NAMPA, Idaho — Nampa residents' regularly scheduled Saturday stroll through Lakeview Park found interruption in the most uncommon of ways - a gaggle of armored knights fighting until the last man standing.
"Ya know, it's Medieval MMA," Montana-based fighter Clinton Gayman said. "The armor helps. It doesn't make you invincible."
Fighters, including the local event hosts in Idaho Armored Combat (IAC), often have their backgrounds in Taekwondo, Jujitsu, or another discipline. Ironically, fighters find Buhurt to be among one of the safer combat sports they choose to participate.
"Yeah, just guys being dudes," Rat Pack fighter William O'Keeffe said. "Your best friends tend to be the people you were just fighting with."
Also, the people you fight against. Like hockey, the sport's culture is grounded in mutual respect for anyone willing to step inside the lyst and fight.
"Oh absolutely. You have to because these people can kill you," Gayman said. "After you fight them, you have to have that level of respect."
Weapons are blunted, weighed and inspected before approved use. That process includes sword, shields and axes. A blacksmith on site makes the alterations necessary for a modest shilling - he's only paid in tips.
IAC: Rat Pack swept all events with an individual winning the dual tournament. Duals are decided on a points-based scoring system. It rewards fighters for hits to the hands, body, and head. Though, it's the melee tournament that most connects with the audience.
"Five dudes versus five dudes. Last one standing," O'Keeffe said. "You can't go for knees."
The sounds of a car wreck, the sights of anarchy, smell of a garage: the melee tournament left no one disappointed.
"I'm preparing myself for the day my husband just like walks home like in a full like night outfit. Like many this is what I'm doing now," spectator Kellie Selmer said. "I guess if everyone's consenting, and no arms are getting chopped off?"
IAC: Rat Pack won the round-robin melee tournament against a full field including Idaho Falls Peace Breakers, Montana Sun Eaters, Salt Lake City Crusaders, and Salt Lake-based Order of the Silver Rose.
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