'I love the chaos' - bride's medieval wedding sparks drive for all-female combat team

Steel crashes against steel as Jasmine Ironborne drives her sword into an opponent's armour.

This is not theatre or re-enactment, it's hand-to-hand medieval combat and it's something she discovered at her own wedding.

She loves the chaotic group fights, but enjoys the technical side of duelling too and, as one of the only women in Medieval Combat Wales, Jasmine often has to join other teams, but is determined to change this and build Wales' own female team.

"Other teams are flourishing because they already have an established women's team. So when they show up, it's a room full of women and it's a different environment," she said.

Jasmine, 36, and her husband Ethan, 36, from Cardiff, have always been interested in medieval history and fantasy, so it seemed like a natural choice for their wedding theme.

Having been pointed towards Medieval Combat Wales by a medieval re-enactment group, Jasmine believed she was booking just that.

However, the group of knights who arrived at the ceremony suited up in armour were in fact experts in hand-to-hand combat, also known as Buhurt, which is modelled on 13th to 15th Century warfare.

"Everyone's minds were completely blown by it. After the wedding, I thought, 'you know what, I really want to do this'," she said.

Two weeks later she turned up to training and the rest, as they say, is history.

When she joined, there were about four people at training. Over the years more men have joined and a men's team was formed.

For the first time, the men's team will represent Wales at the International Medieval Combat Federation (IMCF) World Championship in Denmark.

But with so much heavy kit to transport, the team are fundraising to cover the costs of getting to the competition.

While the group meets weekly in Pontypridd, groups in north and west Wales have also been launched.

Men and women can train together, but mixed groups for competitions are not allowed.

This means female members have to represent other areas' women's teams, something they hope to change, said Kaine Stuart, the group's vice-captain.

The fights may look brutal, but they are tightly controlled. Strikes to the neck, knees and groin are banned, and every fighter is checked before entering the arena.

Dai Watkins, president and captain of the group, added that weapons with spikes are not allowed, and all weapons must be blunt.

The idea is to get the opponent to the ground, and then they are out.

Kaine said: "If you're fighting in a real medieval battle and you're in armour, if you've hit the ground, the odds are you in a pretty much a position where you're not coming back from."

Dai said his favourite move was the leg sweep as "the weight of the armour wants to take you down anyway".

He added that he liked to get himself ready for the fights by hitting himself on the head - while wearing his helmet - with his axe, "just to wake myself up a little bit".

While personal armour can cost thousands of pounds, the group's members help overcome this barrier for those starting out by sharing their own.

This is the same with weapons, from maces and axes to swords, every team member has their favourite.

Jasmine said the sense of community within the team has kept her coming back, but - on the surface - "a room full of blokes all smacking each other as hard as they possibly can with foam weapons" can look intimidating which she thinks has put other women off in the past.

To combat this, Jasmine is starting a weekly women's beginner session to encourage more people to get invovled.

"It's hard getting the ball rolling, you need like a few women to make everyone feel comfortable and not like 'oh God, I'm going to get smacked by a 6ft bloke'. It's not like that."

Jasmine borrowed Dai's armour for about a year, despite it being too big, before buying her own bespoke armour for about £1,000.

Weighing about 110lb (50kg) it makes every step, swing and fall a test of endurance and skill, but training in it regularly means she hardly notices.

Adrenaline also helps Jasmine concentrate on the battle at hand, she said.

Despite the cost, she said that people looking to get into the sport begin without armour and can get second-hand armour from club Facebook groups when they want.

Jasmine's weapon of choice? A sword and buckler, a small shield: "It tends to be the favourite of smaller people because it's fast."

There are many different types of battling, but Jasmine likes duelling because "it is about the technique".

However group fights are her favourite as they are "more chaotic and fun".

"It's not points based, it doesn't really matter about the technique so much as just trying to get your opponent down."

She said wearing the armour means she does not feel it when she is hit.

Jasmine has fought in many competitions over the years, but she said her favourite moment was when she stood in for another competitor last minute at the Saturday Knight Fight in 2024.

Initially, she said she did not feel ready, but after the Knight marshal said she could tap out at any point, she was persuaded.

Walking out into the cage to Cassyette's 'Like That', Jasmine felt like a wrestler, she said.

"I lost," she said. "But I had the most fun."