CACMA Straight Sword Sparring Rules

Combat Sports Jianshu Competition Rule (Adapted from the World Jianshu League Rules)

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Introduction

The goal of World Jianshu League is to provide a competitive environment that allows jianshu practitioners to progress and validate their skills.  The rules of combat sport jianshu are thus designed with the emphasis on skill cultivation rather than on historic duel reenactment.  Nevertheless, the rule reflects a high level of reality, which allows historical Chinese jianshu techniques to function as they were originally designed.   We hope that combat sport jianshu will serve as a tool to promote disciplined swordsmanship, athleticism, and sportsmanship.

 

Rule for combat sport Jianshu

 1     Court, Director and Referee

 1.1          Court

The jianshu match is conducted in a square shape court that is 28 to 32 feet long on each side.  The court can also be on a raised platform depending on the host of the event.  The on-guard position of each contestant is located such that the front foot of each contestant is 5 feet from the center of the court with the contestants facing each other.

 1.2           Director

There is one director located inside the court. The director conducts the match and makes all final decisions. The director reserves the right to start and stop the match at any time or when he sees any referee raises his/her hand.

 1.3          Referee

There are four referees on each corner of the square court. The two referees on the same diagonal line are paired into one group. Each group of referee observes and makes decision for one contestant only. If a referee observes a valid technique that scores a hit on the contestant who he/she is in charge of, he/she will call out “hit” and raise his/her hand so that the director can stop the match to examine the call and then make the final decision.

Note: Please refer to 2.1 & 3.5 below for explanation of valid technique and scoring.

2     Valid techniques and Target area

2.1          Valid Techniques

  • Thrusting with the tip of the blade.
  • Pecking with the tip of the blade in a quick and percussive manner.
  • Cutting with the tip of the blade or first 15 inches of the blade in circular slashing movement.
  • Cutting with the tip of the blade or the first 15 inches of the blade in a linear sawing movement.

In order to make these techniques considered valid, all of them need to be executed with offensive intent, clean, and sufficient force.  Techniques that do not meet the requirements are considered invalid.

2.2          Target Area

There are 2 types of “valid” target area including

  • Primary area: This includes head (front & side), neck (front & side), and torso where covered by appropriate protection gear(s).  This is considered as major/critical target area.
  • Secondary area: This includes limbs (arms, hands, legs and feet) where covered by appropriate protection gear(s). This is considered as minor/effective target area.
  • The inner thigh and groin area are not valid targets

Other area will be considered as “off target”. All valid target areas have to be covered by appropriate protection gear(s).

3     Equipment

3.1           Combat Sport Jian

3.1.1        The jian must be made from an approved polymer material.

3.1.2       The maximum blade length of the jian is 30 inches.

3.1.3       The maximum weight of the jian is 1.5 kg.

3.1.4       The spine of the jian needs to be tape with color tape which helps referees to identify the contestant, also distinguish the spine from edge.

Note:  Jians that meet the regulation will be provided by the event holder.

Protective Gear

  • Fencing mask. (Provided)
  • Chest protection (Provided)
  • Gloves that protects the wrists. (Provided)
  • Pants made of durable material.
  • Groin protection

4     Match Regulation, Priority and Decision

4.1          Start of Match

Each match starts with contestants stand, salute and on-guard at the locations specified in 1.1. The restart of the match will start with on-guard position.

4.2          End of Match

Each match ends with one contestant have points at the pre-assigned limit of the match (such as 5 points/match).

4.3          Stop the Match (“Halt”)

The director can stop the match by calling command “Halt” when

  • One or both contestant(s) make valid techniques either on valid target area or off-target.
  • calling “Out-of-Bound”
  • calling warning, foul or disqualification.
  • The match start getting “undisciplined” (etc. wild swings and not protecting oneself).

4.4          Calling “Out-of-Bound”

“Out-of-Bound” can be called by the director when both of the contestant’s feet are out of court boundary.  If a contestant performs a valid technique while being out of bound then the technique is no longer valid.

4.5          Calling a Point

The decision on calling a point will be based on the majority decision among the director and corresponding referees. Each referee has weight one on the decision while the director has weight one and a half on each of decision. For each director and referee, the decision on calling a point will be

  • Primary (A valid technique is scored on a primary target)
  • Secondary (A valid technique is scored on a secondary target)
  • No Hit (No valid technique on a valid target area was executed)
  • Off Target (a valid technique was executed but not on a valid target area)
  • Abstain (Not sure what happened)
  • If a contestant performs a valid technique on a valid target area before another contestant, the contestant will be given one point  (off-target will be considered as no point and restart the match)
  • Both contestants perform valid techniques on valid target area simultaneously (where both contestants executed attacks with intent but the follow through landed slightly different time) then
  1. If both contestants perform valid techniques on primary targets or both contestants perform valid techniques on Secondary targets, both contestants will not receive point.
  2. When one contestant perform a valid techniques on primary target and another contestant perform  a valid techniques on secondary target, only the contestant who perform a valid techniques on primary target will be given one point.

Note:  If a ruling result in a point given to a contestant then the director will reset the contestants back to the center of the court.

4.6          Calling Warning, Foul and Losing Match

A contestant will be given a warning by the director when

  • the contestant behaves in an un-sportsmanship manner
  • the contestant performs invalid/illegal techniques with intent to cause injury to his/her opponent

A contestant is given a foul by the director when

  • the contestant was given more than one warning
  • the contestant performs invalid/illegal techniques which cause injury to his/her opponent with or without intention

Each foul will cause a contestant losing 1 point. Losing a match will be given to each contestant when

  • The contestant was given three fouls.
  • The contestant refuses to cooperate with the referee.