Hi all, forgive me for the long post,
First off an introduction; My group is known as the ZinJedi, a duelling club in a little known country in South East Asia. We've been practicing for about a year+ with this new format we've called Lightsaber Velocities. And it's biggest aim is to practice the art of lightsaber dueling in a competition setting. We've taken a lot of theories from many online resources available to us and while we tried to stay very faithful to the facts given, we also made our own assumptions of what might constitute "The Jedi Way".
Also, I don't know if this might automatically get me burned at the stake for blasphemy here but, we don't use proper polycarbonate blades with led lighting or soundboards, but we use regular old... wooden dowels
. The reasoning is that because we've been dueling for a while, and three broken blades later, we decided it would be cheaper to replace wood dowels rather than our polycarbonate ones. Eventually, we also found them to be lighter and easier to wield and we've decided to stick with it. We're also considering buying the Carbon Fiber blades from sabershop.com as we've decided that we want to fully commit to being a "Jedi dueling club" more than anything else. Also, in that respect we also practice "controlled" striking in order to not injure our training partners. But we do, for demos still use our polycarbonate blades made by the wonderful Kit Sabers from Singapore.
You can see a practice version of the duel in action with this youtube video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veFPbGPDSc0. There are more but this seems to be the most popular one by two of the more experienced players recorded back in December. And if you'd like to learn more about the things we do and ramble on about, we do have a blog for keeping archives of our learnings at
zinjedi.blogspot.comSo (forgive me for the long post, again >_<), without further ado, the rules of "Lightsaber Velocities" are as follows:
VELOCITY RULES AND GUIDELINES:
Official and Tournament Match Rules
(Standard Rules to be used during competition, unless stated otherwise)
1. DEFINITION AND PHILOSOPHY OF VELOCITIES
A Velocity match is a limited contact match between two opponents who attempt to score points within the designated body zone areas in a set limited timeframe. The opponent with the highest score wins.
A Jedi does not resort to aggressive, violent or dishonorable behavior. The Jedi does not intend to harm an opponent and will attempt to resolve a conflict in the most efficient way possible, without causing major harm. Therefore, the philosophy of a Velocity match is not to achieve victory over one's opponent at all costs, but to help the Jedi see their weaknesses and openings so that they may improve upon it.
With this philosophy in mind, Velocities are an exchange of lightsaber skill between two practitioners who aim to improve by addressing each other's weaknesses through limited contact sport. This is the spirit in which Velocities must be carried out.
2. DEFINITION OF LIMITED CONTACT SPORT
Limited-contact sports are sports in which the rules are specifically designed to prevent contact between players either intentionally or unintentionally. Although contact still occurs, they are controlled by the players in order to prevent injury. Strong penalties are often used to disallow substantial contact between players. These penalties, are often enforced by the judge when a player is intentionally causing harm and fails to take note of the judge's warning.
3. ELIGIBILITY
Competition or Tournament Velocities are limited to Jedi who have reached Level 4 of their training (Minimum of three months Shii Cho (Basic) Training) in ZinJedi Basics. This is to ensure that the Jedi have fully understood the philosophy of Velocities and the safety of both players during a match.
4. WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT
The Velocities are performed using competition grade wooden sabers and the blade must be covered in brightly coloured fibre tape to prevent projectile splintering and breakage. All sabers must be validated by the judges before the match begins. The sabers must be checked for durability, splinters and any accessories which may be deemed dangerous during the match.
Carbon Fiber is also an approved alternative to traditional wood blades.
Safety:
Players are allowed to wear safety gloves and protective masks/ eyewear to prevent damage to the concerned area.
Saber Specifications:
4.1 Blade and Hilt Length
For Lightsabers:
Blade
The overall blade and hilt of the saber must not be less than 36 inches and must not exceed 42 inches.
The hilt itself, must not exceed 18 inches in length.
For Staff Sabers:
Blade
Both blades and hilt must not be less than 36 inches long and must not exceed 40 inches each.
Hilt
The hilt may not exceed 20 inches in length.
4.2 Use of other Blade types in competition
Double handed and Staff type practitioners are only eligible for competition once the Jedi have completed the Zin Jedi's Level 6 Trials.
5. SCORING: Body Zones/ Marks of Contact
Body Zones are the basic strike zones learned by all the ZinJedi. In competition, the marks of contact represent a vital hit and point for the player.
In order to score during a Velocity, A player must physically touch the bladed part of their saber via a striking motion to the designated body zones. If a strike is seen as too forceful by all three judges, then the point will be cancelled and will be given a warning to the offending player. A second offence will result in a point awarded to their opponent.
Although stabs and thrusts (Known as Shiak) are allowed, they carry no point value and should only be seen as a defensive measure. Aggressively using Shiak in which may result in physically harming a player will also result in a penalty.
5.1 The Scoring areas are:
i. Shoulder to elbow (Cho Sun)
ii. Elbow to wrist (Cho Mai)
iii. Waist at the abdominal area and above the hip. (Sai Tok)
iv. Thighs to above the knee caps (Cho Mok)
5.2 The areas in which may NOT be struck are (Forbidden areas):
(i) Any part of the Head or neck
(ii) Body area:
1. Chest
2. Ribcage area
3. Hips
4. Lower back (spinal, Kidney area)
(iii) Legs:
1. Groin area
2. Knee and below
Each score carries one (1) point.
5.3 Physical Contact
Players may not engage in the match using anything other than their sabers. A player may not physically grab, punch, kick or push their opponents with any part of their bodies. Violation of this rule will result in a warning, and a penalty/disqualification for any subsequent violations.
6. IN MATCH RULES:
During a Match, Players must always begin with a show of respect by observing traditional salutations.
It is a match between two players; a
RED Player and
BLUE Player
The match will run for three (3) minutes. The timekeeper will start and stop the clock at the command of the main Judge, or when a point is scored.
When a point is scored, players must return to their original position and will be given instruction by the judge to continue the match.
6.1 Rule of Engagment:
As a rule of engagement, during the start of each round, one player will be directed as the “Attacker” and will be given ten (10) seconds to initiate the first attack. Traditionally, this will be the
“RED” player. Only after a point is scored (regardless of whichever player scores), will the designation of “Attacker” be changed to the
"BLUE" player. This will occur after every point is scored until the timer runs out.
Note that with this rule, it does not imply that only the attacker is allowed to attack, but merely that the attacking player must always make the first step.
The judge may stop the match if there is a deadlock and the flow of the match has been stopped. From here players must break, and return to their original starting position. Again, roles will not change until a point is scored.
By default, the Judge is required to stop the clock and restart if the attacker does not make a move after ten (10) seconds. Three subsequent offences from the same player will lead to a penalty and point awarded to the opposing player.
A judge may also stop the match when both players encounter a draw or deadlock in which no points would be awarded
6.2 End of Match
The winner of the match is determined by the player with the most points scored.
After the match, both players must also show a sign of respect.
7. IN MATCH PENALTIES:
7.1 Penalties are awarded when:
1. A player exits the competition area
2. A player verbally or physically taunts or disrespects their opponent (taunts include deliberate celebration after a point scored or match won which is considered as disrespectful)
3. A player shows dissent towards a judge's decision
4. A player causes physical harm regardless whether it was intentional or non-intentional
5. A player causes actual major physical harm regardless whether it was intentional or non-intentional (blood, broken bones)
6. A player fails to comply with rules and formalities of Velocities
In the case of Scenario 1, the offending player will be issued a warning. A second offense will mean a point is to be awarded to their opponent
In the case of Scenario 2, the offending player will be issued a warning. A second offence will see them surrender one point from their score
In the case of Scenario 3, A point will be awarded to the opposing player
In the case of Scenario 4, the offending player will be issued a warning. A second offence will see them automatically disqualified and considered forfeit.
In the case of Scenario 5, the offending player will be disqualified and considered forfeit. The player will also be under strict review from the Judges and considered for suspension or ban.
In the case of Scenario 6, the offending player will not be penalised during the match, but will be put under review for disciplinary action by the ZinJedi.
8. TERMINATION:
When three (3) full penalties occur, the Judge will immediately forfeit the offending player from the match and award their opponents the match. It will officially be recorded by the ZinJedi as “10 – 0 (F)”
