Meet the Graoully Team – Metz Béhourd

Hic sunt Dracones – Here are the Dragons!

Origins and Early Days

Hello to the entire Buhurt community! We are the Graoully team from Metz Béhourd, a club founded in 2018 in eastern France, in the Moselle region. Our emblem proudly displays the colors of the city of Metz—black and white—with a dragon named Graoully. It all began more than six years ago when Adam Loys and Dorian Fages discovered Buhurt at the Saint-Dizier French Cup. From that moment, their goal was to become more than just fans: they decided to create a club in their region and build a team to compete.

At first, there were only a few of us training in one of our fighters’ garages. There were no competitions in sight—just soft sparring sessions and a slowly growing team while we acquired armor. Then COVID hit, but our freshly equipped fighters were undeterred, participating in tournaments held in Switzerland, Hungary, and Italy. These opportunities helped us gain international recognition and valuable experience. Later, we secured a permanent training venue and organized our very first French tournament in March 2022: the Metz Tournament.

Gradually, we started competing in French lists, going from unknown newcomers to securing 2nd place in the national ranking in 2023. Since then, we’ve been on the hunt for a new sports facility while restructuring our association for even greater ambitions.

Our Team Spirit and Key Players

We take pride in being a team with diverse and complementary roles. But of course, we do have our “veterans”—those who have been part of the Graoully adventure since the very beginning. Starting with our captain and runner, Adam Loys, whose impressive growth on the list speaks for itself. He’s also a dedicated leader and coach within our club.

Then there’s our versatile all-rounder FX, often serving as both a key fighter and a reliable coach. Among our newer members, we want to highlight Vin’s combativeness and steely mindset, the perseverance and enthusiasm of our young president Hector, and Florian’s finesse and vast experience. These personalities and roles are what give us strength and cohesion today.

And of course, none of this would be known without the hard work of our communications officers, Uranie and Ylane, or without our other fighters—whether training in soft kits or soon to be armored—who all contribute to our growing reputation.

The Meaning Behind "Graoully"

Just a quick reminder: our club’s official name is Metz Béhourd—simple and straightforward for anyone looking to find a club in the region.

As for “Graoully,” what better symbol for our identity than the legendary dragon that once terrorized the city of Metz in the 3rd century before being drowned in the Seille River by Bishop Saint-Clément? Our black and white colors come from the city’s coat of arms and flag, which date back to the 14th century.

Proudest Achievements

A tough question—and an even tougher choice! If we had to pick, our greatest achievement so far has been maintaining steady progress between 2022 and 2023, filled with incredible sporting and human experiences.

Highlights include the World Cup in Libušín (2023), where we placed 17th out of 48 teams and had members selected for the French national team. Other memorable events were our 3rd-place finish at the Way of Honor (2023), and our silver medal win at ZannekinFeest in 2022—our first ever in a French tournament! (Editor's addition: team recently took silver in alliance with Grimaldi Milites at tournament in Montby).

Challenges Faced and Overcome

Like many other teams, we faced significant challenges during the COVID pandemic. Our solution? Plenty of solo cardio training, followed by renewed teamwork—and virtual happy hours to keep our spirits up.

More recently, in 2023, we lost our “historic” training venue. But through perseverance and outreach, we managed to secure three different temporary training spaces while searching for a long-term location. The next step? Recruiting new talents to refresh our roster—just as crazy and committed as before!

Our Secret to Success

We believe there’s no magic formula—just hard work, a strong mindset, and solid team cohesion. Knowing each other’s strengths and tendencies on the list is key, as is studying other teams and adapting our strategy.

Individual preparation also matters—maintaining healthy habits ahead of tournaments. And on D-Day, it’s all about staying relaxed and focused until it’s time to step onto the list—because while we’re here to perform, we’re also here to enjoy ourselves (and laugh a lot)!

What Makes Us Unique

What sets us apart? Well, our music choices during tournaments certainly raise eyebrows—haha! But in truth, it’s our unwavering trust in one another and the cohesion of our team. Our greatest strength is our adaptability, no matter the situation.

Keeping the Morale High

To stay motivated and keep morale high—we eat, of course! More seriously, we make sure never to rest on our laurels. We create moments outside of sport, like our annual cohesion weekend, we talk passionately about Buhurt at medieval festivals, and we stay excited about upcoming tournaments—whether it’s challenging a legendary team (looking at you, White Company *kiss*) or dropping punchlines mid-fight.

Our secret weapons? Playing the Rocky theme first thing in the morning—and the rule that whoever hits the ground first buys the drinks. Trust us, that’s motivation enough!

What’s Next for Graoully?

This year, we aim to strengthen our ranks in both armored and soft categories. We want to properly welcome our new, fiery recruits into a decent training venue.

We plan to participate in several French tournaments and hopefully some international ones too—to help our newcomers grow. We’re also keen on exploring profight, a discipline we first tried in March 2023 and thoroughly enjoyed. Above all, we want to continue thriving alongside all the incredible French and international teams that have supported us since 2018.

How You Can Support Us

There are many ways to support our team: react to our posts on social media, come meet us and chat, sponsor us (yes, this is a hint!), or simply spread the word to anyone who might be interested. 😄

Thank you so much for this opportunity to appear on the Buhurt International page!

— The Graoully Team – Metz Béhourd