Summer Invitational Tournament - 2026

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The FSV 2026 Summer Invitational Tournaments will be running on the weekend of 5 and 6 December 2026.

 

Tournaments running will be:

• Long sword on Saturday 05/12/2026 from 9:30am - 5:00pm (large-sized tournament); 

• Sword and buckler on Saturday 05/12/2026 from 9:30am - 5:00pm (small-sized tournament);

• Smallsword on Sunday 06/12/2026 from 9:30am - 5:00pm (medium-sized tournament); and

• Sabre on Sunday 06/12/2026 from 9:30am - 5:00pm (medium-sized tournament).

 

The tournaments will be held at Level 4, Building L, Victoria University Footscray Park Campus in Footscray. (Google Maps link to the location)

 

Tournament Purposes

 

There is no cost associated with participating in the tournament as our primary objective for these tournaments is to facilitate opportunities for current FSV fencers and participants from outside the club to test themselves against each other, and we would like to make the tournaments as accessible, diverse and inclusive as possible; in fencing styles as well as identities and personalities.

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To permit this to occur, we try to maximise the number of matches for our participants. It is common for these tournaments to run with pools of 8 or larger (16 is the current largest pool we have run). All participants make it through to finals. As such, participants can reasonably expect to enjoy 8 or more matches in any tournament they compete in. We achieve this largely by a number of administrative optimisations which make the tournaments run very efficiently. 

 

In addition to the above, FSV wishes to explicitly acknowledge that these tournaments are in part intended to provide a safe, welcoming and enjoyable tournament for fencers of all levels of experience. They are particularly intended to support fencers who feel less able or willing to participate in other Open tournaments.

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Tournament Rules

 

Our bespoke rule-set encourages these goals in our tournaments, which are designed to encourage and reward defensive actions in fencing as well as offensive ones. In brief summary, points are awarded to fencers who:

1. defend themselves prior to a hit being scored;

2. manage to hit their opponent in a controlled manner; and

3. defend themselves after scoring a hit. 

 

With that said, we request that prospective fencers read and understand the rules before signing up for the tournaments:

 

Rules for the Tournaments (2026 Edition) can be found here. 

 

HEMA Ratings

 

For the first time, we will be uploading the results from our tournaments to HEMA Ratings. Given the usual large number of matches in the tournament, this may be significant to some fencers. 

 

Tournament Participation

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The signup form for the 2026 FSV Summer Invitational Tournament can be found here.

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In order to deliver the best possible tournament experience, places available in each tournament are strictly limited. Given that we want to try and make the tournaments as diverse, supportive and inclusive as possible, priority for participation will be given to:

1. Current FSV students;

2. Interstate, international, or regional Victorian participants;

3. Persons with limited tournament experience; and

4. Persons who have positively engaged with previous FSV tournaments.

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Invitations to participate in the tournament/s will be confirmed by email on 27/11/2026. Those applicants who do not receive invitations at that time will be put on a wait list, and may be invited to participate if we have a withdrawal during the lead up to the tournaments.

 

In addition to this, earlier confirmation can be obtained for appropriate reasons (e.g. interstate or international participants wanting to lock in travel arrangements) by way of email to info@fechtschulevictoria.org.au.

 

Similarly, if you have any other questions please contact us by email at 

info@fechtschulevictoria.org.au

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