Sergey Ukolov: knight and HMB athlete

Sergey Ukolov took part in his very first full plate armor competition. The Tournament of Saint George became the first event of this kind for the multiple world champion in HMB.

Sergey Ukolov took part in his very first full plate armor competition. The Tournament of Saint George, which took place on August 26-29, 2021 near Moscow (Russia), became the first event of this kind for the multiple world champion in HMB. Sergey told about his impressions of the tournament, fights and his own debut, to the HMBIA News correspondent.

As we find out, the tough “God of War” won the battles and emerged as the winner of the tournament. However, the victory itself wasn’t the main goal for Sergey:

I really wanted to try myself in such tournaments, without knowing anything about them, and I did it. And I managed to win. There are a number of people who wished to watch my loss in fights according to “historical” rules and in not optimized armor. I really wanted to disappoint them. And, of course, I was willing to win”.

The main result of the tournament for Sergey Ukolov, is a completed project, which he had started about a year ago. The goal of the project was to collect a set of 15th century armor for full plate battles and to prepare himself for these tournaments. The result is the set of armor of the first quarter of the 15th century, region: Italy – South of France.

Surely everyone is interested in what is the main difference between full plate and HMB armor that Sergey noted for himself. Of course, in our conversation, we asked him about it.

“In general, there are not many differences between the armor. If you make a set of the 15th century purely for foot tournaments, it will be only slightly harder and less comfortable. However, given that the fight is much less intense, you can tolerate this. But if you have to fight and to win in your armor on your foot, the differences can be  huge. There are helmets, in which only the bust of the enemy is visible, and shoulder pads, in which the hands are hardly lifted. And also gloves, the fingers of which break from any hit”.

It’s not easy to be the knight in shining full plate armor! But the Tournament of St. George left behind extremely positive impressions. Sergey said that he was impressed by the atmosphere of the event: the Court of Ladies, costumes, lists, noble sirs …

I would probably like to minimise everything. That is, so that there are no spectators, microphones and large screens. And I would also like to completely eliminate the sports component. It could be great to have the opportunity to fight for the pleasure of the participants. However, if there is even a small chance to win, I`ll take it. But, it makes it impossible to enjoy the process, at least for me”.

According to Sergey, in plate armour battles, there is an opportunity to make a “thrust” with a sword into a gap in the enemy’s armor. It’s not easy, and given the view available to the knight helmet, this is a real challenge.

 “This fundamentally distinguishes the content of the fight according to these rules from HMB and from HEMA. It is interesting. To tell the truth,  I would like more fights and, again, without focus on results. Well, and also – due to lack of time, I could not do everything as it should be done at such events – sleep in a tent, feast late with respectable gentlemen, etc. I had to skip the entire festival part and came purely for the fights. Of course, you don’t need to do that. Try to enjoy every moment of the festival using any opportunity”.

We are also in a hurry to please the fans of plate tournaments, HMB sports and, especially, the fans of Sergey Ukolov himself: he promises to come out on noble lists more than once. In addition, do not forget that knightly tournaments are held within the framework of the HMB World Championship Battle of the Nations. Therefore, you can safely expect to see the fights of the legendary HMB athlete in full plate armor. We will be waiting!

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