tournament time and our national heritage

Greetings fellow fighters and everyone else!

It has been quite some time since I have updated this blog. We recently had our national KZN Battle Heritage South Africa event, and our club was responsible for organising it, so I was very busy indeed! What with my two jobs, trying to help some of our newer fighters get armoured up, and being a mom, it was a stretch. And I didn't even do that much in terms of organising, really.

But it all came together and we had an awesome event. The ceremony was short and sweet. Here's Josh and I and our Team Captain, Brian Topper. Josh, proudly wearing the surcoat he got from Luxembourg Captain Laurent Bemtgen at IMCF this year.

The ceremony was just a walk of the field and then a few speeches about our national heritage and how the event was for the children (the market and event organising fell to Shannonne Gradwell from the Parents' Support Group of Cornerstone Remedial School).

Our Herald, Richard, however, was really pleased with the number of gonfalons that we were able to display. Mine is being carried by my small beastie, Tala (in front of me) and shows a black destrier prancing over flames and below the Pagan triple Goddess/God symbol.

Josh's isn't really visible, but he has a valknutt above a crossed sword and hammer and lute.

You can also see Brian's red wyvern and Aidan's rampant red lion (I think) of the Granthams behind me. Our MC, Stephen has the three yellow salmon swimming upstream.

We also worked out a coat of arms for our club, Durban Sword and Shield, which is now a black wyvern on a white background and then on a bend sinister in black, there is a white rhino.

Quite cool, I thought.

We also had our herald's heraldry, the Polish eagle with the Hagall rune (or the elvish 'E', as he puts it) on green, and a few others.

I think it's so cool to be in a sport where you can proudly display your symbols of house and nation.

Although the weather was cloudy and somewhat cooler than the day before, we were all still grateful for the army tents.

It was humid, which is par for the course for Durban by the sea, and we drank a lot of water during the tournament and a lot of beer afterwards.

The event was held at the Natal Mounted Rifles army base, which is staffed by volunteers, since their regiment used to ride horses, and now they ride tanks.
We're not currently at war with anyone (touch wood!) so the base is really more museum and training co-ordinations centre, but all of the soldiers that were involved were really friendly and helpful.

We had a fair number of fighters and limited time, so we had to drop the polearm category and only offer singles longsword and sword and shield in knockout pools. So of course, I got to fight Hylton, our Team SA Vice-Captain first. This guy is awesome with a longsword, and so he won the bout in two rounds. This is us:

Knocked out in round one, I was quite bleak because I had been working towards this event for months. But it was Hylton, so I couldn't really be too upset. I have a lot of respect for that guy as a person and a fighter, and I was glad that he got to go on, since he drove all the way down from Joburg to compete. He ended up winning the division.
Unfortunately, none of my other girls in armour came to fight that day, so it was just me in my new "ladycoat" as one of our fighters, Jimmy-Steve dubbed it.
To me it sounds like a feminine hygiene product and so according to Sod's Law, the name will probably stick.

Josh also fought in longsword and sword and shield, but had to withdraw because his finger got really badly mashed during one of the bouts.
This is him in the red fighting Jimmy-Steve in the green:

 And afterwards:

One of our newer guys, Floppy, didn't have enough armour to compete, so for sword and shield, I withdrew and lent him some gear so that he could fight. He gave a good account of himself, although he got beaten by the more experienced fighters.

At the end of the day, there was the first buhurt to happen in a South African tournament. Josh couldn't compete because of his finger, and we could only make teams of three. Two of our young, keen fighters desperately wanted to go in against the Joburg guys, and I didn't have the heart to deny them, so once again, I kitted up someone else with my gear and sent our guys out to fight.

Yes, we got beaten, but it was a very good experience and a good start for buhurt in our country. Also a very good day for the sport in general, since we had a number of people interested in training with us.
Here is the fight.

And that is my news for now.

Next week: I'll tell you all about how Josh and I made The Great Decision.

how to start fighting

This may seem like going backwards a bit, but I guess that you can't be killed for it, so why not?
I've noticed that what most people ask me when they find out that I am a sword fighter is, "How do I start?" So here is what I did.
Since I'm not rich, I wasn't particularly fit or skilled in using power tools, it seems like my story is about as close to basic beginner that you'll get, and might offer some helpful hints on how to start fighting with swords.
Firstly, I joined a club.
You can find a club in your general area, unless you live in, like, Witenswartmodderwatersfontein, Doerengone, Free State. Just use Google and type in "sword fighting clubs" or "medieval combat training" and your area.

It's important to belong to a club, even if they don't train in the specific discipline that you imagine yourself doing because, well, you really don't know until you've tried. A club will usually have instructors who will train you to fight, and much of what we do in our full-contact sport is derived from the same sources as HEMA and other styles. SO, if you really want to fight with steel and there is only a HEMA club in your area (they use synthetics, mainly), then go and train there anyway and get the basics. You can only improve yourself by learning, especially if you are a newbie fighter.

Once you have a good idea of what you really want to do, then you can look around for another group, or perhaps even start your own. It is important to remember that whatever you do, do it safely first and foremost. FCMC (full contact medieval combat) is considered an extreme sport and you should respect that people can get hurt.
SO, you will need at the very least a fencing mask, a gambeson (heavy, padded jacket), some heavy leather welding gloves or other similar hand protection and plastic or synthetic protection for the elbows and knees. This is for starters. If you can't afford to buy this stuff, go on eBay or Gumtree or trawl second hand shops for used sports equipment that will suit your purposes.

This is just to get you fighting. Our club starts all of our new recruits off with rapier and staff. Depending on the club you join, there should be members who are willing to lend their weapons for practice, and/or there should be some club weapons to use for practice. Our club bought a couple of synthetic longswords to practice with as well, and it is very easy to make your own staff. In fact, that was the first weapon that I owned. I cut a wattle sapling and skinned it, then left it for a few weeks to dry out, then oiled it every day for so long it became a routine. It is a little skinny and short for me today, but I can still fight with it, since it hasn't broken, which is a good innings.
Anyway, basic head, hand and joint protection is a must. Also remember that when you borrow someone else's weapon, if it breaks while you are using it, you will be expeccted to replace it. That is fairly standard etiquette.

Once you are at the point where you have decided that this thing is for you (not everyone sticks, and that's the same with every sport), then you should consider whether you want to compete and if so, do you want to compete only locally or also in tournaments elsewhere in the world?
If you want to stay local, then you should find out where your local tournaments take place and check what kind of armour requirements they have. I say this now because you don't want to get gear together that is good for, let's say SCA, and then arrive at a FCMC tournament and discover that it doesn't meet spec. Your club marshall should tell you what your options are, but this is the kind of thing that you should be thinking about, if no-one mentions it.

There are many big international tournaments, and they use different rulesets, but to be able to compete in most of them, you want to use the following authenticity armour spec:

• armour and weapons should be based on historical analogues dating from the 1300s to the 1600s;
• armour elements should all fall into the same period of roughly 30 years;
• armour elements should also originate from roughly the same region;
• weapons used should come from the same period and region as the armour used.

So, if you enjoy using a particular weapon, then make sure that your armour matches the period and region in which that weapon was used. Find an effigy that you can base your choices on, to be safe. You can look at historical sources and manuscript miniatures and effigies and brasses.
Also check for thickness and type of material. You should stay away from aluminium and titanium. Both of these are not acceptable for armour or weapons.

Check the tournament organisers' websites for armour specifications relating to thickness of helmets and armour, weight and dimensions of weapons and shields, etc.

This is an example of what you are aiming for. Thank you, @swedish_armory

If you want to try and make your own armour, then there are patterns on armour archive  and that is what we started with. Some good information on there, including stuff for sale, essays and other resources. Don't be afraid of power tools, just be very, very careful when using them.
Remember that when making medieval anything, the best way to do it is the historical way. Some research is always necessary when you are doing things that need to be historically accurate, for example, were cuisses hinged with steel or leather strips? And is it better to sew or rivet plates on a scale aventail?

POINT TO NOTE: At this stage, you must be spinning with all of the terms. Believe me, when I started fighting, I spent a whole evening listening to the guys talking about different helmets and thought to myself, "I'm never going to be able to remember ANY of this!" But, I did. You get used to referring to the pieces of your armour by their right names, and then it becomes like body parts. You never wonder what that thing on your face is called that you use to smell. You just know it's a nose. So don't get overwhelmed with the terms. If you can't remember them all straight away, no-one will laugh at you. Just go with the flow and soon you'll be using armour-speak, too.

There is already a picture on this blog of the first piece of armour I made (the battle corset). I also made myself a leather gorget (neck protector), which did not work at all, and frankly just annoyed me and looked stupid. The guys gave me legs and arms to use, and also a helmet that had been knocking around. This is what I looked like at my first tournament (Dark Ages).

This is NOT historically authentic. The helmet was constructed using a headlight bucket from a '38 Chevy, though, which is admittedly very cool.

If you don't have much faith in your own crafting abilities, and you also don't have any gear, and there are no loan pieces floating around the club, then take a look here. You can find secondhand gear at reasonable prices.

Also, it's worth it to go onto these Facebook pages and join up or like, as necessary. If you're a girl in armour, like me, you'll find a whole new family of sisters you never knew you had. And if you're a guy in armour, you'll find a warm welcome, too. Just not on the women's pages.
HMB/IMCF Women's Division   International Medieval Combat Federation   Battle of the Nations   Bohurt Magazine   Battle of the Nations Women's League

There are plenty of armourers out there who can supply you with new gear, for a price, such as Metal Horse Armoury.  Just have a browse through the net and see what you can find. Don't buy the first thing you see, even if it is pretty.

This is what I wore to IMCF 2015. I'm on the left. And for the record, Andi won that fight. She is amazing!

Lastly, training is important. Getting into a good diet and fitness regime is essential if you want to compete at international level. But that's a story for another time.

Feel free to contact me for any help.