I participated in the World Championship in HMB Battle of the Nations-2014 as a member of the Authenticity Committee and authenticity marshal for the first time. Being authenticity marshal this year was a new experience for me. I do not think I can give advice to people willing to join the committee, I have to gain more experience first, but I can share my impressions.

For me, to be an authenticity marshal was a huge responsibility, as it was necessary to compare the quality of training of all the Championship participants remaining impartial. We had to ensure and improve the quality of the historical part of the HMB movement in general, and the HMB World Championship Battle of the Nations in particular.

Concerning the assessment of participants, it was a very difficult job! Being authenticity marshals, we had to ensure correspondence of historical costumes and armor.

In order to do a good job as authenticity marshal of Battle of the Nations Championship, I had to start working long before the beginning of the event. It was necessary to read a lot of sources concerning civil costumes and armor of the Championship participants. We also had to help new teams to understand the standards of authenticity in the HMB movement, make sure that everyone followed the authenticity rules, etc.

In addition, we had to remember HMB is sport, which meant that historical components had to go with sporting ones. That was necessary for the safety of the fighters, however, could not be an excuse for the use of inappropriate armor elements. From my point of view, these two aspects (authenticity and battles) should be taken together, otherwise we’ll have not historical medieval battles, but some other thing!

Only when our hard work is done, the results are made public, we can think about becoming good authenticity marshals! Authenticity marshal post at Battle of the Nations-2014 was a great experience for me. It helped me to understand many things that take place at the tournament. I was able to personally understand a lot of aspects of the competition, which I had not understood before and, as a result, I got a lot of ideas concerning increase in the level of authenticity at the Championship!

I would like to continue my work as authenticity marshal at the HMB World Championship Battle of the Nations-2015. I’m doing everything possible to make my dream come true.

Concerning experience… I think that you always lack it if we talk about such a large event as “Battle of the Nations”! There’s always room to develop!

Carola Sacchetti,
member of HMBIA Authenticity Committee,
authenticity marshal

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