BMT Fighting Rules

as PDF

• Play fair
• Safety first
• Good presentation instead of posturing and arms race
• Solid reenactment instead of posing and escalation ladder.

Fair play and what we mean by it.

The prerequisite for participation in combat activities is basically the age of majority.

• Fight sensibly.
• What is a hit is decided by the person hit.
• Cuts and blows are executed with the edge of the exhibition weapon, stabs with the point.
• Hits should be felt and executed to match the clothing of the opponent.
• The person hit decides what is too hard a hit.
• Whoever argues is out.
• From behind, hits are only to be made on the buttocks, not on the back.
• Anyone hit on the butt from behind is out immediately, this also applies to flat hits.
• If you fall, you are out, unless there are no opponents around and you get up immediately.
• If a weapon catches on the other person's body, it must be released.
• A shield does not make hits, but may be used actively. This should be done with care and caution.
• Stabbing is only done from the top down and should only be done by fighters skilled in it, as stabbing is more likely to cause injury.
• Clawing the weapon in combat is permitted.
• Disarming is permitted if it can be done safely (no flying weapons, no overstretched joints).
• Grabbing cutting with the hands is not allowed.
• When someone shouts „stop“, all fighting ends. A „stop“ is repeated loudly once.

Since we also want to fight in light equipment during the day, there are the following differences between wargame and battle:

• Anyone who has been hit once in the hit zone is out.
• The hit zone includes: the torso, thighs and arms (upper arm, forearm, hands).
• Anyone who causes a head or neck hit or a hit that is too hard is out. The person handling the hitting weapon is always the cause.
• A fight is always protected by the marshals who shield the audience, otherwise there is no fighting.
• It is recommended to wear a helmet.

• Whoever has been hit twice in the hit zone is out.
• The hit zone includes the torso, thighs, arms (upper arm, forearm, hands) and the top of the head.
• Hits to the head are only executed from above.
• Hits to the neck or horizontally to the head are not permitted.
• Anyone who causes a face or neck hit or a hit that is too hard is out. The person handling the hitting weapon is always the cause.
• Helmets are compulsory.
• It is recommended to wear forearm protectors.

All weapons and shields must be free of sharp edges, points and the like. All weapons and shields must first pass the official weapons check.

• Striking edges must be at least 3 mm thick.
• Impact edges must be rounded.
• All radii must be larger than 8 mm (1-cent piece).
• On all points, the radii must be larger than 10 mm (10-cent piece).
• Stitch points must be larger than 1 cm².
• Shields must have impact protection around the edge.

Protective clothing must be worn as found or concealed.

Mandatory:

• Gloves capable of withstanding hand hits
• Helme während der Schlacht (Beim Wargame sind Helme freiwillig.)

Optional: Knees, elbows and forearms.

The event is multi-period, yet the equipment should be coherent. This means concretely:

• temporally limited
• locally determined
• corresponding to the social roles/states
• according to the culture

This also means that the weapons and shields should be close in proportions to historical weapons and fit coherently with the person depicted.

In deviation from the findings, Danish axes and two-handed cutting weapons may have a maximum shaft length of 2 m, as they must be wielded exclusively two-handed.