I'm a member of the SCA (and a Viking within it) and I'd like to mention a few characteristics of SCA combat.

The original posting was about Viking combat re-enacment, so I'll comment on that. First off, we use simulated weapons, and hard contact, whereas most groups use real weapons and light contact.

We mainly use rattan weapons, which has the rough properties of steel, but in case of a catastrophic break, leaves no splinters to impale upon. In the USA, we're litigation-happy, so people *are* nervous about "live steel"--probrably more so that reasonable, but the lawyers in the USA are a breed unto themselves.

Next, we use one standard of armor, despite one's own period. A Viking has the same sort of armor standards as a 13th century Spaniard. We do this so that we can all fight together on the battlefield, rather than having millions of armor standards. We hit hard, you see, and I've been in battles with up to a thousand on each side.

So that, in a nutshell, is combat in the SCA. Feel free to check out www.sca.org. Don't get me wrong, I admire other reenactment groups who are more stringent about their reenactment activities, but the SCA is fun, and there's a lot of reverence for good research and kit within the SCA.