Height :

6'4"

Weight:

265

Age:

51

Years fighting in Buhurt/Armored Combat : 30 years armored combat and 15 years in buhurt

2012 HMB Battle of the Nations (Poland)

2012 Read into congressional record as first 29 members of the USA team

ACL Southwest Regional Commander from 2012-2020

2013 ACL Spring Nationals Gold 5vs5 (Striking Eagles)

2013 HMB Battle of thew Nations (France)

2014 ACL Spring Nationals Gold 5vs5 (Striking Eagles)

2014 IMCF World Championships Gold 5vs5 (last man standing) (Striking Eagles)

2014 IMCF World Championships Gold 16vs16

2014 ACL New World Cup Gold 5vs5 (Desert Demons)

2015 ACL Spring Nationals Gold 5vs5 (Striking Eagles)

2015 IMCF World Championships Bronze 5vs5 (Striking Eagles)

2015 IMCF World Championships Silver 16vs16

2015 ACL New World Cup Bronze 5vs5 (Desert Demons)

2015 ACL New World Cup Gold Long Sword

2016 ACL Spring Nationals Gold 5vs5 (Striking Eagles)

2016 IMCF World Championships Silver 5vs5 (Striking Eagles)

2016 IMCF World Championships Silver 16vs16

2016 ACL New World Cup Silver Long Sword

2016 ACL National Championship Gold Long Sword

2017 ACL Spring Nationals Gold 5vs5 (Striking Eagles)

2017 IMCF World Championships Silver 16vs16

2017 ACL National Championships Gold Long Sword

2018 ACL Spring Nationals Gold 5vs5 (Striking Eagles)

2018 IMCF World Championships Bronze 5vs5 (Striking Eagles)

2018 IMCF World Championships Gold 16vs16

2019 ACL National Championships Gold 5vs5 (Desert Demons)

2019 Knight Fight TV show Grand Champion

2021 Carolina Carnage Bronze 5vs5 (Ordo Draconis Alpha)

2021 Carolina Carnage Gold 12vs12

2022 HMB/BOTN Qualifier Bronze 5vs5 (Ordo Draconis Alpha)

2022 ACW National Championship Silver 5vs5 (Blood Eagles)

2023 Ventura MegaBowl Bronze 5vs5 (Blood Eagles)

2023 IMCF Aztec Challenge Bronze 5vs5 (Blanco Negros)

2023 IMCF Aztec Challenge Bronze 12vs12 (Blanco Negros)

2023 IMCF Qualifier Silver 5vs5 (Dominus)

2023 IMCF World Championship Gold 16vs16

2023 LA Golden Circle Pro Fight Champion vs Spencer Waddell Titan class

2024 Carolina Carnage Bronze 12vs12

2024 IMCF World Championship Gold 10 vs 10 (Dominus)

2024 IMCF World Championship Gold 16 vs 16

2024 Pacific Cup Gold 5 vs5 (Dominus)

2024 Rise of an Empire Silver 5 vs 5 (Soldados), Sword and Shield Bronze

2024 Pacific Cup Gold 5 vs 5 (Dominus)

2024 IMCF Qualifer Silver 5 vs 5 (Warlords)

2025 Carolina Carnage Tier 1 Gold 5 vs 5 (Dominus)

2025 Carolina Carnage Gold 12 vs 12 (Dominus/ Kynaz)

2025 Testudo Bellum Bronze 5 vs 5 (Blood Eagles)

2025 AMMA Pro fight vs Pete Moe victory in Super Heavy weight and Titan class

2025 Golden Ring V Profight Vs Grant Henrickson victory in Super Heavy Weight

2025 Ventura Mega Bowl Silver in 5 vs 5 (Blood Eagles)

2025 Buhurt International World Champioships Silver 12 vs 12

2025 IMCF World Championship Gold 5 vs 5 and 10 vs 10

2026 Carolina Carnage Tier 2 Silver 5 vs 5 (Ordo Draconis)

2026 IMCF Qualifier Gold 5 vs 5 (Soldados)

As a young child I watched shows like He-man, Thundar the Barbarian and movies like Conan. I was always drawn to the sword and battle. When I was 8 year old I found my 1st machete. It was as big as a sword to me and practiced daily. I had to learn all the Conan moves. Through my teenage years I lost interest in swords as there wasn’t a lot of opportunity to play with them. At the age of 19, I discovered the SCA (Society of Creative Anachronism) while playing some Dungeons and Dragons. The DM said to me “you know you can do this for real”. I said “what?” He said “wear armor and fighting.” That moment an obsession was born. I stopped playing other sports like volleyball and football and only did sword fighting. We would often sit around the camp fire and dream of traveling the world to fight.

In December 2011 the first United States buhurt team was formed to fight at the 2012 Battle of the Nations (BOTN) in Warsaw Poland. I had always played the SCA a lot rougher than most, so I was heavily encourage to go do this new sport- buhurt. I signed up right away and 5 months later we were fighting in Warsaw. While I was in no position to afford a sport that was based around heavy national and international competition, the opportunity could not be missed. I sold prized possessions and did many fund raisers to be there. The United States did horribly. We lost almost every round but were so excited to be there.

When we came back from Warsaw, I knew I was going to stay in the sport. So I asked to lead our region. From 2012 to 2019 I was the South West Regional commander for the ACL. The next year was BOTN in France. The event was fun but also difficult. One round Craig Ivey and I had was against Russia. In that round the event organizer was photographically caught holding the belt outside the list of a Russian fighter engaged with Craig Ivey. It is the thing that cause the formation of the IMCF (International Medieval Combat Federation).

In 2014 the first IMCF was held in Belmonte Spain. The US swept most of the medals and I helped earn two golds. For the next few years, I trained and fought domestically and internationally for many medals. In 2017 I was featured in a documentary done by Vice covering our IMCF world championships in Portugal. It was rough tourney as I was recovering from injuries but we still did well. This publicity lead to a call in 2018 to be the host of a new History Channel TV show. After filming the pilot, the studio couldn’t decide to make me a judge or a contestant. In the end I was a contestant and I became the grand champion winning $20K.

During covid we launched a local fight school called the Armored Academy of Arizona. It had taken almost 10 years but with the help of great partners that dream became a reality. The next year I teamed up with Ordo Draconis (out of San Diego) to earn a spot for the 2021 and 2022 world championships (both IMCF and BOTN) but those events didn’t happen.

A new style of fighting had emerged which included highly effective moves coming from multiple marshal art forms. I immediately went to the camps and studied these new forms. My primary fighting style was to strike people so hard that they fell down or quit. Often never swinging sword in a tournament, but only striking with a punch shield and D-ring falcion. It was hard to let go of a fighting style I had used for a decade. The next whole year I quit striking people entirely and only did throws/grappling to re-train my brain into other options. I then re-incorporated striking as an asset and not the primary fighting form. From there my performance exploded.

In 2023 all that hard work paid off with a revolution in fighting ability. While being in my late 40’s and much less energetic, my kill ratio continued to climb. I competed in tournaments and even revitalized my pro-fight career with winning the LA Golden Circle Profight against Spencer Wadell. I was then asked to join the renowned USA all star team Dominus. It took 2 ½ years of very hard work to reach that goal but absolutely worth it. Fighting with Dominus is the hardest and easiest thing I have done.

Over the last 13 years in Buhurt, I have seen all that it has to offer and I only want more. I wouldn’t trade that time for winning the lottery. With 7 world championship gold medals and numerous other awards, I consider my buhurt career far from over. Despite turning 50 years old soon, I have many more years of competition and camaraderie in my future.

Feedback and complaints

Tournaments

Tournament registration

William Major

Sydney City Marauders

Team

Australia

country

AC Status

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Buhurt

Categories

William O’Keeffe

Rat Pack

Team

United States

country

AC Status

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Buhurt, Dueling

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William Talon Walker

​

Team

United States

country

AC Status

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Buhurt, Dueling, Pro-Fight

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William Thomson

Canberra Burly Griffins

Team

Australia

country

AC Status

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Buhurt

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William Watts

Iron Wolves

Team

Denmark

country

AC Status

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Buhurt, Pro-Fight

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William Woodbury II

​

Team

United States

country

AC Status

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Buhurt, Dueling, Pro-Fight

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William venolia

Iron Alliance

Team

United States

country

AC Status

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Buhurt, Dueling

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Willum Tiley

ISCA

Team

United Kingdom

country

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Buhurt, Pro-Fight

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