The Rules:

Origins:

In England, sometime in the late seventies, a group of people used blunted copies of Viking weapons to hit each other for fun. They invented a system based on a mixture of martial arts and what seemed to work.

These groups grew and multipled, their immediate descendants being The Vikings, Regia Anglorum, The Jomsvikings and a few others. They also spread this style abroad to all of the Scandinavian countries, Ireland, Germany and Poland. These groups meet regularly to train and give battle.

Rules:

The idea of a semicontact martial sport is to hit an opponent without using full force. It can be competitive, but always needs cooperation.

There are variants, but the core rules combine some common elements:

§ All weapons are blunted, the generally recognised standard being a 2 mm edge on good quality, well maintained steel.

§ Some protection may be demanded. In ASK it is heavy gloves and protection to the elbow. Other societies specify helmets, but some manage without any protection.

§ The aim is to hit the opponent within a restricted area such as the torso and upper legs. In ASK we usually exclude the head, and a thrust to (or towards) the face is always forbidden.

§ Ideally the blow should have been capable of disabling, had it been real, but it is slowed on contact such that there is no real force.
A lot depends upon the person receiving a blow to acknowledge it.

The advantages of our system are that we can use reasonably accurate equipment, move around a lot and hit one another from all directions, all with a reasonable degree of safety.
The disadvantages are that we cannot use body weight or power.

Variants:

Whilst the normal rules are satisfactory for most of the time, some of us have trained other styles. These include Buckler (with pretty much all of the body as a target and no large shields, based upon 1.33) and Huscarl

Weapons:

These are the knife, handaxe, longsax (single edged sword), sword (double edged but used in one hand), daneaxe, and either single or double handed spear. Some can be used in combination with one another, or with a round shield or occasionally buckler or kite shield.
We don't often use javelins or bows, because nobody can control a missile weapon once it is in the air, an inherently safe arrow does not look good, and the lack of an acceptable place to train.

Techniques:

Our style started with a basic stance, and a set of attacks and hard blocks called The Fives. Whilst we still use them, a lot of influences from other sports and martial arts have crept in. These include deflecting blows as practiced in Russia, various Fencing schools, Escrima, Kendo, SCA combat and many more. The sport continues to develop.

There are a number of articles available about our style of fighting on the Ulfhednir site.