Pride

"I felt enormously proud because I made the armor he wore, and there was finally a place to present our ancient culture. My childhood fantasy came true in a way."

Many people who were fascinated in childhood by stories of King Arthur or Joan of Arc probably shared the same fantasy as Xu - to become a knight and fight for glory.

In medieval Europe, nobles sponsored tournaments in which combatants tested their skills against each other. However, the decline of "cold" weapons - axes, swords and hammers - resulted in the tradition ending.

Despite that, the knights' strength and noble character continue to inspire enthusiasts, and the epic stories of medieval warfare fascinate modern audiences, especially in Eastern Europe.

"To embody their vision of a medieval tournament, enthusiasts from Eastern Europe created buhurt in the late 1990s. The name is derived from the old French word behourd, literally "to wallop", but it also refers to 'Historical Medieval Battles'," Gao said.

One of the main HMB events is the Battle of the Nations, which in 2009 was the first international medieval combat tournament. In 2016, during the annual BOTN meeting, the organizers learned about a group of young Chinese enthusiasts.

"The BOTN is the most professional game in HBM. We call it the 'world cup of buhurt', as more than 20 countries have participated in the tournament since the first event (in 2009), and when one realizes that there are experienced and professional players overseas, it requires something more than courage and passion," said Kang Lu, a Chinese player.

Every weekend, Gao and several teammates gather on open ground where there are few passersby. Before each training session, they have to attach the separate pieces of armor in the correct order. It takes nearly 20 minutes to suit up and by the time they are done, the players are covered in sweat.

The fact that these tall, strong young men can join together in this way is a result of the booming development of the internet in China.

In 2011, an amateur club was born that gained fame as Chinese armor enthusiasts organized a cybercommunity on the search engine Baidu. They called the community Huben, the official title given to imperial guards during the Zhou Dynasty (c.11 century-265 BC), which means "brave as a tiger".

"It was a surprise to find so many people on the internet with the same love of armor and buhurt. We exchanged ideas, discussed the history of ancient warfare and displayed our equipment. Gradually, we evolved into the first organized buhurt team in the country," said Gao, who is team captain.

"As we had set a goal to participate in the BOTN, we started to practice individually and occasionally collectively to become familiar with the rules we had learned online. We have to be strong enough to bear the weight of the armor and flexible enough to swing the weapon."