The Jousting Life

Monday, April 29, 2013

Jousting Clinic With Charlie Andrews in Salem, Connecticut

As part of the "Tilt Against Cystic Fibrosis" benefit, there will be a jousting clinic taught by Charlie Andrews of the Knights of Mayhem. The clinic will take place on May 4, and on May 5 there will be a jousting demonstration. The event is to benefit Athena Christine Grey, who is ten years old and lives with Cystic Fibrosis.


Promotional poster (provided by "Tilt Against Cystic Fibrosis")

You can find out more about the jousting clinic on this Facebook page, and more about Athena Grey and the benefit on the "Tilt Against Cystic Fibrosis" webpage.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Video of the Opening "Knight" Jousting Demonstration at "Pin Oak Charity Horse Show 2013"

Jousters from Texas and Colorado competed in a small jousting tournament as part of the Opening 'Knight' festivities at the famous “Pin Oak Charity Horse Show” in Houston, Texas, Wednesday, March 20. Everyone involved in the demonstration wore pink scarves in honour of Princess Cayde Brannaman, who was supposed to attend the "Pin Oak Charity Horse Show 2013" as the Princess of Pin Oak. However, a couple of days before Pin Oak, she finally received the double lung transplant that she had been waiting for. You can find out more about Cayde on her Facebook page, Caydence's Spirit.


Part 1: Tilting (videography by Arielle Studios)


Part 2: Ground crew removes the tilt, Pam Fowler Grace freestyle dressage demonstration (videography by Arielle Studios)


Part 3: Mounted melee, Fourteenth century team vs. Fifteenth century team
(videography by Arielle Studios)

You can find out more about the jousters involved in the demonstration in a previous article, "Opening 'Knight' at the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show".

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Random Pic: Steampunk Lance


Charlie Andrews holding a steampunk lance (photo by Kimber Spahr)

At the recent Equine Affaire in Ohio, Charlie Andrews of the Knights of Mayhem got to play with a steampunk lance. The lance was designed by Kimber Spahr, brother to jouster Andre Renier. When asked about creating a steampunk lance, he replied:

"I got into steampunk almost 5 years ago and have built a few projects - my brother jousts - I couldn't resist." – Kimber Spahr

Kimbar said that he worked on the lance off and on for about three months before bringing it to show at the Equine Affaire.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Rod Walker Wins the "The Full Tilt International Jousting Tournament 2013”

On April 12 – 14, in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia, jousters competed for the title of New South Wales jousting champion for 2013. Rod Walker, who you may remember as the coach of the black team on the tv show “Full Metal Jousting” won this year's “Full Tilt International Jousting Tournament” with a perfect score of 60 points.


Rod Walker on his jousting horse Shadow (photo by Bronwyn Elliot)

John King, in his first international jousting tournament, earned second place with a score of 51 points.


Left to Right: Rod Walker, Gunnar Cederberg, Sarah Hay and John King(photo by Bronwyn Elliot)

And Sarah Hay and Gunnar Cederberg tied for third place with scores of 50 points.


Gunnar Cederberg on Charisma jousts Sarah Hay on Femke (photo by Bronwyn Elliot)

Although Rod finished with a perfect score, things did not go perfectly for him on every pass. During one pass, Andrew McKinnon accidentally struck Rod in the head with his lance. In some tournaments, such as “The Grand Tournament of Sankt Wendel”, head shots are allowed and even awarded points. However, the armour requirements for such tournaments are much stricter than for those that do not allow head shots. In the “Full Tilt International Jousting Tournament” head shots were not allowed, and Rod was not wearing the kind of armour best suited for protecting his head from the lance. Fortunately, Rod was not injured, but he was upset, and they did re-run the pass.


Rod Walker(left) just after being struck in the head by Andrew McKinnon's(right) lance
(photo by Bronwyn Elliot)

When asked about accidentally hitting Rod in the head, Andrew had this to say:

“The reason I was staying a bit high was my horse very nervous, and I wasn't going to overcommit to a shot that might potentially go low if the horse balked. So safety was the first consideration.” – Andrew McKinnon

Notice that Andrew was more concerned about the safety of Rod's horse than of Rod's head. If the lance had gone low instead of high, there was a chance it might have hit Rod's horse. In jousting, the safety of the horse is paramount. The jousters have chosen to risk injury by competing, the horses have not. Jousters would far rather get hurt themselves than risk hurting a horse, as Rod succinctly states in the following:

"He [Andrew] did the right thing, better high than low. Unfortunately, it made the marble in my head roll from the Nice Rod side to the Bad Rod side for a few minutes.” – Rod Walker

After the incident, the two resolved the issue...


Rod Walker(left)and Andrew McKinnon(right) shake hands (photo by Bronwyn Elliot)

and headed to the nearest pub to have a cold beer together.


Left to Right: Andrew McKinnon, Rod Walker, Sarah Hay and Gunnar Cederberg
(photo by Bronwyn Elliot)

You can see more pictures from the tournament in Bronwyn Elliot's photo album.

The tournament was produced by Full Tilt Entertainment. You can find out more about Full Tilt on their website and Facebook page.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Charlie Andrews Helps Train the Next Generation of Jousters

Charlie Andrews (of the Knights of Mayhem), the Knights of Iron and members of Combatant's Keep all came together on Saturday, March 9, at Windy Knolls Farm in Sullivan, Ohio to give a clinic on contemporary competitive jousting. It was called the Equine Excellence Jousting Clinic 2013.


Charlie Andrews teaches lance handling at the Equine Excellence Jousting Clinic 2013(photo by Suzanne DeMink)

The ten participant slots were filled almost as soon as the clinic was announced, and on the day of the clinic, the stands were filled with spectators cheering the participants on. The participants were all female, ranging in age from teenage to grandma. It looks like the future of jousting is going to the girls.


The jousting clinic participants listen to Charlie Andrews. (photo by Suzanne DeMink)

According to Suzanne DeMink who was at the clinic taking photographs:

“Baron, Charlie's mount, decided early on in the clinic to set the girls at ease, so he dumped Charlie. The girls relaxed when they realized that everyone falls. None of the clinic participants fell, and they all had incredible control of their mounts!” – Suzanne DeMink

The participants were first taught a couple of the basic mounted skill at arms (MSA) exercises – cut and thrust, spear throw, tilting at rings and tilting against the quintain. Then, they actually got to tilt against jouster Kellyn Burtka of the Knights of Iron using a cardboard lance with a foam tip. The young lady who rode the horse named Gretchen was declared the “Cup Winner” of the clinic by Charlie Andrews.


The Cup Winner of the clinic as determined by Charlie Andrews. (photo by Suzanne DeMink)

The horse, Gretchen, was so cute that Charlie nicknamed her Ted E. Bear.

Charlie had this to say about the clinic:

“Cortney Lang, Mickaela Ellen, Liz Goldsmith, Mandi Combs, I am so proud of all of you and the other ladies who participated in the clinic!!!! You four were unbelievable though and could easily transition into jousting if you wanted to. I am honored that you will be coming to EA [Equine Affair] in Columbus and would love your help on the field and with the horses!!!! I'm still blown away we had close to 400 people in the stands to watch the clinic for 6 hours and had them till the very end to watch us joust. Ohio kicks A**!!!! Thank you Lynn Brenner for a great event and a first class facility.” – Charlie Andrews

At the end of the clinic, Charlie Andrews and several of the other experienced jousters put on a demonstration of jousting for the clinic participants and spectators.


Thomas Nader on his horse Bohdrum (photo by Suzanne DeMink)

Thomas Nader of Combatant's Keep had this to say about Charlie Andrews:

“It was an absolute pleasure to meet Charlie Andrews in the Lyst. Even as a mere exhibition, in borrowed kit, on a borrowed horse, he was spot on. An absolute professional.” – Thomas Nader

Video of a few highlights from the clinic:



You can see more pictures from the clinic in the Equine Excellence 2013 photo album.

You can learn more about Charlie Andrews and the Knights of Mayhem, the Knights of Iron and Combatant's Keep by clicking on their names/links.

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Pictures from "Opening 'Knight' of Pin Oak"

There is now a photo album with pictures of the jousters at the "Pin Oak Charity Horse Show".


The jousters, King at Arms, Lady of Honour and ground crew for
"Opening Knight of Pin Oak"
(photo by The Jousting Life)

To see more pictures, check out the "Opening Knight of Pin Oak 2013" album on "The Jousting Life" Facebook page.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Promotional Video for the "Times & Epochs" Jousting Tournament in Russia

For the first time there will be an international jousting tournament held in Moscow, Russia. It will be part of the "Times & Epochs" history festival which will be held June 21 - 23, 2013, at the historic Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve. Here is the promotional video for "Times & Epochs".



You can find out more about the festival on the "Times & Epochs" website which can be translated into English by clicking on the "select language" button. There is also a "Times & Epochs" Facebook page with information about the festival.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Nice Blog Post About the Easter Joust at Royal Armouries Leeds

On the blog, Judge-Tutor Semple, chiropterarex wrote a nice article about the Leeds Easter Joust (aka the Queen's Jubilee Horn Tournament) at the Royal Armouries Leeds, including several pictures. Here is an excerpt:

We’ve had Jousting in Leeds for quite some time now, the Royal Armouries opened in 1996. I started going on a regular basis to watch with my children in 1999. I made them look in the museum too, not sure they enjoyed that as much as I did. They did however love the jousting and the Falconry displays.

The joust in Leeds is very popular and I like to see the final, some years we would go to more than one joust of a Tournament. Now with the joust being less frequent it is essential to book ahead for the final, I was remiss and had to settle for booking for the last of the preliminary rounds.

Let me assure you the Royal Armouries put the welfare of the horses very high in its priorities and the horses appear to genuinely enjoy the sport.

To read the rest of the article and see the pictures, click here.