Ok, Ecky Thump!
TLDR: Tournament fun, vibe good, rules odd but I mostly like, York a long way, would do again
This tourney was a lot of fun.
It wasn’t a super serious or tryhard tournament, although I did notice one or two serious competitors from the scene in the midlands and south. I wouldn’t know who the major competitors are on the northern and Scottish scene, although I could probably pick out one or two after the comp. There were a lot of Scottish clubs there, I’d say half the fencers in the room were from one of the Edinburgh or Glasgow clubs.
Each tournament was a swiss system, of four random fights, then a fifth seeded with the person closest to you in score. A total of 42 competitors, all in one pool for each tournament.
Judging was done mostly by other competitors. You’d think this may be a disaster, but honestly, some of the best judging I’ve seen at a comp. But I also think the less serious nature garnered a lot of goodwill and self calling that aided it.
The tournaments were organised by time period. Each weapon you brought had to fit into the appropriate period, those being medieval (think Longsword, armingsword, messer, bucklers), renaissance (Rapier, sidesword, daggers, Cloaks) and revolution (Saber, Broadsword, Smallsword etc.). There was a little play to it, for example, you could use an arming sword as a sidesword if you really wanted to. Fencers also had to agree what they would fence with beforehand. Not being the richest fencer in the world, I only had one weapon set from each period, but plenty of people changed weapons around. Most people seemed to pair weapons, rather than do mis-matches, but you did see a few mixed weapon bouts.
I liked the time period system a lot, actually.
The scoring system was a little odd, I’m not quite sure how I feel about it.
You aren’t marked for your wins, but hits against you – its a points deductive system.
You start each tourney with 20 “life points”. For each hit you take, the assigned value is deducted from your total score. Doubles count for full points. The winner is whoever has the most points after five fights.
Matches ended after one person lost at least five points, but its possible you could go over.
For example, you may have taken a cut to the head and arm in two separate passes for a total of -4. Then take a final hit to the head to bring you to -7. You’ve crossed the threshold of -5, so the match ends AND 7 points are deducted from your “health”.
It’s possible to go into the negatives.
I think the intent of the system is to encourage “realistic” fencing, in so far as it’s not enough to just win, you also have to not die.
I think its admirable, but I can’t say it did much to change how people fence.
The other thing – its effectively a first to 5 scoring system, with 3 pts a cut/thrust to the head, or thrust to the chest, or 1 pt anything else. This kinda meant that matches looked like complete walkovers, or really damn close – even if they weren’t really that way at all.
Sure, it kept the matches quick, but the difference between barely winning and losing was razor thin, and with it being possible to win a match in two passes, I’m not sure its the best system for ensuring the best fencer is the winner. Having said that, I don’t think that was the point of Ecky Thump. The stated goal of the tournament organisers was FUN, and having a loss be two touches away made the fight seem more urgent, and, to their credit, realistic.
Here’s where some of the fun comes in. It’s a mixed weapon tournament.
To encourage people swapping weapons, you gain a “health” point back each time you swap a weapon between boughts, for a potential total of 4 pts.
If you had the kit you could in theory have taken a longsword, arming sword, arming sword and buckler, messer, and messer and buckler into the medieval tournament for 4 more points.
I think this was a super fun idea. I saw a lot of different weapons coming into play.
I had a moment of salt thinking how annoying it would be to lose out based on not having the kit to swap weapons. That said, I think maybe only one person podiumed as a result of this. Everyone else pretty much stuck with one weapon set, maybe adding/removing a buckler or dagger in the name of fun. Plus, practically speaking you’d need to be winning 4 or 5 of your fights to medal anyway.
I was the only one from the order, so I wound up chatting a lot with Dave Dixon (who went on to take gold in the medieval category) and the exiles. I would end up lending them my old feder when one of their blunts failed weapons check and lending one of my sabers out so that some of their dudes who had to sit around all day for results could fight in other categories. Hopefully I made some friends there, they said they are coming to the November muster.
I sent a play-by-play of how I did to my club members as the day progressed, so here’s a bit of an overview.
I won 4/5 fights in the medieval category. I brought my Feder along, partly because it was the only appropriate sword I owned, and partly because I assumed the category would be mostly dominated by longswords. I was largely right, but there were enough messers, arming swords and bucklers around to be notable.
I was initially a little timid due to the low win threshold. My usual tourney gameplan is rather aggressive fencing. Frankly, I shouldn’t have let this stop me from playing my game. I let a few of my fights get close on the scoreboard, when really I ought to have played to my usual strengths, rather than try to bend to the rules. By the last couple of fights the reality that all I needed was two good passes to win had sunk in, and I let my usual gameplan fly – but not before taking more hits than necessary in early fights.
My only loss in this tourney was to Wojiech Kwasik – a really excellent fencer, who I know from the Midland Circuit. He took an early 3 pointer on me, which I pulled back with a 1 pointer to his wrist, then we doubled to end the match, -6, -4 in his favour. I really wish I had the chance to take this to 10, it was one of my favourite matches of the day, and my first time fencing Wojiech with Feders. But hey-ho, the match was lost. I think he may have kicked me off the podium here!
The second category was Renaissance, where I won the silver medal. I think everything lined up for me just right here. I had warmed up, learned the lessons from the last tourney, and we were pushing into my stronger suit. My specialty within the OOTB is with sabers, so as the closest type of sword available I had brought along my trusty sidesword (with a buckler as backup).
Now if you don’t know, the running theme of my competitive career in HEMA, has been underperforming in Saber, but smashing anything I can touch with a sidesword. Today was no different. I won my first four fights, two of which without conceding a single point, until I landed into what I understood to be the top seeded fight with Kindred Willow.
Now I won’t bandy words here – Kindred kicked my butt. Two thrusts to the chest with a rapier and the tourney was done.
But I had won my first ever medal in a HEMA competition! And I was chuffed! I still am!
I’ve competed in 5 separate competitions this year, in two of which I won all of my fights, only to miss out on medal opportunities based on point differences. This win was quite validating for me!
The final category of the day was revolution – Saber, my beloved, don’t fail me now.
I failed saber :’(
By this point in the day, I’d honestly run out of juice, 15 fights was a lot, and I don’t think many fencers entered all three categories. My usual style features aggressive footwork and swift attacks and feints. I find that I usually surprise opponents with how fast I am compared to my 6ft, broad as a barn door, and stubby-limbed frame. But by this point in the day, I didn’t have the energy left to capitalise on the advantages I’d make, and finished the comp with a record of 2 wins, 1 draw, and 2 losses – and I’ll remind you, by these rules, a draw is as good as a loss.
I also came across a few really excellent Saberours back to back, coming out on the bottom twice. It’s a shame, this was the category I’d really hoped to do well in, but as I explained to my clubmates on the day – “Oh well, GG, get fitter.”
And so! That’s my writeup of my experience at Ecky Thump! I had a genuinely excellent time. Yorkshire school of defence put on a great showing, curated a fantastic atmosphere in the room, and made a rule set that was genuinely FUN!
I’ll certainly be back next year!
– Dan, Asst. Instructor, Order of the Blade, Coventry Chapter
