Dunedin residents enjoyed the clash of blades as as part of a medieval-themed family day at Otago Museum.
Sword fighting enthusiast Ashley Stewart, of Dunedin, was one of several duellists taking part in the event at the Museum Lawn yesterday.
As part of their exhibit he brought along copies of an illustrated German text from 1918, which showed many of the different combat moves used by the re-enactors, he said.
While the historical documents were a invaluable learning tool, they were intentionally hard to understand so that common folk could not pick them up and challenge the upper classes.
"We try to get as as accurate as to the time as we can," Mr Stewart said.
However, in the interests of safety, all their blades were blunt.
He had studied German techniques for the last 13 years, while his sparring partner David Mourra, of Wellington, had a background in Italian sword fighting.
Mr Stewart got involved with the sport after seeing a classified advertisement at the back of a newspaper.
Fortunately, he had joined at a time when another member of the group had been moving away, so he had been able to get much of his equipment for about $80.
The hobby was not cheap, and a new longsword could cost anywhere between $400-$800.
More expensive swords tended to be better at taking a beating, with cheaper swords at risk of snapping or chipping in the heat of battle.
Over the years he had received many bruises, which were the worst injury re-enactment sword fighters tended to get, he said.
His own worst injuries had been caused by his own clumsiness rather than in bouts of hand-to-hand combat.
Sword fighters learnt quickly which areas needed to be armoured up, which tended to be the head and hands.
Armour was expensive, so people tended to start off with the most important bits and build their collection up.
The unofficial and unnamed historical European martial arts group he belonged to in Dunedin met each Sunday, at the Otago University Students’ Association or at Robin Hood park, to go over manuscripts or practise their skills.
The group had a surplus of gear and was open to people coming along and trying it out, which was usually with wooden weapons for newcomers.
They aimed to make the group a place where everyone could learn to safely swing a sword.
"It stems from that childhood love of just picking up a stick and re-enacting your favourite movie scenes — and then realising you can actually do it," Mr Stewart said.
