'We who are about to die.....'

With the bad weather outside training moves inside!

It isn’t just Roman Legion drills and education that is our focus. This summer we plan on putting on shows of Gladiatorial combat. Of course there are many obstacles that have been put in front of us. The main one being that we are not Gladiators. We have to learn everything in a relatively short amount of time (in fact, we only started last Summer!).

My main concern was always footwork. How did a Gladiator move around? An educated guess can be made my observing any, or all combat sports. Their footwork is different but they don’t casually walk due to lack of agility and balance. We decided to move similar to a boxer but with slight variations on the footwork.

Working on our foot work while sparring.

Of course we have an abundance of Legion kit. But we had nothing for Gladiator shows, aside from gladius (sword). Clothes, helmets, armour and weapons are not cheap; but we are slowly getting there!

Improvising safety kit to stop too many accidents too soon!

The training can be hard work and frustrating – it certainly is painful. We have all had injuries; however it makes the experience feel even more authentic. What is a Gladiator without a few cuts and bruises?

We hope to see you this summer for the games! Keep posted for more information!

A key element to becoming a gladiator was learning how to die well!