That head shot? Totally on you

Headshots are a thing that happen in our sport.  In a perfect world that wouldn't be the case, every fighter would exercise sufficient control over their shots so that no one would ever get hit there.  But in reality there are just too many people, moving too fast for us to completely avoid that problem.  In most cases a headshot is the result of a reckless swing; a red that went 12 to 6, or a person with another melee weapon flailing around, sometimes it's a shield that another fighter decides to do aggressive work with that winds up clocking a person right in the jaw.  Most of those things are avoidable.  Reds should never swing 12 to 6, people with melee weapons should control their swings and not ever throw with 100% of their force so they can't put the brakes on their throw, and people who do offensive shield manipulation can learn to keep it all below a person's face.  But every so often the headshot is the result of something the person blocking does and not something the person aggressing does... so that's what I wanted to talk about.

Stop Hitting Yourself

One of the ways that a headshot can happen is a person with a flimsy guard.  When their weapons get struck, instead of deflecting the incoming blow their guard waffles and they wind up smacking themselves right in the face.  To add insult to injury a head shot which is received in this situation is likely going to be from the flats of that person's blades (if they aren't using omni's).  Additionally, if that individually hasn't learned to block well, this is the kind of failure that can wind up damaging their wrists.  This can be a similar problem with a shield that's manipulated.  If your shield gets rocked from the side by a red hit and you wind up clocking yourself in the jaw, that's not the redsman using their weapon unsafely, that's you not knowing how to hold your shield.  Speaking of which...

Sometimes Having A Shield Can Go To Your Head

One of the best ways to get hit in the head when most of the field is swinging safely, is, ironically, by picking up a shield.  A shield allows you a flat plane with which to deflect shots that would normally be very safe.  A shield can take a stab to the gut and turn it into a stab to the eye if you've got the planes set up correctly.  It's also been my experience that a round shield (or just a shield with a rounded top) will make any sideways swing ricochet up into a head shot.  Specifically this tends to turn anything aimed at a shoulder, and anything aimed at about the bicep or higher into a head shot even when it wasn't mean to to be one.

That Was A Low Blow...

Another common way to get blasted in the face in a way that may be your own fault is to suddenly change the location of your head.  Newer fighters especially have this problem.  When they go for a leg shot, the only way they know how to get that shot is to bend at their waist, causing their head to match the same plane as their waist.  This means that a perfectly safe shot to the guy suddenly become a shot to the side of their head.  Most new people eventually figure out that you can get those low blows just by bending a knee slightly, or by extending ones' arm.  You should really be able to take any target location without having to bend at the waist.  This can also happen in the midst of combat when you need to take a knee, if you do so while both you and your opponent are swinging.  Both people are doing what they're supposed to be doing, so a head shot from a person taking a leg is is just unfortunate.

Your OTHER Left

Another one I've seen, which tends to be more of an issue with veteran fighters is moving the head into the way during an exchange of shots.  This can be from swinging in such a way that you tilt your head sideways, turning arm and torso shots into head shots, or it can be from moving into a shot as it's thrown.  Moving into a shot as it's thrown tends to happen when one fighter attempts to shoulder pick their opponent and their opponent, seeing that the other fighter is swinging steps in the same direction as the incoming swing in order to engage the arm that's started to move.  This again is mostly just unfortunate, but I'd argue that stepping into a swing face first is more the fault of the person stepping in then the person who initially threw a safe shot.

Be Smart About It

You've only got one brain for this lifetime so regardless of who is at fault at each set of exchanges... protect your head.  If you think you can't learn to fight in such a way that is going to get your repeatedly beat in the face, then invest in a helmet.  There are plenty of people out there who make some really awesome leather, armor legal helms.  Failing that a helmet is considered safety equipment so you can pick one up meant for any other sport (it just won't be classified as armor even though it will protect your face just fine).  That having been said once you do get a helmet, still try to avoid obviously blocking with your face.  The whole point of that not being a valid shot is an attempt to keep the game safe.  If you get a helmet just so you can throw your face into the shots then you're cheesing the rules, and no one likes that.  As I've said about other things before... don't be that guy.

How about it folks, did I miss any obvious "if you do this thing you'll get smashed in the face" shots?  Comment below.