IAN WEBB: Because I'm a big guy, I recognize that I'm going to be a very large target. LEWIS: But some, like Ian Webb, prefer to make part or all of their kits themselves. Most of them buy their gear from professional armorers. LEWIS: The kit has to meet authenticity standards for competition set by governing bodies. SHELLENS: This keeps the armor from abusing me when the armor is hit against me. LEWIS: There is also some modern gel padding that goes under some of that armor. SHELLENS: These are made of steel, while my brigandine chest armor is actually made with titanium. SHOSHANA SHELLENS: Everything fits into the bag a bit like "Tetris." I'm removing my greaves, which are the shin protection, and my cuisses, which are the thigh and knee protection. Her black and steel gray kit weighs about 45 pounds, which she says allows for better mobility and visibility. LEWIS: There are also one-on-one duels, a specialty for national champion Shoshana Shellens. That's when as many as 300 armored combatants take the field to battle it out. He uses it when he competes in team melees. LEWIS: Lexa says his armor - called a kit - is based on a style from the early 16th century and weighs close to 100 pounds. That's the historical route of this, to replicate combat but not to actually kill each other. LEXA: We're doing this for sport, as they did back then. LEWIS: That's Colorado Warden Jeff Lexa talking about the first time he fought in armor. I couldn't wipe a smile off my face no matter what happened to me. JEFF LEXA: Just got beaten to the ground and threw some people around. It's the real thing, though the weapons are not sharp. This is not choreographed reenactment or costumed performance. SHANNA LEWIS, BYLINE: The sound of sword strikes echoes through the towering pine trees in Black Forest, just north of Colorado Springs. Shanna Lewis with member station KRCC in Colorado Springs has this report on their training and preparations. Among those competing are several members of a team from Colorado, the Wardens. Hundreds of people are fighting in full armor with swords, shields and other implements of historical mayhem. Two medieval armored combat world championships are happening this weekend in Europe. They dress up in period costumes and fight with dulled weapons. An American team is in Europe this week for a medieval combat competition.
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