Photograph by HATSUE
“Life’s made for living.” That’s why Brandon Allen Chadwell joined the Cincinnati Barbarians. You may have seen this group of armor-clad athletes at the Renaissance Festival, making real hits on each other with swords and axes during high-energy fights.
Photograph by HATSUE
There are different disciplines in the barbarians’ sport, including team fights, pro fights similar to MMA, duels, and more. The rules vary by discipline, and winners are chosen based on how many hits they score with a sword, who is standing in the end, and generally “who throws the other guy to the ground,” says Travis Young, a veteran who has competed in MMA, boxing, wrestling, and football, drawn to the sport by the perplexing thought, “People are allowed to do that?”
Photograph by HATSUE
The sport is called Buhurt, derived from béhourd, an old French word meaning “joust” or “tournament,” and is inspired by 13th and 14th century melees, where fighters wore armor and used heavy weapons to practice between war times. Young’s team typically orders armor from Ukraine, which has become more difficult since the war there began, he notes, with an 18-month lead time from order to delivery.
Photograph by HATSUE
The sport’s not for everyone. All’s not fair in the land of the barbarians—backs of the knees and necks are “prohibited strike zones,” but hips and armpits are fair game.
Staying physically intact is a chore for barbarians, who—men and women alike—range in age from their 20s to 50s. Concussions and lacerations called “armor bites,” abound. Young says broken fingers are a pretty “high frequency” injury. “It’s just a bad idea, even wearing armored gloves, to stop an ax with a hand,” he laughs. Barbarians train to prevent frequent knee blowouts. “We do a lot of running, team runs, cardio, weightlifting, and calisthenics,” he says. They also cross-train with wrestling, judo, and specific weapon skills training.
Photograph by HATSUE
“I’ve torn both my ACLs and fractured my left thumb,” says Chadwell. “I’ve got scars under both arms and across my nose from sword strikes. The fear of injury is always there.”
Yet, “there’s nothing as cathartic in the world,” Young says. They come for the fighting and stay for the community. “We go beat the snot out of each other, then go have a beer and say, ‘I love you, see you at the next event.’ ”
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