Promo video of the Battle of the Nations in Prague 2016
You could see similar fights in Prague on Petřín hill in years 2015 and 2016, at the Battle of Nations Championship - a world championship in this amazing old-fashioned sport, which took place two times in our country. Our tournament will be much smaller in size, but you can still look forward to the participation of well-known inland and international HMB teams and fighters!
The tournament is organized as part of the morning program of the medieval festival Battle of Libušín. You can also look forward to mass fights 5vs5.
You can also look forward to a promo demonstration, in which representatives of the fairer sex, a team of brave she-fighters from the women's HMB team Prague Vixens, fighting under the colours of the Prague sports club SKSKB Prague, will show you their martial arts.
At the end of the tournament, you can also see the duel discipline "Profight", hold according to the rules of the world association WMFC. You could also observe the fights in this discipline in Kladno already, during the 14th and 17th gala nights of the Night of the Warriors, or as an part of the Jablonec gala evening of martial arts Night of the Slavic Warriors.
Later, we will introduce you the fighters as well as all the teams, which will compete for your pleasure, and for valuable prizes, medals and honor!
Don't miss this unique spectacle, these are not rehearsed fights, but a real medieval fights for absolute victory!
What kind of sport is HMB?
Let us explain what kind of sport the HMB is, by the words of the fighters of the home club MFC Silesia, which repeatedly represented Czech republic at the Battle of the Nations and many more tournamets inland and abroad.
"When someone asks me about my hobbies and I'm usually not in a talking mood, I just say that I'm fencing. In the end, it always ends with a lengthy explanation and comparison of different fencing disciplines.
So let me introduce you to HMB - Historical Medieval Battles.
As the name suggests, this is a relatively young, fully contact fighting sport, based on medieval tournament clans, where teams from all over the world, including teams from Argentina, the USA, or even Japan, measure their strengths among the shards (fenced pit).
In the video below, you may notice that the warriors are dressed in full armor and armed with blunt, steel weapons, which are made according to historically documented materials, but unlike historical swordsmen engaged in the overall reconstruction of a certain medieval period, HMB warriors are allowed to use even modern protective equipment, such as a suspender, tooth protector, or spine shields. Likewise, HMB fighters not only use medieval martial arts, but often use the moves of modern martial arts.
Unlike the fights you can see at various castles, city festivities and alike, these fights are fully contact, untrained and supervised by experienced referees who undergo special training each year.
The beginnings of HMB date back to the late 1990s, when parts of historical swordsmen separated in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine began to hold full contact tournaments, according to historical rules. From these countries, the sport then spread further to Europe and then to the whole world. HMB associations were formed, tournaments were launched at which teams from abroad were invited, and in 2009 the first HMB World Championship was held in Ukraine under the name BOTN (Battle of the Nations). In that time only four countries took part, namely Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Poland. The Battle of Nations in 2015, held in Prague, was attended by over 30 countries from around the world, within the inland teams.
HMB in the Czech Republic
HMB appeared in the republic few years after first Battle of Nations were held, when one of czech fighters went to see the world championships held in Poland. He returned enthusiastically and began to organize the first applicants. A year later, we set out for our first HMB tournament, which took place in Austria. It was a baptism by fire, where we found out that we were not ready for this sport at all, both in terms of physics and equipment. When we returned, however, we did not hang our heads, began to train, improve and adapt armor and weapons so that we could become full-fledged rivals to other teams from around the world.
In 2013, there were still few of us to form several separate teams, but enough to take part in our first Battle of the Nations (BOTN) in France.
In 2014, there were already three teams in the Czech Republic, which we also deployed at the Battle of the Nations 2014 in Trogir, Croatia, where the Czech national teams placed 17th and 19th out of a total of 74 teams.
In 2015, a total of 5 domestic teams were already registered with us and we are still growing.
Source: MFC Slezsko
Briefly about the festival
Of course, the festival also includes a rich accompanying program, which pays attention to. There will be period juggling, theater and dance performances, horses, falconry, medieval soul competitions (medieval ball game) as well as evening concerts of period music groups and night fire shows. You can also enjoy your trip to the past in our pub, which offers a rich selection of drinks and meals.
The main point of the whole festival is, of course, the scenic medieval battle, in which we will introduce you not only the methods of combat and military tactics of the Middle Ages, but also to see the unique pyrotechnic effects, real stunts, but also drama, tension and captivating exceptional spectacle according to the scenario inspired by real events in Czech history.
The Battle of Libušín Festival is a return to history full of knowledge and exceptional experiences and extraordinary fun for the whole family, which you cannot miss.
You can find the Program of our Festival right on the front page of our website!
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