IAC Rat Pack (Boise) and IAC Peace Breakers (Idaho Falls) came together with The Order of the Silver Rose (Salt Lake, UT) to bring buhurt to the second annual Mystic Realms Fantasy Fair in Pocatello, ID.

Fourteen fighters competed in duels and melees in five blocks of fighting to an excited crowd, half from Idaho and half from Utah. The fair ran from Friday, June 28th to Sunday, June 30th and this is the second year that IAC fighters have participated in the event.

This year’s Mystic Realms was much bigger than last, seeing many more vendors and entertainers. IAC shared the list with Fingal Bonzi, a sword-swallower and fire breather from Boise, who performed in the list between IAC fight blocks.

Local News 8 came out to interviewed fighters and see the fights and did a spectacular spotlight on our sport. Watch the video below:

Additionally, Idaho State Journal interviewed Rat Pack team captain, Ethan Watt, who explained the sport in his own words:

“They have jousting and they have melees, which is what we do, and those are the team fights,” Watt said about the medieval combat sport. “They have duels with scorekeepers who keep track of good hits. There’s different weapon categories and you have to match with the same weapon. There’s polearms, long sword, sword and shield, and sword and buckler as the main ones. There are also pro fights or outrance fights, in which there are very little restrictions. Normally you can’t go for the knees, or you can’t fight on the ground or grapple on the ground. That’s a category that allows all of that, so the fight continues on the ground.” (x)

Later, he explained the community aspect of buhurt that keeps him in the sport:

“It’s just so positive and uplifting,” Watt said. “Everybody is encouraging of each other. It’s different everywhere you go, but that’s what I love about it. It’s been a way of doing therapy. I’ve talked to guys about some really hard stuff they’re going through after practice, especially in the winter. We have a fire we sit around and just chat and hang out. You get into a lot of deep talks and several guys expressed to me that this is really important to them. It’s saving their life because they’re going through something tough, so that’s really why I keep doing it and want to keep spreading the love of Buhurt.” (x)