What is Glima?

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Glima is something we love in ULFLAG. Glima is a Scandinavian martial arts system used by the fearless Vikings. Strength wasn’t the only way to dominate your opponent even though the Vikings were famous for their strength and brute force. To advance their combat skills and dominate the battlefield, they developed a traditional martial art system that was implemented into their fighting practices. Glima is a full-contact “sport” or technique that uses strategic positioning and advanced hand and body placement to throw your opponent off the ground.

Our main martial arts: Viking Combat. We believe that shape was molded by the mindset of the Viking-age fighter: his warrior code. These unwritten beliefs were carried in his heart and guided his behavior in battle, as well as in everyday life. The sagas give us many examples of admired behavior and despised behavior that help to reveal that mindset. The eddic poetry, notably Hávamál, make that mindset even more clear. Many kinds of fighters appear in the sagas: heroes and cowards, bullies and berserkers. Many of them are capable fighters. They seem to be familiar with weapons and ready to use them effectively. These different kinds of fighters use their weapons in similar ways. They are direct, aggressive, efficient, and clever. They seize the initiative to take control of the fight. They do what is necessary to get the job done, when it is necessary to do it, using whatever tools are available. And so, they use clever and improvisational moves. They draw upon hidden weapons or reserve weapons as needed. They improvise weapons out of countless everyday objects that are at hand, using them in preference to conventional weapons at times when the improvised weapon has an advantage. They throw their weapons away, if that has an advantage. They use their weapons in unexpected ways

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