Mishka Shares His Passion for LARP, SCA, and HEMA

In this personal story, Mishka takes us through his many years of passion for medieval fantasy, sword fighting, and photography. From his first encounter with fantasy games and Olympic fencing to participation in LARP, SCA, and HEMA: every step brought new experiences and valuable friendships.

Nowadays, Mishka is more often behind the camera than on the battlefield with a sword. Through photography and videography, the fast movements, exciting moments, and personal victories within these communities are captured. In this way, new generations of fighters gain lasting memories of their own adventures.

Mishka: Hey friends, Mishka here! I’m newer to the community, but a LONG time LARPer and SCAdian. I just moved to the Netherlands, found out about CelticWebShop while looking for new places to source garb from, and got hooked on the content! I’m looking forward to being a regular contributor and member of the community.

I started my medieval fantasy journey when I was just a little kid, when my dad introduced me to the Baldur’s Gate I & II games. I grew up on those, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights, and other dungeon crawling fantasy games. When I was 14, I begged my parents to let me start fencing, as I was after ADVENTURE! That didn’t last very long, as the fights in Olympic fencing aren’t very cinematic, and all the technology and floppy blades disappointed me. At 19, I found the local LARP group (Amtgard) and started my journeys there. I quickly garnered a reputation as a complete goofball, and found myself at home with a bunch of like-minded nerds who just wanted to have fun and live out their medieval adventure dreams!

At 24 I found the local SCA group, and have been fencing with them on and off since. At 31 my wife and I joined a HEMA group, where she fences with the German Longsword and I specialize in sidesword and buckler.

I’ve met so many lifelong friends in the LARP, SCA, and HEMA communities, and have too many stories than I can recount here in a single blog post. Special love goes out to my beltline in Amtgard, a bunch of friendly folks who encourage me to do my best in all my endeavors, and support me when times are rough.

My passion, especially when it comes to sword combat, is photography. I am almost always with a camera in my hand, creating content for SCA, HEMA, and LARP organizations. I love nothing more than capturing a good action shot and designing promotional material for the organizations I’m with.

In mundane life, my wife and I run a combat sports photography business, so we’re very familiar with fast action and chaotic movement. I LOVE capturing the split second action that defines sword fighting, the misses by inches, the moment the point of a sword catches and the blade bends, or the look on somebody’s face as they realize they just won a tournament.

While I do take up the blade and fence occasionally myself, I much prefer to be behind the camera, capturing the deeds of others. When I was more active and fighting in tournaments, I had photos of me holding medals, photos of me before the matches, but never action shots DURING the fights. Now that my competitive days are behind me, I can focus on the next generation of LARPers, HEMA fighters, and SCAdians who are looking to make their names and adventures. With photography and videography, I can highlight those players, give them memories they can cherish for a lifetime!