Lothar Helgisson spent Easter Sunday doing what he said he does almost every Sunday — fighting and teaching.

He strapped on his leather medieval combat gear — braces, helmet and self-made chest armor — grabbed his large shield and swordmade of Styrofoam and played Dagorhir.

After he was properly dressed, he showed newcomer Ester Shea the basics of combat.

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Shea, a John A. Logan College student studying sign language interpretation, said she got interested in the society because she has friends who participate in the activity at Evergreen Park.

Throughout the afternoon, Helgisson taught Shea the correct posture to engage in one-on-one sword combat and how to properly deflect attacks with a sword.

Dagorhir is a game played by two teams, which take opposite sides of a field and engage in combat until all of one team’s members are “dead.”

The game consists of safe full-contact combat and live-action role-playing experiences, or larping, with other devoted fighters.

Helgisson, vice president of the Medieval Combat Society of Southern Illinois, said Dagorhir is a lifestyle for him, and he doesn’t plan to give it up any time soon. He said his primary focus is to expand the group by teaching new people the game’s basics.

The Carbondale group is also part of a nationwide group called Blood Horde. Recruiting new group members and giving advice to Evergreen Park fighters is his passion is his passion, he said.

“I’m going to keep fighting until I’m unable to fight, and I’m going to be involved in this until I die,” he said.

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Living the Dagorhir lifestyle often means learning combat, Helgisson said, and he learned much of his technique from watching swordfighting movies such as “300,” “Troy” and“Gladiator.” He said he practices what he sees and eventually combines some of the movies’ fighting techniques to make his own style.

Helgisson said while he has experience playing other larping games such as Dungeons and Dragons, Dagorhir is unique because players create and compete as their own character. He said it beats just rolling an attack dice.

Another part of the society’s medieval combat experience is learning how to make gear and weapons from scratch. Helgisson said part of his job is to advise others how to make it — or to tell them where to buy it.

Shea said she hasn’t made her own gear yet, but she is interested in learning how. Instead, she practices with the group’s leftover weapons.

Bill McNelly, resident leader of the area’s Blood Horde group, said the more people who play Dagorhir in the future, the more fun it will be for all of them.

Like Helgisson, McNelly said he also has a passion for medieval fighting, and he has been fighting for about a decade.

He said he chose Helgisson as one of his Blood Horde commanders because of his experience.

“This is my life pretty much,” he said.