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organization. In 2001, in efforts to protect their intellectual property, such as the original
Dagorhir Handbook, the Dagorhir Board of Directors requested that any group wishing to continue to use the Dagorhir brand name sign a legally binding contract regarding their use. Those that did not agree with this form of governance broke off from Dagorhir in order to form Belegarth.
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Belegarth chapters, called "realms", range all across North
America: from Puerto Rico up to Canada, and all across the continental United States. Chapters vary organizationally, ranging from realms to kingdoms, to loose confederations of "tribes" depending on the local chapter, its history and its
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Gameplay is overseen by marshals, known as heralds (or referees) wearing yellow tabards. In the most basic sense, hits are scored by landing a blow with sufficient force to any of the four target-zones: torso, legs, arms or head. For safety reasons, the head is an illegal target for melee weapons,
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are used in order to prevent serious physical injury to participants. It differs from other battle games and LARPs in that it is entirely combat-oriented. Belegarth allows hard hitting, shield bashes, and grappling with little emphasis on role playing and has no magic or character classes. It is a
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was formed in 1977 with these very ideals in mind. The theme was to catapult people from the 20th century into the midst of an intense battle during the Dark Ages; a time when the values and problems of the modern world did not exist. Dagorhir grew rapidly over the years into a nationwide
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but is a legal target for missile weapons like arrows and javelins. A player is considered "dead" after a torso or head hit, or any combination of two extremities. "Dead" players are out of play for the remainder of the battle, which usually lasts five to ten minutes (depending on the
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During the event players are requested to wear clothing that is known as "garb", medieval or fantasy-based clothing. Players go by chosen
Belegarth names to avoid confusion on the field as there are frequently numerous players on the field that share common given names.
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membership. Chapters vary widely in size, age, interests, membership and geography, but a common interest in medieval combat unites them all. Belegarth: MCS includes a vast nationwide membership, and they encourage new members.
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status, which compete at regional and national events every year. Typically, each realm also holds individual fighting practices several times a week. Realms vary in size from just a handful of people to over a hundred fighters.
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Belegarth
Medieval Combat Society is a sport where participants fight with foam padded safety equipment made to reflect medieval weaponry. The sport's combat is hard hitting and fast-paced, governed by a set of easy-to-learn
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Realms gather at the national events, week or weekend long camping events, that involve fighting during the day and partying at nights, and where members wear garb and go by their dedicated
Belegarth names.
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The organization initially formed from a set of loosely organized clubs and franchises starting in
December 2001. In July 2002 the group was organized enough to incorporate in the State of Illinois.
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At national events, some participants come merely for the social get together. They can hone their skills for making both the weaponry and the armor involved.
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inspired a new-found interest in fantasy with the love of the outdoors, improvisational acting, and high energy events. A group called
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The BMCS is a for profit entity but many of the realms under it have claimed Not-for-Profit status independently.
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Belegarth
Medieval Combat Society. "Belegarth Medieval Combat Society". September 27, 2011.
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corporation composed of a number of "realms" that can file for
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604:Online Featurette 10/19/07 The Daily Eastern News
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554:April Fool's Day Feature 3/31/2006 Student Life
524:News Article 03/29/2011 Indiana Daily Student
48:introducing citations to additional sources
634:Non-profit organizations based in Illinois
594:Magazine Article 9/22/2004 Versus Magazine
564:News article? 05/24/06 San Diego CityBeat
510:Learn how and when to remove this message
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201:Learn how and when to remove this message
473:This article includes a list of general
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38:Relevant discussion may be found on the
569:News Article 08/03/2005 Minnesota Daily
534:News Article 10/25/2006 Daily Chronicle
529:Magazine Article 12/07/2006 Weekly Buzz
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549:News Article 05/04/2006 Arbiter Online
137:Please improve this article by adding
589:News Article 10/08/2004 Daily Vidette
584:News Article 03/04/2005 Northern Star
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224:is a full contact battle game where
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599:News Article 09/18/2002 Daily Iowan
150:"Belegarth Medieval Combat Society"
59:"Belegarth Medieval Combat Society"
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539:News Article 10/23/06 Daily Illini
479:it lacks sufficient corresponding
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574:News article 08/30/05 Daily Iowan
544:News Article 08/2006 College News
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358:Battle for the Ring - mid January
222:Belegarth Medieval Combat Society
579:News Article 05/15/2005 Fox News
559:News Article 06/30/2006 Den News
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428:MediaWiki dedicated to Belegarth
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31:relies largely or entirely on a
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318:for a complete list of Realms.
624:Live-action role-playing games
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1:
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139:secondary or tertiary sources
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406:-perform a search for term
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352:Oktoberfest – early October
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355:War of Wrath – mid October
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217:Fighters collide in battle
619:Live-action battle gaming
404:State of Illinois website
331:Spring Wars – early April
349:Equinox – late September
316:The Belegarth Realms Map
494:more precise citations.
456:External news articles
346:Chaos Wars – late July
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126:relies excessively on
340:Armageddon – mid June
337:Melcacorne – late May
294:The Lord of the Rings
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334:Beltaine – early May
44:improve this article
629:Sports in Illinois
438:2011-10-03 at the
256:2011-10-03 at the
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433:Rules of the Game
343:Summer Wars - TBA
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440:Wayback Machine
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492:introducing
289:JRR Tolkien
613:Categories
500:April 2009
475:references
385:References
276:Non-combat
161:newspapers
128:references
70:newspapers
408:Belegarth
291:'s novel
191:July 2017
100:July 2017
40:talk page
436:Archived
374:Dagorhir
363:See also
306:Chapters
299:Dagorhir
254:Archived
244:Gameplay
488:improve
369:Amtgard
284:History
175:scholar
84:scholar
477:, but
379:Darkon
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251:rules
182:JSTOR
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314:See
154:news
63:news
130:to
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
