The hits are harder today than when we first started actual tournament jousting in 1995. During a four or five course match, 50 percent of the hits could be considered two pointers and 50 percent would be one pointers (with occasional misses altogether). Now with increasing frequency, we are witnessing solid, hard hits on every course of a match. Jousting matches like these are very exciting indeed. They also demonstrate that we are learning to hit better and harder. This is all well and good as long as we keep ourselves on the safe side of the fine line.
On one hand, we must make those hard hits to impress our audience (and ourselves). On the other hand, we must not cross over the line to brutality or serious injury to man or beast.
Our outlook on this sport of jousting is that it should remain a rough sport but at the same time, a gentlemanly rough sport. This outlook offers the best chance to get more competitors and attract additional sponsorship. Should we cross over into an extreme - extreme sport, we lessen the number of people who want to participate and we end up with a smaller percentage of people who develop an interest in jousting.
People like to see finesse as well as brute force in a sport involving physical conflict. Mohammad Ali became so popular because he exhibited a lot of finesse when fighting his opponent.
Finesse in jousting could mean developing a strategy against every opponent. It could mean charging at different speeds to psych out the opponent or cause him to make mistakes. It could mean hitting the shield with different levels of intensity to accumulate the most points. It could mean hitting in a slightly different area each course. These things give a jousting match various dimensions, which then makes it more interesting. Since unhorsings are rare in a tournament, a Knight should come up with a strategy that will garnish him the most points.
A match where the competitors have a single goal of hitting the opponent as hard as possible on every course can be nerve-racking for the Knights as well as the audience. This kind of match is also very dangerous. Above all else, jousting is supposed to be fun.
To keep things in perspective, imagine how you would feel if you were responsible for a person or horse getting badly injured. It would be a terrible feeling, wouldn't it? Let's continue to do our best not to have to go there.
When practicing making hits, every so often relax your grip on the lance upon impact. Just let it slide back a little. Knowing that you can relax your grip quickly when necessary will make you a much safer jousting partner. It could also keep a Knight or a trusting Warhorse from receiving a bad injury. Bottom line, when are the hits too hard? When someone gets hurt to the degree of needing medical attention, that's when.
It is up to all of us to do our best to make sure this doesn't happen.
Winning a Tournament is not worth injuring another Knight, ever, no matter what the prize is.
James Zoppe
Founder and Director
American Jousting Alliance