Once a month, a bucolic corner of New York's Central Park becomes an impromptu battlefield as combatants in full medieval armor vie before picnickers and passersby, in a demonstration of brute strength and swordsmanship. Two teams of knights, the Gladiators NYC and the Northern Hoard, compete against each other: to win a round, each team has to put the other one to the ground, with the help of axes and weapons. "You all come together, you fight, you have a good time. Then after that you gather with the enemy team," explains Daniel, who came from Massachusetts to fight with his team. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES