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Combat Rules & Games for the Fighter Kite

AKA Rule Book
The Fighter Kite and Rokkaku Rulebook describes a variety of contests, fights and battles for single-line maneuverable kites. The cost of the Fighter Rulebook is $5.00. (At the AKA web site, look under Publications to order a copy.)
The Rule book was first revised by the newly formed AKA Fighter Committee, Chaired by Randy Shannon of Arizona. Committee members were: Nelson Borelli, Richard Gareau, Johnny Hsiung, Brian Johnsen, Peter Lee, Rick Miller, and Stafford Wallace (1996). These revised rules were never printed in a new AKA Rule Book. They were waiting of the Rokaku rules to be revised by an other committee.

The 2000-2001 AKA Fighter Kite Committee was Charged with revising (again) the rules for the AKA Rule Book. The revision was presented to the AKA at the Convention in Oct. 2001.

Using Manjha
The Manjha Mania website has a set of Combat Rules posted that are used by the Manjha Club International.

Variations on the Rules
Extracted from a recent posting on rec.kites by Brian Johnsen.
Most of the US fighter comps are line touching games, or interacting with objects (knock a cup off a pole etc.)

The line touching starts with two flyers about 18 feet apart with the wind at their backs and in a restricted area of some sort so that they can't interfere with each other or one back up past the other and gain an advantage. What's worked well in the past is two 12 foot dia. circles drawn in the sand (or garden hose on grass) about 6 feet apart. An imaginary line between the centers would be 90 degrees to the wind direction. If a flyer steps outside the circle, they lose that point.

Each match between flyers is three points (or 5 or 7 or whatever you have patience or daylight for). The flyers usually start with the kites high and to the side opposite the opponent. The referee asks both if they are ready and only after a positive response from both, the referee says "Fight" and the point is on.

The points are won by touching the top or bottom of the other flyers line. Usually the first point must be a top touch, the second must be a bottom touch. If one flyer has both points at this time, the match is won by that flyer and a new match with new flyers is called. If each flyer has one point, a third top touch point is run as a tie breaker. Top touches and bottom touches are alternated.

If there are a lot of flyers or just a few experienced flyers, they may decide to start with a bottom touch, then top touch with a bottom touch tie breaker. Bottom touch points are usually more difficult because you're flying closer to the ground, and hitting the ground is an automatic loss of point.

Kites may be switched for different matches, but once a match is on, no substitutions are allowed. If your kite is damaged beyond repair during the match it may be replaced with another, or an equipment check can be called for a quick tape job or bridle adjustment due to a crash or rough handling by the downwind field crew, but all of these are a judgement call by the referee whether to allow them. Switching kites for under and over points is not allowed.

The competions can be single or double elimination, or a round-robin where everyone flys against everyone else once and then the winners from that go on to single or double elimination. A pilots meeting before the competition is usually held to agree on the rules for that particular comp. These rules can change due to number of flyers, time constraints or atmospheric conditions, but all the flyers should appraised of how that comp. will be run beforehand.

Games To Play

  1. Skills Games (Mostly events are a single flyer competing against the clock to perform each precision task.)
    Launch the kite, let out line and knock a paper (or plastic) cup off a 5 foot pole set a fixed distance downwind.
    Launch the kite, let out line and fly through a hoop a fixed distance and 45 to 70 degree off wind.
    Land the fighter kite on top of a single line kite staked off downwind
    Any other devious tortures you can think up.
  2. Sheep & Wolf...or...Fox & Chickens...etc.
    This is a ONE flyer on manjha vs The Rest who have paper kites on cotton line (NO Waxed Lines, PLEASE)
    - needs only *one* competent manjha fighter
    - should be easy to watch for the public if it's a "Black" Wolf vs "White" Sheep
  3. Another fun game to try. It's hard to get competitive people to participate because it truely is just for fun with no practile way to keep score, so there can be NO champion, NO losers. It is a crowd pleaser though.
    Fly a delta kite. On this delta install a long tail of highly biodegadable material such as toilet paper. All together now, everybody fly. The object is to get a piece of tail without putting your friends down. I know this is tough for guys, but try it. Two fighters fighting look like siameese fighting fish. A bunch of fighters working together on the same
    target look like a school of pirahna. Cool effect. The smaller the piece that each hit gets, the longer the game can continue before landing the delta for retailing.
    Submitted by Bruce Jarvie 6/00
  4. 3 or More fighters Line Touch Game
    3 or more people, preferably with the better fliers in the middle. It combines some aspects of traditional line touch, a different way of starting the point as given to me by Bruce Lambert, and a different scoring system.
    Say you have 3 fliers, A, B, and C. All three have their kites in the sky. Flier A can choose to start the point whenever, and choose the direction (top or bottom) at that time. If flier A is above the other fliers and calls top point, well, the other fliers shouldn't have let flier A get above. Flier A gets a point for each of the other fliers lines he touches
    in the direction he called at the beginning of the point. But once one of the other fliers gets the point on flier A, it is over. Points are only awarded to the flier who called the point, and points are taken away as well.

    Example:
    Fliers A, B, and C, in that order on the field. Flier A calls top point. Flier A gets a top point on flier B, then goes after flier C. Flier C gets the point on flier A. Total points for flier A: 0 (1 point for touch on flier B, -1 point for loss to flier C)

    Same fliers. Flier B's turn. Flier B calls under while under flier C. Flier B gets the point, then goes after flier A. Flier B gets the point on flier A. Total points for flier B: 2 (1 point each for both touches).

    Same fliers, Flier C's turn. Flier C calls under. Both fliers A and B go after flier C, get points on flier C. Total points for flier C: -2 (lost to both other fliers)
    So far flier B is in the lead, then flier A, then flier C. Say before the flier gets a point or loses a point on the other 2, the flier grounds. The match is over, and the flier loses 1 point (is awarded a -1 point). Say the opponents of the calling flier ground. That is a point for the flier who called the point.
    Sound like fun or what? Submitted by Steve Bateman 11/01