Combat
and, there are bold soldiers,
but, there are very few,
old, bold soldiers.'
Combat, as seen on television, is often flashy, the hero armed with his trusty, usually mythic blade, leaping onto laden banqueting tables ,throwing his shield away and doing away the bad-guy in a final nail biting moment.
Combat for real tended to be ugly, brutish and short, the hero in real life would be chopped ( or more likely speared ) to gobbets in his first leap for the table, the shield he eschews being his one and only chance to live as far as the end credits!
To survive on a real battlefield, the hero needs his wits about him, his shield, his
weapons and, above all, he needs to know all about the weapons his opponent may be using, be it sword, spear, axe, knife, bow, or the shield itself, he must be ready
for it, and the bad-guy may still win anyway! A choreographed fight looks choreographed, it may still be entertaining, but
nevertheless, the next time the audience see you, they know the outcome!
Anmod Dracan combats are based on Skill not choreography, this means that our fighters
must be ready for anything, an un-choreographed combat can throw surprises, and from time
to time the bad guy wins! Not because he was higher up the cast list, but because he was
just plain better!
In order to keep our high safety standards we train during the off season, this allows us to study
new weapons and skills as well as keeping our good on-field record, the latest
additions to the combat field being the weapons of the medieval period such as
the Gutknacht, Scimitar, and the Footman's Flail.
The reason that we have such
a low rate of accidents (no major, and only three minor) is the
continuous efforts of both the training
and safety officers, who take it very personally when, and if, anything goes wrong.
Nevertheless, a man's skill on the field depends on a lot of things, from how well he slept last night,
to how happy he is this morning. When you see us on the Battle Field, choose your man and cheer for him, he
may
really need all the help he can get!
Anmod Dracan, maintains an excellent safety record by diligently keeping to the safety standards accepted by the majority of societies across England.
The Society maintains a range of period equipment, so that no matter the requirements of the event, from Anglo-Saxon to Plantagenet, we can meet it with a convincing, and reasonably painless display.
Living History - Description and pictures of the living history displays.
Show List - This years show dates and venues.
Membership - How to join in our displays
Booking Us - How to contact us and other groups for events
Gallery 1 - Pictures from our displays.
Video Gallery - seven video tasters of our events.