Bruises

I am slowly coming around to the idea that I hate shields.

As useful as they might be when defending yourself, they get in the damned way, they obscure your vision, they're frikken heavy, and they are one more thing to think about on the battlefield. I am, of course, talking about my time in The Vikings.

Although it's ever-so-damned-enjoyable, I'm having a lot of teething problems learning to use a shield a) effectively and b) safely. I find that my shield "travels" a lot during training. Instead of keeping it by my side to cover myself, I'm pushing it out and forwards, leaving myself open.

It also means that I could accidentally knock someone's teeth out with the edge or boss of the shield. That would be fine if I was actually trying to kill someone, but I'm not. This is just re-enactment.

The training was all the more difficult because I was fighting a lefty.

I think the the shield travelling during battle comes from martial arts habits. In Tai Chi and, to a lesser extent, Karate, you learn that while forever you are in contact with an opponent's body part, you will be able to feel where that body part is trying to move. So, if my shield meets someone else's shield at The Vikings, I try to keep it there so I can tell when they are going to move it around. However, this means that if my opponent backs off, my shield travels away from me and I get left open. It also means that if they raise their shield, my shield could be bashed into their face by a slight jostle.

But this is why re-enactment battle is different from real battle. Yes, you want to make it look as convincing as possible, but you're not actually trying to kill someone. While elements of re-enactment training could be applied to real fighting, there is a lot about real fighting that cannot be applied to re-enactment.

We also trained on how to receive a "berserker"; someone who charges, screaming and foaming at the mouth, into your shield wall. The aim is to stay standing and not break ranks. The bruises on my thigh and shoulder where my shield was rammed into me have developed, overnight, into very angry-looking marks. All good, clean fun right?