RingoOver the Weekend there were 2 ACS events. Warlord Combat Academy ran a pro fight card with 3 fights and The Knights hall ran a variety of singles with 8 fights and a special half time show. Both Events were stepping up their stream qualities which we love to see. Some technical issues are still being worked out but the Domestic Scene seems dedicated to catch up to the Bohurt League leading the way.
Fights looked good overall especially with the limited armor time alot of people have had due to Covid this year. Seeing everyone back in kit was great and seeing the precautions taken with masks and limiting crowds was very nice. Hope that is kept up and people don’t loosen up to much too early, would be tragic to see someone catch the Rona now when we’re so close to being in the clear.
The Knights hall stream added in camera angles of the announcers and fighter interviews to the already standard score keeping at the top. There were some issues in stream transition and the knights hall audio could use some clean up but overall it was a nice production. Hope to see it smooth out a bit as they begin to do more fights. Missed seeing cool entrance things?
The warlords put out a more simple stream, though they had 2 angle, a top down showing the full list and another that gave a close up from the corner. Switching between them wasn’t particularly troublesome the way most multi-camera set ups are but it also felt slightly jarring and did lose just a touch of fighting. They too had the round scoring though it seemed like there might have been some issues in communicating to announcers and production staff. Audio was pretty clear through most of it but occasionally things went a little rough. A neat addition was the use of sashes to differentiate fighters. Very simple red and blue coloring on each fighter, makes it easy to identify and remember. Sashes are not my favorite accessory as they can bind arms, so perhaps red and blue belts might be better but I think the simplicity of it is nice.
Lets get into the fights though
The Warlords fight night started fast with Adam Harrigan Vs Kennieth “Kenni” Allen. This was a high energy fight with some really technical aspects and a joy to watch. Adam seemed the superior fighter in most aspect overwhelming Kennieth in both total output and cleaner striking, but Kenni was able to get some work in and even won a round. When he landed it was solid and he was in the fight for much of it. It seemed that Adam’s experience in sword fighting let him just feel more comfortable, while Kenni was a little more stilted in his movements. Part of that could be greeness but also having to fight against a lefty puts alot fighters off their game.
Adam really pushed the pace in this once he closed. With cleaner striking and better footwork I would have expected him to try to use an outside sniping game the whole time but he seemed eager to close and looked to find moments where he could, exploding with large lunges often hiding the entrance behind a sword strike, similar to a jab. Outside he did try to pick apart at Kenni but kept a very open guard trying to bait shots and return. It mostly worked but seemed to wear on him, possibly because his sword broke in the first round and had to switch to a heavier falchion. It was in tight where Adam looked particularly dominant, particularly landing heavy heavy knees.
It didn’t help him in the second round though as Kenni took that, probably due to focusing on the profight meta. He seemed to throw faster to me, which matters far more in my opinion. Kenni was slower and more deliberate in his movement and it felt like caution over lack of footwork agility. He did appear to tire a bit faster, which could be managing energy but also is equally likely to be the difference between armor fitness and fitness. That really became clear in the 3rd round, particularly after the grind grapple that Adam initiated and seemed to sap all of Kenni’s remaining energy.
Cyrus D’ondre vs Luke Linder was the second match and while a bit slower it was still a good fight. Cyrus looked surprisingly sword technical for a big fighter fighting a pro fight as opposed to a due, especially dealing with 2 minor joint injuries. And I think the match went to Cyrus based on that, particularly with his familiarity combos and some really nice lateral movement. Luke threw far more single shots, particularly at range. Both men moved well for carrying full plate melee kits and the fight did not turn into the plodding grind it easily could have.
Round 1 was all Cyrus. Luke landed a decent number of shots, but almost always as Cyrus threw at the same time and landing a second. He’s a true believer of the if you can throw one throw two. In particular he had a lot of success throwing high to bring Luke’s shield up high then stepping right to land a low. We saw yet another Gryslof sword break and after the reset the fighters moved into a much more furious exchange that ended in Cyrus taking Luke down and trying to land shots from his knees. The ground action looked a little sloppy and they were stood up just as the round ended
Round 2 Cyrus was still dominant landing well in the first 30 seconds but his shots began to get much loopier as thand it seemed as if the end round 1 may have worn him out too much. He still kept up his sword combos though and racked up a lot of points that way. Still very limited shield work offensively from Cyrus. Luke began to land some, particularly in the clinch when Cyrus got over his head trying to land knees. Whether due to tired of the movement of the plate though only a few of knees really looked like they landed, which was actually similar to the first clinch in round 1 where Luke focused on sword strike and Cyrus tried to keep his legs active. That was an effective strategy for Kenni in the previous fight but Luke wasn’t able to catch up to the deficit he had already fallen into. The shield punches in however managed to stuff the few knees that did look like they could have been effective. But eventually Cryus puts him down and while alot of the shots after begin to look a bit weak the throw is still huge.
Round 3 was much even slower but we finally see Luke begin to put together more combos and lateral movement. Cyrus is still cleaner though and just picks at Luke from range landing light but solid. The only significant blows landed were two shield punches Luke managed to slip in but again not enough, especially when Cyrus caught a piece of the second punch. Interestingly both shots were lead punches.
The Final Fight was Brennon Freeman vs Austin Ponticelli two big bubbas banging it out. Super interesting to me as Brennon fought a very mobile outside came when I’m used to seeing him as steady fighter who likes to stand with your and trust his skill and strength. But Austin being so big, so strong, and so FAST, that Brennon switched up style and it really worked for him. Austin managed to land a few big blows and they looked to have an effect. But Brennon landed almost 2:1 in those exchanges. Offensively it looked like they were well matched but Brennon’s defense was just a touch better.
This fight really was the story of power vs technique. Austin threw nothing light focusing primarily on a heavy roundhouse kick to the leg and ribs and a giant stepping shield punch. He did throw some sword strikes as heavy chops, instead of using it like a light jab to set things up. Brennon was able to catch alot of the punches and kicks, but mostly was able to circle away or just slip far enough back and letting his quick sword pick a few shots. This worked out really well in round 1 but in round 2 Austin pushed much harder and managed to put some touches on Brennon that seemed to make him panic slightly. Brennon initiates a grapple without his back to rail and while he seemed to do well in it it clearly wore on him and wasn’t able to sneak away as much.
This doesn’t mean Austin didn’t have technique or Brennon lacked power. Austin snuck shots deep into Brennon’s guard a number of times, was fast and sure on his feet, and put his sword to work and land against a very competent swordsman. However he mostly came in straight and which made it hard to trap Brennon. He also seemed to actively avoid the grapple in a number of rounds, possibly thinking Brennon might want to slow the pace and make it a grind, limiting Austins ability to do damage. And Brennon was not only not scared to grapple the giant he had control and multiple times and even in bad positions was able to wear the weight and power of a very strong man. In the end the fight went 2 rounds to Brennon and 1 as a draw but it was a very close fight.
Overall the 3 fights made a great show. I think the scoring was a bit wonky as Kenni managed to win a round that Adam looked dominant in and it’ hard to tell if that’s an artifact of the way points are tallied or someone(either myself or the judges there) missing elements of the fight. The constant broken Gryslof swords was disappointing as everyone has been holding him up as the pinnacle of profight weapons. Hopefully this was just a bad batch, which happens from time to time with everyone and not the start of a downward trend. My favorite part of the whole thing was how mobile the fighters were and how in each fight at least one person constantly was working lateral movement. This was a very good highlight of our sport and it demonstrated why that gym is producing some of America’s top fighters at the moment.
I’ll have my review of the Knights Hall St. Paddys Bash on Thursday. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in the list.