- A new nonprofit in Bakersfield honors history through battle.
- Champions of Swords (COS) is a nonprofit based on historical recreation and education.
- COS hosted their first event, Rise of an Empire.
- They invite all to join their practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Riverwalk.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
It's the pre-17th century– a time of fight and family, glory and celebration.
Rob Childs describes the scene. “You’ve got the chivalry, you’ve got the courtly grace going on,” said Childs. “And at the same time, a little bit of the roguishness.”
That’s the environment Champions of Swords instills.
“We are a historical reenactment society that’s both educational and social,” said Panchali Mahadeviyar, the social media coordinator of Champions of Swords. “We do anything from the age of the sword with arts, sciences, and combat styles.”
Champions of Swords (COS) hosted their first event– Rise of an Empire, which drew in roughly 300 people and brought 12 vendors, such as The Silver Dragon.
Andrew Binning with The Silver Dragon said battle was his motivation to start the business.
“We wanted to go to war more often and we were starving college students at the time,” said Binning. “So we started a business to be able to pay for war.”
James Acton, CEO and founder of COS, said the nonprofit is dedicated to historical recreation and education.
“We had people fighting with steel weapons, with foam weapons, rattan weapons,” said Acton. “Hundreds of tents. It was a wonderful event.”
Although COS only started about a year ago, Acton said his passion sparked well before then.
“I was in the military in Germany. I came home one day, saw guys hitting each other with swords in armor. I’m a nerd. I was like, my god, I have to go and see what they’re doing. And I’ve been doing it for almost 30 years now,” said Acton.
And he is not alone.
Rob Childs said he’s been sword fighting for as long as he can remember, but he officially started in high school. His first coach was his English teacher.
“From there I started training in Olympic style fencing,” said Childs.
He continued to win multiple gold medals.
But eventually, Childs transitioned towards rapier– a weapon used in the Renaissance.
“Being in the military as I was, they would move me around to different countries, all over the United States. And every time I went somewhere, I would learn the local martial art of that area,” said Childs. “In Japan, I was learning naginata, obviously learning rapier as much as I could all over the United States, across the areas in Europe. And I would take that knowledge that either worked for me, made sense, or it just felt right. And I would add that into my repertoire.”
But you don’t have to be experienced in battle to get involved with COS. Acton said one of the main elements of COS is community.
“I had that brotherhood and family the military gives you. And when I got out of the service, I didn’t have that anymore,” said Acton. “And suddenly I found this super nerd group where everybody loves each other.”
Acton hopes the family continues to grow, especially in the Bakersfield community.
COS invites all to join their practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the River Walk .
For details on how to get involved, visit the Champions of Swords website .
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