First European Chinese Swordplay Tournament, May 2011

Discussion of Chinese historical swordsmanship from all styles.

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First European Chinese Swordplay Tournament, May 2011

Post by Scott M. Rodell » Sun Apr 17, 2011 7:30 pm

First European Chinese Swordplay Tournament
May 28, 2011
at the Oldampt Taiji Festival,
Sporthal Stikkerlaan, Meester D U Stikkerlaan 6, 9671BZ Winschoten, for more informations about the Festival, please see: http://oldambttaichi.nl/joomla/index.ph ... &Itemid=96.

In order to compete, the Stichting Voor Chinese Zwaardvechtkunst (Dutch Chinese Swordsmanship Association) must receive contestant completed registration forms, post marked no later than May 2. Please download the form at: http://swordleague.com/upcoming.html & mail to:

Stichting Voor Chinese Zwaardvechtkunst
Verhoevenstraat 45
3818 PK Amersfoort
The Netherlands

This Tournament is organized and governed under the rules of the Traditional Chinese Sword League. Typically, TCSL membership is required to compete in a TCSL organized event. This year that rule is being waved in favor of requiring that all competitors become Friends of the Stichting Voor Chinese Zwaardvechtkunst, for general information about this Association, please see: http://jianfa.nl/over-ons/information-in-english.html. To become a Friend of the Stichting, please see: http://jianfa.nl/vrienden-en-sponsors/a ... riend.html. Given the difficultly and added expense of transferring payment from outside of Holland, those competitors coming from outside Holland may pay their Tournament Registration fee & Friendship fee at the Tournament.

Please note that all competitors are required to attend a pre-competition meeting with all their weapons & safety gear with the Head Referee at noon, the day of the Tournament. This meeting is required to check that weapons meet the minimum weight requirements and all other gear meets the safety requirements. Please also note that there will be no loaner gear of any kind provided by the League or the organizers.

Following the League's tradition, the Tournament Champion will be awarded a Prize Sword equal to his or her achievement. This year the prize sword, a Han Jian, has been donated by CAS/Hanwei, for more information about the Hanwei Han Jian, please see: http://cashanwei.com/prod_Detail.aspx?id=SH2005
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Marko Kohv
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Re: First European Chinese Swordplay Tournament, May 2011

Post by Marko Kohv » Fri Jun 03, 2011 7:33 am


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Re: First European Chinese Swordplay Tournament, May 2011

Post by Scott M. Rodell » Thu Jun 16, 2011 5:32 am

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TCSL 1st European Tournament

With three successful American National tournaments under their belts, the Traditional Chinese Sword League (TCSL) organized the First European Full Contact Chinese Swordplay tournament May 28 in Oldampt, Netherlands. Thirteen jianke (swordsmen) from four countries came
together to test their skills and vie for the Champion's Prize, a Han dynasty stye jian, donated by CAS/Hanwei (http://cashanwei.com/prod_Detail.aspxid=SH2005). After nearly four hours of play, Markova Kohv of Estonia emerged the Champion. Also competing were contestants from Germany, Great Britain, and, naturally, the Netherlands. Local help from the Dutch Jianfa Association (Jianfa.nl) was indispensable in training judges. TCSL Founder, Scott M. Rodell, acted as Head Referee.

The Tournament began with contestants being divided into two pools. As much as was possible, contestants from the same country or school were separated. Ceding for the direct elimination portion of the Tournament was decide by the result of the pool matches. Having a combination of both pool and direct elimination matches meant that every contestant had at least six matches.

The pool matches found two Germans, Andreas Wons and Dirk Kastner, in first and second places. Both Germans advanced to the semi-finals, but were knocked out by rivals from Estonia, Roland Tepp and Markova Kohv.

The winner of a match can be decided one of several ways. The most dramatic is by a "killing blow," that is solid strike to the head, neck or torso. In cases where the judges do not feel the blow was sufficient to award the kill, three points are awarded. The second manner in which one can win a match is by being the first contestant
to reach ten points. One point is awarded for a cut to the arm, two for a cut to the hand, three for a cut to the leg, or light cut to the head neck or torso. Only cuts with the edge are counted, striking with the flat of the blade does not result in points. A match can also be won by the player with the most points at the end of the time limit if neither player has reach ten points.

The time limit for pool matches is two minutes and the time limit for direct elimination match is five minutes. Few matches reach the time limit, with the average match lasting one minute and some being settled in seconds. And though the contestants wear Chinese type gambeson and other armor, points are counted as if each player is
naked. This means that cuts that graze the surface of the gambeson, gloves, or grill of the mask do not result in points being awarded.

As to just how "full contact" this Full Contact tournament was, that question was answered by the very first pool match when a Dutch contestant, Henk Jensen met British player, Paul Andrews. After a minute of furious play, Andrews landed a downward cut to Jensen's head, stunning and knocking him down. Not every match was as dramatic, but in a tournament with hardwood swords, where there are no off limit targets, nor any disallowed blows, everyone wore home bruises as badges of honor.

With the first Tournament barely over, organizer have already begun working on next years TCSL European Tournament, which will be held in the spring in Netherlands. For more information about the Traditional Chinese Sword League, please see: [url]http://www.sword%20league.com[/url].

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Secondt European Chinese Swordplay Tournament, June 2012

Post by Scott M. Rodell » Fri Mar 02, 2012 4:27 pm

Just a quick note to let everyone know this year's European Chinese Swordplay Tournament will be held on June 2nd in Netherlands...

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