From my experience, balance and grip matter way more than I first thought. When I started, I picked a shield mostly by looks, but after a season of bruised arms, I realized I needed something more practical. I spent a lot of time reading and comparing different medieval shields, and one resource that really helped me was https://medievalextreme.com/  because it explains how historical designs were adapted for modern combat without overdoing it. After switching to a slightly lighter but reinforced shield, my stamina improved a lot, especially in longer bouts. It didn’t make me invincible, of course, but it felt more natural to move and react, which is huge during intense exchanges.

Just browsing through this topic out of curiosity. I’m not involved in full-contact fighting myself, but I’ve been to a few reenactment festivals and it’s always interesting to see how much thought goes into equipment choices. Even as a spectator, you can tell when someone is comfortable with their gear versus when they’re struggling with it. Threads like this are actually pretty informative, even for people who are just casually interested in medieval history and combat sports.