The first swing of the sword hits with a thunderous crack. Metal scrapes against metal as a body is thrown to the ground kicking up a cloud of dust. It may seem like a struggle of life and death, but for the Company of The Blue Dragon, this is just a typical Saturday afternoon.
Once a week this medieval combat sports team meets in a backyard in the Cowichan Valley, transforming it into a sight straight out of a fantasy or medieval film, complete with knights in armour and a plethora of weaponry to accompany them.
While they may just be training right now, come July many of the team will be flying to Denmark to compete in the International Medieval Combat Federation’s world championships.
As members suit up for practice they proudly display their sets of armour, each worth hundreds of dollars and weighing up to 36 kilograms when worn.
Each fighter takes turns sparring in the ring in two-round bouts with each round lasting two minutes. But those short fights can be grueling, especially in the day’s 20 C heat.
“Some people can only come out and do one fight and they’re exhausted,” said Kelly Dahl, a longtime member of the company.
Lucas Mendes founded the company in 2017. The team has since grown from a handful of members to become one of the largest in Canada and is world-renowned for its fighters.
Mendes said he is optimistic about their prospects at the world championships this year.
“We’ve got a phenomenal team this year,” he said. “There’s a friendly rivalry going on for who’s going to win Canada’s first gold. So there is a really big push right now and everybody’s training to try to get there.”
Mendes won the first-ever medal for Canada at the world championships in 2023, taking bronze in the male light weight pro fight — which is essentially armoured mixed martial arts — and the team has been winning more medals each year.
Dahl is one of the fighters who qualified to compete in the world championships. He joined the team because of the sense of camaraderie that comes with the sport.
“The people in this sport are amazing. I’ve had the opportunity to fight at the world championships, and you just meet so many great people,” Dahl said.
The future of medieval combat sports in B.C.
The story of the company started in 2014 when Lucas Mendes wanted to get into medieval combat as a sport but couldn’t find any local teams to join.
“At that time I was a scrawny kid so I figured I would train, get stronger and eventually maybe a team would show up on the Island,” Mendes said.
But by 2017, no team had materialized so he said he decided to start his own.
Fast forward to today and not only is Mendes the captain of The Company of the Blue Dragon, he is also the captain of Medieval Combat Canada which is made up of fighters from all over the country.
The sport is relatively small in B.C., with The Company of the Blue Dragon being one of three teams in the province and the only one on Vancouver Island with members from North Cowichan, Nanaimo and Victoria.
The company is one of the largest teams in Canada, sporting 25 fully armoured members and 10 prospects, while most other teams have 10 to 15 members.
In future, Mendes said he hopes the company will be a jumping off point for the creation of other teams.
“That’s going to be a couple of years down the road for that one, but that’s the direction we want to go in so we can have a full B.C. circuit, including the other two teams on the mainland,” he said.
Medieval combat for the modern age
The armour worn by fighters is a modern interpretation of classic armour rather than a historically accurate one. These suits are often made out of different, lighter metals and the styles can vary based on personal preferences of the wearer, Dahl told The Discourse.
The rules of fighting are similar to other combat sports where proper strikes are awarded points and illegal strikes to unarmoured parts of the body will result in a penalty.
Dahl is a heavyweight pro fighter which he explains is similar to mixed martial arts, like that found in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, but in armour.
“You can punch, you can kick, you can throw the guy to the ground, fight on the ground,” he said.
One member of the company wasn’t able to attend this practice as he was participating in an Armoured Mix Martial Arts event in Chicago, Illinois.
Beyond one-on-one matches that are divided up by weapon type, there are also large team fights called Melees. These involve battles fought on open fields between two teams of five all the way up to teams of 150 people.
“Those are extremely rough because you can be grappled up with someone and another person could come behind you with a big poleaxe and hit you as hard as they can and that’s entirely legal,” Dahl said.
Knights in the community
When they aren’t practicing or competing in tournaments, the company can be found at events all over Vancouver Island recruiting, doing demonstrations and fundraising.
Some events are local to the Cowichan Valley, such as the Duncan Days Parade or Medieval Knights at The Raptors bird sanctuary, while others see the company traveling as far north as Sointula.
This year, the company is holding its first event in Nanaimo at Curious Comic-Con.
The Company also hosts its own tournament at the Cowichan Exhibition and puts on demonstrations at the Highland Games and Celtic Festival in Victoria.
Mendes said these events are a great opportunity for the company to connect with the community and entertain people while building awareness for the sport.
“It’s not something you see every day and people love it. The audiences look like they’re kids in a candy store,” he said.
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