This month we are recognizing Johny Porter, a longtime and well experienced fighter in the community. Cat Brooks, who was our most recent Fighter of the Month wanted to see Johny be featured in our lineup of fighters. Most recently, Johny brought home Gold from Buhurt Leage Cup and. His resume of fights and wins and his time in the SCA is worth the mention as well as his current efforts of finding a new team in the Seattle area, the Vagabonds!
| Notable Wins Info 3 time BOTN veteran on Iron Phoenix as USA 1 where we placed 6th in the world 3 years in a row. 2017-Barcelona Spain, 2018-Santa Severa Italy, 2019- Smederovo Serbia. Always fighting in mass battles too, that’s important to me. 2018 in Santa Severa I was the USA Sword and Buckler champion and represented the USA at BOTN. I got 5th place in Sword and Buckler, and at the end of the event was awarded 3rd best overall male fighter. I attended Buhurt Prime in Serbia on the only USA team to ever do so, where we beat the Russian team Bear Paw. With Dominus I traveled to England and defeated the legendary White Company, winning gold in 5v5 and middleweight profights at Mercia Cup. Won gold at the most recent, most competitive Carolina Carnage yet, again in 5v5 and Middleweight profights. Just this past April, Dominus and myself won the Buhurt League Cup in 5v5, and with only 6 fighters. Dozens of other minor tournament victories in duels, Buhurt, and profights over the years. I currently hold an undefeated profight record, and all accomplished without ever having a piece of armor made to fit me! |
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TRAINING FOR ARMORED COMBAT?
This is a bit of a trick question; fighting and training Buhurt has been almost 9 years, I started with Ursus at the age of 18 when I lived in California. However, my family has been participating in the SCA since its inception. My grandparents on my dad’s side were founders of the SCA along with their college roommates. So from a young age, armored combat was always around, my brothers and I were swinging sticks at each other before we could run! At some point in my teens I stepped back from the SCA and medievalism, and almost never came back to it. So in some sense I have been training in or around armored combat almost all my life.
DO YOU HAVE ANY BACKGROUND EXPERIENCE IN MARTIAL ARTS OR OTHER SPORTS?
Early on in life, it was just being outdoors, fighting with brothers. Around middle school age I started playing football, which I played off and on for the next few years. Freshman year of High School I found wrestling through some roundabout means. I was a bit of a punk and troublemaker in high school…Wound up on academic probation, athletic probation, and on the verge of being unable to compete in any extracurricular activities. The wrestling coach at Seoul American High School, Julian Harden, offered to let me wrestle and to watch over me while I was in trouble. That was a formative time in my life, learning to wrestle and control the body. Took two years to dabble in Track & Field in High School and ended up competing at a national level in the Pentathlon, I got second place. I loved wrestling, it definitely became the foundational learning for me to truly learn martial arts. Eventually I got into MMA, Kickboxing, and other combat sports as a safer alternative to picking fights and as a way to learn, and test myself in a controlled, but dangerous environment.
HOW DID YOU LEARN ABOUT ARMORED COMBAT AND WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO JOIN?
My dad was asked to join the original 29 US fighters that went to Poland in 2012, unfortunately he wasn’t able to attend. It did open my eyes to the world of Buhurt though, I remember watching the entire 2012 BOTN stream video and just loving the sport immediately. For a few years, I moved away from swordfighting, focused on other things. Until I moved to California, where I had the pleasure and privilege of working with Steve Schroeder, an American pioneer in the sport! We went to an Ursus practice one day, where I met Brand (Jeff Galli) and he is one of my closest friends and mentors to this day. From that day I was hooked, and the rest is history!
DO YOU REMEMBER HOW YOU FELT IN YOUR FIRST FIGHT? CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE EXPERIENCE?
Yes I remember feeling pretty confident, and then fighting against Matthew Creedican in a polearm duel and losing soundly. Certainly gave me some things to think about. In that match I also was borrowing a sugar loaf helmet and decided right afterwards that was not the helm for me. Fighting that day was exhausting in the Fresno heat, and I made the bold move of signing up for nearly every category. In my last sword and shield duel, it was only the intense words of motivation from Steve Schroeder that got me up and fighting in the final round.
WHAT IS YOUR PREFERRED WEAPON? DO YOU HAVE A PARTICULAR FAVORITE?
A perfectly balanced sword is a thing of beauty, but lately I’ve been developing the hatchet style. People told me for a while: hatchets won’t work in profights, and I took that personally. Part of my philosophy is to be proficient in all weapon forms, and to maintain a base level of skill across those styles. My favorite weapon is whatever is most ideal at the time. While I like certain individual weapons for their physical quality, I don’t have a strict favorite type.
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY ARE SOME POSITIVE ASPECTS THAT COME FROM THE SPORT?
Far too many to list here and do them all justice. This sport is a gateway to whatever experiences you want, you just have to seek them out. That doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have to work extra hard; you’ll only have to work as hard as you want to in order to achieve your personal goals. Want to meet new friends, enjoy an amazing sport, and have fun? Join the local crew, and you will have an awesome time playing, practicing, and partying together. Community is an underrated aspect of Buhurt, it really does attract some of the most wonderful people, and getting to meet them is a treat. An older MMA fighter once said “You cannot tell lies in the Octagon” and that applies to Buhurt; it will reveal deep truths about a person that simply cannot be hidden in the crucible of combat. Your spirit will show itself for what it is, and kindred spirits will respond to that energy.
Traveling around the world is also important for anyone to try and do, this sport gives you a reason to go to new places and meet new people. Fighting is a fast track to respect and often friendship comes after intense competition, where fighters earn each other’s respect with action. Sharing stories, culture, and the love of a shared sport is such a natural way to connect with your fellow humans. Buhurt is an open society in some ways, so not necessarily all people within our sphere are good per se. Yet I have found an uncommonly high percentage of good natured individuals, genuine folks, and kind souls within our sport that the bad apples tend to be weeded out.
The merits of Buhurt could be expounded on for many hours. It gives us a chance to relive something ancient that is stored deep inside some of us. Stirring of the blood when a sword is in hand, when fists fly, and when you step on the field with your brethren. Undertaking difficult tasks for little to no reward, other than the satisfaction of a battle well fought. It’s the feeling of picking up a stick in the woods and suddenly you’re a knight in armor. It’s the trust you place in your team, and that profound sense of awe when you realize they trust you as well. Without a doubt some of the most incredible moments of my life have been within this sport, surrounded by my battle brothers and sisters, it has made me a better human being. That is the greatest aspect of this sport.
WHAT IS YOUR FIGHTING STYLE – IF YOU HAVE ONE?
My style is aggressive, with shifting footwork, and heavy combinations that mix grappling with strikes. Another part of my philosophy is to always adapt, grow, and incorporate new information as I grow and the sport grows. Seasons change, and if you don’t adjust accordingly you’ll be rapidly left behind. Another way to think of styles in a sport or game is to break it down to development systems. How do you progress your own skill tree? This is a sliding scale metric, but in pro Esports they have two terms which apply to most activities: Honer and Innovator. Honers develop their skill set to the farthest degree possible within a certain scope, usually staying within whatever the current meta is. Innovators look to add new variety and tactics into a given meta, and change the current meta with new information. To be truly great you must have a balance of both skills, my style tends to fall more on the innovator side of the equation.
DO YOU THINK FIGHTING CHANGES WHO YOU ARE AS A PERSON? HOW HAS IT AFFECTED YOU PERSONALLY?
Yes, I have been hit in the head a lot. If not for that I’d be a millionaire. Aside from that, it hasn’t necessarily changed me as a human, not in the grandest sense. What it has done is help me refine the person I would like to be, develop the needed skills for a worthwhile character in the game of life. Musashi also once wrote “A sword is not just a weapon, it should be an answer to all of life’s questions.” Taken literally, that sounds ascetic and simple. Digging deeper we find the truth in it that is so apparent to any practitioner of combat arts. Fighting is all about self awareness, if you cannot appraise yourself, how will you ever know your position in life or on the battlefield? Warrior mentality is not a thing to take time off from, whether in rest, work, or play you must remain true to yourself. When you prepare to fight, your mind knows whether you have put in the effort to deserve victory, you know whether or not to believe in yourself fully. Confidence comes from knowing that you remain dedicated to your own sense of purpose, competently preparing to overcome any challenge you may face on the road to your goal. That applies to life far more than just Buhurt or any sport. Fix your eyes ahead on your chosen path, and walk it without straying or turning back.
WHAT WOULD YOUR ADVICE BE FOR NEW PEOPLE INTERESTED IN THE SPORT?
Main piece of advice is to take up basic fitness; plyometrics and light weights to start out. Work your way towards high rep, interval workouts, with some strength training mixed in a few times a week. Look into how combat athletes train, this is a combat sport. Find a source of knowledge near you. Whether it’s a local Buhurt team, MMA gym, or even a single veteran of the sport, find some people who can elevate your game. Even the best can only get so far training entirely alone, we need different perspectives, and we need people to push us past our plateaus. Once you have a solid fitness base, begin training in armor with experienced fighters, and try to do it regularly. Armor time is the only thing to get you good in armor. Overall just be open to something new, and take the chance to advance up a new mountain in life!
WHAT DO YOU LOOK FORWARD TO FOR THE FUTURE OF ARMORED COMBAT SPORTS?
I look forward to devastating my opponents in a loving and violent manner, with respect. Across the globe we’re in a new era of the sport, and it’s beautiful to watch. Someday I would like to see the USA win every melee, duels, and profight category on the world championship level. While we wait for the next major worldwide tournament, the USA must continue to grow as a collective. Hopefully in some small way I can help contribute to that dream.
ANY FINAL WORDS YOU WANTED TO MENTION?
I love sword fighting so much that I could cry, and I often have over it; in defeat, in victory, sometimes even in remembrance. Some of my best friends have been met through this sport, thank you: Matthew Creedican, Colin Campbell, Daniel and MIcah Krug, Craig Ivey, and many more. Thank you all for giving me the opportunity to grow as a man, among purehearted warriors. Sometimes life is hard, things make me sad, and it becomes difficult to enjoy the experiences.. That’s when the time is right for remembering, I am reminded of the joy that comes from knowing someone out there cares about me, just because they want to. So many people have poured energy into me and the only way to repay them is to keep pushing forward, ever bettering myself and the world around me. Thank you all for loving me. Especially my one true traveling companion, my sun and moon, my beloved Helena. Making connections with other people is one of the greatest joys in life, Buhurt can be a means to that end. Much love.
With that, I’ll leave off with a quote from my favorite musical, Les Miserables:
“To love another person is to see the face of god.”
