The History of Circle of the Sword
Our Story
The Circle of the Sword was established in 1997 as a theatrical combat group specializing in metal weapons combat and displays. Originally established by a group of friends wanting more of the fun comradarie of stage fighting, without the restrictions of similar groups to a certain era, or reenactments, and without the need to wear armour, Circle of the Sword quickly became a unique hub for creative expression, stage combat, performance and exploration of medieval art, costumery and more.
Our Style
Over the years, we have developed our own distinct style, not limited to one era or theme. We've had pirates, samurai, dashing dandies, rapscallions, Jedi, and even a Klingon with a Batleth- if you can dream it (and fight it), it's welcome.
We also welcome other creatives: if fighting isn't your thing, but you have an interest in medieval history, art, costumes, crafting, smithing or other related interests, you are very welcome and will be in good company.
We provide safe combat training with hand to hand weapons of all types, but we prefer metal weapons like swords and other weapons like staves and axes. We also use LARP or other foam weapons on occasion, and enjoy being creative.
Our Method
We do use blunt tip and blunt edge metal weapons in our combat, and we ensure a safe level of proficiency with a specific weapon for all our members before we give the all clear for free fighting. We also wear gloves, but no other armor is required.
Our stage combat principles are based around the Fives (read more here) and while we have choreographed in the past, we much prefer free fighting using the stage principles; we don't aim to hurt, but to have a fun, performative and relatively safe fight.
After all, if you hurt your opponents, you quickly run out of people to fight.
