The New Zealand Axeplay Society

"And for this, let every man, noble of body and courage,naturally desire to exercise and make himself dexterous
in virtuous and honourable occupation, and principally in the noble feat of arms, that is to say in Axe-play..."

The New Zealand Axeplay Society (NZAS) is a group of like-minded people dedicated to the practice, research and revival of the noble art of the pollaxe as a modern sport. During the middles ages, the pollaxe was not only used in times of war, but in non-lethal tournaments, and in judical duels. It is the pollaxe's use in tournaments, ie sport, that we seek to revive.

The primary source for our research is a 15th Century Burgundian text, by author unknown, titled "Le Jeu de la Hache d'Armes", which is loosely translated to "Axeplay". Because the text is in a medieval french dialect, much of the terms we use in the society are modern french, even though we are not french ourselves. The text also claims that the techniques contained within it are also applicable to 'light lance, dagger, great sword and small sword'.

Our activities include training with "safe" pollaxes, researching period texts, physical research of techniques, and organising tournaments .

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