The Tournament Card is earned by every member of Men of Iron that wishes to participate in tournament martial events that are sponsored by Men of Iron.
Safety is paramount in all things that we do and safety is given the highest priority to events conducted within Men of Iron. To earn the Men of Iron Tournament Card means that the holder of that card has demonstrated an understanding of the safety rules for the martial combat skills and has shown proficiency in each event.
The Tournament Card
There are two different cards that can be issued by a household. The first is the regular Tournament Card. This is issued when all of the event endorsement requirements are met for all six martial events have been completed. Holders of this card are free to enter into any martial combat event at any level of tournament.
The second type of tournament card is a “One Day Tournament Card”. This card is used for those who may have completed at least one be not all six endorsements for the martial events.
This is issued by the Household Marshal in advance of any tournament except the household tournament. This includes joint household tournaments (more than two households) the Barons Tournament or the Tournament of the Realm. This type of tournament card is only valid for use on the day of the tournament and only authorizes the holder to complete in the events he has earned the endorsements in.
The Household Marshal will fill out the official one day tournament card and give it to the member for the tournament. The official One Day Tournament Card is found in this manual for reproduction.
What is the Tournament Card For?
Because there is a level of danger associated with the martial events of Men of Iron, it is important that we know that everyone who is participating in these events has a basic understanding of each martial event. This will include safety, knowledge, demonstration and proficiency.
When a member participates in a tournament event, he will either need a regular tournament card or the one day tournament card with the endorsements he has completed listed to present to the marshal or the range officer. This will ensure that everyone who is participating in our martial events has a working knowledge of the event and the safety concerns around it.
When the Men of Iron member is competing in a tournament, he will need to present his tournament card (the regular card or the one day card) to the Range Officer or Marshal to enter the competition and log an official score.
The reason for this is to add an extra layer of safety to the event and to ensure that all members who enter the competition have had the basic safety instruction for each of the martial combat events.
In the case of the Combat Sword event they will need to present their card to the Marshal at registration to enter the combat sword event. If the combat sword event is entered, the member will be assigned a number to identify him that will be used in the random selection for the double elimination bracket.
For all of the other martial events, the process will be as follows:
After each member has completed registration, submitted all the appropriate forms and any fees, the member will be given a tournament score card.
When the events open, he will go to the event that he has earned endorsements for, present his tournament card to the range officer to compete and receive a score to be submitted.
Households are encouraged but not required to follow this process when they host their household tournaments. It is however required when two or more households hold a joint Household Tournament. This will be the standard tournament requirements for the Barons Tournament, and the Tournament of the Realm.
How to Earn the Tournament Card
To earn the Tournament Card, there are requirements that must be met. There are general requirements and individual event endorsements that are individually completed. For each event members will be broken into four separate areas:
- Memorization
The memorization portion will be to learn the Projectile Range Rules or the Combat Rules depending on the event. A side note the memorization of the Projectile Range Rules- The memorization of the Projectile Range Rules is repeated several times. While repetition is one of the best ways to remember lists, if a member is going to complete several endorsements at once they will only need to recite the rules once at that time. If only one is completed at a time the member will need to recite the rules again and at a later time, up to five different times.
- Knowledge
The knowledge portion will be relating personal knowledge of the tools or implements of the event and demonstrating an understanding of care for those tools.
- Demonstration
The demonstration portion will require the member to demonstrate that he has an understanding of all aspects of the implement.
- Proficiency
The proficiency portion will require the member to show proficiency in the event by demonstrating his skill in using the implements.
These requirements may be verified by the Head of Household, the Household Marshal or any Knight who is a Tournament Card holder.
Tournament Card Endorsement Checklist
As members complete the requirements for each skill, it is recorded on the Tournament Card Requirement Checklist that is maintained by the Household Marshal. After completing all of the all of the requirements for each endorsement the member will be presented the Men of Iron Tournament Card.
The Tournament Card is earned in and issued by the local household. The head of household and the household marshal are the only members of the household leadership that are authorized to award the card once earned.
Can the Tournament Card be revoked? Yes. The Men of Iron Tournament Card can be revoked or suspended. Some of the following reasons could result in this action:
- Purposely not observing safety rules
- Gross Negligence
- Demonstrating unsafe practices
- Purposely ignoring safety protocols
- Repeatedly not following the instructions or directives of the Marshal or Range Officers
If any of these are observed by any member, range officer or marshal, they should report the incident to the Tournament Marshal and he will consult with the head of household and/or household marshal of the offending members. Because they are the issuing officers, they will determine if the infraction is worthy of revoking the card completely or if suspending and re-training is necessary. In either case they should collect the card and work with the member to correct the problem and then re-issue or return the card.
Because what we are doing could potentially be lethal, we must take every step necessary to ensure that every event is safely managed and conducted.