Equality

I was chatting with another fighter during the last event about the way women are treated in Belegarth vs in other versions of the sport (they were from amtgard).  One of the things that they noted was that it seemed like belegarth had many more females in it then the amtgard groups that she'd interacted with.  I think that, though are rules are relatively sparse, compared to many other systems, that's part of the appeal of our sport.  ...but let me break that down.

There's a wide range of sword arts that go from LARP touch-hit systems on one end to the MMA-esque, beat a person until they submit fights in full armor.  Within the realm of things done with foam fighting belegarth sits right at the edge in before you start requiring armor (things like kendo, fencing, shinai) and eventually moving up to steel (SCA [armor], ARMA, HEMA).  The sister sport of Belegarth is of course Dagorhir, which has a very similar set of rules, which makes sense because at one point they were the same sport.  In systems that favor lighter versions of combat you tend to also have an extended set of rules, that play up the production value of the fight and invite participants to delve into an immersive world.

One would think that, at least initially, an immersive world that has no force requirements might be more appealing (on average) to women but I think that what those systems also breed is the potential for an old man's club to prop up.  A person in that system (male or female) who has been doing it for long enough is able to rank up a class or classes and gain the in combat benefits of having done so.  Their weapons swing for more damage, they can call out spells that have any number of detrimental effects to their opponents and the overall number of hits they can take increases.  If you're trying to break into this world and fight with people who have all these classes it's going to be an uphill struggle for anyone, let alone for anyone who goes in stigmatized (the old, the young, women, etc). Amtgard, with a much heavier emphasis on combat has, as far as I can tell, many of the same problems because it also contains the magic and classes part.

Then you get to Belegarth and Dagorhir which have a nearly identical rule set.  Sufficient force is a thing that requires you to be able to generate enough torque for a shot to count, but so long as you can swing with enough force, all shots are delivered and taken equally.  Armor is available to everyone which confers an advantage, but that advantage is somewhat negated by requiring a certain amount of weight to it, thereby limiting mobility and speed.  Since it also only grants one additional hit it's far from an easy way to win.  The only time it really matters is when two fighters trade shots for the first time.  If both people throw a kill shot and only one of them has armor then the person with armor wins.  However, that only works for one fight, in the next exchange both people die.  This creates a relatively even playing feel for all participants.  It means that if you aren't cheating, you must learn to respect your opponent, whoever they are because failing to do so means you get dead fast.

Belegarth and Dagorhir are far from immune to gendered stereotypes.  There are plenty of male fighters out there who won't take shots unless they have an obscene amount of force behind them.  As a 6' tall man with plenty of muscle, I often have trouble getting those men to take my shots.  As a woman, a younger fighter, or even just a less muscular individual generating that kind of force is simply impossible.  Some fighters simply won't take hits because of their own egos and ignore shots from women or anyone else who they feel are "inferior".  Theoretically that's what heralds are for, but they can't be everywhere all the time, and they won't see every swing, so it falls to us, the fighters in the sport to engender a culture which is inclusive and looks down on this kind of behavior.

The important bit for Belegarth is equality.  When ego's are removed from the picture any fighter you encounter on the field is just as dangerous as any other fighter you run into, as far as you know.  A fighter that's relatively new could have trained hard, and be very good at what they do (think about Steele).  In our sport there are plenty of badass women who can mop the floor with most of the guys who are out there, (Rocca, Acorn, Anastasia, Cypress come to mind).  Older fighters are often even MORE dangerous then younger fighters because of their experience, (Orion comes to mind).  Often the people who you would normally think of as the most imposing can be relatively weak opponents.  Speed and form are much more important then strength when it comes to fighting so heavier set opponents, often ones with enormous shields can be easily picked apart by a smaller/faster opponent.  But making this assumption about all larger individuals with tower shields will ALSO get you killed as there are plenty of larger guys out there who can still move rather quickly.

It all comes down to respect.  If you underestimate or look down on your opponent you may wind up dead before you even know what hit you.  Don't be that guy (or girl).  Show all of your opponents the respect they deserve as a fellow fighter.