Bristol Armoured Combat

Welcome to the South West’s largest club for Medieval Armoured Combat.

Learn more about what we do and how you (yes, YOU) can join.

Flag featuring a white mythical creature with the body of a fish and the head of a deer, with prominent antlers, on a divided background of green and red.
Cartoon illustration of a medieval knight wearing a helmet with a gold cross design, armor, and a tunic with a white stag emblem, holding an axe, with a British flag in the background.

Who we are

We are Bristol Armoured Combat (BAC), a Medieval Armoured Combat club covering Bristol and the surrounding areas. BAC trains our fighters in Bohurt, Profights and Duelling. We train in soft kit and in full suits of medieval armour, we travel the UK and Europe to compete in tournaments against other teams.

BAC fight in green and red tabbards, with the mighty Merstag as our heraldic identification.

What is Bohurt?

Bohurt is a team sport where two teams, of between 3 and 30 fighters compete to be the last team standing. All fighters wear medieval armour and will use a variety of weapons (blunt), from falchions, two handed swords and axes, polearms and all sorts of shields.

There are men’s, as well as women’s teams, and each team will compete to get the other out first.

Image credit: Hannah Searson

Reenactors dressed as medieval knights in armor and colorful tunics, holding shields and weapons at a historical festival.

 FAQs

  • Just attend one of our training sessions. You can either contact us through the contact form, or by messaging us on one of our social medias pages either through Facebook or Instagram and we can get you added to our WhatsApp group.

    www.instagram.com/bristolarmouredcombat

    www.facebook.com/people/Bristol-Armoured-Combat

  • We have members of all levels of fitness. We work with all of our members to help them reach the necessary level of fitness to be able to fight in armour.

  • Bohurt is safer than many other combat sports; thousands of years of armour development allow us to practice this sport without the risk of serious injuries. Occasional injuries include bruising or soreness.

  • A Bristol Armoured Combat membership is £30 per month. This grants you access to all of our training sessions and allows you to vote in our AGM and on important club decisions.

    You will also need public liability insurance, which will be organised for you through the ISCA Armoured Combat membership, costing £30 per year. You need to purchase the ISCA Armoured Combat yearly membership within the first four weeks of attending your first training session.

  • You don’t need to own armour to attend our training sessions. You will have plenty of opportunities to try on armour before you buy, and our experienced members will be more than happy to give you advice should you decide to become an armour owner.

    As a club we have dealt with many armour and Bohurt equipment manufacturers to be able to give you a breadth of options. A brand new suit of armour (excluding the helmet) will cost from £1200. Helmets will cost from £600. You will also need a gambeson to go underneath your armour and this will cost from £150.

  • Enthusiasm is the most important thing to bring to a first session! You should also bring a water bottle and a groin guard (both men and women) - here are a few options:

    Option 1

    Option 2

    Option 3

  • We run training sessions weekly on a weekday evening, with additional training sessions held at the weekend in Bristol and across the South West.

A group of twelve people, including men and women, in a boxing gym. They are smiling, posing together after a workout or training session, some with gloves and workout gear. The gym has boxing rings and equipment in the background.

How do I join?

You can either contact us through the contact form, or by messaging us on one of our social medias pages either through Facebook or Instagram and we can get you added to our WhatsApp group and let you know when our next training session is.