Short answers, pulled from the story.
Combat reenactment is a branch of historical reenactment that focuses specifically on depicting historical forms of combat. It ranges from single combat between two opponents to large-scale battles involving hundreds of participants, and groups vary widely in their standards of authenticity and their aims.
Alfred Hutton began demonstrating historical fencing in the 1890s, establishing the foundation for the tradition of historical martial arts demonstrations that continues today.
Ring jousting became the official state sport of Maryland in 1962, making it the first official sport of any American state.
Tent pegging is the only form of jousting officially recognized by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports today.
Society for Creative Anachronism combat is not pre-determined, making it a participatory sport where fighters genuinely win or lose bouts, similar to Karate or Judo. Fighters use wooden swords and handmade armor based on historical artifacts, with Medieval tournament fighting as the grounding tradition.
Blade weapons used in combat reenactment are unsharpened, and specialized sparring weapons such as Albion's "Maestro Line" feature rounded points. Blunt, flail, and staff weapons are more difficult because replicas retain the same effectiveness as originals; rattan or latex substitutes reduce danger but lack the physical characteristics of the originals, leading to handling techniques inconsistent with historical practice.