After discussions amongst ourselves and the wider Messser community, we’ve decided the best way to run this year’s MesserFest tournament is to have it in the style of a Blossfechten Fechtschule. This means the only kit requirements are a mask, light gloves and groin/chest protection for those who need it. We’re hoping this will make it accessible to every attendee, regardless of their experience level or what kit they do or don’t have. Hopefully it will also allow us to see some beautiful fencing in the graceful and technical manner we all strive for with a Messer but which is often unattainable with cumbersome safety equipment.
We know a lot of people are nervous to fence others they don’t know, especially if they’re not allowed to wear all the padding they’re used to. So, to ensure everyone’s safety and encourage participation by as many Messerists as possible, we have thought very hard about what is needed to make this fun, enjoyable and, above all, safe!
To achieve this we have done two major things:
The first is our ruleset. We have created a scoring system that will minimise any toxic competitiveness which could lead to carelessness and aggression. As such we won’t be counting wins, losses or points. It will instead be scored entirely by your fellow fencers! They will get to award one vote for who they think is the most technical fencer and a second vote for who they enjoyed fencing the most. This can be for any arbitrary reason they like, ranging from “that person made me smile the most”, “that person had the most memorable fencing” to “that person kicked my butt but made me fence like I’ve never fenced before!”…. You get the idea. Basically, the nicer, more fun and more unique you are, the more votes you’re likely to get.
The second safety feature is a mandatory class for everyone at the start of the day which will be an introduction to minimal kit freeplay. This will give people the means to safely fence in a controlled manner so the reliance is on the fencers to keep themselves and their partner safe and not rely on the PPE to do it instead. This class and the tournament will be lead by our very own Lauren Ireland, who has run this style of tournament at other events for years and has had zero instances of injury (I really hope we didn’t just jinx it by saying that!)
