A fighter who didn’t so much fall but sauntered vaguely downward into buhurt.
I joined the sport in late 2018 after discovering it during a holiday at Visby medieval week in Sweden. I went out of curiosity and a medieval need, something I was missing a lot. I stayed as it seemed like a fun and an interesting way of staying fit. At the time my intentions were purely to train and do something other than work.
For weeks I went to training not knowing much of the wider sport or events but happy in the camaraderie, atmosphere and training I had found but during Christmas and New Year I found out more.
Now I didn’t have much desire at the time to get into the fighting however when supporting got mentioned my interest peaked. You see, I have a love for organising and helping out, which is enhanced by the fact that I have a knack for it. This paired with my previous experience as an industrial tailor and costume assistant meant I had additional skills that could be useful in a supporting capacity.
I spoke to the Captain of the club and expressed interest in supporting the team and attended my first tournament in February 2019.
And just like that I took my first step into the world of medieval combat, albeit as support.
In 2019 I supported 3 different club teams and 1 National team in 9 different events across 4 countries. It was a whirlwind of events which let me experience different supporting scenarios and also build connections with the community, something which was very useful once I decided to become a fighter.
For me the decision to fight came in two stages.
The first stage was after talking to Jo Booth, captain of Sword of Cygnus. I reached out due to a post on the Cygnus Facebook page. Her supportive nature absolutely floored me and created a desire within me to get more involved.
I started to train with the club and joined them as a support at Kening Striid but with the mind-set that I would continue supporting for a year before I would consider getting in armour, partly to be able to experience as many events as possible while still being able to afford food! But also due to uncertainty on my part if fighting was really for me.
The second part came at the end of 2019 at Flanders, after a year of supporting. Even though I love supporting and feel I’m good at it, it was there where I first felt the overwhelming need to enter the list.
I’m sure that most of us can remember the first time we saw the fighting in action and had the irresistible desire to join in. Well for me that was just a slower burn than for most.
Shortly after I bought my gambeson and during my first training back, at the start of 2020, I was in armour for the first time.
And my grin sealed my faith.
So what recommendations can I give you as support, support looking to become a fighter or even new fighters?
Ask if you can borrow armour early on.
This is applicable for anyone joining the sport. You will understand if fighting is something for you early on and can then progress as support, fighter, organiser or marshal with confidence. For support it gives added understanding of how the armour feels and is setup which is a great learning opportunity.
I can’t stress this enough as I now wish I would have asked to borrow armour earlier on.
As a support, continue training with your club if you can. It will allow you to get familiar with your teams’ armour, understand the terminology and allow you to build report with the team which make it easier to understand them in high pressure situations.
Plus, excellent training!
For new fighters, take time to support even if it is while waiting for your armour to arrive. The benefits are numerous, but the most noteworthy points are that:
You will gain a better understanding of mental, fitness and kit requirements as well as the expectation of your performance and what to expect from the events.
You will get a crash course in how to repair kit which will be useful when your own arrives.
You can build relationship with experienced fighters who can help you with smith contacts, recommendations and help you not to make mistakes when getting your first armour.
You will get a better understanding of the rules as seeing the rules in effect can help with understanding and retention of the rules compared to only reading them.
If you are interested in the sport in any way then, please, reach out. No matter the level of involvement you are interested in, we all love talking about the sport.