The Manawatū Buhurt team getting ready to fight in a Historic Medieval Battle group event. Photo / Supplied
The Manawatū Buhurt team getting ready to fight in a Historic Medieval Battle group event. Photo / Supplied
The Manawatū Iron Hides are charging forward with their competitive medieval duelling, sword fighting and grappling after their sport was finally recognised as an amateur sport by the New Zealand Government.
The Palmerston North-based club is a team within the Manawatū Armoured Combat group that takes part in full-contact medieval combat known as Buhurt and commonly referred to as Historical Medieval Battles (HMB).
Historical Medieval Battles New Zealand (HMBNZ) president, Manawatū Armoured Combat co-founder and Iron Hides member Scott Engebretsen says now the sport is recognised through the New Zealand amateur sports association, the club is no longer on the fringes and no longer a backyard sport.
“In French, Buhurt translates to wallop and that is basically what we do to each other.”
A lot of people still don’t understand how the sport of HMB or Buhurt works, he says, but his explanation is pretty straightforward.
“Well we grab blunted medieval weapons and we wear medieval armour and we hit each other competitively, aggressively and legally.”
The Iron Hides compete against a number of other clubs around the country, in both team and individual events.
Engebretsen says the individual sport is like MMA (mixed martial arts) but with weapons and armour. It involves taking down your opponents and beating them up on the ground until they submit.
“The intent isn’t so much about the power levels as it is about the skill levels, which is like a heavier version of fencing. You’re wearing all the armour and you’re more focused on scoring than making your opponent submit,” he said.
When fighting in team events, those taking part will fight the opposing team until they can’t get up again, and once on the ground, they are out of the game.
Manawatū Iron Hides members, from left, Harry James, Taylor Spencer, Grizz Blacksmith, HMBNZ president Scott Engebretsen and Iron Hides captain Brooke Weber. Photo / Supplied
The team events can also include wrestling and grappling with whoever stays on their feet winning.
Although the sport looks rather violent people don’t get injured badly as they are kitted out in protective gear and follow a number of important safety rules.
Just as in other sports such as rugby, fighters will sometimes fall and land the wrong way, have someone else fall on them or twist a knee when grappling, Engebretsen says, adding it is that sort of stuff that causes injury and not really weapons.
“No one is getting knocked out with an axe to the head and people aren’t getting broken necks or spinal injuries.”
The Manawatū Iron Hides train once a week due to facility availability, however, if there were more availability the group would be training three times a week in preparation for their monthly tournaments.
With six clubs throughout the country, they try to share the tournaments with each club aiming to host two a year.
Brooke Weber, captain of the Iron Hides and team member of the New Zealand Steel Blacks, in his steel blacks tabard after being awarded most valuable fighter at the 2022 Buhurt Trans-Tasman Cup tournament. Photo / Supplied
The monthly tournaments are an opportunity for anyone new to the sport to see what actual battles are like and newcomers can train, get some gear on and have a go as a newbie to see if they like it. If they do, they can then spend the next four weeks preparing for the next tournament.
The club is open to all, not just those who want to fight. People who are interested in medieval times but don’t want to fight can get involved as a support squire.
Being a squire is a legitimate and valuable job, says Engebretsen. Squires help with dressing and supporting the fighters when they have armour failures as they can’t always fix those themselves.
Historic Medieval Battling and Buhurt is an expensive sport, meaning not everyone can afford to be a fighter, says Engebretsen, who points out armour can cost around $6000. For those who find the cost prohibitive, there is still room in the club for them in support roles however.
“The competitive combat sport is really serious, it’s not just silly buggers with, plastic or wooden weapons, it’s a proper sport recognised by the government we have a federation and an incorporated society, and we are set up for funding,” Engebretsen says.
“It’s a serious sport where people are training hard to get win national comps but also make the NZ team.”
Right now clubs around the country are working hard to make the Steel Blacks, New Zealand’s national HMB team, so they can compete in the annual Buhurt Trans-Tasman Cup tournament.
The transtasman competition is held each year with New Zealand and Australia taking turns to host. This year it is Australia’s turn. There are other tournaments throughout Europe as well, says Engebretsen, however Australia is obviously a cheaper option for travel.
“All the fighters have spent lots of money on their armour and they just want to go over and fight Australians and then come home again.”
The HMBNZ president says he hopes the more people that know about this, the more people will want to participate and the bigger the community will grow.
