Fighting With Foam: I did battle with UConn’s medieval combat club

It turns out hitting random people is REALLY fun, and I have the video to prove it

We’ve all seen them on the Student Union’s green, wielding red boffers (the technical term for a foam sword), charging at one another ferociously. Secretly, we’ve all wanted to join them at one time or another for a good battle, so I finally took the leap.

The video below recounts my experiences with SMAC, arguably one of the more intense clubs at ⚔ UConn ⚔.

I dropped in on UConn’s resident medieval combat club – aptly titled “SMAC” (The Society for Medieval Arts and Combat) – for a night of spell-casting and sword-swinging. Shooting footage by strapping my iPhone to my chest, I was trained in the ways of the warrior: from shouting “lightning bolt” and concurrently throwing a bean bag at someone to cast magic, to the rules and regulations of foam weapon craft, and everything in between.

As you can see from the photos and video I’ve included with this piece, many of the people involved in SMAC take pride in their appearance, donning multiple layers of clothing . Some people donned full armor, enduring through the heat of Hicks Arena, sweat at their brow. This was a full contact activity.

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University of Connecticut