Buhurt players fight to revive ancient glory

Medieval tournaments offer Chinese combatants the opportunity to use replica armor and weapons. Aybek Askhar reports.

As a thunderous cheer burst from the crowd, a trident-wielding warrior clad in armor styled on that worn during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) moved toward his adversary, an infantryman in Kievan Rus-style (882-1240) armor, who held a cross shield.

As the men collided, their hacking and slashing inflamed the passions of the crowd.

"He was provoked by my first strike. Although I was armed to the teeth, a ripple of fear passed through my body as I watched the infantryman slowly raise his ax. Somehow, I felt the air in the field had solidified, and I was a little regretful at being there at that moment," said Gao Peng, the Ming "warrior'.

The event, held in Ukraine, was not a themed carnival or movie set, but a genuine full-contact encounter with real weapons, metal armor and standardized rules.

In history, people never witnessed encounters between combatants from different continents and eras. However, three years ago, this "time-travel scene" became reality when a team from China took part in a buhurt tournament for the first time.

"The Western participants were amazed when Gao stepped onto the field, because they had never seen real Chinese armor before," said Xu Guoji, an armorer and member of the Chinese team.