Sparks are set to fly at UOW on Friday (2 August), at the first Illawarra Fight Knight. Photo: Knights of Albion.
Why on earth would anyone strap on 40 kg of medieval armour only to be knocked to the ground and whacked in the head?
Wollongong real estate agent Anton Summerfield says the answer is simple.
“Because it’s epic,” he said.
“The feeling you get when you have a shield in one hand and an axe in the other – you feel like a big kid, but you’ve got real toys.”
Anton is a member of the Knights of Albion Illawarra armoured combat club, and on Friday (2 August) combatants will put on a show at the University of Wollongong.
The Illawarra’s first-ever Fight Knight will kick off at 7 pm and feature more than a dozen fighters going toe-to-toe, medieval-style.
Combatants must wear a full suit of titanium or hardened steel armour, and will be armed with one single-hand weapon like a small sword, sabre or axe and a dinner plate-sized shield called a buckler.
Each person’s armour must correspond to a particular place and time period – no mixing and matching.
“Helmets can be anything from a slit with some breathing holes where your face is completely enclosed, to a helmet with a bar down your nose and bars across your face,” Anton said.
“That leaves your face very exposed but you can drink, see, and breathe.
“You put the armour on and everything you do becomes 10 times harder. It’s heavy, it’s tight, it’s hard to breathe.
“You get all the clings and clangs; everything changes from the way you walk to the way you sit down.
“You need to put it on to really experience it.”
Combatants will engage in one-on-one duels. Unscripted and unrehearsed, they’re chaotic, action-packed rounds.
“It’s pure mayhem,” Anton said.
Entry is free, and organisers have scheduled breaks to explain the rules and answer any questions about the sport.
A martial will be present to call an end to matches if necessary, and armour checks are undertaken before each round.
Anton said combatants ranged from veterans with more than 10 years’ experience to relative beginners who had been training for a year or so.
Anton said the sport attracted people with two things in common – a love of medieval history, and a bit of mongrel in them.
“We’re normal people that have a passion for putting on armour and belting each other,” he said.
“It doesn’t attract any one demographic – I’m a real estate agent, we’ve got guys who work in the mines, chippies, stay-at-home mums, everything you can think of.
“It’s more about what people have inside, that passion for medieval combat and grit.”
While they might start for the mayhem, Anton said people stayed for the physical and mental health benefits.
A typical training session runs for about two hours and involves a mix of strength conditioning and technical work, as well as sparring in soft padded protective gear, or full armour.
“We’re all there to have fun and enjoy it, and the community is very inviting,” he said.
“I don’t go to gyms anymore – they’re full of influencers filming themselves.
“Plus, there’s nothing better than having a bad day and going in to train as hard as you can – the mental health benefits are like smash labs.
“We’re lucky to have a sport that allows people to unleash those feelings in the safest manner possible.”
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