Following a Facebook post a couple of days ago (Mitch?) showing a WMA tourney through a Gopro camera attached to one of the fighters one of my friends has introduced me to a trainer in my old home town of Hanworth, Middlesex who has a full contact WMA club under Battle Heritage which he describes as "MMA with weapons", mentioned when asked some work from the manuals as well. Looks pretty good from what I have seen and popping down next week and works around my current training. Dirt cheap at around £3.00 per session and £20 insurance! Has anyone had any experience with these guys, seems to be a regular competition circuit as well. Looks like fun! http://battleheritage.co.uk/ [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4G8R3JnfSk"]Battle Heritage at Hever Castle - 1v1 Qualifiers - YouTube[/ame]
Been itching to compete again and this looks like a good fit and a priceless opportunity to fit in a couple of Monty Python gags as well, Tis just a flesh wound.
Bravely bold Sir Robin rode forth from Camelot. He was not afraid to die, O brave Sir Robin! He was not at all afraid to be killed in nasty ways, Brave, brave, brave, brave Sir Robin! He was not in the least bit scared to be mashed into a pulp, Or to have his eyes gouged out, and his elbows broken; To have his kneecaps split, and his body burned away; And his limbs all hacked and mangled, brave Sir Robin! His head smashed in and his heart cut out And his liver removed and his bowels unplugged And his nostrils raped and his bottom burned off And his pen-- LOL Classic. Me and my brother were signing this at a reenactment we had a look at the other day. Granted we had a few ales down us by then. People were not impressed
Yep, I posted it, though someone else may have too of course That looks awesome, let us know how it goes Dan Mitch
Looks like BoTN style combat. Cool stuff, which may or may not be HEMA derived. Our sister club, the Ironhart Vanguard do this. Here's a clip of Ash from Ironhart owning someone with takedowns. He (and his group) take it to a level of true art: [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izYQCipBzOQ"]HDV 0841 - YouTube[/ame] He's a beast.
Thanks Langenschwert. Nice clip. May I ask what BoTN stands for as unfamilar with the term? I am very interested in HEMA but that would be a bonus at the moment, being able to fight in Armour is kinda a boyhood dream come true for me I guess. Looking at your video I assume, like the club/style I am going to be training I notice they allow strikes (kicks/knees/Punches/Elbow/Head) and grapples as well as weapon techniques so it doesn't look as limited as the other recreation stuff I have seen that had pretty rigid rule sets, which kinda put me off. Naturally I assume certain techniques are restricted for the safety of the fighters i.e. Thrusting and stabbing...well I hope at least.. Looking through Battle Heritages videos they seem to have held a lot of tournaments at castle venues as well which is beyond cool in its own right.
Hi Dan93, BoTN stands for Battle of the Nations. It's the largest league of HMB (Heavy Medieval Battle). The format is called "Bohurt" or "Buhurt" which was done historically, though the techniques done may or may not be historical. You'll notice in the first clip the swords were used in a cutting fashion against armour, which simply doesn't work. It's done for a "counted blows" style of sporting engagement, as was shown. Swords are for lightly armoured opponents when used as such, since swords are sharp and people are squishy. Against an armoured opponent, swords are less useful. They are then used in a "half-sword" position with the left hand on the blade, like a short spear to seek lighter armoured targets. These would be the palm of the hand, down the cuff of the gauntlet, into an open visor, armpits, groin and soles of the feet. The sword is also used as a grappling aid for takedowns. Here are some good examples: [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4k-vjdeZO4"]SwArta Harnischfechten - YouTube[/ame] Doing that kind of stuff in BoTN combat would not only send even more people to the hospital (the injury rate is already very high), it would send them to the morgue. So just be sure when you find a group that does armoured combat, that you're getting what you want: authentic armoured combat or a modern sport. Some places may well do both. HMB/BoTN is much more of a modern combat sport than HEMA/WMA. It would be like a cricket player saying "I'm a baseball player" just because he bought the right bat. One final edit: of course you should go do it if you can. If I were a younger man I would kit up with my Ironhart brothers and sisters and go at it. However, HEMA, Judo, Modern Combatives and JSA are about all my body can take!
Hi Langenschwert, Cheers for the comments and video. Gathered already that the cuts where more for a sport format. Confirmed with the trainer they have three rule sets using swords and pole arms. Dueling: 1 vs 1 - Skill based based on points. Bohurt - Free form limited rules aiming to floor opponent. up to 21 vs 21. Profighting - ? only know it uses Bohurt rules but only 1 vs 1. Hoping to pop down tomorrow after my night shift if I am able if not next week but really looking forward to this. As said interested in HEMA but also this as a sport as well while I am able. Cheers Dan
All ready thought this. A good scream of ODIN! might raise some eyebrows before a battle Pretty stoked for training tomorrow, something to tick off the bucket list. Just went through the Battle of Nations rules to familarise myself.
OK trained for the first time this morning really impressed. Trainer is Eastern European as I have been told this type of training is huge out there i.e. Poland, Ukraine, Russia ect. I have been told by another student that he is apparently a champion with the pole axe, Nice guy and very impressive skills. After a brief run down on performance at a recent competition we started on a standard warm up and then went outside for tire impact work concentrating on accuracy and the novices were working on angles to get through gaps in guards and shield posture on head cuts.. After the impact work which went on for about 30min we armoured up and paired off, More advanced students were working on group Bohurt work whilst we, the novices were working on attacking and defending the cuts performed during impact work. Finished with a spar with another novice with foam dipped shield and sword. Most likely to get novices used to impact. Had to leave before the end due to family commitments as they were pulling out all the really big weapons for sparring. Really enjoyed training, good friendly club who love their sport and can't wait to train again and can see myself competing in this.