This year, for my son's second birthday, we decided to hold a fundraising event instead of a birthday party for him. We wanted the proceeds to go to a local baby home that had come to mean a lot to us as a family (a story for another day). We approached our community to rustle up some sponsors and we were very blessed to receive such overwhelming support, which truly made the day a wonderful success and experience. 

A team of community members approached us offering to provide some entertainment or the day, their "act" was far from what I had ever imagined. They were Medieval Sword Fighters (or combatants as they prefer to be called) and they wanted to entertain our crowd and donors with some ancient duels and challenges.

I never knew this was a "thing", but they enlightened my ignorance and I learnt that medieval fighting is regarded as a serious modern day sport that is enjoyed and appreciated by many around the world. I was quite taken aback and slightly unsure if this entertainment would be suitable for our younger crowd, but since they were so generous in their offering, I gratefully accepted their offer, not sure to what to expect on the day.

This team of enthusiastic sword and shield combatants belong to our local guild: The Durban Sword and Shield Club. They have both men and women on their guild and together they train in medieval swordsmanship and  focus on the armored and unarmored combat arts of Medieval Europe. Who knew! And they don't just where any armor, they take things extremely seriously and dress head to toe in traditional and historic medieval combatant armor.

Come the day of our fundraising event, they started to set up. I was still a little bit nervous of what to expect (I was so worried they would be somewhat violent and intimidating for our sensitive viewers). But these iron men where nothing but gentle giants, both the adults and kids enjoyed their sport and many even took up their offer to challenge them in a dual! I had never witnessed any live sword fighting before, so it was all very interesting to me, it was like watching one of those historic battle movies (minus the blood and gore)! 

My two year old son, who was our little host in question, really enjoyed watching the "big boys" battle it out and was even invited into the arena for his very own sword fight, he happily obliged! Here he is taking on his very own "Goliath", who was amazing with the kids:

The concept of the game is quite basic really; it's just like the sword and shield fighting you see on the movies. You find an opponent to challenge and who ever "meets the sword" is the loser. Comradeship is what makes this sport fair and less violent (friendly actually). For instance, you are not allowed to fight a man who has fallen down and is incapable of meeting the challenge any further and your opponent also needs to be facing you at all times, that is, you are not allowed to him with your sword when his back is to you. 

The Durban Sword and Shield club do most of their games for free, but they also greatly appreciate donations from their crowds. They really are an amazingly kind bunch! 

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It's fair to say that these feisty fighter added to the fun of the day and were even enjoyed buy the little ones from the Baby Home that they were raising funds for. We managed to raise just over R7000 (about 500 USD)! If you are ever looking for an original sport to partake in, or simply to enjoy watching, research to find a sword and shield club (guild) near you, you won't be sorry, it's so much fun!

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Much love - @sweetpea

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