Historical Medieval Battle (HMB) is a mixture of culture and sport, it is full-contact combat in authentic medieval armor with authentic medieval weapons (carefully recreated copies of the Middle Ages analogues). Founded in 2014 HMBIA today unites National HMB Federations and individual HMB sportsmen of more than 40 countries of the World. More than 100 official HMBIA events, such as tournaments, festivals and championships are held annually all over Europe, North and South America.
Safety first
No fighter is allowed to fight without proper protection or with dangerous weapons.
All gear is thoroughly checked by professional marshals in order to comply with strict safety requirements listed in the official HMBIA regulations. The goal is to make HMB sport as safe as possible.
Obey the rules
As a true sport, Historical Medieval Battle has a detailed set of rules. All fighters without any exception must know these rules and obey them. The rules for official HMB Categories are listed on the official HMBIA webpage.
Show respect
We uphold the sport spirit of the event, therefore the respect for the opponents, marshals and spectators is a must for all the fighters. No cases of threats, aggression, discrimination or misbehavior will be tolerated.
Mass Buhurt Categories
Full-contact Team fights in authentic armor with accurate replicas of medieval weapons. Fighters compete in teams one against another (equal in numbers from both sides). A team can consist from 2 to unlimited number of fighters. The goal of one team is to ground every fighter from another team.
5 vs 5
12 vs 12
30 vs 30
150 vs 150
Individual Duel Categories
Duel fights in the authentic armor with accurate replicas of medieval weapons, where only one fighter competes against another. Main goal in duel categories is to get more points. One deliberate strike usually equals to one point, and of course, sometimes fights can end by technical failures or knock-outs.
Sword & Shield
Sword & Buckler
Longsword
Polearm
Triathlon
Profights
HMB Soft Categories
Duel and Team fights in the soft armor with the soft type of weapons (swords and shields). HMB soft is mainly a new international competitive space for the youth. Competitions are held in different age categories. Techniques are designed to help athletes prepare for specific competitions and improve the overall level of training of future HMB fighters.
Sword and Shield
5 vs 5
What is
ALLOWED
To attack the opponent together
To hit from the back
To hold the opponent to prevent his movements
To hold to the barrier to maintain balance
To hit with the shield, fist, knee or leg
What is
NOT ALLOWED
To hit the lying fighter
To perform any type of submission or choking moves
To perform any type of the throws with the high amplitude
To perform any type of thrusting (stabbing) attacks
To hit into the forbidden zones: eyes, back of the neck, back of the knees, groin, foot arches
Fighter’s Look
Helmet
steel part of the armor to protect the head
Aventail
strengthening of a helmet in the form of steel chain mail, covering the neck,shoulders and back of the head
Brigandine armor
protection of the body with metal plates on a cloth or linen basis
Bracers
metal part of the armor, protecting the hands from the elbow to the wrist
Gambeson
fabric element to mitigate blows to the torso
Cotte d’Arme
fabric cape over the armor with symbolic of a team
Greaves
to protect the shins
Falchion
a heavy bladed infantry weapon
Sword and a sabre
a light bladed duel weapon
Axe and a mace
an one-handed flagon weapon
Halberd, a broadaxe, and a couse
a two-handed polearm weapon
Shield
element of protective equipment, made from the wood or metal, which occupying the unarmed hand of a fighter
Cuisses
steel upper part to protect the thigh
Sabatons
steel shoes to protect the feet
In HMB sport only the authentically accurate replicas of armor are allowed to be used. The armor elements must also relate to a certain region and time period. As a result, HMB fighters look exactly as the knights from the historical chronicles, wear the shields of the same shape and use the same kinds of weapons.
Majority of the HMB fighters use the Eu-ropean armor complexes of the 14th century, like the one on the picture above. Armor of this historical and geographical period provides the best protection and mobility for a foot combat and also ensures the required level of safety. However, there are many fighters who use Eastern and Asian armor kits relatively of the same historical period as they have their own features and advantages.
Modern replicas of armor elements and weapons are produced by numerous artisans and blacksmiths that can be found all across the world. HMB sport is now available for everyone and becomes more and more popular every year.
HMB ACADEMY
A new developing brand of the Association. It is the standardized system for training athletes all over the world. The ultimate goal of the HMB Academy brand is training fighters to increase the number of participants and the promotion of HMB as a sport on the international scene. HMB Academy is a system of training centres based in training gyms, having a common unified system of training and techniques for the fighters and instructors, developed by HMBIA and created for the development and collaboration of people, involved in Historical Medieval Battles in any part of the world.
To meet the requirements of the HMB Academy the training centre should have a certain list of facilities and there must be one coach trained and admitted by HMBIA as well as fighting, boxing, MMA specialists or any other sport specialist at the discretion of the local Academy administration.
The HMB manual for training basic-level fighters was created which includes training courses with different kinds of weapons and for different levels of athletes preparation.
In HMB Academies there is an assessment system for gyms, instructors, fighting equipment and fighters. Any fighter can pass an online test on the HMB techniques, should attend HMB seminar and take practice tests.
HMB Academy training system includes a training camp organization where you participate in training sessions with the strongest athletes and even can try to pass exams for the HMBIA approved coach.
HMB WOMEN
Ever since the official recognition of the first female HMB categories, women’s HMB has become one the fastest growing branches of the HMBIA. At the Battle of the Nations 2019 108 of participants fought in one or more female categories.
Although women’s HMB has grown exponentially at all levels in recent times, the passion for and potential of the sport offers vast untapped opportunities. The launch of the Women’s HMB Strategy charts the course for how HMBIA will work with all stakeholders to take concrete steps to empower girls and women, make HMB a sport for all and advocate against gender discrimination.
The Historical Medieval Battles International Association highly values all its participants and strives to provide an environment where male and female athletes feel equally welcomed. Following the decisions of the General Assembly 2019 each country was invited to choose their national head of HMB Women – Women national representative who is responsible for coordination and facilitation of development of women’s HMB categories.
- 2014
- 2015
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Battle of the Nations 2016
Women’s Polearm Category introduction; Women’s Group Battles 3 vs 3 introduction -
Battle of the Nations 2017
Introduction of Women’s Duel Categories – Longsword, Sword and Shield, Sword and Buckler -
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Battle of the Nations 2019
Women’s Profights Category introduction; Women’s All vs All
Marshaling
HMB is a global sport and its rules must be interpreted and applied with absolute consistency wherever the tournament is organized. HMBIA has a policy of ongoing training for its marshals to ensure that marshaling standards continue to improve and the rules and regulations are applied the same way everywhere.
HMBIA organises courses and seminars for trainee, marshals and knight marshals at international, national and regional level, devices and implements training programmes that prepare both male and female marshals for the most important HMBIA tournaments and World Championship Battle of the Nations.
The IUDEX HMBIA application was developed especially to navigate people the HMBIA rules and regulations, and prepare for the exam for the post of Marshal. This training app contains a complete set of rules and regulations of all HMB categories and can be useful for those who want to become a marshal of HMBIA.