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Calgary Herald

In Pictures: Swords and lances fly at High River Medieval Faire

Article content Combatants went medieval on each other this weekend. Article content The High River Medieval Faire drew hundreds to the High River Rodeo Grounds with market stalls, food vendors and last but not least: fully armoured medieval combat demonstrations. Article content The event was organized by the Averni Legion, a Foothills-based team in the sport of Buhurt (from Old French béhourd meaning 'wallop'), where combatants don fully functional armour, and wield real — but unsharpened — swords, axes, pole arms, and other weapons. The combat is scored like many other martial arts, but the blows are real. Article content Article content Article content Article content 'We had a huge success this year, decided to bite a little more off the plate and double in size,' Neilson said. 'Everything so far seems to be going quite well.' Article content With the Averni Legion also only a few years old after splitting off from Calgary's Silver Gryphons, the knight captain is happy to see the sport of buhurt rapidly expand across North America. Article content 'The growth is amazing. We love seeing it grow because the more we get, the better calibre fighter will show up,' Neilson said. Article content Article content They also called in the cavalry — literally. In the rodeo arena, the Society of Tilt and Lance Cavalry turned out to demonstrate full-contact jousting and mounted combat. Article content In the jousting portion, competitors ride toward each other with a wood railing separating them, and aim their lances not to dismount the other rider, but to hit their shield. The lances have a replaceable wooden dowel tip, scored to break off in segments. The truer the hit, the more points a knight is awarded. Article content Article content Headed by society president Radar Goddard, the group trains up their steeds to run through the linear jousting course, leap obstacles, and keep their cool as their riders are aiming lances downrange. Article content Article content Having travelled all over North America to compete, and even to Denmark where she jousted on the front lawn of a castle, Goddard said the sport has become an international community. Article content 'One of the things we do when we're having a tournament or an event, we try to invite someone who comes from another jousting culture,' Goddard said. Article content 'We have some stuff that is stone-cold in common, we're doing historical re-enactments, and we all have the same problems: getting the horses there, getting the horses trained, getting all the armour. Article content Article content 'We train the horses to handle grown-up men in armour and run against each other with lances,' Hagerup said. 'We break them on each other's shields, and that's really, really fun. Article content 'It's action, it's power, it's position, and quite a lot of humbleness, because you have to be aware of the risk you and others are taking. At the end, you sit together and celebrate together.' Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content