TULSA, Okla. — Several live action role playing (LARP) groups gathered in midtown Tulsa to test their mettle at Whiteside Park, near 41st and Yale.

Nathan Trim, who fights under the name “Natred,” was at the event. He said one group hosted the event and several others groups and organizations were brought in.

The Kingdom Of Broknarra, Apocryphan Empire Dagorhir was the hosting group and their Facebook page says they are a ‘Dagorhir fighting’ group.

“It is a full contact fighting game, it falls under the umbrella of LARP, live action role playing. The main difference for us out here, what we do in Tulsa primarily, is there’s not a huge emphasis on the ‘lightning bolt! I throw a spell at you’,” said Natred.

Natred said he calls it, “fake sword fighting.”

“I call it fake sword fighting, at the end of the day we’re all slinging fake swords at the each other,” Natred said.

Even if the swords are fake, the injuries they can cause are very real.

“One of the hardest things to explain to people, who come from higher contact sports, is that this is still a full contact game. I’ve watched multiple people go to hospital, I’ve seen teeth get lost, I’ve broke two fingers, had two concussions out here, and the running joke is ‘that’s why you sign a waiver’,” Natred said.

“Because even though we try our best to make things safe...people run into each other, people grapple each other, we have a lot of nerds who aren’t good at wrestling trying to wrestle, things happen,” he continued.

Even though there is risk, Natred said it can actually help create camaraderie. He also said he’s been involved in the scene for nearly 20 years and loves the competitive aspect.

“If I didn’t have this, I don’t know how else I’d get this feeling in my adult life.”

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