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Amtgard! Battles Begin With Swords Of Foam

Tribune photo by MICHAEL SPOONEYBARGER

Gunther Alberger, 20, fires an arrow as groups from Tampa, St. Petersburg and Brooksville gather for some friendly fighting at Lowry Park on Sunday.

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By RICH SHOPES

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 28, 2008

TAMPA - Sarah Nieto quietly wades through a muddy, rain-swollen creek, climbs ashore opposite a foot bridge and, holding two foam-covered bamboo sticks, races across a marshy field to a spot behind a young man.

Thwack!

She smacks him from behind.

A battle ensues, foam swords flying. Three men who turn out to be teammates of the slain warrior challenge Nieto. She wages a valiant fight, but in the end - 10 seconds into the chaotic scene - she, too, is slain.

Oh, well. She has two lives left.

Hair dripping, her purple blouse and black skirt speckled in mud, the 18-year-old college student wouldn't have things any other way. She's smiling and trying to catch her breath at the same time.

Some weekends are meant for sports, some for getting together with friends and family. For supporters of Amtgard, a medieval warrior role-playing game, weekends are a time to whack friends and family with foam swords and spears and to shoot them with foam-tipped arrows.

"I like to run around to where people don't notice me and then slash them on the back," said Nieto, a third-year architecture student at Hillsborough Community College. "You have to be aware of your surroundings."

Sunday was a special get-together for Tampa Bay area Amtgard enthusiasts. Teams from Tampa, St. Petersburg and Brooksville gathered at Lowry Park for an annual battle.

The groups divided themselves into two teams of 20 and then took positions opposite a footbridge.

After a loud cry of "hajime" - a Japanese war cry - the battle ensued.

Some of the warriors raced across the footbridge, Nieto among them. Some circled through the woods. Another group crossed a footbridge about 40 yards south.

The fights were chaotic and short-lived. A maimed fighter can use his good arm until taking a fatal blow to the chest, back or to that good arm. If struck in the leg, the fighter must fight from his knees until killed.

Most of the fighters are college-age men, though a handful of women participate.

The weapons are mostly foam-covered bamboo. Some warriors, in addition to being swordsmen, are archers who shoot foam-tipped arrows.

"I think they're weird, but I guess we seem weird to them," said Lynn English of Tampa, who was attending a child's birthday party at a pavilion next to the action. The battle drew a few jaw-dropping stares from parkgoers.

Dressed in shorts and T-shirts, or shirtless, the rain-drenched combatants engaged in sword and spear fights for the better part of four hours, allowing for breaks to reorganize and snack on Mountain Dew, Pepsi, Doritos, brownies and bundt cake.

"There's no alcohol allowed. We're not an alcohol crowd," said Nieto, an Amtgard organizer for Tampa.

Amtgard started in 1983 in El Paso, Texas, and has chapters in every state except Hawaii, Kansas and South Carolina, according to Amtgardatlas.com.

The Tampa chapter, or Tetsu Bonzai, started about three years ago.

Peter Marotta, a graphic arts student at HCC, said that back then about 10 fighters, mostly HCC and University of South Florida students, showed up on Sundays to do battle. About 20 gather now, a smaller number on Tuesdays.

Marotta said he's keenly aware of the nerd label attached to Amtgard players, and he doesn't care. "As long as I'm having fun, I don't care what people think," he said, shrugging.

Nieto also shakes off the stereotypes. She said she's drawn to the games' camaraderie, strategy and physical nature. Her friends and family sometimes attend the events, though they don't take part.

"My mom just thinks it's silly, but as long as I'm not into drugs, she thinks it's OK."

The group meets at Lowry Park at 2 p.m. Sundays and 4 p.m. Tuesdays.

Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633 or rshopes@tampatrib .com.

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