Dustin moved up to New England towards the end of last year to join the lineup of instructor for The Knights Hall alongside with his fiance, who is also an instructor for The Knights Hall women dedicated classes. As a fighter and Hall student, I have been thoroughly impressed with Dustin’s insights and expertise in fitness and can confidently say he has been doing a fabulous job instructing his classes. Dustin also impresses me as a fighter for his powerful flanking skills. Also, l am not the only one to think Dustin has a great laugh. For his fighting and insightful wellness/fitness skills I felt Dustin deserved the spotlight for September.
Credit: Danielle Sanders
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TRAINING FOR ARMORED COMBAT?
I’ve been training for five or six years. My first event was at a renaissance fair five years ago in Sonora, California but I had been training for a chunk of time before that.
DO YOU HAVE ANY BACKGROUND EXPERIENCE IN MARTIAL ARTS OR OTHER SPORTS?
Before I discovered armored combat I competed in Bodybuilding a couple times and had started training for Strongman so no martial training but just some physical training.
HOW DID YOU LEARN ABOUT ARMORED COMBAT AND WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO JOIN?
I found this sport via Vice’s documentary about Battle of the Nations (BOTN) and I made a post about “Seattle needs a steel fighting team right now!!” A friend of a friend saw the post and slid right into my DMs with the ominous message of “Show up to Gasworks park on Sunday” Turns out my area had a team for over 7 years from there it was history!
DO YOU REMEMBER HOW YOU FELT IN YOUR FIRST FIGHT? CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE EXPERIENCE?
My first half a year to a year was all just training, sometimes in steel kit, sometimes no armor and for that it all felt like a fun game I always lost. I was honestly frustrated I thought I sucked and was dreading competing…
But then I did my first tournament! It was an adrenaline rush and I just threw myself at my opponents with the intensity I had to use just to not die in practice and people kept dropping and rounds flew by. It was a huge confidence boost and BOOM I was hooked and I knew from that moment I’d be a lifer.
WHAT IS YOUR PREFERED WEAPON? DO YOU HAVE A PARTICULAR FAVORITE?
THEY’RE ALL SUCH GOOD BOIS HOW DO I CHOOOOOSE!?
I really love the flow of polearm, the bursts and lulls of longsword, the speed and calculation of arming sword and who doesn’t love the kickboxing, spacing and bone crunching of a falchion and shield knight fight!?
It’s my personal quest to be skillful with anything that gets put in my hand and I train hard to make it a reality.
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY ARE SOME POSITIVE ASPECTS THAT COME FROM THE SPORT?
The big obvious ones are the camaraderie and community being full of wonderful people who will jump in the ring to knock your lights out but then hangout to buy you dinner later, or the armor work parties where we all help everyone get their armor safe and repaired along with the million things that friends do for each other.
I also personally love seeing the amount of Nerodivergent nerds that pooled all of our weird brains together to build and support all this. So many amazing ideas and so much passion for the things we love!
WHAT IS YOUR FIGHTING STYLE – IF YOU HAVE ONE?
When I started my fighting style was “be big at them” or “bonk more gooder than they do”
As I grew as a fighter I found a love in flanking, feinting, tricking and counter attacking quick, clever and sometimes unorthodox is my favorite way to fight.
DO YOU THINK FIGHTING CHANGES WHO YOU ARE AS A PERSON? HOW HAS IT AFFECTED YOU PERSONALLY?
It definitely can, for me it helped with self confidence a ton. I’ve always been extroverted and loved talking, etc. However, I was always a bit timid previously and very people pleasing with too much fear of what people thought about me. Since I developed my sense of purpose and physical confidence its let me be more comfy in my skin socially as well.
WHAT WOULD YOUR ADVICE BE FOR NEW PEOPLE INTERESTED IN THE SPORT?
Like the great profit Shia LeBouf once said.
JUST DO IT.
Seriously, not “when I get my first helm” or “when I can run a mile” or what other barrier you make for yourself.
Again this community is AMAZING they will help you prioritize what you need and help you attain it. They can start your training at whatever level, maybe lend you armor to try and so much more
MY ADVICE IS START RIGHT NOW.
WHAT DO YOU LOOK FORWARD TO FOR THE FUTURE OF ARMORED COMBAT SPORTS?
While I am excited for some more overseas events just for the adventure I am honestly very excited to have more large domestic events, ones that will draw a worldwide crowd!
ANY FINAL WORDS YOU WANTED TO MENTION?
Other than instructing directly at The Knights Hall I also do coaching over the internet: Nutrition and Workout plans as well as one on one video calls for training and questions. If you’re interested, message The Knights Hall on Facebook and ask for me!
I also stream video games over at Twitch.
If you have any interest in Horror games and dumb jokes or just want to hang out or ask questions about armored combat I’m there Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday from 10am to 3pm EST or later!
