New England Renegades' Anthony Rummery explains the sport of Historical Medieval Battles

The New England Renegades meet regularly to duel one-on-one, or two-on-two with foam equipment, building up their strength and skill in order to work with steel in the long run.

The team is based in Uralla, but Anthony Rummery, who reactivated the team after a hiatus, travels over to Tamworth to train locals.

Mr Rummery said hour-long training sessions generally started with a warm-up, then grappling drills.

"In a lot of our fights, they devolve into a portion of wrestling so we use techniques adapted from judo and jujitsu and apply them in the sport for takedowns, and those are important for team battles called buhurt," he said.

"From there we'll go into striking drills, conditioning drills, and we use foam helmets and shields for these. Sometimes we use steels but we have a shortage of those."

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In a buhurt there's 150 fighters on each side of two teams. Fighters have to stay on two feet, and as soon as one places a third point of the body on the ground, they're out.

It's a different version of the traditional form of sport, but Mr Rummery said Historical Medieval Battles [HMB] were popular right across the globe.

The renegades are the only team in regional NSW, but there's teams right across the country.

"There's certainly been a growing following - there's over 160 fighters in the country across eight or nine teams and there are teams in WA, SA as well," he said.

"There are events that are held all over the country at various points in time. In Sydney there's a team down there who hosted one of the rounds for Battle of the Nations - an event that hopes to build the Australian team to represent the country overseas.

"The Thunderbolt Cup in Uralla in 2019 was one such event, but at the moment we're not in a position to host anything so grandiose at this time."

The Australian team has to have a high degree of skill and physical capacity.

"[Battle of the Nations] is usually held somewhere in Europe, so the one that was going to be held this year would've been held in Romania," Mr Rummery told the Leader.

"You actually go to the old historical castles and you fight and meet up with fighters all over the world. US, China, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, you name it, they're there. You can meet up with them, you might get some training tips, and something to bring home with you.

"It's remarkable and to see some of these battles it's just mind-blowing."

The Historical Medieval Battles International Association has strict rules about the steel armour one wears at competitions, too. A full suit of armour properly fitted to a fighter would cost around $4000-$5000.

"All of our steel armour and weaponry come from historical analogues. They look at tapestries, manuscripts and museums to have a look at the style of the armour at the time, how it functioned and that informs the armour products we use," Mr Rummery explained.

"There's an authenticity test which ensures these pieces are of the time they say they are.

"But you can't wear a 13th century helmet with 16th century body armour."

The rules also lay down the law about where not to strike an opponent, to ensure everyone stays safe and isn't hurt.

"All our steel weapons are mandated to be rounded off at the edges and need to be at least 2mm thick," Mr Rummery said.

"The steel falchions - a variant of a sword - are 4mm thick and for the safety of the combatants we have no stabbing movements, it's more percussive in nature.

"There are rules around strike zones - you can't deliberately target the neck, spine, top of foot, groin, but in the heat of battle there is going to be an element of risk in being struck in those zones."

The sport has only a handful of followers in the region, so the local fighter is encouraging everyone to give it a go.

"I like the fact that it combines a lot of my personal interests - I love the combat aspect, the fitness aspect, the spirit of the sport, the level of camaraderie and it's unique," he said.

"The Renegades are the only HMB team in regional NSW - we're unique and so for me personally it's definitely something worth continuing and having a look at."

Find out more by visiting the New England Renegades Facebook page.

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