The Company of the White Wolf, Yukon’s own medieval fighting group were treated to a night of craft refining.

Marcin Waszkielis, the reigning world champion in sword and shield fighting held court at the biathlon range on Grey Mountain Road where he shared tricks of the trade with 12 members of the Company of the White Wolf.

Waszkielis, who travelled from his home in Poland, has been playing the game for more than a decade and has taught workshops around the world, though this is his first time in Whitehorse.

“This is a really good opportunity,” said Land Pearson, President of the Company of the White Wolf, of Waszkielis.

“He’s at the top of his game, so it’s amazing for us to be able to get this up here in the Yukon.”

Their newness hasn’t affected their heart. The Company of the White Wolf is a small but dedicated group that loves to learn and share their sport with others.

Some members attended their first big tournament in Montreal earlier this year and followed it up by attending the world championships in Portugal a couple weeks ago.

Worlds was when Waszkielis won his title once again and Pearson said he felt like a little kid at an NHL game watching him fight.

During the workshop, Waszkielis had his students warm up first, moving the sword – pool noodle covered in duct tape – around, before moving into some sport-specific drills.

They practiced moved forward and back, side to side, all while having their sword and shield engaged.

Kyle Taylor, who has been playing for about a year said he hasn’t explored sword and shield very much, and is hoping to use the workshop to develop his skills more.

“The sport itself is quite fun,” he said. “I like the attitude that everyone here has. It’s awesome.”

Pearson, who attended worlds with the team, said the workshop is a good opportunity for him to learn how to teach skills to new members.

He said people don’t learn much “just watching us beat each other up.”

While the group is small, it continues to grow and being able to teach sport-specific techniques and skills will be important in the future.

Pearson is still riding high after worlds. He and the team had set some modest goals of winning a round, winning a match and they either matched them or blew them out of the water.

“I think we did great for a first-year team,” he said.

He was one round away from making it out of the pool and into the quarter-finals in a duel.

“We had to go just to learn what we need to learn,” said Pearson. “We can do this, we just need more time and experience.”

The Company of the White Wolf will be hosting its second tournament in July.

Last year they had all just started fighting in armor and shared the six suits between 12 people.

Some fighters from Alberta should be in attendance and a few more from around North America may also attend.

Pearson is hoping to double how many people they had last year.

The tournament runs July 2-3 at the biathlon range.

For those looking to improve their skills ahead of the tournament, Waszkielis will host one last workshop on Tuesday.