The members of the Armored Combat League attend Renaissance Fairs in various US states to demonstrate Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) to the eager crowds. HEMA involves real armor and historically accurate (though blunted) weapons. All the fights are full contact and no punches are pulled. Often the competitors are wearing over 100lbs of armor and padding and in this instance, fighting in the heat of the midday sun in New Mexico. It is not a sport for the feint of heart. In this image, a fighter awaits his next fight and takes the weight off by resting on the heavy metal bars that separate the fighters from the crowd.