Milwaukee Iron Stags: Medieval combat in modern day Wisconsin
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- If stories like King Arthur and Camelot or shows like Game of Thrones or movies like A Knight's Tale or The Last Kingdom or even Monty Python and the Holy Grail inspired you; if they made you dream of long swords and shining armor; of castles and knightly battles, it doesn't have to be a dream.
A group in Milwaukee can help you make it happen. The Milwaukee Iron Stags.
"As soon as you put that helmet on, you know it's go time." says Iron Stag fighter Jed Zabel.
"In my head I'm like, I just hit a man as hard as I could with an ax." describes trainer and fighter Talon Morris. "This is crazy."
"Honestly, it does feel good." laughed Jarrod Lewis of hitting another person with a medieval weapon.
The members of the Iron Stags practice full steel, full contact, medieval combat as a modern sport.
"The thud, the thwack, the reverberation in your hands." said Morris. "You strike the armor, you see his reaction, you can hear the groans."
The fight ends in 'the lists,' or the battleground, like at August's Cream City Clash IV at Bavarian Bierhaus in Glendale.
But it starts at the Wisconsin Medieval Combat Center in Milwaukee, where the team works on their craft.
They train a 15th century medieval sport called 'buhurt,' which is a derivative of a French word meaning 'to wallop.'
They're dressed as medieval nights from head to toe.
Fighters like Zabel strap on sabatons over their shoes, greaves on their shins, pauldrons on the shoulders, brigs on the torso, and finally, the helmet.
"I have a 20-pound helmet." Zabel said. "It's an English cross helmet."
The work these athletes put in is immense. And, yes, you'll start to see them as athletes very quickly. From the way they talk...
"There's a lot of tape out there." explained Lewis, a former Medieval Times actor turned real fighter. "You want to scout your opponent."
To the way they train. Talon Morris leads the training. He says his experience as a wrestler and in judo and jiujitsu translate pretty well to medieval combat.
"This was such an attractive way to use my martial arts training in a team environment." Morris said.
The team part of it is the melees.
"The team fights." said Zabel. "Where last team with people still standing wins."
Usually it's 5-on-5 but sometimes it could be in the dozens to, in rare events, hundreds.
"I'm swinging on somebody, I've got to realize that there's someone behind me coming up, ready to smash me." said Lewis.
Not for the weak.
"You are swinging with the intention of putting someone on the ground." Morris said.
There are also one-on-one battles called duels which are more points-based. Points are awarded for strikes and takedowns, etc.
"It's the feeling I'm always chasing." said Zabel.
All three of them want everyone to know, you can chase that feeling too.
"If it's something that you want to try, if it's something that you want to experience, we're here. We're doing it. It's possible." said Morris, inviting people to try it out.
Members start in padding and use foam weapons before graduating to full armor and real steel.
"It's the only sport in the world where you can hit someone as hard as you can with a weapon and be rewarded for it." said Lewis. "I wish I found this sport 20 years ago."