Punch Blocking

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In Alliance Denver, we are starting to see this sporadically with: unpadded hafts of polearms, occasional use with "dragon's tooth" unpadded gaps between crossguard and base of the blade on swords, and with long grips on 1-handed long weapons. In the last case, the style seems to be choking up on the crossguard somewhat, and allowing the unpadded grip to cover the forearm. From a safety perspective, I have zero problem with this style as I've seen it used; I don't think it's a safety issue. Balance, rules, general rightness in the universe...?

Trace
 
Blocking with the grip section of the weapon has been allowed basically as long as the game has existed and, while I'm not an expert on other systems, I can't think of any other light-tap boffer games that prohibit it. You don't have to agree with the practice but saying that it's "wildly against the general spirit of our overall system of boffer combat" seems like a bit of an overstatement.
 
KyleSchmelz, just to clarify my position: I raised this set of questions to find out what other chapters are doing to get an idea of what our approach should be in our relatively new chapter as we're still developing our local stance on things like safety. I have no real dog in this fight. While I maintain my stance as overstated that I do indeed believe this is wildly against the spirit of our overall system of boffer combat -- I also utilize this style myself when fighting. I just want our game to be safe, fair, and in keeping with the culture of what other chapters are doing.

Thanks!

Trace
 
Hey Trace,

I see no issue with blocking with unpadded sections of your weapon. Please note that a quarterstaff can be designed with an unpadded grip, per the ARB, which pretty much guarantees that the unpadded section is going to be used to block, on occasion. While you should definitely block with the padded section whenever reasonably possible, it isn't required that you do so.

Something like this would fall under the Good Sportsmanship rule. That's what we gotta turn to for the fabled Gray Areas. If I turn my weapon to defend myself effectively, and my opponent's strike lands on the unpadded section of my weapon, and he calls me a Dirty Cheat who is putting his weapon in danger...well, that guy isn't being a Good Sport.

--Evan
 
It comes down to the hierarchy of infractions. The hands are an illegal target because the rules say so. And striking an illegal target/repeatedly using an illegal target to block shots is a dangerous combat infraction. It doesn't matter if someone gets hurt or not from it. All that matters is the potential for real-world injury. And everything in that list is a dangerous situation.

This is really where being a marshal in the Alliance rule-set is like being a referee at a sporting event. There are plenty of things that can result in a foul, yellow card, yellow flag, etc. And a lot of those can come down to perspective and judgement. But the red card offenses are explicit. It doesn't matter if the other guy is wearing a helmet and you didn't even connect. You throw a punch at someone at the goal-line at the biggest game of the year, with adrenaline running as high as it possibly can, right in front of a referee, you can kiss that last 30 seconds of play goodbye 'cause you're getting ejected.
 
I have already deleted two posts from this thread for their aggressive/confrontational tone and lack of meaningful input. I do not wish to shut down this thread, but if it continues to veer into the sort of heated us-vs-them flaming that has been previously typical of conversations like this one, I will do it.

You are representing your chapter and the Alliance at large. Post politely and constructively or do not post at all.
 
I'm not sure where the confusion on this one is, the rules seem pretty cut and dried in that padding is required on striking surfaces but the rules do not mandate that only striking surfaces are valid for blocking.
 
I think I've collected a good smattering of opinions on both these topics; my questions on the topics are now closed to my satisfaction. Sounds like culturally, Alliance does not support punch blocking, and blocking with unpadded sections of any weapon is a-ok within our system.

Thanks for everyone's polite and informed contributions. I appreciate exploration on the topic. I think it's healthy to stop and consider why our rules are the way the are every now and then, and dig into the center parts of an issue. That's really helpful for Marshals to be able to make calls consistent with the culture of the game and spirit of its rules, and not just regurgitate a rulebook quote.

Thanks,
Trace Moriarty
Safety & Weapons Marshal
Alliance Denver
 
No worries Trace. And if you ever think you've got a question that might be a bit on the 'delicate' side, feel free to hit me up in a PM. Sometimes it's nice to test the temperature before diving in with a question!

For the record, I'm one of SF's all-sorts marshal. I generally tend to end up getting asked to marshal the more technical things, such as rules minutia and rituals, but I also certainly know exactly where 2 inches is on my thumb without a ruler. ;)
 
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