Joust in time… sport makes a comeback
While jousting is recognised among the oldest equestrian sports in the world, with origins dating back to the 10th century, a number of its modern day aficionados are have made a bold move to shake off some of the heritage they say has been holding it back as a 21st century sporting event.
To further an ambition to make jousting much more accessible as an equestrian discipline, Yorkshireman, stuntman and jouster Michael Collin is leading a campaign to overhaul the sport and establish grassroots teams.
Mike said: “It’s always been halted a little bit by the living history. It covers so many centuries it’s nearly impossible for everybody to get on the same page. We’re trying to take away some of that.”
At Full TIlt events he runs all competing riders have to pass a riding assessment and their horsemanship is marked at the end of the joust.
He said: “We urge people to learn as much horsemanship as they can and when you think you know it all, you’re probably only just getting started, so learn some more or a different discipline.
“Providing you can prove your armour is up to standard and safe you can compete.”
With helmets alone costing around £2,000 and breast plates more than £3,000, Mike, who organised of the UK’s first sport joust event on a farm near Alfreton in Derbyshire earlier this month said the war in Iran had driven the prices of steel to a record high.
He said: “The thing that hampers many people’s progress is the cost of purchasing armour. If we can get more people into the sport we can make the armour readily available, especially for training.
"You’re kind of at point of beg, borrowing and stealing and hoping someone has got some arms and legs that they don’t want any more. It’s not the best experience wearing armour – it’s still sheet metal attached to your body.”
Although English Heritage launched a campaign to get jousting made an Olympic sport several years ago, Mike said he would be thrilled to see it recognised alongside equestrian disciplines such as dressage on the sport’s greatest stage.
He said: “I’d love to see it get to the Olympics, even just as a test event.
"We’re aiming to operate more like the British Horse Society, British Showjumping and British Dressage, all sporting charities. Profitable companies cannot become Olympic sports and we’re not interested in the profit.”
Mike said the profile of followers of sport jousting had shifted significantly in recent years to people aged from their early twenties to forties.
Among those competing at the inaugural event Full Tilt Origins, were 12 jousters from around the world and four ‘rookies’ including Simon John, of Doncaster, who overcame competition from some experienced equestrians to triumph in the class riding 16.1hh cob Benson.
Simon said his son, James, 21, has acted as his squire at events, helping him get in and out of his armour, while his stepson Dan, 13, had assisted him at the Full Tilt tournament.
He said: “We have all grown up watching Knight’s Tale, El Cid and King Arthur. I want to be a knight in armour!”
He said wanting to joust had pushed him to markedly improve his horsemanship. Simon said: “When I was really young my mum took me to riding lessons, that was 45 years ago, and I didn’t really do anything after that. I had some lessons about ten years ago and joined a jousting group, Destria, where I did medieval re-enacting and I was asked to join the jousting group.
"I had to pick up my riding a lot. I learnt to ride skill at arms with a sword, chopping cabbages on posts and going down the tilt rail picking up rings and hitting the quintain [a rotating target]."
The tournament used Video Assistant Referee-type technology to review the scoring, where a hit on the shield counts for three points, a body shot two points and the head, arms or lance one point. Jousters who strike low blows or from the side are penalised.
Simon said: “When you joust all you can do is sit on your horse, ride down, present yourself as a good target so they can hit you – because you’re going to get hit no matter what – then you lower your lance and hit them on their shield.”
Asked whether he got scared when he saw someone charging towards him with a lance, Simon said: “No, I love it! The last three foot of the lance is balsa wood. Occasionally you’ll get a big thump, but when you’ve struck each other and come back round you’re both grinning from ear to ear. You can tell the horses genuinely like it. They’re ready to go.”