Tournament

A competition among armored combatants, rapier combatants or archers, usually designed along modern elimination lines, to select a single winner. A tournament or tournaments are a common feature of a weekend SCA event. A tournament is also commonly called a Tourney.

Types of armored or rapier tournaments include:

• 5 on 5 Melee Tourney
• Bear-pit
• Counted Blow Tournament
• Crown Tournament
• Double-elimination
• Fights at the Barrier
• Holmgang
• Ladder of Reknown
• Novice
• Pas d' Armes or Passage of Arms
• Pool
• Ransom
• Rose Tourney
• Round-robin
• Speed
• Tournament of Chivalry
• Tournament of Defense
• Single-elimination
• Warlord
• William Marshall

Other Types of Tournaments

• Tournament of Arts

Commentary on the Use of the Name Tournament in Some Contexts

This mostly rises with regards to the Tournaments of Chivalry, Tournaments of Defense, and Tournaments of Arts. In these events, there typically is no event in which a victor is chosen.

"Why call this a tournament?" For many people, a tournament includes a contest in which there is a victor. However, the event conforms to another somewhat historical meaning of the word:

3. b. a meeting at an appointed time and place for the performance of knightly exercises and sports. Dictionary.com