Rapier:Conventions - Acknowledgement of blows - Calling blows

Calling blows

1. Responsibility for acknowledging a blow as "good" is with the person receiving the blow, not the person delivering the blow.
   1. If you believe a blow you have delivered is not valid (e.g. you know you struck your opponent with the flat side of your weapon, or haft of your weapon, or an arrow or bolt striking with anything other than the point), you should tell your opponent that the blow should not be taken.
   2. If you are uncertain, you can ask for information from your opponent or the marshal, but the decision to accept the blow is yours.
   3. Marshals and fighters can offer opinions based on what they witnessed during the bout, but the decision is ultimately up to the combatant who was struck.
2. If you are hit with a valid blow, you must indicate it clearly with words and/or motions. Examples: saying "Good arm!" and putting your arm behind your back to show it is disabled, or saying "Dead!" and falling to the ground or otherwise indicating that you have been defeated.
3. You should not wear accessories that make it difficult to feel a valid blow.
   1. This includes, but is not limited to, loose clothing designed to hang out from your body, such as bulbous sleeves or hoop skirts, or rigid cuffs on gauntlets.
   2. You must take care to acknowledge blows that strike these accessories if a sharp blade would have penetrated those articles and struck the body part underneath.
   3. You must know whether any necessary equipment (such as mask, helm and other safety equipment) renders the acknowledgement of blows in certain areas difficult, and make every effort to account for this deficit.
4. If an effective blow is thrown before or at the same moment as an event that would stop a fight (e.g. a hold being called, the fighter being "killed" themselves, etc.), the blow will count. If the blow is thrown after the hold, killing blow, or other event, it does not count.