I have only good of heard things about Vince from fighters in the New York/New Jersey area, and having met him in person a few times at events I find him to be a very humble, down to earth individual. He fights well dueling in great sword (which I have tried once and love/hated it) and is a team player when in the list for melee matches.
We can all come to the agreement Covid-19 screwed up many of our fighting plans and impacted our lives inside and outside of the community. For Vince though, the virus would try to claim everything from him.
In April of 2020, Vince was diagnosed with Covid-19 and pneumonia. More than half of his right lung was destroyed by an abscess caused by it. The virus attacked his heart, and in July he had to undergo a heart transplant. Vince was kept in the ICU from April until the end of July, and during this scary moment he lost about 75-80lbs of mostly lean mass. Despite the challenge during and post Covid/surgery, Vince jumped back into armor on July 9, 2021.
His journey since then is truly inspiring.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TRAINING FOR ARMORED COMBAT?
I wanna say I’ve been doing this for 5 years, but to be fair, 2020 was a complete wash, so let’s settle with 4.
DO YOU HAVE ANY BACKGROUND EXPERIENCE IN MARTIAL ARTS OR OTHER SPORTS?
Sport wise, I was always into strongman lifting. Even as a little kid, I’d remember watching “World’s strongest man” on ESPN 2 with my dad and being like “THAT’S WHAT I WANNA BE.” I threw shotput like the Trunchbull too, go figure. I may not be a giant, but I’m denser than a fine pound cake, so I’m thankful for that.
As far as combat sports? Uh. I basically used to just get into a lot of fights? I wasn’t a good person for a wayyyyyy too long amount of time.
HOW DID YOU LEARN ABOUT ARMORED COMBAT AND WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO JOIN?
It was a video on Facebook. I’ve always been into fantasy stuff growing up and a friend sent me a link and was like: “I could see you doing this.” Guess what? I could see myself doing it too! Near the end of the video I was expecting this to be a sport in like, Latvia or something but it was RIGHT in New York City, which I’m like, 30 minutes from. I knew I had to try.
DO YOU REMEMBER HOW YOU FELT IN YOUR FIRST FIGHT? CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE EXPERIENCE?
Well, at the time the school did not have a ton of equipment; most of everything worked to an extent except for this Sallet helm which was all but universally hated at the school. I had a two handed mace; I had wished it was heavier just because I didn’t know the weapon weight rules at the time; going in I just wanted to use the heaviest weapon possible, which at the time was just an axe.
The match was kinda a blur. Everyone’s first match is much more adrenaline based than anything I think. I remember the smell of it; it was of rust, sweat and faintly of ozone. I lost, but man, did I wanna try again. And again. And again.
WHAT IS YOUR PREFERRED WEAPON? DO YOU HAVE A PARTICULAR FAVORITE?
Greatsword. Greatsword all day. I actually do BETTER fighting with other weapons, but oh my god, greatsword just resonates with me. I just remember trying various weapons on pells and being fairly lukewarm about it, then when I get my hands on a big-chopper and see the entire weighted pell shift over a few feet on a strike, and god. It makes my heart sing.
“But why don’t you use a two handed axe! It’s only a bit lighter and you can swing it faster/not tire yourself out as quickly!”
Because I don’t WANT to use a two handed axe, I WANT to use a big giant sword!
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY ARE SOME POSITIVE ASPECTS THAT COME FROM THE SPORT?
It really does set you up with a lot of like-minded weirdos to hang out with! And a lot of jerks too to be honest. Here’s the thing though! The ones who ARE jerks? You get to beat them up! So, it’s a win-win!
WHAT IS YOUR FIGHTING STYLE – IF YOU HAVE ONE?
I’m not, like, a well-rounded fighter. I fill a niche’ and I fill it well. That niche’ being “Big guy with big weapon hits things hard”. Whereas most fighters have the skillsets of a soldier to handle most situations, I’m just artillery. I find someone. I hit them as hard as I can as many times as I can. My diet consists mostly of crayons.
DO YOU THINK FIGHTING CHANGES WHO YOU ARE AS A PERSON? HOW HAS IT AFFECTED YOU PERSONALLY?
I believe so. I think it encourages you to push forward. Keep going. Keep training. Keep getting better. You have to make yourself harder to kill. You got a lotta people to fight, and some of them you really just wanna hammer into the ground. Anger is a great motivator. Any time I feel like I’m lazy, I need to remind myself that smashing machines aren’t made sitting on the couch.
WHAT WOULD YOUR ADVICE BE FOR NEW PEOPLE INTERESTED IN THE SPORT?
Check your ego at the door. Don’t underestimate anyone, but *fight everyone*. You’re gonna eat dirt, a lot; learn from it. Or don’t. I rarely do, but I trust you’re of sounder mind and not as dense as me. Invest in Excedrin.
WHAT DO YOU LOOK FORWARD TO FOR THE FUTURE OF ARMORED COMBAT SPORTS?
…Jetpacks?
ANY FINAL WORDS YOU WANTED TO MENTION?
I suppose. A few thoughts.
Be a good person, but fight like you aren’t.
Maybe you’ll try this out and be the best in this sport. I’ve met people who are.
Maybe you’ll try this out and never win a single match. Lord knows I’ve lost probably more than I’ve won. What matters is that you were at the gates of the arena when they opened, heard the roar explode inside of you, and by god, you went out there and fought like hell. And that’s what matters in the end.
Though it was from a relatively silly action movie, more often than not in life I find myself thinking of a quote from “Gladiator.”
“What we do in life echoes on in eternity.”
Thing is, you never know how much time you have left. For anything really. I know. So make it count. Make your story something great.
