Juxtaposition

Agency

This sport functions largely without referee's and largely without a well written book of legalize in order to keep us all in line.  The reason for that is because theoretically we're all supposed to be honorable people.  It should mean that when you have a problem with someone you can go talk to them about that problem.  We're all human beings and so hit communication is important.  In an ideal situation as one person throws, the other communicates what feedback they received from each swing, calling out what happened so both people are on the same page.  In an ideal situation mistakes are handled in the moment, where one fighter communicates to the other that a shot was late, or that they're dead, just as soon as it happens.  If something goes awry then that gets discussed and handled instantly.  The problem being, things are rarely an ideal situation.  In the midst of a heated melee people make the kind of mistakes that would be rare for them to make in a one on one duel.  In addition to having more things going on, your ability to communicate to one individual in the midst of an army is going to be severely limited.  But depending on who you are you may be treated differently when this happens...

The novice

No matter what particular skill set you have, when you start at being a belegrim you'll be a novice.  Skills even from other sword arts don't necessarily translate correctly because either the hit locations that are valid have changed (kendo, fencing, SCA, rapier) or because the hit thresholds are entirely different (LARP, aamptgard).  Sometimes there are assumptions that are made that don't hold true anymore; in fencing you learn to fight in one straight line.  Belegarth, by and large is all about stepping to either side of that central line to get yourself shots that will hit.  If you've only learned how to move forwards and backwards in a straight line you'll be outmatched very quickly.

Due to your period of adjustment there's going to be some time where people are aggravated with you for some or other reason.  At first it's small details like putting the tip of the sword on the ground (especially if it's a loaner) and then leaning on it, as this is a sure fire way to help work the pipe through the padding faster.

Sometimes it's issue of communication; either you don't speak up about what happened, or you don't communicate dead well.  I have been repeatedly killed by people who, at least in my eyes, looked very much like dead bodies at the time I turned my back on them.

Sometimes it's an issue of processing, because it takes a while for a new person's brain to track the damage from the hits they've received they freeze while they process the hits.  As a florentine fighter in particular... it's not unusual for me to throw many shots.

Sometimes the issue is that the person's hit threshold is off; either for throwing shots or receiving them.  Either they are afraid to hurt another person or they simply don't know how to generate enough force and as a result they can only throw light shots.  Sometimes a person's hit threshold is too low (though that's much more rare) and as a result they take anything that connects.  Other times the reverse is true, and due to doing some other version of a sport they only take the kinds of hits that leave bruises.  While it's true that there is no maximum force in belegarth there's also a rule about safety coming first, which should mean that striking with enough force that you will almost certainly bruise and possibly injure someone is against the spirit of the rules even if it's not directly in conflict with the letter of the rules.

During your tuning period I've found that the majority of individuals are pretty understanding (at least in the places where I've been fighting).  If a person makes a cultural mistake like putting the tip on the ground, or using someone else's gear without asking the community as a whole tends to react pretty quickly, but also pretty nicely.  A warning is usually given, along with an explanation of why that particular thing they did was bad.  The situation gets resolved and life moves on.

When it comes to an issue about hit taking (at least out here in California) people are quickly encouraged by their peers to be vocal about the feedback that they feel from hits so that their opponent knows what's going on.  If a person's hit threshold is too low or too high that also tends to be adjusted pretty quickly, with a quick demonstration of the right amount of force.

If there's an issue about communication then it's also usually addressed pretty quickly.  People who have a history of suddenly being animated corpses get taught to either display dead correctly, or step off the field when they are deceased, leaving no further room for misinterpretation.  Repeat offenders usually find out the hard way that not looking dead in a pitched battle is a great way to get hit repeatedly by whatever forces are passing by because they want to make sure they don't get backed.

Generally speaking, whenever there's a problem with a new person folks are polite and communicative.  The assumptions being that they're new so they don't know any better and that we want to keep them around so having manners is important to keep them.

The vet

The veteran isn't necessarily a person who is great at the sport.  The vet is just a person that the rest of the field recognizes as a fighter who theoretically knows what they're doing.  Whenever that person makes a mistake, it's assumed to be the act of conscious ill will towards their opponent.

If a vet makes a cultural misstep there's often a knee jerk reaction to demonize them.  Stop that.  If a vet picks up someone else's gear because they think it's a loaner there's no sense in getting angry with them.  Simply let them know it belongs to someone else and most vets will realize their mistake and put it down.  Sometimes they'll loot gear from the field.  If someone loots your gear and you don't want them to, you can simply call personals before they pick it up.  ...Try to avoid doing this AFTER they've already run off with your gear as doing so will almost certainly get them killed.

If a vet fails to communicate what's going on, because they never learned early, or because where they learned to fight didn't prioritize that as a relevant skill for them to learn, then the assumption becomes that they are cheating.  Simply not taking hits that their opponent can tell are landing (nevermind that it hit shield, pommel, hand on weapon, skiffed a bit of pant leg, etc).  In most cases I've seen the approach to this vet who doesn't communicate is to 1) assume they're cheating, 2) hit them harder, 3) talk shit behind their back about what a cheater they are.  If you've ever been that person... stop that.  Just because a person doesn't communicate well doesn't meant that they're cheating.  Talk to that person and be proactive because they are not.  Ask them what happened, or simply hit them again until they call dead.  But don't start trying to wail on them just because you don't know what happened.

Sometimes, even as a vet, especially one that's surrounded or just dealing with a lot of shots being thrown at them, it can take a vet a while to die.  I have seen COUNTLESS times when a person's adrenaline gets going and they jump into a line, only to die six or seven times while they're still swinging.  While that's generally inadvisable, this is part of what we have heralds for.  Sometimes a person literally just can't feel a shot that was perfectly good, or feels that shot but not until much much later compared to when it was thrown.  Use heralds, communicate to that person that they've died, and move on.  Again, use your own agency if that person fails at using their agency.

Sometimes vets hit thresholds will be off for a field.  They'll either be swinging way too hard and be expecting to receive at the same level, or they'll be taking and swinging way too light.  Typically I've seen more people who swing and receive heavy compared to those that are offset light.  Too often this is met with overt silence.  A vet who is fighting in a way that is dangerous is allowed to continue doing so simply because they're a vet.  Again, be proactive.  Just because they think that what they're doing is okay because they've gotten away with it in the past, doesn't actually mean it's alright.  If you see a vet swinging a red primarily in a 12-6 arc that's a person who probably shouldn't be using that weapon.  Similarly if a person isn't taking hits because their hit threshold is way too high, rather then talk shit behind their back and create a toxic atmosphere, respectfully engage that individual and talk to them about expectations on your field.  If a vet swings and receives too light, also communicate with them and let them know what the expectations are for your field.  This will stop them from in turn talking about your group as a bunch of rhino-hiders.

We're all human

When it comes right down to it we're all human.  We all make mistakes.  It has been my experience that the sport works best when we treat each other with dignity and respect.  That positive cycles of communication will lead to more communication and being kind to people will net more of the same in return.  What I've also noticed is that the reverse is often true.  If one vet thinks another vet is cheating, rather then engage them in conversation, or try to spar with that person to figure things out they will immediately start being a bad actor.  That fighter will often start sluffing hits themselves and will start to throw heavy hits.  One of the problems with heavy hits is that they tend to lack control because you're putting all of the force you can generate into making the shot hit, which means you have nothing left over to divert or control the shot should it go someplace you don't want it to.  If you get too heated though, you may stop caring.  Furthermore, if one person (A) thinks another is cheating (B), and as a result begins cheating to get back at them then if person A wasn't cheating to begin with, often they will START cheating because person B is now definitely not taking A's hits.  This behavior tends to lead to rivalries, when all the two fighters had to do was communicate a bit at the start.  Incidentally, if you see two people kicking the shit out of each other on the field, both clearly sluffing, that's probably how that situation came to pass.  Most of the time bad behavior is the result of mistakes, when it's not, that's what you have heralds for.

Since we're all human, it's important to note that veterans can and will also make mistakes.  We should hold them to a human standard.  This means that we call them out on the things that they do badly and encourage them to behave well, (myself included).  If someone is doing something that is unsafe then they need to be told to stop, regardless of how many years they've been fighting.  If you find a person who is obviously cheating, again, regardless of how many years they've been fighting they need to be talked to about it.  If it continues then it's something that needs to be called out and dealt with.  Again, while most people in the sport are good people, some are bad actors, and for that we have heralds, we don't need to take matters into our own hands by beating them senseless.