Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Bond.
Emily, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My name is Emily Bond, I am the Captain of a Buhurt amateur sports team known as the Knightingales.
I honestly don’t know how I ended up being the captain of a womans armored combat team, I saw something good, but broken, and I wanted to fix it.
My dad was Army and so we lived all over the place. One of those places was Germany for 3 years and I just remember the castles, knights, and armor. In the US we don’t really have that kind of history, so it really stuck in my brain. I was fascinated by all of it.
After that I lived in several states and ended up settling in Michigan where I’m from in the upper peninsula. In 2019 I got some pretty extreme frost bite, and I needed to move to a warmer climate, I had family in Utah and so, here I am.
In 2020 I saw my first bit of armored combat at Utah Ren Fest in Ogden and I was there just taking pictures. I had no interest in fighting, which is pretty funny now. In 2022 my partner at the time and I went back to Utah Ren fest and saw the same group fighting and he really wanted to get involved so I said, “go for it.” I really had no intention of fighting still. The plan was just to support him. I ended up going with him to another renaissance faire in Montana and one of the female fighters told me that I ‘had a good body for the sport,’ I was sold, I wanted to be a fighter.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I would say the road has not been smooth. When I started on the Salt Lake City Crusaders team there wasn’t a large female presence as far as fighters, I was unhealthy, I was coming out of my 3rd run with pneumonia and my lungs were a mess, my job wouldn’t allow me the time or money to make practices, buy equipment, or travel. I was starting over still in a new state and with covid happening right as I got to Utah I was hindered in trying to make a lot of positive moves.
I had to face down some personal demons, and personal attacks from others. There were a lot of people who seemed to doubt what my vision was for the future of women in Buhurt could be, and if they didn’t doubt my vision, they doubted I would be the one to pull it off.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I run a sports team, is the short answer. I need to specialize in every aspect of team management. This includes people, merchandise, relations with other teams, staying updated on rules, travel, member retention, financials, event planning, training, coaching, equipment procurement, basic blacksmithing, marketing, website management, socials, and basically anything that comes up outside of those items.
The Knightingales are known for being a large woman’s team in our sport with 20-25 active fighters. We post videos, fight at renaissance fairs, and we are starting competitions this year.
Picking something I am most proud of is hard, but I think it falls in perfectly with what sets us apart from others. I really wanted to build a community for women. Often before we had officially started the Knightingales I would ask women, “what’s holding you back if you want to do this so badly?” A lot of the time the answer was that they had to watch their kids, they were intimidated, they were worried about having to invest a lot of money, or that they weren’t confident in themselves. Another thing I heard a lot was they were coming out of a bad situation, or had some trauma in their life that made them feel like they weren’t strong enough.
What I did was take that information and build a place that parents can have their kids around, no cost just show up, I tell them my own story and how I grew into confidence and healed through this sport. Then I tell them I can teach them a way to drop me to the ground in 45 seconds because they are already stronger than they think. Usually, they don’t believe me and then they do it. It’s a super cool moment every time because you get to see another person grow right in front of you.
I think one of my fighters said it perfectly that I give my people space to be, “unapologetically themselves.” I couldn’t ask for anything to be prouder of.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
When I was living in Michigan I went for a walk with my oldest brother at night. There was this fishing pond that was separated by a wide path in the middle. We decided to build a fire and just sit and talk about everything and anything. It was one of those nights where time wasn’t a worry in the slightest. While we were sitting there, and the fire was kind dying out the whole sky lit up in greens and purples. The northern lights are seriously beautiful. We sat and watched the lights for over an hour dancing across the sky and reflecting off the water. It was so peaceful. I think back to that night a lot. It’s something that I wish everyone would get to experience at least once.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://knightingales-ut.square.site/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knightingales.ut
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/knightingales.ut
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Knightingales_UT
- Other: https://linktr.ee/KNIGHTINGALESARMOREDCOMBAT
Image Credits
Janessa Bowen
Taylor Trujillo
Eive Christiansen
