Weekend Warriors: The Epic Battle Club at Virginia Tech
Several students at Virginia Tech
have put down their studies for foam-covered swords to engage in on-campus
swordfights.
The student fighters are all
members of The Epic Battle Club at Virginia Tech, also known as EBCAT.
The club began in the Galileo Engineering
Learning Community of Lee Hall in 2008. The learning community is geared toward
male engineering majors.
Zach Butler, a senior engineering
major and founding member, said he heard from friends in the community that
there were robots on the Drillfield.
“Being a bunch of engineering guys,
the first thing we thought was we had to save the Drillfield,” Butler said.
Unable to find anything on the
Drillfield, the students decided to use the foam swords, lightsabers, and dart
guns they had taken to battle the robots to fight among themselves.
The club has been in place since
the initial 2008 battle. EBCAT meets about once a week near the War Memorial
Chapel on the Drillfield to fight.
Combat rules for fights are simple:
combatants lose whatever appendage is hit. If a combatant’s arm is hit, they
can’t use that arm to wield their sword. A hit to the leg means the combatant
can only use the leg to shuffle. A hit to the torso eliminates the combatant
from play.
Butler, who also served as the
club’s president, said EBCAT follows what they call the “lightest touch”
system.
“Even if you get hit real soft, it
still counts as a hit,” Butler said.
Butler said combatants can strike
anywhere except for above the shoulders.
“Also no groin shots…for the safety
of our members,” Butler said.
EBCAT organizes types of fights ranging
from individual duels to team battles. The club also tries several theme
fights, including capture the flag and one game called “President.” In
“President,” one team is assigned to protect an unarmed player from attacks
from a second team.
“We pretty much do anything that
strikes our fancy,” Butler said.
Fighting styles vary for members of
the club. Juleyan Via, a sophomore engineering major, said better fighters can
diversify their fighting methods.
“Everybody has their strength they
play to,” Via said. “You may be good against so many people or a certain kind
of weapon, but you’re always going to find someone who’s going to be your
Achilles heel.”
Gavin Clendenin, a sophomore
engineering major, said he learned to fight with both hands.
“I found when I fight with my right
hand and I lose it (the sword), I’m at a severe disadvantage,” Clendenin said.
“I fought with my left hand on purpose, and now I’m an ambidextrous fighter.”
He added that the club previously
held training sessions for members to develop their technique.
Clendenin noted combatants plan out
strategies with their teams before starting battle.
“It’s much more than just wailing
on each other,” Clendenin said.
Michael Fisk, a freshman
engineering major and newer member, compared the fight experience to movies
like “Star Wars,” “Lord of the Rings,” and “Pirates of the Caribbean.” He said
his fighting style was still in development.
“I don’t have the finesse or speed
of a Jedi… I’m trying to get more of an Aragorn sort of thing,” Fisk said,
referring to the character from “Lord of the Rings.”
“His sword is huge, but he was able
to own people left and right.”
Many of the members create their
own foam swords.
To make his sword, Clendenin said
he took some camping foam, cut it into strips, and wrapped it around some PVC
pipe. Wrapping the pipe and foam in duct tape, he covered the items in a
stocking to create the finished product.
“The first time it was fairly
arduous,” Clendenin said. “I hadn’t had the experience with it.”
Butler said for many members, the
swords represent their creative expression.
“It’s a lot of fun making these, so
you can tell the people who enjoy spending a lot of time building these
weapons,” Butler said.
Butler said he had crafted several
foam swords and a custom shield for club fights.
The challenge for the club down the
road is attracting new members. In addition to the club running a group on
Facebook, Clendenin said he and a few other members organized a fight on the
Drillfield close to paths students use to walk to class. Clendenin said the
fight recruited four or five new members.
“All it takes is a little bit of
advertising,” Clendenin said.
