Jousting, a word that brings to mind knights in shining armor and spirited war horses, prancing, rearing and charging. Knights galloping toward each other with lance and shield at the ready.

Today, jousting is all these things and more. America is experiencing a growing interest in "The Joust". It appears that several factors are creating this interest. Numerous Renaissance Faires, Hollywood films with popular leading actors, and exciting live dinner shows at "Medieval Times" restaurants, are giving the public a taste for horseback jousting. The first action packed Medieval jousting show was developed in southern California over 20 years ago and now there are "Medieval Times" restaurants all over North America.

Unlike well-planned, choreographed jousting, Modern Tournament Jousting is a true contact sport with both knights trying for good, solid hits on the shields. When this happens it is called a double hit. The knights are also judged on the solidness of the hits, horsemanship, safety, and good sportsmanship.

This combat is in every aspect a real joust. It is a feeling like no other when you slide your helm onto your head and adjust the straps. Your breath is hot around your face. You can't hear or see very well. Everything takes on a distant, otherworldly feeling as though you have been transported back in time. At that moment you know how knights felt 500 years ago, preparing for battle. Your heart is pumping rapidly, the adrenaline is flowing. Your war horse is prancing in anticipation, ready to explode forward. He is not easy to control.

You both know what is expected next. You face off with the other knight. Despite the creeping fear that threatens to clutch your heart, you must keep a strong conviction in what you are about to do. You stare down the rail at the other knight and realize that you are about to hurl yourself into an unnatural and dangerous situation, totally against your instincts.

You wrestle all your bravery and strength forward and give your horse the signal to charge. The massive steed springs forward and thunders down the line. You adjust the course, set your shield and lance while all the time focusing on your opponent. Now, you are totally in charge and all sights and sounds have crystallized into one perfect moment as you aim your lance at his shield and IMPACT.

Your blow landed solidly on his shield, but all you know in that instant is that you felt a jolt in your lance hand, arm, and shoulder. Your body was knocked sideways or slammed back into the saddle by the force of his blow, but you are still upright. You raise your arms triumphantly, still galloping to the other end of the list. What a great feeling! I suppose one has to like this to endure it. At times the hits are light and, strangely, you feel disappointed.

I first became interested in jousting in 1978. We had just finished our engagement at the Kansas City Renaissance Festival. We were presenting our Rosinback Riding act. The Director asked if we could come back the next year and present a Medieval Joust. I became intrigued by the idea. But as I looked for information to study on jousting, I realized not much had been written on this subject. I was able to find some interesting information, and with that, and a few conversations with people who had jousted before in choreographed jousts, we were off and running.

We started with 10-foot lances with a big pad on the end, but they made no sound on contact. It was only a short time before we eliminated the pad in exchange for a better-placed aim with the lance. The target we usually aim for is not in the middle of the shield but a little to the outside of center of the shield. This enables a solid hit without unhorsing the opponent. It also makes it easy to control the lance after impact.

As we started hitting harder and harder, we needed something more substantial to hold than a round pole. I tried the cone style or bell shaped lance seen in historical paintings. The first time I made a solid hit with it, it came back into my chest so hard that I was black and blue for weeks. I studied more pictures and manuscripts of knights and noticed that some of their lances had a beveled handle. I tried this design and found I was able to let it slide in my grip during impact, acting as a shock absorber.

Historically, the jousting shield was relatively small. They were only used to deflect blows that were intended for the head or body. However, professionals who joust twice a day at faires do not want to face the possibility of mortal danger to themselves or their steeds just because it is historically accurate. Getting your bell rung by a lance blow is no picnic even when wearing a strong helmet. The larger, heavier shields used in AJA tournaments mean bigger, safer targets, and the weight of the shields help to absorb the shock of impact. The American Jousting Alliance rules place the emphasis on well placed shield blows instead of unhorsing the opponent. These equipment requirements and special training have made modern jousting a safe, humane, and thoroughly exciting sport.

The heavier shield and beveled lance enable us to hit harder and harder, making our tournaments as competitive as possible. Even though we do not use balsa wood break-away lances, our solid wooden lances occasionally break from the force of the impact.

Before developing rules for safe jousting competition, our early jousts were always choreographed. To make things more dramatic, one of the fighters would be unhorsed. Being from an acrobatic background, I chose to do the fall. It took a while to get used to the idea of flying off a galloping 1800 pound draft horse. And it took a lot of practice and many falls to make it look convincing.

One of my proudest moments was during the time I was learning this. I invited my Uncle Joe out to the pasture to watch us joust. He was a talented rosinback rider who understood performing acrobatics on horses. He was the man who taught me to somersault on top of a galloping horse, but when he saw my shield get hit and me flying off the horse, he rushed to my side with grave concern. I knew I had achieved my goal if I could fool him.

On another occasion, I was trading hits with another knight during a pas d'armes, or choreographed joust. As planned he made the first hit. It was a bit stronger than I had anticipated. As I galloped to the other end I said to myself, "So, that's how he wants to play". I turned my black Percheron around, and to my surprise I saw the other knight getting up off the ground. He had held on to his lance so hard that he was dislodged from the saddle.

Planning a spectacular fall and pulling it off is thrilling; however, I don't believe being unhorsed for real gives one quite the same feeling.

In 1995, I founded the American Jousting Alliance to create a safe standard of competition for Tournament Jousting. This was in response to a growing need for common rules of competition between the many professional and amateur jousting companies.

Our purpose is to hold safe, entertaining, competitive jousting tournaments. Our goal is to see AJA tournaments not only held in conjunction with Renaissance faires and festivals but also as stand alone sporting events.

Another of our functions is to help train men and women to compete in ring spearing, quintain hitting, pas d'armes, spear throwing, and tournament jousting.

James Zoppe
Founder and Director
American Jousting Alliance

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