Clacking, banging, screeching, groaning and grunting were the sounds heard through the open window in Lee Hills Hall at the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism this weekend. The skateboarders were out, trying stunts that sent their bodies flying one way and their skateboards in the opposite direction.
But as I set out to find these skateboarders, I realized that they had moved on.
Clacking, banging, screeching, groaning and grunting. As I looked up to follow the sound of what I thought was the return of the skateboarders, I found another group—carrying shields, axes and swords—gathered in Peace Park, across from our classroom in Lee Hills Hall. The medieval atmosphere made me more curious as to what they might be doing. As it turns out, they were playing a game, called Dagorhir.
Dagorhir, founded in 1977, is a full-contact combat simulation in which members dress the part and engage in a melee using a combination of handmade weapons. The sport is known throughout the country and has chapters in a number of states, mostly on college campuses.
Stephen Rawlings, 24, enjoys the sport and makes the weapons for the Stonewater Marches, a Dagorhir chapter in Columbia. “I was walking in the park, heard guys beating on each other and decided to join, Rawlings said. “I like to think of it as paintball, but with swords.”
Members of the Stonewater Marches meet every Saturday at 2 p.m. to practice and welcome anyone who wants to join the chapter.
Great article, except that I don't just make the weapons for Stonewater, I'm the chapter owner. This article implies that the chapter was here before I was and I decided to join it, when the opposite is true.
ReplyDeleteStephen