Fight Knight 28: The sword wielding combat sport making a name for itself
A Brisbane PHD student was unrecognisable on Saturday night as she hit the Garden City and battled sword to sword in heavy metal armour.
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Jade Clarke is not your average PHD student.
While her days are spent at university, her nights are spent training for upcoming battles against up to 12 other people, where she dons an impressive 35kg suit of armour.
The sport cops a lot of flak from those who don’t understand the utter strength and agility required to perform armed combat in a suit of armour.
Fight Knight 28 hosted by Toowoomba club Tyr’s Warriors at Founders Pavillion on Saturday night was only the fourth time Ms Clarke has competed since joining the sport a year ago, having already fought in a national competition.
Ms Clarke belongs to club Brisbane Beasts and is among a group of fellow female teammates who have been selected to compete internationally in Hungary next month.
“I’m only new to the club so I’ve still got a lot to prove,” she said.
Ms Clarke said the intensive nature of the sport was often quite intimidating for people, which has made it difficult especially to recruit other women.
“We have a really good team mentality, we train with the men and we get a lot of support from them,” she said.
“A lot of people seem to think what we do is re-enactments or play fights, they’re always surprised when they find out it’s a full contact sport.”
Training at least four times a week, Ms Clarke said it takes quite a lot of strength and conditioning to be able to move around in a heavy suit of armour.
“To be able to wear the suit and fight takes a lot out of you, so it’s something you factor into your training because it gets tiring quickly,” Ms Clarke said.
Buhurt – a style of fighting in large groups – is the sport Ms Clarke is trying to spread the word about, with the style popular with international counterparts.
While the sport is gaining more of an interest in Australia, Ms Clarke hopes it will one day become just as popular as it is internationally.
For anyone considering joining the sport, Ms Clarke assures it's not scary as it may seem.
“It looks a lot scarier than it is, if you’re interested just give it a go and you might surprise yourself,” she said.
“You learn so many things about yourself you didn’t know before.”
See photos from Saturday night’s event below.
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Originally published as Fight Knight 28: The sword wielding combat sport making a name for itself
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