Meet the 'medieval knight' competing for Scotland in the world championships
They may look like they have stepped straight out of a fairytale - but these knights are training seriously hard for the upcoming world championships
By day, Laura Henderson works as a full-time vet in Shotts. But when she is not looking after people’s poorly pets, she turns into a medieval knight and competitively duels for Scotland.
Ms Henderson, 40, is now due to represent Scotland at the International Medieval Combat Federation’s world championships in Denmark next year.
Put simply, it is a full-contact martial sport done in full medieval-style armour.
She got into the unusual sport after the world championships were held in Scotland back in 2018, an event that saw real-life medieval knights from all over the world descend on the historic Scone Palace.
“I had done a bit of re-enactment sword-fighting, so I went to go and see the IMCF world championships at Scone Palace,” Ms Henderson said.
“In re-enactment, women don’t get to fight - they wear dresses, they sew things and look pretty, but I wanted to get physical.”
She immediately joined Scotland’s female medieval combat team the Infernal Unicorns, based in Glasgow, and began “soft kit” training.
However she has since moved on to be kitted out in a terrifying full suit of armour and looks like she has stepped straight out of a fairytale book. She has now been all over the UK and abroad fighting like a medieval knight.
She said: “When I take my helmet off and the kids see that I am a woman, they see the role model I wish I had when I was wee.
“All the girls go ‘wow’ and know they can do it too.
“It feels good to do something traditionally male that is not welcome in other historical parts, but when it comes to fighting sports there are female teams.”
Her armour is made of steel, weighing in at 36kg. She also carries a blunt longsword weighing 1.5kg and a shield weighing up to 4kg. The full outfit costs around £3,000 and requires diligent maintenance and care.
“It’s great”, she said. “Not many people can say they have a full suit of armour and can fight in it.”
The training Ms Henderson undergoes is also “quite intensive” to make sure she is up to world-class fighting standard. She said: “We do cardio like any other sport, but the combat aspect has a lot of grappling moves so we have to train for that too.
“There are duel categories as well as mass battles that turn into big brawls, so we do weapons drills as well as fitness when we train.”
Fighting like a medieval fight does not come without its consequences, however. Injuries are a commonplace feature for those who do this sport.
“Every time I go to the physio, they ask ‘what’s new?’, she said. “I’ve managed to avoid it but the most common injury is concussion from large hits to the head, and broken bones.
“I’ve only broken my thumb from a polearm in France, so I’ve avoided the worst.
“But bruises and sprains from accidental hits to the wrong parts of the body are common injuries for us.
“It hasn’t put me off yet.”
The world championships take place at Spottrup Castle in Denmark in July, and will include duelling competitions as well as larger mass battles. Ms Henderson is due to compete in the duels and will be training all through the months leading up to the big tournament.
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.