Singing Blade Competitions

History

Despite the extremely heavy regulations surrounding using the Singing Blades spell, competitions exist that have become a sport to best utilize the spell for entertainment in the form of duels set to music.

Execution

Competitions are almost always set in designated arenas used for magic centric sport with heavy barriers, either physical or magical, in the event of weapons shooting off unexpectedly to prevent audience injury. Most often, fast, upbeat, highly rhythmic music is used and depending on the competition, may be chosen randomly or be rehearsed in advance. The goal of the sport is to, aside from in co-op or dance style competitions, to defeat an opponent while using the Singing Blades spell and put on a showy over the top performance. Short matches pressure athletes to be incredibly fast and accurate, as most matches are won by scoring 10 approved hits on their opponent while scoring as few fouls as possible. Fouls are deliberately stepping out of time with music, aiming for the face, neck, or groin, using props as weapons, or stepping outside of the approved ring for a match.

Rules and Variations

• Athletes cannot aim for the face, groin, or neck with weapons.

• Matches and performances cannot last longer than 5 minutes and participants must be allowed for at least a 15 minute break between matches. Breaks cannot be forfeited unless a participant is eliminated or disqualified from a competition entirely.

• All arenas and regulated matches must have medical staff on standby and transportation in place to the nearest hospital in event of participant injury.

• All matches must have at least one referee, one regulator, and two judges.

• All matches that result in grievous injury result in the forfeit of all winnings in the season to the injured party.

• All major injuries result in the immediate disqualification of both participants from the remainder of the competition.

Weapon Rules

• Ranged weapons including but not limited to firearms, bows, slings, and crossbows are not permitted to be used in competition. Certain ammunition such as arrows may be used as props or decoration in outfits, but cannot be used as weapons themselves.

• Whips, maces, bo staves, scythes, and flails are not permitted even as props, due to athlete injury.

• All weapons to be used in a performance or duel must primarily be composed of a blade, or utilize a blade for their primary function. This includes but is not limited to swords, knives, daggers, spears, axes, and halberds.

• All weapons must be considered 'live blade' weapons, or sharpened in order to be considered a valid weapon. Non-live weapons must be considered props and cannot be used as a weapon.

• Only two weapons can be used per participant at most at one time in a performance. Other weapons must remain sheathed.

• Participants may not use more than 5 weapons each outside of particular matches centered around weapon changes.

• Participants are not allowed to set their weapons on fire due to numerous injuries.

Prop and Costuming Rules

• Props cannot be 'live' or sharpened. Prop weapons must be made of soft wood, foam, or approved plastics.

• Props must be what can be carried on an athlete's person for a performance unassisted. Props cannot be brought into the arena in boxes, bags, or other containers.

• Combustible props are not allowed.

• Costume changes during matches are allowed, however, costume changes must take no longer than 10 seconds, must be a physical change to an athlete's outfit, and follow all local regulations for outfit type. Armoring and safety padding along with athlete's identification cannot be removed in a costume change.

• If a costume change mid-match requires discarding part of a participant's costume, all discarded pieces must be removed from the field due to safety regulations. Discarded costume pieces may be tossed or thrown outside of the play field, but must always be thrown away from all other participants.

• Heels for footwear must be no higher than 1 inch, and must be a wedge heel. Italian and Japanese circuits are the exception, requiring all participants to wear flat shoes.

Competition Sub-types

Couple's Competitions

Couple's Competitions are centered around pairs of athletes who duel one another as a pair cooperatively, focusing more on the dance and music aspects of the sport for a more elegant and controlled performance. Often, couple's competitions give higher points to the choreography, visual stimuli, and aesthetic of a performance than for valid hits.

Randomized Bracket

Random Brackets are a part of competition where athletes compete against one another in a lottery style drawing, unknown to them and judges who will be dueling who until they begin. Often, these matches will utilize randomized songs as well, judging on how well athletes adapt 'on the fly' and try to stay within the beat of the music. Music for Random Brackets is almost always without lyrics and often may be remixes of other songs to deliberately try and 'trip up' athletes.

OMS

OMS, or Other Mana Style competitions center around utilizing other forms of mana during a match, otherwise following all other standard rulesets.

Co-Op 2x2

This subset of competition stems from and was invented by Tetsya Oh and Ramille Hendrickson due to their rivalry with another prominent pair in couple's competitions, Yuya Hanover and Leslie Hanover. Co-Op 2x2, or Couple's Duels as they're also known, are matches where in a pair of athletes duel against one another, more akin to cooperative sparring found in Dance of Blood celebrations but still follow the same rulesets as other Singing Blade competitions. It is rumored this style was sparked by the pairs challenging one another after the 20017 Tokyo Semi-Finals due to each couple having tied scores for the entire season and were unable to advance to the finals, due to the bracketing of the event not allowing for both couples to participate, instead being replaced in the finals by Miles and Camilla Greatson. This style can also be combined with other sub categories such as Randomized Bracket, OMS, 2x2, and No-block/Parry Only.

No-Block/Parry Only

A more combat centric version of the competitions, in which participants are not allowed to block under any circumstances. These performances are signifgantly faster than other sub types due to that participants either disqualify themselves by blocking on reflex or manage to get far more hits on their opponent. It is seen by competitors and fans alike as one of the highest measures of one's own body control for having to go against every bit of training swordsmen have been through. Parrying is allowed but often forgone in favor of raw speed. All major Singing Blades competition venues have enacted rules that participants must return to their starting pose after a parry, not for any significant safety reasons, but rather, to deliberately slow these matches down and allow audiences a more clear view. This allows for judges to also have better visuals as well for judging on whether or not a parry was valid, or an illegal block.

Dead Wind Style

Dead Wind Style is a subcategory played in Japanese, Italian, Shanin, and Appalachian circuits in which at least one participant, be they co-op or competitive, does not use wind mana. Other spell use is allowed, as are other mana forms, but the 'dead' participant will almost always be wielding their weapons in the fashion typical of other sports such as fencing or kendo. Generally, Dead Wind Style competitions are played more similarly to theatre, almost always being a comedic act at the expense of the 'dead' participant. Matches falling into this style are often used as opening and closing acts for larger competitions or as fill in matches following the sudden close of another match due to an injury. Often, Dead Wind matches will close with a rehearsed act of the 'dead' player pretending to die and a mid-match costume change to a red and white outfit before they collapse on the ground dramatically.

Banned Techniques

'One Mind Style', AKA Lunar Style

In the vast majority of competitions, usage of Lunar Mind Control between paired participants to give themselves more of a challenge by 'sharing' one another's mind is banned and has been since 20019, due to the sport already being incredibly dangerous, and instances of Lunar Mind Control being used only adding more risk due to the exceedingly difficult task of controlling their actions simultaneously with the spell active. This ruling was made by the International Committee of Singing Blade Competitions to extreme controversy, as many other spells, considered by many to be even more dangerous, are allowed and continue to be used in arenas.
Tetsuya Oh and Ramille Hendrickson, a married couple who participated in the Egyptian Gold Singing Blade Finals in 20014, Red Maple Finals of 20018, and International Singing Blade Showcase of 20019 were well known competitors in Singing Blade Competitions before the ban, however, sky rocketed in fame and notoriety after the ban was implemented during the ISB Showcase 20019- The ban was implemented during the couple's match and disqualified the pair's round from being used in their judging and incurred a fine to be paid to the arena for using a banned style, despite that before the competition and even at the start of their match, the style was still legal. Tetsuya and Ramille prior to the incident were considered rising stars in the sport, particularly due to that Tetsuya himself is notably not a mana user, instead, participating using dead wind style. Due to using a banned style, the pair is currently barred from participating in many of the most prestigious competitions.
Myerdin 'Myer' Abrosha, a trainer of the technique and retired Singing Blade athlete, is another such proponent of removing the ban and continues to teach the technique in the few arenas where its use is still permitted in Japan, Italy, Appalachia, and Shanai. He has openly critiqued committees banning it, stating in 20020:

"A complete ban of a new style is naught but poor sportsmanship, jealousy, and spite to those who use it. In the past, Couple's Competitions were also looked down upon as being tacky and inelegant due to being heavily rehearsed- the same could be said of Lunar Style, which demands heavy rehearsal and planning. Allow specific competitions for it, just as there are competitions for couples, mana styles, and randomized brackets."

Another quote by Myer also critiques the idea that the technique is 'unfair' as most athletes cannot replicate it:

"Banning a technique because others cannot use it is not a valid reason. No, Lunar Style is not something that can be learned by everyone, but that can also be said of the sport itself, as not every wind mana user can learn the proper control to perform Singing Blades, just as every chef cannot bake a soufflé. As it is, with proper training, far more athletes are able to make use of the style than (The International Committee) has led the public to believe."

Lightning Style

Since the ban of Lightning Mana overall, Lightning style is no longer permitted in any match.

Components and tools

Singing Blade competitions require a number of tools in order to compete. A bladed weapon of some form is required, with lightweight swords, daggers, and knives being the most favored due to ease of use and their impressive visuals.
Safety equipment is required in all circuits, almost always requiring a mouth guard, chest guard, gloves, and sturdy shoes at the minimum. Many competition venues set their own requirements for safety equipment, generally requiring far more than is legally required by law. Indian, Chinese, Appalachian, and Arizona competition circuits require a faceguard, eye protection, and Blood Magic medical specialists on site for all events on top of international regulations.