Knight Fight
If you haven’t seen it, History Chanel has a new show called Knight Fight. It’s a competition show where practitioners of medieval weaponry battle, using medieval weapons, against each other wearing period-style armor. Sounds good so far right? It sounds like it would be a great show that any fan of martial arts could get behind. You learn a little bit of history, and you get to see people beat on each other using weapons.
So far there’s been three episodes at the time of this writing. As a competition show, each episode starts with 6 competitors, all of which so far have been members of the Armored Combat League (ACL). There is a first round where all six competitors use their personal armor and weapons in what they call The Grand Melee, which is a sort of Battle Royal, where everyone is going against everyone. There are three heats of 1:30 each, and then the judges declare three of the competitors as advancing to the next round. The remaining three then fight one another to become the fourth to advance, based on the judge’s opinions.
In the second round, this is where the history comes into it. The participants are paired up into teams and assigned different warrior/cultures from history. They then get to use the armor and weapons of those peoples. For example, episode 1 they had Vikings vs. Byzantines. Episode 2 was the Knights of Braveheart, and the third episode is Romans vs. Barbarians. The two teams battle in a couple heats and one team is declared the winner. Then the two team members combat each other to be declared Knight Fight champion and wins a prize of $10,000.
Weapons Safety
There are several different types of weapons that have been used in the show. So far, swords, axes, and maces have been brought by the participants. However, because of the nature of striking with weapons, there have to be safety precautions in place. The weapons cannot have a sharpened edge, and no stabbing is allowed. Some specific areas, such as the back of the knee, the groin, and the back of the neck are not legal targets. Also, once a combatant goes down to the ground, they can no longer be hit. That still means that full strikes to the head, torso, legs, and arms as viable. They also are allowed to punch, kick, wrestle, and throw if the opportunity presents itself, which does show up more than I would have thought.
Armor Safety
The armor is made of stainless or hardened steel as the participants prefer. There must be period style padding under the plates, and additional modern protection (jockstrap and cup) are allowed. The thickness of the armor is increased from historical accuracy for safety reasons, and the helmet must contain “concussion reducing padding” which means foam. With those requirements, the armor must still be based on a style of a specific time and place, such as Late 15th Century Russia.
Historical Accuracy
Just like the UFC is an argument for how people fight “in the streets”, people will take this show as an argument for how medieval warriors fought. Because of a couple of safety implementations, the armor that they’re using is heavier and slower than what would really have been used. One of the things that I immediately noticed was how after 90 seconds of fighting, the contestants were immediately worn out and drenched in sweat. This struck me as odd cause obviously the medieval knights had to fight longer than 90 seconds. Then I did some research and found out about the extra thick armor, and about the foam in the helmets. The foam doesn’t allow for any breathability, as opposed to the linen that would have been inside the actual helmets. The extra weight of the armor also contributes to the fatigue.
The inability to stab is also an extreme gamechanger. The armor is specifically made to stop cuts. Thrusts and wrestling were often the tactics used to get around the armor. HEMA manuals are full of thrusts to weakly or unarmored places on the body. This especially struck me when they had the Romans vs. Barbarians episode. The Roman Gladius was specifically a stabbing weapon. By removing its effectiveness, it might as well have been a club. Also, which Barbarians? Rome was besieged over and over by a multitude of peoples, all with their own weapons and tactics. It is primitive thinking to accept that they all acted and dressed the same.
With very few exceptions, we know almost nothing about the actual fighting techniques of many of the peoples they are armed and armored up as. There is almost no information about how Vikings actually fought. The later you get in history, the better the resources are. Because of the limit on techniques and the heaviness of the armor, brute force and size seem to be a huge factor in deciding the winner. I understand that these were important factors, but the should not be the prime factor.
Overall Opinion
Despite my cons against the show, I do enjoy watching. I like to watch people using weaponry in (at least somewhat) the way it was intended. Personally, I would like to see a bit more information about the history of the weapons and the armors being simulated. I mean, it is on the History Channel after all.
I also agree with Jeremy Lesniak of whistlekick Martial Arts Radio when he says “If we don’t watch it, they won’t make it.” If we want to have more martial arts and weapon-based shows, we have to show our support when they do make one. It’s a different thing to give critique than to immediately start tearing into the show because they aren’t following the Talhoffer fighting method, as they should be if they’re wearing 14th-century German armor. Sometimes you just gotta sit back and enjoy people fighting with swords.
Have you seen the show yet? Let me know in the comments section below!
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