Rotorua to host knights in shining armour at new medieval armed combat tournament

Rotorua's Nicholas Matepo Waiariki raring to go in his medieval armed combat gear. Photo / Stephen Parker

Knights in shining armour will be gearing up for battle as Rotorua hosts a new medieval armed combat tournament.

The Sulphur City Clash Full Medieval Armed Combat Tournament will take place on August 11 and 12, 10am to 4pm, at the Medical Officers Reserve opposite Rotorua Boys' High School.

Organiser and Rotorua fighter Nicholas Matepo Waiariki said the tournament was a first for Rotorua and would be an annual event.

He said medieval armed combat tournaments were held in different towns and he thought it would be cool to bring one to Rotorua.

Waiariki said there were about five teams from all over the country expected to participate.

The tournament will include group fights where the winners are the last team standing in round-robin and a duals section which has points scoring.

Waiariki has been doing armed combat for about 2-1/2 years.

"You grow up with it with fairy tales, and I just always wanted to do it."

He said he was looking forward to meeting a lot of people and socialising at the tournament - "It's a great get-together".

He hopes everyone has a good time at the tournament and would like to get more people interested in the sport.

Waiariki also encourages people to support the teams, with some of the men in these teams being New Zealand representatives, including Waiarki himself.

A newly established Rotorua team, called The Hornets, will be taking part.

The team is part of a newly established club called Rotorua Western Martial Arts Club.

Waiariki is also excited about the world premiere of film documentary Bludgeon next week, in which he is one of the main people featured.

Bludgeonis a documentary about a group of modern knights competing to represent New Zealand in medieval combat.

Waiariki said the film crew came along to trainings and followed three of them on their journey to the World Championships in Denmark last year.

"It felt awesome working with the film crew. I can't wait to watch it, I get butterflies."