In South Africa, we have been practicing HMB for about 14 years, but found out about BotN less than a year ago…

Not so long time ago we found out that all of our armor would not pass the international authenticity standards, so we are getting new armor. Although there is a lot of armor that can be purchased internationally, our currency is very weak at the moment, so we had to rely on local armorers. We do really believe that we will do everything in time.

We had some issues electing the captain of the Team, choosing fighters. The biggest problem we faced is financial support, because we had not found a reliable sponsor so far. Some of them have promised to help, but then refused. But now we have really good news, and now some questions are being discussed.

Finally we have 6 men and 1 woman, who are really keen on with fighting in armor. And we have a big desire to attend such a huge international event like “Battle of the Nations” and to become the face of South Africa in a world reenactment movement.

We have a fighter, who we can rely on. This is Christa Heysen Martin. She will represent South Africa in female category. We believe that Christa will show her best. She has been personally trained a lot by me and her fiancé, Josh Suttie, who is the national duel champion (I am the 2nd this year). She has 4 years of fighting experience. So I can say that she is really strong woman, and worthy competitor. We have one more fighter who is really reliable. His name is Ruan Meyer. He is originally from the SCA, he has been fighting in armor for over 10 years, so he is one of our most experienced fighters. What about me. I’m recovering from a serious injury, and I won’t be fighting. Nevertheless our Team is strong and experienced and we will do our best.

Being the first time participants, we hope to get experience to prepare for the next time and to find like-minded people from all over the world. And we also want to see how good we are, fighting against the best fighters of the world.

Brian Topper,
captain of National team of South Africa

Interview by
Elisabeth Irha
HMBIA News