Full blown combat or display only?

[John Conyard]

Almost, but not quite.

From the thread training seems possible in the 4th-5th century, with sharp missile weapons and blunted swords and capped spears. "Combat" seems to be very hard to achieve convincingly, and can easily fall into cavorting ninny status if not done well. Training seems a safe middle ground. Combat is a word that comes loaded with all sorts of unfortunate connotations in terms of authenticity, equipment, etc etc.