Coney Island knight fights are the bloody, bruising real deal

A crowd gathers as two figures in full armor draw their swords. The one they call the Magic Knight reels back his weapon and smashes his foe’s helmet, metal pinging loudly off metal. He lands a kick to the shin before ramming his rival into a wall. Then he goes in for the kill, wrapping an arm between chain mail and helmet in a headlock that sends his adversary clanking to the ground, defeated.

The Magic Knight lives to fight another day.

This isn’t a scene from a book about medieval times — or even a scene at New Jersey’s Medieval Times. It’s just the latest addition to the long and colorful history of Coney Island attractions: live knight fighting, a weekly free exhibition where trained warriors clobber each other as if they’re vying for the Iron Throne.

These knights hail from the Armored Combat League, but instead of defending a castle, they’re waging war at Draft Barn Beach, a beer garden sitting next to a pirate ship ride and a go-kart track. Instead of the flags of kings and queens, banners for beer brands flap in the breeze. The edges of their axes, swords and maces are dulled, but they’re real steel, and the hits are wallops. Knights say taking a whack is like being lightly tackled. One knight’s errant swing of the ax takes a chunk out of a wooden table.

“At first, people are like, ‘Oh, this is live-action role playing, or Medieval Times,’ ” says Damion DiGrazia, 38, a former Merrill Lynch analyst who heads the league’s 15-member New York chapter. “Then they see us first connect, and they’re like, ‘This is real!’ Sparks fly. People come out [of the ring] with blood coming out of their helmets. There’s no choreography.”

One-on-one matches typically last three 45-second rounds — although suiting up can take up to 45 minutes, since the armor weighs between 60 and 100 pounds. Scoring is like Olympic wrestling: Points are awarded for solid hits with a weapon, disarming your opponent or knocking them to the ground. But in three- or four-person melee matches, it’s every knight for him or herself, and the combat continues until one sweaty champion is left standing.

Between rounds, audience members are invited to grab one of the wooden practice weapons and learn how to wield it like a true warrior. The chapter also offers free all-ages weekly classes at its Harlem practice space.

Long Islander Jon Ravilla, 28, was visiting Coney Island one recent week when the sign advertising ancient combat drew him away from the roller coasters and freak show. Before long, he and five friends were sitting on a table, beers in hand, cheering loudly for the night’s only female competitor, Chelsea Agnew. “Off with his head!” Ravilla yelled, surprising himself.

‘Sparks fly, people come out [of the ring] with blood coming out of their helmets.’

“I actually wasn’t expecting it to be so aggressive, but it’s pretty entertaining,” he tells The Post.

His friend Catalina Pacheco, 28, winced and cheered as a melee match sent bodies flying.

“When he just threw him on the floor, I did not expect that,” says Pacheco, a flight attendant who’s now considering taking up a sword herself. “It’s surprisingly more aggressive than I thought.”

The 7-year-old league combines mixed martial arts with ancient history and a dash of professional wrestling. The sport scratches an itch the competitors couldn’t get elsewhere: DiGrazia served in the Air Force, studied the Israeli martial art krav maga and ran ultra marathons before discovering the rush of full-contact fighting with weapons.

Orlando Mendez, 31 — aka the Magic Knight, because he also works as a professional magician — wrestled in high school but has always been drawn to the romantic world of medieval knights and fantasy. But you wouldn’t want to make fun of this to his face.

“I like to call us the alpha geeks,” he says. “We love playing board games and Dungeons and Dragons and role playing. But we also like to fight people.”

A handful of women participate, including Agnew, 24. She’s 5-foot-2, so she uses her stature to wear out her competitors and knock them off balance.

“It’s fun to see what this little body can pack a punch with,” says Agnew, who swaps armor for a princess dress in her day job as a kids’ entertainer.

The knights expect the league to keep growing, because, unlike 13th-century combat, they’re still just friends enjoying putting on a show in a bar at the beach.

“In what other sport can I go hit somebody in the head with an ax?” Mendez says, “And afterwards, just go, ‘Yo bro, you wanna get a beer over that ax hit?’ ”

Knight Fights are Saturdays at 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. throughout the summer at Draft Barn Beach, 3029 Stillwell Ave., Coney Island.

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