Non-verbal fighter communication in the SCA
Non-verbal communication for Deaf and Hard of hearing fighters is permitted in the SCA, and is also widely useful for neurodivergent fighters and those simply out of breath
This information was shared with me on Facebook with permission to reshare, and I would like it to be broadly findable. Note that most if not all of these signs are taken from American Sign Language – I believe, and https://www.signheraldsofthesca.com/sign-heraldry-of-the-sca corroborates, that non-US locations may use different signs.
PDF with illustrations can be found on Google here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pkBiBxGiZP76rBhaoV0GoIJbyvHcm5_e/view?fbclid=IwY2xjawJ_VyFleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFyakFKdzhxeHpTdUJxdGlyAR65iKirEUEMH_Qr4LJ-A_0WgJdD8t3uorNPGdSQpMJFip5ZW5IYFNlpdfy29w_aem_ZeJjzqr7TrTPgBUKB64YQg. I have re-hosted it on my own blog here. The signs were chosen for armored combat but work for rapier too (though, of course, the rapier rules still apply – we don’t call “light” on rapier shots the way armored combatants do)
Sign Language for Fighting Activities
The following are links to videos of interpreters showing the signs demonstrated in the class. Most of these sites, including Youtube, have an option to slow the video down.