola Gladiatoria, UK) • British military sabre: Footwork variations Mark Gilbert (Riddle of Steel, UK) • Melee training class • Melee tournament Chris Halpin-Durband (York School of Defence, UK) • Late-medieval sword and large shield reconstruction Gordon Hamilton (True Guard, UK) • Cavendish's swordsmanship (broadsword, sidesword and rapier) Tim Hamilton (Chidokan MJER Dojo, UK) • Body structure in Japanese swordsmanship/kenjutsu Luke Ireland (The Exiles, UK) • Fiore dei Liberi's system, across weapons and unarmed Susan Kirk (Black Boar Swordsmanship School, UK) • WW2 British combatives James Marwood (Safe Self Protection, UK) • Bartitsu, old and new Jay Maxwell (School of the Sword, UK) • Bolognese sidesword and cloak Jerzy Miklaszewski (Silk Fencing Team, Poland) • Meyer's longsword • Falkner's langemesser Predrag Nikolic (Zornhau, Germany) • Fabian von Auerswald Haken Komplex: Wrestling Michael Noel Jones (Kuukanmushin Dojo, UK) • Bujinkan: Unarmed with rope Carlo Parisi (Gavirate Lake School of Defence, Italy) • Renaissance knife fighting Dave Rawlings (London Longsword Academy, UK) • Destreza rapier • Paulus Hector Mair’s longsword Allen Reed (Gallowglass Academy, USA) • Knife and tomahawk with Phil Walters