Sondra Hernandez Staff writer December 2, 2024

With the Texas Renaissance Festival wrapping up Sunday, there’s more medieval combat to come this weekend in Conroe. 

The American Medieval Combat Federation hosts its National Qualifiers at the Lone Star Expo Arena inside the Montgomery County Fairgrounds Saturday and Sunday. 

Here’s what to know about the sport, its Montgomery County participants and this weekend’s event:

NEW HOLIDAY TRADITION: The city of Conroe has a Tree of Valor. Here’s what to know.

What is medieval combat? 

Participants with an interest in medieval times don full armored suits and participate in one-on-one duels, “last-man standing” five-on-five melees and group battles. 

Brent Elrod is the team captain for the Regulators Armored Combat Club in Conroe. He’s been participating in the sport for four years and he and his son, Garrett, are both on the team. 

“I was working with the jousters at the Ren Fest,” he said. “We train out in a big field in Anderson and beside us there would be guys doing ground fighting.” 

He began asking questions and found out they also are a part of the Texas Renaissance Festival and perform in two shows a day during the October and November event in Grimes County. 

After his first day of training he was in and also fights at the Texas Renaissance Festival. He said they get a lot of interest from the renaissance festival crowds and social media has done a lot to grow the sport. 

The group consists of 20 fighters. 

Where do they battle? 

They do combat in tournaments and also professional paid events like Comicpalooza, for the National Hockey League, a NASCAR event and in September five group members traveled to a tournament in Ireland.

“We were fighting against the English and the Irish and it was so crazy,” he said. They wore Texas flag cloth over their armor as a link to the Lone Star State. 

In 2023, he and his son fought in their first tournament in Kansas City at the American Qualifiers. He’s excited for the qualifiers this weekend and the world event to be in his town. 

“I drove 12 hours to Kansas City, fought and drove back. This year I get to drive not even 10 miles,” he said. 

NEW AIRPORT EQUIPMENT: The Conroe North Houston Regional Airport has a new fire truck. Here’s what to know

Where does the armor come from? 

He said some people buy their armored suits new like he did or others will buy a used suit and fix it up piece by piece. 

They buy most of their armor from Ukraine and Elrod said the war has impacted their ability to get their equipment. 

“It took maybe six months before the war to up to 10 months (to get suit pieces),” he said. “There’s one case where the guy we order from his shop was blown up. He moved and we didn’t know if he was alive. We didn’t hear from him for maybe nine months until we received an email letting us know a set of shoulders was ready. Some of their key armors have been called up to fight.” 

A new suit runs roughly $3,000 and they are made by participants sending the armor their measurements. They use a combination of axes and swords in their fights. Most of their guys use hand axes. 

Why to see the American Qualifiers

Elrod said this weekend’s show will bring more than 150 to 200 fighters from across the U.S. Gates open at noon Saturday and Sunday and the event continues through 6 p.m. 

He said noon Saturday is the best time to come to see the most action. The winning groups will qualify for International Medieval Combat Federation World Championships which take place Aug. 6-10, also at the Lone Star Convention Center in Conroe. 

Tickets for children younger than 12 are admitted for free. Tickets for those 12 to 17 are $8 and general admission tickets are $25. 

“People describe this as the craziest, most memorable thing they have ever seen,” he said. “When you watch it in person, you hear the hits and see the intensity. Sometimes there are sparks flying. Some people just look at me like ‘Is this real, do y’all really do this?’ It’s in Conroe this weekend and in August. There is no guarantee this will be in Conroe again.” 

If the full content does not display, visit the article originally published on this site