On Tournaments
There has been a considerable discussion recently on tournaments, tournament fighting, and tournament formats in the SCA. A lot of what I've seen and read can be generalized to pretty much any organized competitive martial art, though the historical background between, say, modern karate and historical martial arts from any continent is obviously not quite the same. So here's my take on tournaments: I don't like them. I actively dislike tournaments. Before I continue, I should put some boundaries on that statement. It is not a statement that tournaments are bad and should go away. It is also not a statement that martial events are bad or that fighting should not be competitive, that would be silly and defeat the purpose of fighting. It is not even a statement of intent to boycott tournaments as a form, because the unwritten rules of the game require that tournaments are where you get people to listen to you. Now, why do I dislike tournaments? There are a few reasons,