What is Buhurt?

Medieval Tournament Sport

Buhurt, sometimes called medieval combat, armored combat, or medieval mma, is a full contact fight sport based off medieval tournaments from the middle ages.

We use real steel weapons and armor in full contact for different kinds of matches that mock the medieval tournaments held between the 13th century to the 17th century.

All of our fights are real. Nothing is choreographed or staged, no winners are planned.

What Makes this so Different?

  • Based off Medieval Tournaments

    With a modern touch, we are based off of medieval tournaments. Many think we simulate battles or wars, but that's inaccurate.

  • Real Steel Weapons and Armor

    All of our weapons and armor are real, solid steel. Most weapons are mild or spring steel, and armor is usually titanium, spring steel, or stainless. Weapons are blunted and restrictions are in place for safety on thickness and curves.

  • Real Fights

    None of our fights are choreographed. While some of us come from HEMA, Stage Combat and even MMA backgrounds, all of the fights with buhurt are real and unplanned. We learn a variety of martial arts mixed into our fighting.

All about the

Rules

We have a lot of specific rules in place for different match types as well as weapon and armor specifications.

The basics are:

  • You're out when you make 3 points of contact to the ground for melee, and for timed fights points are calculated for each round for a best of 2/3.
  • No thrusting strikes.
  • No strikes to the feet, back of knees, crotch, base of neck, or vertical on spine.
  • No striking when someone is down.

To see all the rules, click the button below to be redirected to the ACS leageue rule page.

Rules

The different types of

Matches

Buhurt has a variety of different types of matches just like in medieval tournaments.

Some are melee, where when you have 3 points of contact to the ground to count you out, and others are timed fights for points. There are even profights that simulate MMA style fighting.

See below for a video on the different types of matches!

Different types of Matches

How to

Get Started

Most people worry about the cost of armor for getting started, but that is one of the last thing a new fighter should be doing.

The first step is finding a team near you and practicing with them. You need to get to know the people, learn about the sport, armor, and weapons and see if you enjoy it as much as you think before buying anything.

Most teams at this point have either loaner armor for team members that can practice with it, or a kind soul may let you borrow theirs to try it out.

Click the button below to see a video I've put together on getting started, it's quite helpful for knowing what to do and which steps are most important!

How to Get Started