The Guild of Defence (GoD) is a guild within Lochac, created to promote period fencing. As the Guild Charter states, “The Guild shall be for the promotion and teaching and learning of the art and science of fence with civilian weapons, and research of extant fencing traditions established in the historical period of study. Those being: historical techniques in documented practice, that can be documented in an extant description of a prize fought, or that utilize weapons that are documentable; all being prior to 1st January 1601.”

The Guild runs in accordance of the Guild Charter and the Guild Ordinances.

This document is up to date as of 21 September 2026.

Part 0: Brief intro to the Guild

Part 1: Initially we will mostly be sticking to what the Ordinances tell us. If you are confused after reading the Ordinances, trying to figure out what you should be doing as a Candidate or as an Examiner, this will clarify what the Ordinances tell us – and in my opinion, help explain why you are confused.

Part 2: I present ‘How a Prize Should be Run‘. This mostly complies with the Ordinances, but also highlights some glaring problems and my recommendations about what I think should change in the Ordinances. I discuss what I think Candidates should try to show, and what I think Examiner’s should look for and do.

Part 0 – Brief Intro: Guild of Defence

The Guild of Defence was established within the Kingdom of Lochac (part of the SCA) for the promotion, teaching and learning of period ‘arts and science’ (period academic techniques) with ‘civilian weapons’ (allowed weapon forms, see below).

There are technically 5 ranks, where Scholar is not ‘ranked‘ (tested). Each rank beyond Scholar is achieved through ‘diligent study and application of the rules of the Guild‘, and tested by an examination in the Playing of a Prize.

Ranks

Scholar

Scholar is the rank given to an associate of the Guild of Defence, someone who has voiced interest in joining the guild.

The remainder of this document is going to ignore the associate rank of Scholar.

Part 1 – Interpreting the Existing Ordinances

Advancement in Guild of Defence

Basic Process

This is the TLDR version.

Sponsorship of a Candidate

The Ordinances do not state how to ‘publish‘ the Notice of Intent. By tradition, this is announced both on the email list for the Guild of Defence email list (once a Member Rank, you receive email) and the Lochac Rapier Facebook Group.

Allowed Weapon Forms

The Ordinances include a dedicated section about Allowed Weapon Forms. One might think, and man people do, that this would list the allowed weapons forms, but they aren’t – there is no such public list. What I think they are trying to say is that you can use a single handed sword (early to mid period) or rapier (later period sword often called a ‘rapier’ in English, even though ‘rapier’ means sword) and an off hand device; or a two handed weapon such as the listed pole arms.

A specific clause has been included to allow the ‘sword’ + baton combination as this was considered to not be period for a substantial length of the guild’s life. Recently a Prize was held where 2 daggers were allowed by the Lord Guildmaster as an approved Weapon Form. As it hasn’t been added to the Ordinances, should the Candidate wish to use this form, they may need to provide evidence that it is valid.

While the Ordinances do describe the limits of weapons forms to those documented prior to 1601, they don’t actually say what has been accepted, by default, as valid weapon forms. Most of us know what is commonly accepted as institutional knowledge, and information kept as institutional knowledge is problematic.

As stated above, when you are looking to see if your weapon form is acceptable, this is not the list you expect to see. The key phrase is “the approved combat standards of the Lochac Marshallate“. That is, according to the Lochac Fencing Rules (Marshallate), you can have as an off hand device a cloak, buckler, dagger, second sword, cane (baton) etc. If the Marshallate forbids it, then so does the Guild of Defence for the Winning of the Prize.

There is a significant misunderstanding about what ‘Allowed Weapon Form‘ means. You should not be announcing that you will be demonstrating “Fiore’s Single Sword from the Flower of Battle“, nor should you only demonstrate that (unstated). The Weapon Form is the combination of weapon(s) and items, Eg ‘single sword‘.

The ‘period technique‘ is a range of techniques that were shown in Europe (or where ever your evidence for the new accepted by the Lord Guildmaster Allowed Weapon Form is from) while the form of your sword was in common use. That is, if your sword is style around 1200 CE, then from around 1200 CE to around 1350 CE when it began to be phased out.

Candidates who specify a specific school in their Weapon Form handicap themselves for no good reason. If the Candidate shows any move that isn’t clearly demonstrated by the treatise, they may fail. To be very frank, the treatise doesn’t show everything that the writer of the treatise would teach you, just the essence of the method in translated approximate description and some select wood cuts. The Examiner may, with the best of intent, penalise the Winning of the Prize unfairly due to a difference in interpretation and understanding between themself and the Candidate. It is not possible to determine who is actually right, since we cannot ask the author of the Treatise, who more than likely would answer “does your move work? Then it is right.”

Candidates who stay within 1 specific style are likely to be penalised by Examiners who expect the Candidate to know a range of moves from a range of masters. Examiner’s are not looking for a specific period technique/style. That is not part of the Ordinances, but seems to have crept in erroneously into some people’s interpretation of the simplification of the purpose of the Guild of Defence as “promoting period technique” and thus the Prize demonstrating period technique.

More accurate would be to say that the Guild of Defence “promotion and teaching and learning of the (period) art and science of fence with the civilian weapons” and that the Prize is demonstrating “a range of period techniques” for a chosen “weapon form“.

Playing a Prize

The Ordinances do not specify how the Prize is run in any detail, other than a minimum of 2 examiners per Weapon Form, for each Weapon Form.

While the above seems to be the important information, and it is important information, when you attempt to Run a Prize based on the above information and nothing else, you will quickly work out that there is no guidelines for what is ‘enough‘ for a Candidate to demonstrate “diligent study and application of the rules of the Guild“, or any details beyond “a bout with bated weapons“. How many bouts? How is does the Examiner know the Candidate has passed? What does the Candidate demonstrate to ensure they have complied with the Ordinances? Trying to decipher this is a nightmare for the Candidate, the Examiner and the Prize Runner.

“the approved combat standards of the Lochac Marshallate” seems to point to the Lochac Fencing Rules, which implied any weapon form that would automatically be allowed on the tourney field. However, I know from experience that not all weapon forms allowed on the tourney are acceptable as ‘period technique‘. See Allowed Weapon Forms below for more on this.

Examiners

Prize Success or Failure

The Examiners will decide if the the Candidate “has fulfilled the requirements for qualification” of the Prize Rank. If all Examiners and the person (Guildmaster or Provost) running the Prize agree, the Candidate has succeeded. The Candidate will be presented to the Guild members (and associates) and presented with a sash of the relevant colour to denote the new rank.

The Sponsor will inform the Lord Guildmaster and Provost Secretary of the result within 30 days, or the Candidate will automatically be unsuccessful.

While the Ordinances state the successful Candidate must presented to the members and given a relevant coloured sash:

• If the Candidate prefers not to, you can skip the immediate public announcement. However:
  • The Sponsor must inform the Lord Guildmaster and Provost Secretary of the outcome via email, or risk a default fail for the Prize.
  • The Sponsor should inform the guild members of the result in the same manner as the “Notice of Intention” was given.
    • If the Candidate does not want a public announcement, correspond with the Lord Guildmaster to get permission to not do so. This permission is not automatic and the Lord Guildmaster may decline.
• The new sash can be given later:
  • But ideally is given at the time. This is their moment – make it good.

If 1 person in the process thinks that the Candidate failed, then they have failed the Prize and thus the Candidate does not gain the new rank. If the Sponsor fails to report to the Lord Guildmaster and Provost Secretary within 30 days, then they have also failed the Prize by default. They can attempt again in 3+ months,

Part 2- How a Prize Should be Run

The Ordinances

In summary of what we know from the Ordinances:

To rise in Rank in the Guild of Defence, the Applicant / Candidate will be tested to see if they meets the “diligent study and application of the rules of the Guild” in the “form of bouts with bated weapons” in the opinions of at least 2 Examiners of the Target Rank or higher and the Prize Runner, in at least 1 bout per required number of Allowed Weapon Forms.

The number of Weapon Forms is: Free Scholar = 1; Journier = 3; Provost = 5; & Guild Master = 7. Provost may substitute 1 Weapon Form for a teaching demonstration, Guildmaster may substitute 2.

A Guildmaster or Provost must Sponsor the Candidate (2 x Provost can sponsor a Provost Candidate) according to the guidelines. To wit: correspond with the Lord Guildmaster a ‘full month’ prior to the intended Prize, upon approval, advertise this to the Provost Secretary and the Guild of Defence members. The Sponsor or a consenting delegated Provost or Guildmaster will be the Prize Runner.

To Win the Prize requires all Examiners and the Prize Runner to unanimously agree that the Candidate has met the criteria, and the Sponsor has then notified the Lord Guildmaster and Provost Secretary within 30 days of the Prize date.

Now that we have briefly covered what the key Ordinances currently tell us, the exploitations and the missing vital information (see Part 1 for details on these), what follows is what I propose we do about.

Prize Format

In the last decade of Guild Prizes I have participated in (as a Candidate, Sponsor and Examiner), the format has mostly gone along the lines of:

The Prize is not about who gains the most touches. The bouts are there to give an opportunity for the Candidate to demonstrate their period technique, and for the Examiner to invite the Candidate to show their technique. That is, if the Candidate shows a valid technique that fails, they still showed the knowledge of the technique.

There is a fine line here. How much the technique fails before the demonstration of “diligent study” is considered to be insufficient depends on the Rank. If the reason that the technique failed is due to an poor implementation of the technique, then that may be grounds to fail the Candidate, whereas if the reason the technique failed is due to fatigue after 45 bouts, meaning the Candidate has insufficient speed against the fresh Examiner, then the sufficient technique has been demonstrated, move on. This is up to the Examiner to determine, and for the end of Prize discussion to help the Examiner determine.

The Need for Rubric

Most of the Examiners are not educated instructors and or examiners, they are volunteers who have won the Target Rank Prize.

The majority of Examiners I have talked to don’t know what they are looking for. While Provosts and Guildmasters are expected to teach, that doesn’t mean they do, nor does it mean they are any good at it. Nor does it mean they know how to Examine. Many Journiers teach in Aneala, and they have the same limitations about knowing how to teach and knowing how to examine. Some Journiers, Provosts and Guildmasters are excellent teachers, and some of them have even been formally educated as instructors etc (school teachers etc).

Mundane teachers will teach and examine based on an education and examination rubric.

Other than the number of Weapon Forms to examine, the Ordinances do not tell us what the difference is between the Ranks is. There is no rubric. Since the difference are not stated in the Ordinances, the determination of ‘enough‘ has become institutional knowledge that many higher ranked Guild of Defence people think they know, but many don’t.

I would not expect the skill level of single sword from a Provost Prize to be demonstrated at a Free Scholar Prize. There should be an increase in speed, complexity of technique and depth of understanding. None of this is stated in the Ordinances. I cover that below in Examination Aspects.

Weapon Form Actions

Let us consider the what actions can be demonstrated with either a single sword, a sword & off hand item, or a two handed item.

Generally, an engagement will include a combination of actions. Some demonstration actions require set up.

Rubric Components

The Rubric

Candidate Demonstration Rubric

Candidates have 3 bouts to demonstrate key skills for their Weapon Form to demonstrate “diligent study and application“. A Weapon Form will either be a single weapon (1 or 2 handed), or a weapon and a second item (bladed or not).

As most Examiner’s will only really track the demonstration of the first few actions (especially at Free Scholar and Journier), the wise Candidate will demonstrate their selected key skills for that bout within the first 1 to 4 actions, keeping in mind the above Defence, Attack, Wards, Footwork, and Line Awareness & Dominance (from Actions and Components). The wise Candidate will disengage and try to demonstrate the key actions if they are not successful in showing that skill within 4 moves.

That is, after the 25th action in a row (without a back off and reset in the same bout), while you might demonstrate the move, the Examiner isn’t likely to register it.

If the Candidate has an off hand item, then the point of the Weapon Form is to demonstrate that off hand item to the Examiner – so ensure that you use it in every bout. If you have a single sword, you should still seek to demonstrate active use of the off hand or arm. Every item beyond a single 1 handed sword has a reason why that item is in the fight, so demonstrate it in every bout.

The Candidate needs to show the Examiner that they can be selectively aggressive, attempting to close the distance to earn a touch against the Examiner. The Candidate also demonstrate that they can determine when closing in is ill advised and thus gain distance, preferably off line in wise direction – avoid only off line left retreat (or right). That is, be selectively defensive, but not repetitive in defence. The demonstration of selecting aggressive or defensive demonstrates that the Candidate has adequate awareness of fighting engagement.

Candidates should not expect Examiners to watch their bouts with other Examiners. However, if the Examiner does, that is a bonus.

Examination Aspects

Examiner’s shouldn’t be passing or failing Candidates based on vibes (which is common in my experience).My goal is to address that.

Examiner’s Matrix

Examiners have only 3 bouts to test the Candidate per Weapon Form. Examiner’s need to be on the look out for each of the the following matrix aspects per bout, modified depending on the demonstrated Weapon Form. These are combined from the Actions and Candidate Rubric above.

Skill Creep

Skill Creep is where the expectations for a Rank rise beyond what is fair for that Rank over time. There are a number of reasons for Skill Creep.

The Examiner should be more skilled than the Candidate, since they have won their Prize for the Target Rank and the Candidate hasn’t. If the Examiner finds the Candidate hard to follow, but keeps getting Touched in 2 to 4 actions, then clearly the Candidate is ready for the Prize (so long as a range of valid methods were used). While that is true and fair, the reverse is not the case. It is expected that the Candidate should find it hard to demonstrate their learning to the Examiner, due to that difference in skill level.

On average, if the Examiner is the same Rank as the Candidate’s Prize Rank, it is not likely that they gained the Rank recently, and so they likely have developed their skills since, heading to the next Rank up. The Candidate doesn’t have to beat you at your current best, the Candidate needs to demonstrate the level of skill that the mode average Target Rank demonstrated when they Won their Prize (most common display of skill).

Sometimes the Examiner was a late Candidate for their Prize (late to be Sponsored), or very skilled due to other reasons (Eg other HEMA club, naturally gifted, excellent teacher etc). When this is the case, they need to ratchet their expectations back even further.

Good Examiners Give Candidates Fair Opportunity

Due to the above stated difference in skill, Examiners need to give the Candidate an opportunity to show their “diligent study and application“.

End of Bout or End of Weapon Form = Pass, Provisional Pass or Fail

Examiners should know by the end of their 3 bouts if they are satisfied that the Candidate has sufficiently demonstrated the Target Rank in that Weapon Form.

Examiners should observe the Candidate’s bouts with other Examiners in the Weapon Form that they are examining, especially if the Examiner is not satisfied by what they examined.

Before the next Weapon Form proceeds, all the Examiner’s for that Weapon Form should have the opinion that the Candidate has comfortably passed, or provisionally passed contingent on improvements in demonstration of the other Weapon Forms.

I don’t know what the Guild Masters require for their Rank. I do know that we aren’t not expecting Candidates to be perfect masters. Candidates can make mistakes, or have a sub-pa but not failing Weapon Form. If the Examiner considers the demonstration in one Weapon Form to be borderline, but the other Weapon Forms are reasonably better than borderline, then I would recommend that the Candidate has demonstrated adequately and should pass.

We should not fail a Candidate because they were sub-pa for one Examiner in 1 Weapon Form, or because they made 1 mistake, or because they missed a cue, or were intimidated by the Examiner (equity anyone?).

We should fail a Candidate who:

• Is clearly inadequate in 1 Weapon Form (not borderline or sub par), or
• Sub-pa on 2 or more Weapon Forms and the other Weapon Form(s) are borderline:
  • Careful of the contrast bias, where the recent brilliant forms make the objectively adequate form seem sub par.

Call to Conference

Rubric Differences per Rank

The skill required for a Scholar to demonstrate in a Weapon Form to win the Free Scholar Prize should be inadequate for a Journier to pass that Weapon Form for a Provost Prize. While the essence of what to demonstrate is the same, the layers of speed, accuracy and understanding evolve for each Rank.

Free Scholar

• Footwork:
  • Speed: Close to beginner / newly authorised speed.
  • Range:
    • Moves into range to attack when they can dominate the line.
    • Moves out of range after an attack, offline.
    • Moves off the line, aside or away from the Examiner, if they aren’t dominating the line.
    • Move to demonstrates a void.
  • Type:
    • Advance, retreat & passing steps.
    • Demonstrates Linear and Offline steps appropriately.
• Accuracy:
  • Attack: The sword is in the zone (within 150mm of a valid strike) more often than it isn’t.
  • Defence:
    • Able to generally deflect the the Examiner’s blade by move their items into the path.
    • Doesn’t flinch.
• Understanding:
  • The Line: Candidate can demonstrate a basic understanding of the line (dominating, ceding and retreating).
  • Wards: Candidate can understand the most common wards (guard, wide, high and low).
  • Off hand: Candidate can reflexively move the off hand to defend self.

Journier

• Footwork:
  • Speed: Moderate tourney speed.
  • Range:
    • As above.
    • Demonstrates the concept of gaining time through movement.
  • Type:
    • As above.
    • Demonstrates compass steps.
• Accuracy:
  • Attack: As above.
  • Defence: As above.
  • Leverage: Moderate demonstration of using leverage (forte, fable, strong grip, weak grip)
• Understanding:
  • The Line:
    • Candidate can demonstrate a moderate understanding of the line (dominating, ceding and retreating).
    • Candidate attacks and defends high, low and wide as well as straight down the line.
  • Wards:
    • Candidate can understand most wards (guard, wide, high, low, refused, two hand combo wards).
  • Complexity:
    • Defence: Defence move is half or more of the time a set up for an attack.
    • Attack: Attack moves incorporate defence.
    • Traps:
      • Able to spring Examiner’s traps and take advantage of the likely counter move.
      • Candidate sets traps accurately, even if not successfully.
  • Off hand:
    • Candidate actively uses the off hand as part of their style.

Provost

• Footwork:
  • Speed: High end tourney speed.
  • Range:
    • As above.
    • Demonstrates the awareness and use of the 5 ranges (mind games, weapons now interact, hand sniping, body targets, shortening weapon across body or dagger for short range).
  • Type:
    • As above.
    • 3 or more step combinations a part of the plan.
• Accuracy:
  • Attack: As above.
  • Defence: As above.
  • Leverage: Demonstration of using leverage (forte, fable, strong grip, weak grip) to dominate, cede, or feint.
• Understanding:
  • The Line: As above.
  • Wards:
    • As Above
    • Candidate can work out how to respond to an unusual ward, either countering it, triggering the trap and using the response, provoking the Examiner out of the ward, or penetrating the ward for a successful touch.
  • Complexity:
    • Defence: As above.
    • Attack: As above.
    • Traps: As above.
    • Feints and Provocations: Candidate can use feints and provocations as part of their plan.
  • Off hand:
    • As above.
    • Fouling opponents device if open hand.

Guildmaster / Guildmistress

What Guildmasters etc are looking for is akin to the part of the map that says “there be dragons here“.

We don’t know.

When I have asked (and I have), they haven’t told me.