This coming year, 2014, we Modern Agonistics people, plan on hosting a knife-fighting tournament. We want to open this up to people from all backgrounds and permit women to compete with the men. The following handicapping scheme utilizes the three Sharkee knife designs for a handicapping system that will enable people with no knife fights to compete with people who have had thousands and hundreds, as well as women to mix it up with men.

The standard blade is the Filipino daga design. This will be used in all equal contests and is 10 inches long.

In a handicapped contest a person regarded as being at an advantage will use the tactical blunt. This blade is only 6 inches long.

A person at a disadvantage will use the tanto design, which is 12 inches long.

Knife-fighters will be rated according to the following scheme, with each rating used to determine disadvantage, advantage, or parity on the Parity Table below. The ratings are all cumulative. A man who is trained, expert and veteran is rated at a +4.

Man +1

Trained fighter +1

Expert [10+ sparring sessions] +1

Veteran [100+ sparring sessions] +1

Inexperienced [no previous contact sparring with knifes] -1

Youth [16 years or less] -1

Female -2

Fighters will rate from -4 to +4 with zero counting as a step.

When fighters are within 2 points of each other they both use the daga. When there is a parity difference of 3 or greater the fighters will arm according to the table below.

-4 to -1: Disadvantage, tanto

0 to 2: Parity, daga

3 to 4: Advantage, tactical

According to this method a fighter rating a 4 versus a 2 is a parity contest with both fighters using the daga. A fighter rating a 4 versus one with a 0 or 1 would use the tactical against the daga. A fighter rating a 4 who faced a fighter with a -1 or less would use the tactical against the tanto.