[April 12, 2017] Jousting is an old European martial sport originating sometime in the High Middle Ages1 and being popular among the Anglo-Norman knighthood because it showed courage, strength, endurance, and glory. Today it’s being revived and it is a manly endeavor. Some say it is accurately described as the world’s most dangerous sport in history.
Louis Zamperini, a Olympic runner and WWII hero, once said “there’s one thing you learn in sports; you don’t give up, you fight to the finish.” And so it is with full contact jousting, the participants never up or give in to their fears (they could be killed or maimed). Humans are driven toward the thrill of adventure and jousting is a sport that fulfills that innate desire we all have.
Are you the person who likes to watch games of sport? Or, are you one who likes to participate? I’m the latter; that internal drive explains my dislocated shoulder, strained ankle, and 12 stitches on my right foot, all the while playing combat football with a bunch of guys much younger and tougher than me. Those who participate in jousting are the same; they can’t just watch, they must be part of the game.
It must be noted that there are several types of jousting in the modern era that has been revived. Some of them are for show, but others like Full Metal Jousting or Full Contact Jousting don’t pull their punches; the matches are unscripted and unstaged. They are the closest thing to the original jousting favored by knights and have the same basic rules.2,3
The most famous casualty of jousting was King Henry II of France who died in 1559 after a lanced penetrated his visor and went into his temple.4 The fact is, jousting is dangerous and its recent growth in North America and Europe attests to the thrill of adventure it gives participants. Full contact jousting is an “ultra-macho” sport that is being transformed from a Renaissance-fair entertainment to an arena sport. Expect more growth.
For a full video of this growing extreme sport, you can see it on the History Channels series entitled Full Metal Jousting. Series 1, episode 1 can be seen here (History Channel video, 44.12 minutes): http://www.history.com/shows/full-metal-jousting/season-1/episode-1. For a shorter video see Knights of Valour: Full Contact Jousting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhcHNR-3R0Q (YouTube video, 2:39 minutes).
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- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jousting
- http://www.medievalists.net/2015/01/medieval-rules-jousting/
- http://medievalcostumesandgifts.com/medieval-blog/do-you-know-the-rules-of-medieval-jousting/