Theron Posted May 2, 2011 Report Share Posted May 2, 2011 I attended a competitive jousting tournament this weekend and took a lot of pictures. I thought someone might get some inspiration out of them, so here's a link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21608192@N00/sets/72157626621369872/with/5676054332/ Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted May 2, 2011 Report Share Posted May 2, 2011 Re: Knights at Tournament: (Hopefully) Inspirational Photos Awesome! Although I've wondered at the sanity of people who do that in real life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted May 2, 2011 Report Share Posted May 2, 2011 Re: Knights at Tournament: (Hopefully) Inspirational Photos Awesome! Although I've wondered at the sanity of people who do that in real life. On foot or on horse? I did the former. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kraven Kor Posted May 2, 2011 Report Share Posted May 2, 2011 Re: Knights at Tournament: (Hopefully) Inspirational Photos Not (much) more insane than Rugby, Football, Hockey, etc. Getting severely mutilated while pursuing a pointless victory in a contrived game with "glory" as the primary reward is a time honored human tradition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted May 2, 2011 Report Share Posted May 2, 2011 Re: Knights at Tournament: (Hopefully) Inspirational Photos On foot or on horse? I did the former. On horse. Horses just seem to amplify the degree to which things can go wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted May 2, 2011 Report Share Posted May 2, 2011 Re: Knights at Tournament: (Hopefully) Inspirational Photos On horse. Horses just seem to amplify the degree to which things can go wrong. Which is why we kept to foot combat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theron Posted May 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2011 Re: Knights at Tournament: (Hopefully) Inspirational Photos A couple of observations: 1) Armour works. I really can't stress this enough. During the course of the day's events, there was one instance of a rider getting unhorsed (it happened in the melee). His armour prevented him from any serious hurt and he continued throughout the competition. 2) While the horses definitely up the danger factor, the fact that this was not a sport for novice riders meant that even the "squires" (the folks responsible for the safety of the participants) were very experienced. Also, the horses were very well trained for their tasks. Many riders had a separate mount for the melee and the joust. 3) The object of the jousting is to break lances on your opponent's shield, not to unhorse him. The lance tips are pre-cut so they will shatter on impact. In the dozen passes I saw, I observed only one lance impact that threatened to unseat a rider, and he recovered from it with no injury. 4) When I was in my teens, I worked for a polo club. I witnessed (sometimes at far too close a distance) far more equine-based danger there than I saw at the jousts.) (The game blog in my sig has a much more extensive write-up of the event, along with some gaming-based observations). All of the above having been said, there's no way in hell I'd ever try it. Even if I were twenty years younger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmadanNaBriona Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 Re: Knights at Tournament: (Hopefully) Inspirational Photos As it gains more recognition as an Extreme Sport, the number of serious jousting injuries I've seen has been decreasing, probably owing to increased training. That said, one of my old infantry guys used to be a jouster. He joined up with my troop after the physical rehab to relearn to walk... he was in a bout when the broken lance deflected down into his mount and spooked it, unseating him. He caught a foot in a stirrup on the way down and the torsion broke every major bone in his leg. And the tournament I went to in March lost one of the top contenders when he broke his skull halfway up the lists. Yeah, armor works. The lances are blunts and deliberately fragile. And it's still a pretty dangerous sport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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