Before participating all new members need to sign a Release Form and Minor Release Forms must be notarized. Here are the Adult Release and the Minor Release.
At our weekly practices newcomers will be given an introduction similar to the video below and loaner weapons are available for the first few weeks after which you are expected to build or purchase your own. The weapons are padded, but stiff, and hits are solid, but most people will not bruise. We typically start with a few rounds of free-for-all and progress to small team skirmishes. Dead fighters are encouraged to spar off the field to get the most out of the practice. A variety of other skirmishes and scenarios can be played similar to those in other team sports.
There are a lot of great resources for training out there, some specific to Belegarth and some from other related sports and martial arts. Belegarth is a martial sport and as such has a number of sport conventions that do not translate well into real combat, but keep the sport safer. I have collected a few introductory videos and links below to help in training for Belegarth.
The Belegarth forum has an EXCELLENT sticky with a collection of the best and most relevant training links and video. READ IT.
The links above and below are focused on learning the skills and techniques specific to Belegarth, but overall physical training is vital to perform well within this sport. A few sites that may be very helpful for improving one's fitness with little to no investment in equipment are BodyWeightCulture, BeastSkills and CrossFit.
Part 1 of the Class Part 2 of the Class
Team Fighting Basics/Small Group Tactics from SKBC.