[1] The function of the kipper was to follow his knight in combat and retrieve armour or arms from fallen adversaries.
If the adversary was not completely subdued and ready to surrender these, the kipper would bang on the armour-clad opponent with various blunt non-lethal instruments, like heavy sticks or clubs, to knock him unconscious for the purpose of gathering the spoils without further protest.
It was the right of a knight to seize the armour and weapons of a fallen adversary during a tournament.
In this chaotic mêlée, kippers were therefore mere foot soldiers of the tournament, and it was not their function or intention to participate in the fighting.
In the later Middle Ages, when tournaments no longer resembled actual warfare and the chivalric code became more popular, kippers were frowned upon.