3rd World Wide Open Longsword Championship 2012 News

[Colin Richards]

Announcement 7th December 2011

The next World Wide Open Championship is scheduled for the week from Saturday 4th – Sunday 12th August 2012.

Registration will start around March or April 2012. [SEE Pre-registration later]

This year the championships will take place in Hulsede near Apelern, just off the A2 at the Lauenau junction 39, in Germany. The nearest main city is Hannover, which is about 39 km away. We will publish greater details soon.

This special week long event includes 3 and a half days of workshops by some of the best instructors world wide, followed by 3 days of competitions of the highest calibre. You could be there! YOU can do the Workshops, or the Tournaments, or BOTH, in the same week at the same place. All in one village!

Workshops
Anyone can join the workshops, though some may be restricted to more experienced practitioners. There will be plenty of options to choose from, though at this moment we do not know which of our chosen instructors are coming. We hope that there will be 3 choices per time slot, three times a day, so 30 workshops, just like last time! We hope to have instructors from Germany, USA, Britain, South Africa, Italy, Spain, Holland, Poland, Belgium, Portugal, Canada, Austria, Sweden, Slovenia,

Tournaments
The tournaments are open to anyone though be warned this competition is tough! You can fight 10 - 15 fights in one category. Some people who took part found this number of fights quite demanding and they were pleased when the competition was over. If you want a less rigorous experience, try one are new category “Action Flex” Longsword. These sword simulators are great if you want to fight with little or no armour. Look on the internet for Action Flex and see their German Longsword. A word of warning though if there is not enough entries in this category it will have to be dropped.

Rules to be published in January 2012 on all forums and sent to all Pre-registered fighters.

We are still considering using fechtfeder steel longswords for the longsword competition, though that depends upon tests with the new gloves that are coming on to the market. If the tests are good we may use the steel fechtfeder swords. These swords will be made by a good sword maker and all people will use the swords provided by us.

The categories are at the moment undecided upon though here is a possible list that people can comment on:

Longsword
Plastic Proline Extremes with good protection
Actionflex with minimum protection [still not decided, dependent upon registrations]
Fechtfeder with maximum protection [still not decided, depending on equipment tests]
Sword and Buckler
Plastic Proline Extremes with good protection
Rapier
metal with good protection
Backsword/Langesmesser/Saber
Plastic Proline Extremes cut to length with good protection
Dussack
Leather with good protection [dependent upon registrations]
Small Sword
metal with good protection [dependent upon registrations]

Anyone causing injury to another fighter who cannot carry on, due uncontrolled actions will be disqualified from the tournaments.

Important: Pre-registration

If you know that you are coming please pre-register by sending an email with your name and what part of the event you want to join. Pre-registered people will receive notification to register before the registration process is made public. You will then have to pay immediately before registration open to be sure of your place!

We are already 30% full with pre-registrations in both the tournaments and the workshops.

Pre-register NOW!

Families:
We will also have a lot of information for couples with children who want to explore the area while they are here. There is lots to do in the area, there is a lot of beautiful countryside to see and many castles and parks. We can also find out about horse riding and other special activities for you.

Vendors and Shops
There should be a selection of shops and other suppliers of equipment at the event.

See some of the excellent weapons of master sword smith Stefan Roth. One among the best sword makers in the world, with out any doubt.

Do not forget we NEED TO HEAR from YOU SOON!

Colin Richards & Sandra Richards
Organisers