# Want to watch people beat the crap out of each other with swords **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 9, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-watch-people-beat-the-crap-out-of-each-other-with-swords/657911 "2013-05-09T17:59:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-watch-people-beat-the-crap-out-of-each-other-with-swords/657911/1 "2013-05-09T17:59:01Z")
Battle of Nations - An event we could not possible hold in the USA. Where people put on full armor and hit each other with swords. No, this isn’t the SCA (although some SCA Dukes are on the US team). The swords are blunted, but other than that there are few holds barred. Anyway, they have a live feed: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Za5tq-E7loo/maxresdefault.jpg "Online Record "Battle of the Nations" - 2013, Day 1") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za5tq-E7loo) Lots of preamble before the battles (which are often over quickly) but that’s not unlike a lot of sports. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-watch-people-beat-the-crap-out-of-each-other-with-swords/657911/2 "2013-05-09T21:16:54Z")
There are a bunch of videos (the one linked in the OP is a live stream, so isn’t up atm), but [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byZ6lkFmtmk) is the full rules in English for anyone interested. There are a few actual combat recordings on the page as well. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2013, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-watch-people-beat-the-crap-out-of-each-other-with-swords/657911/3 "2013-05-09T22:28:11Z")
What? It’s taking place in France, and in a very nice medieval town to boot? Right at this moment? Why didn’t anybody tell me anything? :eek::mad:☹ ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-watch-people-beat-the-crap-out-of-each-other-with-swords/657911/4 "2013-05-10T00:29:27Z")
Looking at the videos, the swords seem kind of superfluous, since the idea is to knock the other guy over. It looks more like sumo wrestling with armour. The guy who wins is usually the guy who first decides to stop dicking around with the swords and just starts trying to push or trip the other guy. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-watch-people-beat-the-crap-out-of-each-other-with-swords/657911/5 "2013-05-10T00:32:36Z")
People should probably be warned this video is almost nine hours long. ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-watch-people-beat-the-crap-out-of-each-other-with-swords/657911/6 "2013-05-10T01:10:40Z")
Last year, History:rolleyes: Channel had a reality series, [Full metal Jousting](http://www.history.com/shows/full-metal-jousting). No swords, but full-on, full speed, genuine, smash armor jousting. No ren-faire playtime-Charlie stuff here. I’m sorry it didn’t get renewed. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-watch-people-beat-the-crap-out-of-each-other-with-swords/657911/7 "2013-05-10T21:07:13Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Looking at the videos, the swords seem kind of superfluous, since the idea is to knock the other guy over. It looks more like sumo wrestling with armour. The guy who wins is usually the guy who first decides to stop dicking around with the swords and just starts trying to push or trip the other guy. There is some of that in the melees, certainly, but it has its limits. If you try to bully someone over there far too much of a chance that they will pull you down with them. There is a lot on armor to grab onto. Odds are a charger is going to get bonked before impact as well. In the 1x1 duels I don’t see that tactic much at all. Given that what I know of the USA team, most of those guys who were in last years team were trying to lose weight, not become a sumo wrestler. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-watch-people-beat-the-crap-out-of-each-other-with-swords/657911/8 "2013-05-10T21:37:57Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > There is some of that in the melees, certainly, but it has its limits. If you try to bully someone over there far too much of a chance that they will pull you down with them. There is a lot on armor to grab onto. Odds are a charger is going to get bonked before impact as well. > > In the 1x1 duels I don’t see that tactic much at all. I scrolled through and watched a couple random matches, so I’m not sure they’re representitve, but the 1-on-1 matches I saw played out as I described. They’d try with the swords for a few minutes until they got bored and one guy would charge the other, who would either get knocked over or manage to side-step and the other guy would topple (not easy to keep your feet wearing all that armour, I imagine). Not surprisingly, its pretty hard to get a guy to fall down just wacking him with a metal stick when he’s wearing armour. Actually what I saw was the opposite of what you describe. The only time the swords really did anything was in the melee, when it was possible to come behind someone whose attention was elsewhere and really give them a strong enough wack to knock them over. > [@](#): > > Given that what I know of the USA team, most of those guys who were in last years team were trying to lose weight, not become a sumo wrestler. Well, gaining physical weight isn’t really necessary when you can strap 50 pounds of metal to you. But the principal is the same, your trying to man handle your opponent to the ground or out of the ring. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-watch-people-beat-the-crap-out-of-each-other-with-swords/657911/9 "2013-05-10T21:53:24Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > I scrolled through and watched a couple random matches, so I’m not sure they’re representitve, but the 1-on-1 matches I saw played out as I described. They’d try with the swords for a few minutes until they got bored and one guy would charge the other, who would either get knocked over or manage to side-step and the other guy would topple (not easy to keep your feet wearing all that armour, I imagine). Not surprisingly, its pretty hard to get a guy to fall down just wacking him with a metal stick when he’s wearing armour. I don’t know what matches you were watching because I see the opposite. There were some bullrushes here or there, but they didn’t really do much. If the weapons were superfluous, then why is anyone bringing a poleax to the melees? That’s a long range weapon for a bullrush knock-down. Give everyone a short sword and a shield and win! ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-watch-people-beat-the-crap-out-of-each-other-with-swords/657911/10 "2013-05-10T22:03:33Z")
I know a guy who engages in this kind of stuff. He’s kind of nuts. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-watch-people-beat-the-crap-out-of-each-other-with-swords/657911/11 "2013-05-13T15:38:38Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Looking at the videos, the swords seem kind of superfluous, since the idea is to knock the other guy over. It looks more like sumo wrestling with armour. The guy who wins is usually the guy who first decides to stop dicking around with the swords and just starts trying to push or trip the other guy. I watched a video of some French event and a guy stated that in 1:1 fights, they got points for each weapon hit. It doesn’t appear in the official rules, though, so I assume it’s some sort of “home made rules” > [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](#): > > Last year, History:rolleyes: Channel had a reality series, [Full metal Jousting](http://www.history.com/shows/full-metal-jousting). No swords, but full-on, full speed, genuine, smash armor jousting. No ren-faire playtime-Charlie stuff here. I’m sorry it didn’t get renewed. Just watched some videos of such tournaments (not the History Channel series). Impressive but it has to be rather dangerous for both men and horses.