Hey All,

One of the initiatives the AMCF is working on is a Buhurt News youtube show. However there are a lot of things going on that are making it look like that won’t launch for a little bit. In the meantime I’m trying to revive a segment on my stream where I cover what’s happening in steel fighting, with obviously a focus on North America and primarily the US. 

As I wrote up the notes for this week I realized that really quickly it will likely sound like just a list of names and dates for many people and they won’t process the information. Also it will not exactly be referenceable. So in addition to covering it on the stream I’m going to post weekly all the results I can find as well as what’s upcoming in the next few months. And if there are any other behind the scenes things I learn that I’m allowed to talk about I will. 

This week the list of results is going to be exceedingly long as I’m putting all the events I could find since the international World Championships. I’m sure I missed some and I’m sorry to those people and teams not represented. I will be glad to update any I’ve missed and also cover them in the next news post/stream. Without further adu, the results.

Results up to June 7th, 2023

Grapes of Wrath

The Iron Lions hosted another event at the winery in Virginia that has become their home stadium. It looked like a sunny day full of good fighting. Palmetto Knights youtube has 360 degree video of all the rounds which I highly recommend everyone check out. I believe it was a BI tournament and that it counted for points but I can’t confirm that at this moment.

I didn’t get a list of total teams but I believe it was around 6. The North Carolina team Imperium, which is new to the scene(this may be their first competition) managed to shock everyone and steal first place. They were assisted in this upset by calling on two major hitters, Alexander(Brennon) Friedman, one of the best fighters in the country and captain of Dallas Warlords and Dylan Sweeny, a solid fighter from the War Pigs freshly back from international competition and looking to crack US skulls. Iron Lions took second using their A team line which they have named Vanguard. They also field a B team though I didn’t catch the name. Bastion secured third place.

Texas Profights:The Return of Friday Knight Fights

In Texas a series of Pro Fights were held heralding the return of Friday Night Fights. Taylor Jones edged a close victory over Micheal “Galaxy Pants” Johnson, giving SJK some bragging rights they can poke their elder brothers the Warlords about. Notable fact about this fight, Taylor ran a 2 handed axe against Micheal’s sword and shield. We rarely see this match up and the common wisdom is Sword and Shield is optimal. But combined with Creedican’s domination at Carnage that may be in doubt. Other fights on the card included Adam Harrington defeating teammate Kenni Allen and Tomas Tice beating Charlie Brumfield. I believe there is footage floating around on Facebook but not sure where.

Coastal Chaos

Maine’s Portland Reavers, one of New England’s newer teams, hosted an event in Old Orchard Beach outside of Portland. This was a BI event though I don’t know what level. It was the Reavers first event that they fielded a whole 8 man line. 4 teams showed up, 2 from Canada. Montoc Maruarders took first, followed by Nordik Quebec. Reavers secured a third place finish and Steel Legion, a club team created to give a place for US vets to fight together, came in 4th.  Footage should be available soon. 

Ventura MegaBowl

In California the Ventura Solados Santa BarbraSoldados hosted a tournament that brought out almost all the west coast names. Ordo Draconis secured first place in a return to their winning ways. We’ll see if this starts another run to the top of the pack or if they still have more work to do before dethroning the Warlords and/or Dominus as the baddest team in the country. Ventura Solados came in second in what I believe is their first appearance as a team. Led by Josheph Brandt one of the biggest names in the sport of the past 3 years(literally as well as metaphorically) they are definitely a club to watch out for. The Blood Eagles pulled a bronze medal performance out of this just edging out their west coast rival the WarPigs. There has been a bit of a back and forth from these teams and I’m interested to see who comes ahead in their next confrontation. Footage for most fights can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wtp8wPqtF8c 

Harambe Memorial Tournament

The biggest event of the past few weeks was the Harambe(RIP) memorial hosted by the Cinicinati Barbarians Siege. It looked like one hell of an event. Women and Men’s divisions of both Duels and Melee fought. Lots of teams and lots of fights. For the men’s melee, unsurprisingly Kynaz walked away with another Gold. Nashville managed to secure silver and bronze with the World Eaters and Gallus Company respectively. For Women’s melee the DFC women of Pegasi got gold. They are definitely a squad to keep an eye on. Steel Coven of South Carolina took second and Da Maree of Nashville took bronze. 

For Duels Celeste took Gold in Longsword, Polearm, and Sword and shield. Kelsey Leta took gold by default but fought an exhibition match with Sean Fabian for fun. In women’s pole Stephanie Kight took Silver and Jocelyn Wright took third. Longsword second went to Aja Holguin and third to Sandy Auferman. Kelsey took second in sword and shield with third going to Heather Sanner.

In Mens Sean Fabian grabbed gold for Sword and shield, with Silver going to Michael DeBryun and Bronze to Mitchel Mccollugh. Polearm saw Ben Sheiner take first, Bently Meruis second, and Matt Dodsworth third. Longsword saw Mickey Gallus take gold in a departure from his usual form. Sean came behind him to scoop a second medal Chriss Sanner managed Silver and Michael Sloma ended up with Bronze. Mickey pulled a second gold in Buckler a from we’re more familiar to seeing him in, Sean earning a second silver and third dueling medal(4 total including his Gold from melee). Sean earnd a second dueling medal. Both fighters had amazing weekends with a total of 3 medals each. Third place went to Jaime Haley.

Upcoming Tournaments

Buhurt International is hitting the ground running with barely a hiccup since Buhurt League closed and yielded their spot. Despite 3 different groups running what is essentially the same league in less than 2 years, BI is off to a great start. Below are a list of upcoming international events under the BI banner

1. 1. Tournament of Deeds, UK June 17th
2. 2. Torneo Tavola a Rotonda e Ferrara, Italy June 18th
3. 3. Iron Challenge 3, Denmark June 24t
4. 4. Teuton Cup, Poland June 30th
5. 5. Tournament Hinwil, Switzerland July 1st
6. 1. Winterfest 2023, Australia July 1st
7. 6. Tournament of Visegrád, Hungary July 8th
8. 2. Torneo Dij Cossot, Italy July 22nd
9. 3. Miesbach Tournament, Germany August 5th
10. 4. King Kazimierz Cup, Poland August 12th
11. 5. Häme Challenger, Finland August 19th
12. 6. Way of Honor, Germany September 9th
13. 7. DSG Medieval Fighting Cup, Czech Republic September 30th
14. 8. Heritage Shield, UK October 14th

IMCF, which suffered its own leadership catastrophe, is also trying to rebuild. While we historically have seen little from the parent org in between championships they have announced an international tournament in Mexico. The Aztez Challenge will be happening in November but currently details are sparse. 

Domestically the AMCF has also historically not done much more than an event or two a year with it’s focus primarily on providing insurance and more recently also a vehicle for selecting the national team for IMCF world championships. However that too is changing. The AMCF is trying to take a more active role in hosting event by partnering with local clubs and using their larger name to draw interest as well as helping to provide support infrastructure where possible. 

To that end there are 4 AMCF events coming up in the near future. Omaha is hosting a Pro fight event using the old WMCF rules on June 24th. If you are interested in that reach out to Jerimah Johson. Steel Legion is working with a ren faire called KiCaSS con in Peabody Mass the weekend of July 1st. It should be primarily Melee but may have room for Duels and Profights. Registration is here. And of course I can’t forget about War in the North on August 12th, the 10v10 event co-hosted by Minnesota Armored Combat. Located in Minneapolis this will be the first mass battle only tournament on US soil. Lastly Vermont Armored combat is partnering with the AMCF and Medieval Combat United(MCU) to host a BI melee and IMCF duels event in Brattleboro VT September 23rd. The event, The Vermont Cheese Cup is at a beautiful location and has a ton of sponsors for prizes. 

The ACS has two confirmed events coming up. Valaha Beer and Battle fest, a combination camping, party, fighting event, will be the first week of August in Mass. Rookie Rumble has been confirmed to be at this event. ACS North American Chamionship or ACSNACS will be in Reno per normal the weekend of October 7th. I have yet to see an event announcement but have heard from the owners it will be happening. 

Currently I know of no events for The ACW coming up. If you do please let me know. 

Armored MMA or AMMA Nashville’s attempt at creating a pro fight league appears to be going very well. The last Wednesday of every month they host an event in a packed bar for fights inside a cage. The next one is June 28th. 

MCU has DragonCon coming up. I believe registration for that closed awhile ago but every year in the past there has been a live stream so keep an eye out for that. 

There are also a number of events which I could not determine an org they are associated with. Perhaps they aren’t at all or perhaps I’m just a shitty journalist(l’ll let you tak your own guess). The Colorado Wardens are trying to make quite a splash in their first year of competing, surprising a number of people at Carnage, fighting internationally, and now hosting a weekend event this weekend June 10th. Find all the details here.

Cerberus is hosting a major fighting and training event at Oregon BrewFest June 16th-18th. A number of Dominus fighters will be there so this is great opportunity especially if you are missing Balls. 

Speaking of BALLS: The triple Nipple, the premier training event in the US is happening once again in Washington, the Weekend of August 12th. I believe it sold out but fighters might have dropped. If you are interested, reach out to Desha Wood on facebook. 

OTHER NEWS!!!!

What about things that aren’t results or events? Do I have any information on that? Turns out, as you probably can guess by me having a section here, yes I do. 

First and foremost the Buhurt International Transfer window is open, but only for about another month. It closes on July 7th. So if you hope to participate and get points this season get your line-up on lock and your fighters registered.

Next in case you haven’t seen AMMA has achieved something that for the most part has eluded the larger melee orgs. They have secured a major corporate sponsor. Jagermiester now officially sponsors the Nashville fights. That’s a huge step for them and for the sport as a whole. So hats off to Mickey and that whole organization. 

I can’t forget about AMCF news, seeing as that’s now my home org. Elections for the BOD are coming up and the current holder of the seat up for election, Bryant, is stepping down. So if you want to see the dirty darkside of managing buhurt, get your application in. Also we are still actively recruiting for VP and Co-Head Marshalls, so if you think that could be you, apply. We are also running the first EVER marshal certification and training for IMCF in the US at War in the North. So if you are interested in that, get registered for it.

Lastly MCU has started a bi-weekly program where they provide free online training for support staff such as Marshalls and Secretaries. That happens every other Wednesday at 9:00PM Eastern. Videos will be saved and made available to MCU members but anyone can attend the live events.