– When did the HMB start in Kyrgyzstan? How did it happen?
The HMB movement appared in 2001 in the “Lexar” club. The club was not officially registered, but the guys quickly mastered fencing and a year later already participated in tournaments in Astana.
After 2003, the movement merged with the movement of the role-players, the club “Lexar”has ceased to exist. It lastad till 2005, until a new club named “Black Guard” (named after the series of G. Cook’s novels), appeared. This club paid considerable attention to the manufacture of armor and the development of fencing. Historical Fencing, mainly, developed thanks to Sergin Sergey – ex member of the former “Lexar”club and the founder of the new club Solovyov Alexander, but HMB was not independent and was inseparable from the LARPG.
In 2008, the club received support of the City Center of Creativity for Schoolchildren “Kyrgyzstan Baldary”. The movement expanded, but in 2009 everything fell into decay due to the fact that many of it`s members did not see the prospects for development.
In 2009, Nikolai Potryasov began to lead the club. In 2010, there was some political problems in the country, and such things do not benefit the young sports movement. And at this time Nikolai decided to develop Historical Fencing, following the world trends, here they began to call such hobby “Historical Medieval Battles”.
 

“Guard” HMB-club was established in 2010 and until 2014 he was led by Potryasov. And since 2016 he is led by Bogdan Sbitnev. The club is an informal association of young people and attracts those who seek medieval romance about knights fighting in armor.

“Batyr” HMB-club was established and officially registered in 2015. There was organized an international festival in honor of the creation of the new club. The fighters from Kazakhstan, Russia and Germany came to participate in it. This club is engaged in the development of steppe subjects – sabers and swords are preferred for fencing.
 

– How many certified national and international marshals are there in your country?
Nikolai said that there are not so many marshals in Kyrgyzstan: “We have trouble with the marshals, it’s not so romantic and people prefer to fight. In general, we do not have international marshals yet.”
 

– How can you assess the level of the fighters skills in your country? Describe, please, with specific examples.
The problen is that only one fighter Alexander Erofeev is physically well prepared and ready for accomplishment, but he lacks experience in the tactics of mass battles. The rest of the fighters have different level of skills. At the moment I feel that i`m not in a good shape now. I was much better prepared for the “Blade of the Steppe” tournament in 2016 where I took third place in the Triathlon. But, in general, the level of fighters is growing.

– How many tournaments were held in 2017?
There was an internal tournament in the middle of summer and “Autumn of the Middle Ages” in mid-October 2017. Our fighters also took part in the festival “Bayan-Aul”, which was held near the city of Pavlodar. And there is a good tradition to attend all events in neighboring Almaty.
 

– Have you especially strong, outstanding fighters? Can you describe their successful fights? Perhaps you can tell about their combat technique, or some outstanding story from their HMB life?
There is one story about the combat with the “Bayard” HMB club in Almaty. When we organized our first HMB international festival, we were perfectly mashed by the guys from the “Bayard”, led by Artem Gershwald. And next year we met again at our festival. We performed well in duel battles, but the audience, as always, waited “5 vs 5″ buhurt. The first round – our team was terribly tired, because everyone of us participated in duels. So we lost 1: 0. The spectators were very disappointed because they supported us. And we had to win for our supporters. Our team fought with the last strength, we did everything possible to win. However, as a result, our club did not disappoint the audience and we won with a score of 1: 2.
 

– What happened in the HMB movement of Kyrgyzstan over the past year?
Perhaps, our movement is learning to work with all available partners.

– Do the HMB fighters of your country see that sport as a hobby, or as s serious sport?
To tell the truth you can counted on of one hand the who are serious about HMB sports. For the majority number of our athlets it’s a hobby. Personally, I`m trying to get serious fighter for my club.
 

The HMBIA News editorial office would like to thank Nikolai Potryasov and Alexander Priteev for the interview and the photo materials and wish them development, new tournaments and worthy opponents. We are can`t wait to see the national team of Kyrgyzstan at the World Championship of HMB “Battle of Nations”.