What is Buhurt?
Buhurt is a modern day medieval combat sport where fighters engage in full-contact battle wearing historically authentic and accurate armour. This sport originated in the 14th and 15th century and is named after the Old French term for 'wallop'.
Typically, Buhurt teams consist of 8 members, 5 fielded with 3 subs. These group fights emphasise the need for team works, skill, strategy, and endurance. The fights typically consist of two to three rounds that are up to 5 minutes long.
Buhurt can be fought with larger teams of 12v12 and 30v30. Historically, a 150v150 battle has been fought at a BOTN event.
What are the rules of Buhurt?
Like all sports there are rules in place to ensure the safety of the participants and the Marshals ensure fighters are obeying these rules. If you would like further information on the rules, please visit www.buhurtinternational.com.
What weapons are you allowed?
Weapons such as axes, polearms/halberds, swords are used in all categories of the sport. Weapons must have a blunted edge with a thickness of at least 2mm. All weapon classes have specifications they must fall into to be permitted for use in the sport, these specifications can be found on the Buhurt International website.
What are the other categories?
Duels
Duels are 1v1 between two fighters in a weapon category. The winners of duels are determined by the number of strikes by the blade of the weapon delivered to the legal strike zone. Each duelling category have slightly different rules and scoring systems. The categories are as follows:
- Sword and Shield
- Sword and Buckler
- Longsword
- Polearm
Outrance
Outrance, formally known as Pro Fight, is an ultimate measure of one's determination and stamina. Outrance derives its name from the Old French term meaning 'to the death' and is commonly referred to as Armoured MMA or AMMA. This is a 1v1 category that involves striking, grappling, and unlimited ground and pound.
Are there rules about what you wear?
In short, yes, there are historical authenticity requirements for your armour. Essentially your armour has to be derived from the same era and area. For example, you have both 'western' style and 'eastern' style armour, you mustn't mix these styles as that is not historcally plausible, as is mixing different era armour. Buhurt International provide guidance documents to assist with choosing armour that is permitted, please find the authenticity documents on their website.
It is recommended to speak to the club you join regarding armour and follow the advice of experienced fighters.
Are there other ways to get involved in this sport?
The AMCF and clubs are always in need of Marshals and support personnel to help at events. Support personnel tend to assist on a club basis and can have a variety of roles from squiring to weapon delivery for buhurts. Marshals are the referees for the events and have a variety of roles based on experience and rank, marshals ensure the safety of fighters during buhurt rounds, as well as score keeping during duels and outrance.
Where to I sign up?
If you know what club you'd like to join, please feel free to reach out to them directly, alternatively please click below to Join the fight!
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