Two local brothers will be heading to Spain in April to compete in the 2020 International Medieval Combat Federation World Championships.

The sport sees combatants clad in full plate armour fighting with varying blunted medieval weaponry.

Ryan and Warren Neilson will fight alongside fellow Canadians against other international teams, including USA, Russia, and Ukraine.

Warren says the sport is vastly different than others he's competed in.

"I used to play football, and I've done powerlifting, and heavy armoured combat is just completely different than anything I've done before. It's definitely a lot more personable with the crowd, the event, and with the other competitors even."

The pair qualified for the championships after taking home some gold at the Heavy Armoured Combat Sports Association's Winter Cup, which was held in Okotoks in January.

Warren says the event was well received.

"We didn't know how the crowd was going to react, because that was one of the first events of its kind like that in Canada, where it's just strictly based around heavy armoured combat, so seeing that kind of turnout and that kind of community coming out to see it, cheer us on, and be part of that event with us was really nice."

They'll be joined by President of HACSA, Richard Manns.

Warren says he's not feeling much pressure ahead of the international event.

"I'm still really new into the sport, I've only been doing it for about seven months now, actually. I'm looking forward to it as a really great learning experience. There's some jitters and stuff you get before a big event, but as far as pressure's concerned, not overly."

For more information on HACSA, click here.

Warren recently started a GoFundMe for the pair's travel expenses, which can be seen here.

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