Knights in heavy armour hitting each other with blunt weapons might sound like a scene from the middle ages, but it is just another weekend for the Northern Wolves, the Buhurt association representing the Northwest of England.
Not a mere historical reenactment, Buhurt is a real medieval armored combat team sport that is fought at tournaments around the world. The name Buhurt comes from the Old French word béhourd which roughly translates to “to batter”.
The Rules
The fighters, wearing around 15 kilograms of armour, face off primarily in a five versus five format, hitting each other with real steel weapons.
The aim is to put all of the opposing fighters on the floor, while staying on your feet yourself.
Once a fighter goes down, they are out, or “dead”. This is determined through a three points of contact rule, with the feet being two points, and any subsequent body part touching the ground being a third one and meaning that you are out.
Tournaments are either held in a round robin or knockout format, and a win is determined through the best of three rounds, with whoever wins two rounds first being the winner of the match.
If a tournament is round robin point or “goal” difference is being taken into account, so if all the opposing fighters are on the ground, but all five of your team are still standing, that accounts for more points then if only one is still standing.
A round can also be drawn, which could for example happen if only one fighter from each team remains and they both fall down.
The Events
There are three major Buhurt events in the UK annually, the Tournament of Deeds, the Heritage Shield, and the Castleton Cup, which is hosted by the Northern Wolves.
These are the events that influence the league table.
On a smaller scale, Buhurt clubs are also frequently asked to fight in exhibition matches at other historically themed events.
There is also the Buhurt World Championship, which this year will be held over five days in Visegrád, Hungary. This year around 1400 fighters from all around the world are expected to take part.
Larger events like these are able to hold larger fights too, and the world cup will also have 12v12 and 30v30 fights. On the final day, all fighters will be split up into two groups for one massive battle.
What Makes It Unique
Rory McDowell, originally from Northern Ireland, has been participating in Buhurt for two years.
“My first impression of the sport was ‘how can this be allowed?’, I just couldn’t believe the weapons they were swinging at each other and genuinely hitting each other with.”
For McDowell what makes the sport unique is that it is both a combat and a team sport.
“It is done in teams, which as far as combat sports go is unique. You can’t really do other team sports in teams, it’s too dangerous, but the armour in Buhurt makes it safe enough to do as a team sport.
“I love being part of a team and playing a sport with a team, which has always been my barrier to doing any sort of combat sports, which tend to be 1v1, which I just don’t find as interesting, whereas the team dynamic of Buhurt is what makes it so interesting.
“So there’s tactics that play along, there’s decision making at play and I think that’s really interesting, and it makes it more interesting to watch as well.”
What also makes the sport compelling to watch is the sheer spectacle and drama that comes with fighters in heavy suits of steel hitting each other as hard as they can with genuine steel weapons.
“For me, it is especially the sound of it, I love the sound of Buhurt, which you can’t really get from watching a video, the genuine clash of steel, for me that’s just amazing, I love hearing that,” said McDowell.
“It’s the kind of thing you don’t really need to understand how it works in order to find it entertaining or impressive to watch, it is in and of itself a spectacle.”
A Growing Sport
In the past years Buhurt has seen a massive growth in popularity.
At last year’s Castleton Cup there were less than ten teams participating, while this year there were 14.
The amount of teams taking part now also means some changes to the way tournaments are structured. While last season all tournaments could be held round robin style, the increased number of teams means that this season they had to switch to a group stage format.
This increase in popularity could be due to the fact that there has been a lot more stability in recent years, with new international governing bodies such as Buhurt International, ensuring a more regular tournament schedule.
“That sort of stability is what people need to take the sport seriously and once they take it seriously everything improves,” said McDowell.
“Even in the last few years there has been massive growth and also a big improvement in standard, comparing fighting in the UK last year to this year, everyone is so much better already, so there is definitely a lot of growth going on.”
Have a look at what happened this year’s Castleton Cup:
Those interested in giving Buhurt a try for themselves are welcome to join any of the Northern Wolves’ training sessions, but are asked to contact them in advance.
The Northern Wolves train at the Honour & Arms Combat Club in Rochdale by Manchester on Tuesdays and Thursday, from 7pm to 9pm.
(Featured Image by Kea Gerike)
