October 2, 2019
'Tis the season for giving! That's why we're bringing back some of our favourite stories from 2019. This story was originally published on October 2. Enjoy!
Two men in full suits of armour smash together, swords striking steel.
The battle sounds like a drawer filled with cutlery thrown to the floor, the screech of metal on metal reverberating through Edmonton’s Coronation Park.
People nearby turn their heads to find the source of the noise, an unlikely spectacle in the middle of an urban area.
“We go full contact, beat each other up,” said George Soika, captain of the Edmonton Crimson Blades.
The team is training to compete in a sport called buhurt, which started in Russia about 15 years ago.
The difference between buhurt and historical reenactments is that competitors in the sport “swing for blood” using blunted steel weapons characteristic of the Middle Ages.
The three-year-old team has five core members who have their own armour and come to practices. By Soika’s best guess, there are fewer than 100 fighters in total across the country.
Soika first heard about buhurt from a friend who competes. He was a blacksmith for 10 years, so he offered to fix his friend's armour occasionally.
Eventually, Soika was convinced to try it himself.
“He put me into the ground more than once, and since then I’ve always loved doing it,” Soika said. “You feel cool wearing steel plates — like a knight wearing armour.”
Soika said his armor weighs a little over 70 pounds. Given the weight and the heat, fighting can be exhausting.
The members of his team practice breathing so they can last a minute of fighting in their gear, keep their heart rates down, then battle someone else.
Most of their armour, they say, is historically accurate to what would have been used in medieval times. Shipped from Ukraine, the minimum price for a full kit ranges from $1,500 to $2,000.
Leg, arm and torso plates protect competitors from the weapons.
In addition to blunted weapons, there are rules about where and where not to hit. The back of the legs and neck are off limits, for example.
Competitors try to be as safe as possible. Though they are ruthless during the fight, if it's suspected that someone is hurt they stop immediately.
Duels are scored, each hit worth a point. Tournaments also have multi-person battles of three-on-three or five-on-five.
Check out this medieval fight club.
“They can go up to even battle-nation style, which is 150 versus 150 all at once in this chaotic mash of metal and swords and thunder of people hitting down on you,” said Soika, 28.
He said he has yet to experience the level of sportsmanship and caring he has seen in buhurt anywhere else.
“You finish a long exhausting battle and everybody just hugs it out at the end. There is huge companionship in this [sport],” he said.
Buhurt attracts all kinds of people, from bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts to nerds and people looking for a relief from daily stress.
Russell Jeffrey joined the Edmonton team three months ago.
“I have a lot of ancestry to Europe, so it’s just a way for me to personally and spiritually connect with them in a weird way,” Jeffrey said. “My mom is from England, my dad has a lot of ancestry throughout Europe going back to the Viking era.”
Jeffrey, 23, has been fascinated with medieval times his whole life, and said he enjoyed learning about the weapons and armour.
He has even convinced his wife to join the team.
“It's a way to connect with more people who are actually willing to accept you for who you are, no matter what,” Jeffrey said.
The Crimson Blades are trying to grow the sport and recruit more members, including women.
“We’d like to give them a chance to have their own category in the sport." said Soika. "So it’s not just all these big, burly guys trying to overpower [them],”
There’s an all-female team in Quebec who are regarded as some of the top fighters in the world, competing at Battle of the Nations and winning grand prizes at tournaments.
Teammate Kelton Ramos also hopes to compete at that level.
“I’d love to compete for Canada," he said. "I’m hoping next year I can get in on the International Medieval Combat Federation bracket."
The Edmonton team had two tournaments this summer in Kimberley, B.C., and Brooks, Alta. Each was an opportunity to prove their skill against other competitors.
“It’s a lot of good fun, coming together and just meeting a bunch of other goofy nerds like myself,” said Ramos.
Joining a buhurt team has helped Ramos with his fitness, and he said he’s excited to watch the number of competitors and fans grow.
“We see combat sports on television but you don't see people wielding steel and just smacking the crap out of each other.”