For years I searched for sports that I personally enjoyed. I tried baseball and just couldn’t hit the ball right. I tried football and was left disappointed with the culture of the sport. I tried basketball and could never really get my head into the game. There was something missing. I could never completely get focused on the task at hand. I honestly probably just sucked at normal sports. Maybe the thing that was missing from all those sports was a sword. 

     During my childhood I always wanted to wear a suit of armor. I always would watch movies with suits of armor and always say something like “one day I want to be a knight for Halloween”. I always had an “itch” to wear a suit of armor so when the history channel made a series on what was to become my sport, I was immediately intrigued. 

       I participate in a sport called Armored Combat. It’s a sport that focuses on the training habits of knights in the 14th century. In this sport fighters can wear armor ranging from the twelfth century to the sixteenth. Some people show up in full plate whilst others go the cheaper approach. 

     Sadly when I first heard of this sport I was a freshman in high school. The minimum age to participate In Armored Combat is 18. Despite this setback I still was able to find a group that would take me in. They wouldn’t let me fight with the steel weapons because I was still a minor. However, I was still able to wear armor. I was only allowed to use synthetic or wooden weapons when I practiced. Over the next couple of months I constantly went to meetings and kept up my conditioning. This constant attention to the sport led me to create my own club. However, it’s hard to get people to join because of the start up cost. My goal was to create a group that everyone could participate in and not have to worry about the cost of armor. So over the course of a year I was able to accumulate several kits to provide to my fighters. This group I formed I named the “Dyersburg Gladiators.” Now we have up to 7 fighters a meeting, which is already a handful. I Love teaching people about my passion.  

     This eagerness to learn and teach people about the sport and be fully involved in it has increased my interest in history. I’ve always loved the History Channel. Heck, that’s how I found my sport. My interest in the sport started making me think about what I want to do with this life of mine. And I thought, I might as well go into a career where I can wear a cool hat. The career I’m hoping for is to focus on archaeology and have an even greater focus on ancient human development and medieval history. A major aspect to our sport is historical references. If there is no historical evidence for a piece of armor then it cannot be used in combat. Although they allow some leniency, the rule is to have references with the piece one owns. I want to help with that and I want to dive deeper into the realms of this sport and our history. I have a drive to learn what the world used to be like. I want to learn what brought us to where we are today.