– What city are you from? Were you an active child who like active sports games?
– I’m from Livorno, a city on the sea in the center west of Italy. I was a very active child, I started karate at the age of 7, rugby at 10 and swimming pool at 11. Than volley and a gym of weight lifting.

– How did you find out about HMB? When and where did you start doing it?
– I started to do the historical re-enactment in 1996. We started as show fighters. My first coach was the president of the club, but fights were very different from now and he was not so experienced. In 2004 I started to participate in full contact tournaments. In 2008 I went to Lithuania and had my first Buhurt. I loved it and then I tried to make it feel to the other fighters in Italy whenever I had the opportunity. It was difficult to learn this kind of fight. I attended to the stage every time I had the opportunity. But for the rest it was a self-taught job.
 

– How do your friends and family treat the HMB and your participation in it?
– Many fighters are also my friends. Others think I’m crazy! I knew my wife Erika because she was in my group of historical re-enactment. My older 2 children grew up making this and the 2 little ones are doing it now. Lorenzo, for example, learned to walk well in the Trogir camp during “Battle of the Nations – 2014″.
 

On a leader’s position

– How do you evaluate the level of developing HMB in your country? What is good and not so good things you can emphasize?
– HMB movement is very developed in Italy in recent years. From 10 fighters participating in “Battle of the Nations – 2011” we had 50 athletes last years, with about 100 fighters involved in the territory. We would need more clubs and more tournaments to increase the sports competitiveness that is indispensable to raise the quality level.
 

– What are your personal goals for developing yourself as an HMB fighter?
– At the age of 45, my goal is to find 50 Italian fighters stronger than me, who will represent our nation while I could devote more time to organizational part.
 

Personal “likes”

– What kind of sport do you practice except HMB?
– I am training in a strongman gym but the training is still aimed at medieval combat.

– Do you like traveling? What is your experience in traveling?
– Yes, a lot! And I’m satisfied that thanks to medieval fight I saw a lot of places that I could not have seen otherwise. There are still so many beautiful places to visit that I can’t pick one in particular.

– Do you like history? What period and what region are you interested in the most?
– Sure. Of course. The most interesting for me is the Italy in the XIV-XV century.

– What are the good historical locations for HMB tournaments in your country?
– This year we have tournaments in Torino, Pisa, Urbino and Rome, all cities with a long history.

HMBIA News express the gratitude to Antonio De Zio for the interesting and information-packed interview! We will continue acquainting you with candidates to Presidential and Vice-presidential posts and providing useful information about the upcoming elections.