Below are the announcements made on the previous platform.
25 Nov 2023 – Important news – rules and new KFM
Good evening fencers! Two very important pieces of news.
1) The Kingdom Earl Marshal has selected Armiger Jude Oleksandr Donetsk to be the next
Lochac Kingdom Fencing Marshal. Please join me in welcoming and supporting her; she has
already been deeply involved as my deputy over the last two years and I know she will
continue our good works. This handover took place in court this evening at Fields of Gold
this evening, and the effect is immediate.
2) Version 6 of the Lochac Rapier Rules go live on 1 JANUARY 2024. Please make yourself
familiar with the drafts as they stand and have previously been distributed. A final
document version without tracked changes and with a few minor spelling and grammar issues
will be distributed in the coming days.
Yours in Service
Baron Sigvaldr Svithandi
Former Lochac Kingdom Fencing Marshal
19 Mar 2023 – Reduced armour experiment – Reportable and non-reportable injuries
Good morning fencers, and in particular experiment participants.
Please remember that a reportable injury is where a fencer is injured and is unable to continue, or needs treatment from a health professional (4.4 of the Rules). An abrasion, bruise or small cut is NOT a reportable injury under this experiment, or our rulebook, unless you are unable to continue or need medical treatment.
A non-reportable injury is any other injury, self assessed, other than where a fencer is injured and is unable to continue or needs treatment from a health professional. This would be where you would report small cuts, abrasions, and bruises, should you consider them significant. I think we’ve all had bruises from fencing under the full set of fencing equipment rules.
Further, any reportable injuries must be reported to the Group Marshal “as soon as possible”, who must then also report the incident to the Kingdom Rapier Marshal
“within 24 hours”. I have seen incidents in the experiment reporting schedule that people believe to be reportable, but these are not being passed on to the Group
Marshal or myself. Please ensure that incident reporting requirements are properly adhered to.
Sigvaldr Svithandi
Lochac Fencing Marshal
20 Feb 2023 – Reduced armour experiment announcement time – WE ARE LIVE!
Good afternoon fencers!
One of the most significant changes to fencing in Lochac since the reintroduction has finally come to pass, and you, lucky reader, are invited to participate!
Details, including how to participate, can be found in the linked Google Doc at the end of this missive, but as a summary:
EXPERIMENTAL RULES
There are three areas of reduced armor that this experiment will be examining. Participants are limited to using two of the below at the same time. Participants may decide each time they armor up which one or two areas they wish to use reduced armor on.
These areas are:
- Lowering the required back of head protection from penetration resistant to abrasion resistant. Essentially, the drape would not need to be drop tested, and a single layer of cloth would suffice as long as no skin shows.
- Lowering the torso protection from penetration resistant to abrasion resistant. A single layer of cloth will be sufficient; it would not need to be drop tested, and no additional armpit layers will be necessary as long as there is no exposed skin.
- Allowing arms and legs to have exposed skin. The arms from just above the elbows and down and the legs from just above the knees down may be exposed – essentially, the areas exposed by a t-shirt and shorts. Note that unless the option for reduced torso armor is chosen as well, the armor standard for the torso remains unchanged. Yes, this means that gloves would not be required.
PARTICIPATION AND REPORTING
A participant can sign up using the below link. A participant is not confirmed and cannot
take part until approval by Lochac rapier Marshal.
https://forms.gle/wCkvqP2MGSYrP5Jy9
A participant must report using the below form each time they undertake a fencing activity
using these rules.
https://tinyurl.com/3h8rjmzv
Important note:
Sign up data will remain within Australia and New Zealand and be protected by relevant privacy laws and principals. However, event and incident reporting data will be sent directly to the Society officers responsible for the global experiment. While the data can be accessed by Lochac officers (including the Kingdom Fencing Marshal, Kingdom Earl Marshal, and SCA Ltd Board), it is not controlled by these officers. Your data may not have the same privacy protections as data collected under Australian or New Zealand law. If you do not wish your data managed in this way, you will not be able to proceed with the experiment.
Details of the experiment can be found here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vLTmImKZzYHYNKg6bL8vte739SPo6PYbKvjlX2D…
document will be continually updated with an FAQ. If you have any questions, please,
please ask them (preferably publicly), and we’ll get you an answer and update the
FAQ.
Yours in Exhilarated Service
Sigvaldr Svithandi
Lochac Fencing Marshal
21 Jan 2023 – Conclusion of the inner thigh requirement saga
Good morning all!
The necessary Boards, Committees, Kings and Seneschals have all given their approval to permanently change the Lochac Fencing Combat Handbook to
permanently remove the requirement to armour 10cm down the inner thigh, and this has been promulgated through Pegasus, to group marshals, and has been
announced at Court. Even the Fencing Combat Handbook has been changed!
We have now *permanently *removed ’the inner thigh’ from the definition of the parts of the body that must be covered by penetration-resistant
material under 2.8.4 1.
No action needs to be taken by fencers. Your current legal armour remains legal and does not need to be changed. You will hear nothing further from
me on this matter!
YiS,
Sigvaldr
Lochac Fencing Marshal
12 July 2021 – From the Kingdom Fencing Marshal: Safety tests
Greetings friends,
Your group marshals are now preparing their quarterly reports, and in the next quarter we will call for nominations as I prepare to step down. That means
it’s almost two years since I stepped up. If you can’t remember doing your two-year safety tests on your gear during my tenure, then now is the time. All blades,
masks and penetration-resistant clothing must be tested every two years, in accordance with the rules. I encourage group marshals to maintain a record of the tests, and remind them to report any blade failures.
FURTHER…I have recently had received a report of a failure. A blunt was removed from a blade in apparently good condition during a tape replacement. The marshals found that the tip of the blade was severely rusted.In response, please follow this instruction. All blades undergoing flex tests must also have their
blunts removed to check that the whole blade is in good condition. If your blade has been tested, but you have not recently re-taped your blunt, I ask that you check your tips.Thanks for your support. Any questions, you know how to find me.
Yours in service,
Owain Cantor ap Hughe
Kingdom Fencing Marshal
15 May 2021 – Minor changes to the Lochac Fencing Combat Rules
Notice from the Kingdom Fencing Marshal
Thank you to members of the community who have provided feedback or queries about the new Lochac Fencing Rules. As a result, I am releasing the Lochac Fencing Rules 5.1. The updated version includes some minor changes to wording to clarify rules and the change log.
1 May 2021 – New Lochac Fencing Combat Rules
Notice from the Kingdom Fencing Marshal
Effective from 1 May 2021, the Lochac Fencing Rules 5.0 are in force. All fencers, trainees and marshals must familiarise themselves with the new rules.
The following are key changes to weapons and authorisations:
Rubber-headed spears on rattan shafts, as described in the Rules, are no longer experimental weapons. All fencers can train with, and undertake authorisation in, this weapon.
Steel-headed spears (rapier pikes) are still allowed under Society rules until 31 December 2021.
Cut and thrust combat is allowed in melee combat, if all fencers are wearing cut and thrust equipment.
There is no longer a waiting period to authorise in cut and thrust combat, or to use a spear. Anyone with a standard fencing combat authorisation can undertake authorisation in these categories.
There are no longer specific categories for authorising marshals. An authorising marshal can authorise fencers for any category in which they hold the relevant combat authorisation.
Yours in service
Owain Cantor ap Hughe
Kingdom Fencing Marshal
22 February 2015 – Updated Victorian Sword Laws
Hiya Folks
The following is a Victorian requirement only covering steel sword usage (including the transport, wearing and even holding a steel sword) within Victoria.
Shortly all steel sword users will need to have completed the new stat dec requirements and hold a current SCA membership to transport, use and own a steel sword in Victoria. The previous laws covered the transport and ownership of the sword yet the updated laws also covers the “usage”.
I’m aware there has been some confusion about the inclusion of usage in the updated laws which has resulted in newcomers being allowed to use a steel sword for basic drill work. Under the current phasing in of the laws we can’t allow a newcomer to use a steel sword until the stat dec process has been completed and a current SCA membership card is held.
So to be very clear, newcomers can’t use a steel sword and anyone that knowingly allows a newcomer to use a steel blade places the SCA exemption at risk and as such will face disciplinary action/authorisation card removal.
I strongly suggest all Victorian based fencing groups arrange loaner fibreglass rapiers to assist newcomers.
Yis
Everard KRM Lochac
http://sca.org.au/board/documents/policy/weapons