Belegarth Medieval Combat Society

The Belegarth Medieval Combat Society is a foam weapon combat sports organization, operating as a not for profit corporation. It is comprised of a number of "realms", which compete at regional and national events every year. Typically, each realm also holds individual fighting practices several times a week. Realms vary in size from just a handful of people to over a hundred fighters. Unlike most other boffer or foamfighting groups, however, Belegarth is a full contact sport that allows hard hitting, shield bashes, and grappling.

The organization initially formed from a set of loosely organized clubs and franchises starting in December 2001. In July 2002 the group was organized enough to incorporate in the State of Illinois. [ [http://www.ilsos.gov/corporatellc State of Illinois website] -perform a search for term Belegarth ] .

Gameplay

Belegarth Medieval Combat Society is a sport where participants fight with foam padded safety equipment made to reflect medieval weaponry. The sport's combat is hard hitting and fast-paced, governed by a set of easy-to-learn [http://belegarth.com/content/view/4/5/ rules] , and requires a level of skill and aggression that challenges its participants to be physically fit.

Gameplay is overseen by marshals, or referees. In the most basic sense, hits are scored by landing a blow with sufficient force to any of the four target-zones: torso, legs, arms or head. For safety reasons, the head is an illegal target for melee weapons, but is a legal target for missile weapons like arrows and javelins. A player is considered 'dead' after a torso or head hit, or any combination of two extremities. 'Dead' players are out of play for the remainder of the battle, which usually lasts five to ten minutes, and must act as such. Once the battle is over, each team regroups for the next fight.

Belegarth's Origins

In 1975, a college student read J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings”. Tolkien’s trilogy inspired a new-found interest in fantasy with the love of the outdoors, improvisational acting, and high energy events. This combination planted a seed that blossomed into an idea. He started a group called Dagorhir. The idea was to catapult people from the 20th century into the midst of an intense battle during the Dark Ages; a time when the values and problems of the modern world did not exist. Belegarth spun off from Dagorhir in 2001.

Belegarth Chapters

Belegarth chapters span much of the U.S., from Washington, D.C. to California, from Michigan to Florida. Chapters vary organizationally, ranging from realms to kingdoms, to loose confederations of “tribes” depending on the local chapter, its history and its membership. Chapters vary widely in size, age, interests, membership and geography, but a common interest in medieval combat unites us all. Belegarth: MCS includes a vast nationwide membership, and we encourage new members.

Here is a partial list of Belegarth chapters:

* [http://www.durdemarion.com/ Dur-Demarion (Nashville)]
* [http://Ohiobelegarth.com/ Ohio Chapters]
* [http://home.earthlink.net/~mikhoc/ St. Louis, MO Chapter]
*Ogden, Utah
*Provo, Utah
* [http://knightsofsparta.bravehost.com/ Knights of Sparta (Michigan)]
* [http://www.disciplesofameth.com/ Lands of Ameth (Charleston, IL)]
* [http://nanbelegorn.com/ Nan Belegorn (Cedar Falls, IA)] See [http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=107125570793823288790.000452cfe9579612b42af&z=4 The Belegarth Realms Map] for a complete list of Realms. There are many more than are listed here.

External links

* [http://belegarth.com/ National Website]
* [http://www.geddon.org/ MediaWiki dedicated to Belegarth]
* [http://belegarth.com/content/view/4/5/ Rules of the Game]
* [http://board.belegarth.com National Forums]

External News Articles

* [http://media.www.readbuzz.com/media/storage/paper755/news/2006/12/07/AroundTown/Take-A.Stab.At.Medieval.Warfare-2525841.shtml Magazine Article 12/07/2006 Weekly Buzz]
* [http://www.daily-chronicle.com/articles/2006/10/25/neighbors/neighbors01.txt/ News Article 10/25/2006 Daily Chronicle]
* [http://media.www.dailyillini.com/media/storage/paper736/news/2006/10/23/Features/Medieval.Times.Welcomes.All-2381991.shtml News Article 10/23/06 Daily Illini]
* [http://www.las.uiuc.edu/news/2006fall/06sept_quadday.html News Article 08/2006 College News]
* [http://media.www.arbiteronline.com/media/storage/paper890/news/2006/05/04/News/Belegarth.Battles.In.Julia.Davis.Park-2220390.shtml News Article 05/04/2006 Arbiter Online]
* [http://media.www.studlife.com/media/storage/paper337/news/2006/03/31/NewsSchnews/Belegarth.And.Rotc.Battle.In.The.Swamp.Students.ShellShocked-1775160.shtml April Fool's Day Feature 3/31/2006 Student Life]
* [http://media.www.dennews.com/media/storage/paper309/news/2005/06/30/TheVerge/Why-Are.Those.People.Hitting.Each.Other.With.Swords-960130-page2.shtml News Article 06/30/2006 Den News]
* [http://www.sdcitybeat.com/article.php?id=4391 News article? 05/24/06 San Diego CityBeat]
* [https://www.mndaily.com/articles/2005/08/03/64857 News Article 08/03/2005 Minnesota Daily]
* [http://media.www.iowastatedaily.com/media/storage/paper818/news/2005/08/30/Pulse/Wtf-Swords.Guns.And.Fun.Oh.My-1105257.shtml News article 08/30/05 Daily Iowan]
* [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,195533,00.html News Article 05/15/2005 Fox News]
* [http://www.northernstar.info/articles/?id=5976 News Article 03/04/2005 Northern Star]
* [http://www.dailyvidette.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=9b654161-e1de-439c-ae12-e63072cd2950 News Article 10/08/2004 Daily Vidette]
* [http://media.www.versusmag.org/media/storage/paper584/news/2004/09/22/RoadTripNashville/Never.Turn.Your.Back.On.An.Orc-731650.shtml Magazine Article 9/22/2004 Versus Magazine]
* [http://www.dailyiowan.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=a75ebcb5-ca4e-4dda-b872-e4c579a184dc News Article 09/18/2002 Daily Iowan]
* [http://media.www.dennews.com/media/storage/paper309/news/2007/10/19/OnlineExclusives/Slideshow.Disciples.Of.Ameth-3031139.shtml Online Featurette 10/19/07 The Daily Eastern News]

Notes