Axes and armour: Athletes fight in medieval combat arena for sport in N.B. [Video]

It’s midday on a recent Saturday in a quiet Sackville neighbourhood. You can hear the echoes of a small crowd chanting as heavy metal swords clash against armour.  

Hidden behind the gate of one of the homes on this street are dozens of vehicles, an audience seated on stands —facing a patch of gravel surrounded by wood rails — and what looks to be two medieval knights. 

Ryan Coombs had this combat stadium built in his backyard so that he and his team would have a place to train together and hold events. 

Coombs is the captain of the Moncton Marauders, a medieval combat team, and they’re hosting a buhurt tournament called the Eastern War Tide, with fighters from Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and even one from Maine here to test their steel and titanium against one another.