Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Armored Combat, Cosplay, and Martial Arts Over the Next Three Weeks.

Hi Friends! Captain Zorikh here. I know it ha been a while since you have heard from me by this media, but if you have been following me on Facebook you know how crazy my life has been.

However, since I am through with a particular responsibility, I now have a more free schedule with which I can try to harness my energy and creativity to do something more personally meaningful and positively impactful on the world (that’s the plan anyway). One of those things is that I can get back to letting you all know when I will be making appearances in public entertainments spectacles, events, conventions, and other sorts of things.

With that in mind, who here likes Medieval Knight fighting? Martial arts? Comic books? Zombies? Cosplay? We got all that coming u in the next three weeks!

First, this Saturday, May 10th, GladiatorsNYC is doing its monthly second-Saturday exhibition of full contact medieval armored combat with steel weapons! This is the same kind of combat that I did at the Battle of the Nations and the IMCF world championships and about which I made a lot of videos on my New York Knights YouTube channel before the COVID shutdown. Now, with my various injuries, I don’t fight as often, but rather focus my energy in training new fighters, being a referee, and doing the announcing/MC work at these exhibitions and tournaments!

Being as this is in Central Park from 2-5 PM, it is a perfect opportunity to bring out a picnic blanket and basket, take some wine and cheese and a special someone or bunch of friends or whole family, and have a bucolically pleasurable time in the park watching men and women bash each other with steal weapons in full-contact glory, and observe me explaining all the action. If you are unfamiliar with what-all I am talking about, you can go to the Instagram page of Gladiators NYC to see highlights and get more information.
https://www.instagram.com/gladiatorsnyc/
 

The specific location is right outside the south-west corner of the Metropolitan Museum of art. Simply enter the park just north of 79th Street at 5th Ave, walk straight past the playground towards the tunnel under the bridge and look to your left. You should see a natural amphitheater on the left with several folks putting on armor or fighting in armor, depending on when exactly you get there.

I advise getting there early so you can get a good picnic spot. Next Saturday, May 17th, not only will there be knight fighting, there will also me legendary martial arts masters and celebrities, a karate tournament, zombies, a mini-comic con, and CAPTAIN ZORIKH’S COSPLAY OPEN at EXPO 19, a martial arts/pop culture convention at the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City!

I have been a guest at this convention several times in the past, introducing the medieval armored combat we do to the world of traditional martial arts. It was great watching the skilled masters observe full-contact, full-force fighting with weapons. Some of them took great glee in using steel weapons to strike us in our armor.

GladiatorsNYC will be bringing a small group of fighter to do a featured bout or two, display the armor, show the techniques, and answer questions.

Also, I will be bringing my famous costume contest to this event. So if you are a cosplay, costume enthusiast, or someone who loves to watch them strut their stuff come eon down! The prizes on the Table of Wonder will be there, as well as gift certificates to comic and costume shops and even some cash prizes! The winners will be chosen by the patented “Captain Z Applause-o-Meter” as usual. And the best part is that you can get discount tickets through the website by following this link:
https://square.link/u/yhcYsIBD 

These tickets are only $35, a $20 savings off the full price. There are also special VIP tickets at higher prices that allow early entry and the awards dinner that night, if such things interest you. For those tickets, and for more information about the overall event, go to:
https://www.facebook.com/share/1AQRwNMN2p/ 

For more information about the Cosplay Open, and to let me know that you are coming and, if competing in the Open, what costume/character you will bringing, go to the Facebook event page for the contest:
https://www.facebook.com/events/3976624952610289 

The address of Expo 19 is:
Golden Nugget Casino and Hotel
1201 Arctic Ave, Atlantic City, NJ 08401-4511

And finally, what’s happening in the third week from now (Saturday, May 23, to be precise) is the Armored League (the newest organization in the sport of full contact medieval armored combat, featuring GladiatorsNYC) is having an unlimited-weight tournament at the American Dream mall in East Rutherford, NJ! I would tell you more, but this message is long enough. I guess you will have to wait until next time!

Check out the Instagram page of the Armored League for highlights from their last two tournaments and links to more info about the American Dream tournament on May 23.
https://www.instagram.com/thearmoredleague/

 Onward and upward!