Tauranga's Titans are armouring up and readying their weapons for some friendly medieval combat for the sport's first ever Trans-Tasman competition.

A competition where 'sport gets medieval”, the Trans-Tasman Buhurt Cup will be the inaugural event for Australia versus New Zealand in medieval combat.

Kiwi and Australian men's and women's teams will come together at Brewton, Upper Hutt, Wellington, on Saturday, August 27, to face off in their armour.

Tauranga's team, the Titans, has been preparing for the big day and is hoping for a win, says captain Daryen Berben.

Sword-swinging

'We've been training pretty hard out,” says Daryen. 'We train maybe two or three times a week just for this tournament; just getting fit and working on our sword skills.”

The aim of medieval combat is simple – fight and knock your opponents down. 'It's pretty much just hit each other as hard as we can until they fall down or we put them on the ground,” says Daryen.

However, there are a few rules, says Daryen. 'You can't hit them [fighters] in the back of the neck because we don't want to paralyse anyone and no major joint locks or anything like that.”

Events such as the Buhurt Cup garners a mixed reaction from the crowd, says Daryen. 'There's some people that think it's amazing and some people that flinch away. Then there's those savage people that are like: ‘Yeah hit them harder'.”

Armoured up

Daryen creates his own weapons and armour, and researches historical weapons used in the medieval period from the Fifth to late-15^th Century.

'I find some flat bar and I just cut it out [swords] to the right shape and I just make sure it's at the right weight and everything,” says Daryen. He also makes armour for his team mates, as buying a low quality suit of armour costs about $2500.

'If your amour isn't amazing you might get a few bruises,” says Daryen. However, he adds rugby is a far more dangerous sport. 'There might be one or two concussions a year, a few bruises, the odd broken finger but that's about it.”

The competition will run five versus five and 12 versus 12 at the Buhurt Cup. Daryen says that armoured combat in Europe can get to a much greater scale, however. 'Last year, over at the world champs, there was 150 on each side.”

Asked what's the biggest appeal of medieval combat? Daryen replies: 'I think being able to hit someone really hard and still being friends afterwards”.

The Wellington-based Buhurt Cup will be available to watch via livestream at: https://www.facebook.com/FelagWellington