How to Get Involved with the International Jousting League

written by Frederic Piraux, head of the International Jousting League
edited by Zhi Zhu

How Do I Get to Play?

You probably wore out your old VHS tape fast forwarding to the jousting scene in Ivanhoe.... You know A Knight’s Tale better than the script girl who worked on it.... And ever since you saw that tournament at the renaissance faire a few summers back and actually got to chat with a guy sweating in armour by the paddocks, you knew that the sport of jousting was for you! Your childhood dream could be fulfilled.

After buying the ‘made in China’ Henry XVth suit of armour from the discount website because it perfectly matched the crusader helm you so proudly and victoriously won from the auction on e-bay. And after spending a ton of time training your mighty jousting horse -- the one you originally bought for your daughter’s future international jumping career when she turned 13 -- over the past three weeks. Well... except for the one week when the arena was flooded by rain.

Even though you had to practice on your own after the first day because your sparring partner -- who didn't win his e-bay auction -- got maimed by the broom stick you had extended with PVC tube(for obvious safety reasons), you persevered.

And now...YOU’RE READY TO JOUST!

And the world better acknowledge it, since you scored 75% on that Facebook quiz.

It is understandable that personal enthusiasm can easily overwhelm sound judgement, and you can easily feel frustrated when you find out that most of what you figured out on your own needs serious revision.

"Why don't those pricks invite me to their tournaments? Are they scared of me?"

Yes! They are!

Just because you’re ready to risk life and limb in a sport that you are NOT adequately prepared for, does not mean that I’m willing to be the one to rip your head off in front of a live audience(and all their cameras). It also does not mean that I am willing to let your lance come any closer to my horse than the rack in the far corner of the arena! It does mean that, as a tournament organizer, the professionalism I expect from the other competitors, I also want to be able to expect from you.

You might be tempted to re-invent the wheel(and probably make it sturdier using duct tape), BUT… I can only encourage you to first find out what others have already figured out. Seriously, this sport/re-enactment is a very dangerous activity when your preparation is that "approximate". Our ancestors found that out the hard way and committed all the basic mistakes they could so that you would not have to do the same.

Don't be afraid to ask for help from those who have already done their research, both historical and practical, and are now respected, experienced jousters. If you approach politely, they will not snub you. Most jousters within the International Jousting League are cool guys(and girls) who will answer all your questions for free!

Frederic Piraux (in red) watches Stacy Wasson joust against her opponent at 
Brooks Medieval Faire Jousting Tournament 2014 (photo by Grant Zelych)

Their concern is that you don’t get injured and give our game a bad name.
Their concern is that you don’t hurt a horse and give our game a horrible name.
Their concern is to bring you into the sport safely, so that you can continue to play with us. The more the merrier!

I promise you no one will expect you to prove five years of experience prior to the job (we are not your first employer after college) or noble ascendance through four generations before you are allowed in. But you will be expected to have shown commitment and consistent sound judgement before being considered for invitation to any jousting event.

NOW, you should be ready... to get started!

It's easy and free to join the International Jousting League. Just fill out the application form and send it in.

Each IJL event is independently run by its own organizer.
He’s the one to contact and he makes the management calls.
He’s free to choose :
- number of participants
- historical period or style of the joust
- jousting rules
- riding level expectations
- soft kit style
- camping or hotel ?
- solid lances, hard wood tips, balsa tips, pool noodle…
-…

Do you want to participate in an IJL tournament?
Look for the year and then event links on the IJL Tournaments page.
Do you fit the event requirements?
Send the organizer an e-mail!

It is quite standard for tournament organizers to contact the IJL Secretary with questions like: "I'm looking for one European (from preferred country or countries) with 15thC armour, willing to joust with hard tips – Would you please send list of recommendations?"
The answer is always based on the knowledge we have of the affiliate.

Frederic Piraux, head of the International Jousting League 
(photo by Andrzej Wiktor)

International Jousting League website
IJL Individual Affiliation Form (downloadable pdf)
IJL Tournament Affiliation Form (downloadable pdf)
Email the IJL

Related articles:
International and National Jousting Organizations
Modern Medievalist Interviews International Jouster Frederic Piraux
A New Kind of Frangible Lance Tip: Spiral Cut Pine Tips

Modern Medievalist Interviews International Jouster Frederic Piraux

David Baker(aka The Modern Medievalist) interviewed Jouster Frederic Piraux, founder of the International Jousting League for his website, "Modern Medievalist":

"In 2001 I first met Frederic Piraux at Sunset Park , Las Vegas Nevada in October at the annual Renaissance and Medieval Fair.Sadly he had flown in from Canada where he had been a student at a week long school of European Medieval Martial Arts enthusiasts, only to find the person who had been contact with him was unable to make the event. He and his traveling buddy and my family spent most of that Saturday together walking around from one event to the next. At the end of day we exchanged e-mail address and promised to stay in touch. I think to the surprise of both of us, we did stay in touch.

On the anniversary of our first meeting, I decided to corner my friend, and ask him to give me an interview. Of course being a friend, and knowing I would probably hound him until he did, Fred as I know him, graciously sat down with me via Facebook and granted an interview. What follows is our conversation."

To read the rest of the interview, click here.

Frederic Piraux(photo by Danny Van Hecke)

A New Kind of Frangible Lance Tip: Spiral Cut Pine Tips

The following article was written by Callum Forbes of the Order of the Boar:

At the “Harcourt Park 2013 World Invitational Jousting Tournament” (in New Zealand), we tested new spiral cut pine tips in our lances instead of using the traditional length-wise cut balsa tips. Balsa is on a protected species list and is becoming more expensive. This adds significantly to the costs of jousting. Because of this we started looking for alternatives to balsa tips.

When I was in Belgium at "Hackaland 2011", Fred Piraux showed me a video of a tip design made of European ‘yellow pine’ which a wood-turning friend of his had suggested to him. Fred tested several prototypes which broke well on a static quintain and very kindly gave me a fragment of one as a sample to take back home. It is essentially a solid dowel with a spiral cut down most of its length with a router bit.

Pictures of Fred Piraux's spiral cut pine lance tips, intact(above) and broken(below)
(photos by Frederic Piraux)

Dave Smith, our announcer at all of our jousting events in New Zealand, built a rig to allow mass production of these tips and made several prototypes for me from pinus radiata, which is a widely used forestry timber in New Zealand. It is cheap and is also a renewable timber.

We tested two spiral cut tip designs late last year. One had a deeper cut and one a shallower cut. Both broke very well on tests against our ‘shock’ quintain, but when I had them tested with me as the target, people had trouble getting a good shattering effect with the shallower cut ones. So I commissioned Dave to make 200 of the deeper cut tips for our “Harcourt Park 2013 World Invitational Jousting Tournament” last February.

Tournament Tip showing the form of the spirals. We paint all of our tips in one of two colours to make judging easier and also to make the tip the same colour as the colours we use on our lances so that they are not so obvious as inserts to the public.(photo by Callum Forbes)

Because the pine tip weighs 3 – 4 times as much as a balsa equivalent and because it is more rigid, you have to hit more accurately than balsa to get them to shatter correctly. By this I mean you have to hit square on. With balsa, because it flexes a bit more then pine, you can hit at a bit of an angle and still get a good shattering effect. With pine tips, the problem is that it is easier for the lance to deflect off the target at an unpredictable angle. By encouraging people to hit more accurately (i.e., square on), this risk is mitigated to some extent.

During the actual joust, when people hit hard and accurately, we had spectacular breaks that were louder than balsa. We also got multiple fragmentation, and the fragments flew further into the air (and into the crowd!) than balsa.

Andrew McKinnon from Australia takes a hit at "Harcourt Park 2013" showing tip fragmentation in action(photo by Andrew Turner/ATPhoto)

In hindsight, the tips were cut too deeply, and although they hit harder than balsa, a few people thought they were a bit too easy. We also had a teething issue in that our timber supplier sent us dowels in 2 diameters – 30mm and 32mm – and the 30mm dowels were a little too easy to break. But when introducing something new into the joust, it pays to err on the side of caution. Regardless, everybody thought the new tips were a major step forward.

We did test some prototype shallower cut tips at the tournament in front of the public as a demonstration. They broke very well, and the riders felt the impact a lot more. So the consensus is that we use these tips at future international events like "Harcourt Park", and we plan to use them at our next big international tournament which is planned for February 2014 at another location in New Zealand.

Overall these tips were a great success as I wanted a tip that broke harder than balsa without the splintering that you get from balsa tips. Because people are cutting the balsa length-wise (although I have also recently seen this done with pine) the balsa tip splinters into sharp shards. However, with the spiral cut, the pine tips break blunt so there is no chance of a splinter entering an eye slit or finding a weak spot in armour.

You can see the blunt ends left on both the broken piece and the remaining portion of the lance tip after the spiral cut pine tip broke off of Sarah Hay's lance during this rare tip to tip hit.
(photo by Andrew Turner/ATPhoto)

From the cost point-of-view, the spiral cut pine tips also worked out as being a bit cheaper than the last batch of balsa we brought.

I would like to acknowledge Frederic Piraux from Belgium as the designer of these tips, and my manufacturer Dave Smith of Dannevirke, New Zealand for making our local prototypes and production tips.

Callum Forbes
Order of the Boar, New Zealand
www.jousting.co.nz

You can see more pictures, video and information about the “Harcourt Park 2013 World Invitational Jousting Tournament” in the following articles:

Canadian Dale Gienow Wins New Zealand's “Harcourt Park 2013 World Invitational Jousting Tournament”

Video from "Harcourt Park 2013 World Invitational Jousting Tournament"

Canadian Dale Gienow Wins New Zealand's “Harcourt Park 2013 World Invitational Jousting Tournament”

This past weekend, February 16 - 17, Dale Gienow of Canada won the prestigious Grail of Chivalry at the “Harcourt Park 2013 World Invitational Jousting Tournament” in Upper Hutt, New Zealand. The Grail of Chivalry is awarded to the competitor who does the best overall in three competitions of jousting skill – mounted skill at arms (MSA), mounted melee and the tilt (which is what most people think of when they think of jousting).

Dale Gienow(left) tilts against Simon Tennant(right) at Harcourt Park 2013
(photo by Andrew Turner/ATPhoto)

It was an especially impressive feat since Dale had to overcome several obstacles just getting to the tournament.

According to Dale:

“Rough start getting to New Zealand... was supposed to get there on Monday to train with the other international joust competitors, but a wicked Toronto snowstorm made it impossible to travel. Managed a flight at the 11th hour and made it on Friday – the day before the tournament. Unfortunately, the airline lost my armour and it didn't actually arrive (thank-you Helen!) until 1 hour before I was set to joust. Though I had no time to train in armour, "Buck" helped to carry me through the event (thank-you John [John King, one of the other competitors], for a great horse). My win was that much sweeter for all the aggravation prior.

Callum Forbes put on an amazing event, and I'm still in awe of how he manages to run such a large crew, so smoothly. The competition was fierce and I barely managed the win. Yay Canada! The horses were awesome and the ground crew great... especially Michelle Walker, who runs a very tight ship!” – Dale Gienow

Michelle Walker (photo from Rod Walker's camera*)

Although Dale won the overall competition, he did not actually win the tilt, the portion of the tournament that most people think of as the actual jousting. That was won by Australian jouster Sarah Hay riding another of John King's horses named “Nugget”. Sarah is the current Australian Jousting Champion and is probably the best female competitive jouster in the world.

Sarah Hay riding Nugget in the tilt (photo by KL)

Sarah is certainly one of the most active women in the world of competitive jousting having competed successfully not only in her home country of Australia and its neighbor New Zealand, but also in Belgium, France, Poland, Denmark and the USA. She has actually won international jousting competitions in both the northern and southern hemispheres. Sarah placed second in the overall Harcourt Park 2013 tournament, barely missing first place because of being eliminated early on in the mounted melee portion of the tournament.

When asked about her experiences at Harcourt Park, Sarah responded:

“Harcourt Park is a very special event, and it was a privilege for me to ride there again. Callum Forbes runs a highly organised, professional event, and the setting, Harcourt Park, is absolutely magnificent. The riders this year were a really cohesive group who were generous with their praise to anyone who rode well. My thanks to all the competitors whose positivity, sense of fun and adventure and skill in the lysts made Harcourt Park so memorable.

My personal thanks goes to John King for providing my wonderful steed for the weekend ‘Nugget’. I’d also like to recognise the ground crew and squires who are absolutely essential to a smoothly run jousting tournament, especially Rosemary and Tony for all the help they gave me in preparing Nugget for each ride and helping me armour up.

There is a lovely feeling in the crowd at the Harcourt Park event. They really get excited about the joust, and it does make a difference to be cheered on... especially when we get the end of the competition and points are tight! My sincere thanks to Callum for putting on such a quality event. I can safely say that my recent week in New Zealand has been a highlight of my life.” – Sarah Hay

Anders Fernstedt(left) jousts Sarah Hay(right) at Harcourt Park 2013
(photo by Maarten Holl)

This year Swedish jouster Anders Fernstedt made his third appearance at Harcourt Park and placed third overall. Anders rode tournament organizer Callum Forbes' personal jousting horse Monty. Anders began riding with the Swedish Royal Cavalry in 1980. He later became involved with the jousting troupe Celeres Nordica and has been jousting internationally since 2005.

Anders Fernstedt at Harcourt Park 2013
(photo by KL)

Finishing in fourth place was the popular Belgian jouster Frederic Piraux who rode another of Callum Forbes' horses, PJ. Frederic created the “International Jousting League” probably the largest organization of competitive jousters in the world. He was also the winner of the previous “Harcourt Park World Invitational Jousting Tournament” which was held in 2011. Sadly, this will be Fred's last year of competitive jousting. He is planning to retire after competing one last time in all of his favorite tournaments.

Frederic Piraux(left) jousts Simon Tennant(right) at Harcourt Park 2013
(photo by Andrew Turner/ATPhoto)

In addition to the Grail of Chivalry competition for experienced jousters, there was also an inaugural competition for the Chalice of Courage – a competition for less experienced jousters. New Zealander John King won first place by virtue of being the only novice jouster capable of completing the entire competition. This was not as easy as it might sound since he ended up tilting against more experienced jousters who took the place of the withdrawn novices in order to allow the competition to continue. John rode his horse Cabby on the first day of competition and his main horse Buck on the second day.

John King on his horse Cabby(photo by Linda King)

John also managed to win the mounted skill-at-arms (MSA) competition. And ended the mounted melee in an exciting three way fight to the finish with Dale Gienow and Anders Fernstedt, managing to defeat both of the more experienced jousters.

When asked about his experience at Harcourt Park, John answered:

“This is the second time I have attended Harcourt Park and I felt much more relaxed. I had spent a couple of days at Callum's place helping sort out horses for the international riders and just getting our horses ready for the tournament. It took a couple of days for the Guild of the Hawk team – Rosemary Hassan, Vikki Subritzky and myself – to travel to the tournament with our 8 horses. I had a relaxed attitude and was out to enjoy myself. This was Cabby's first joust show and I was just testing her out. She settled in really well and I was trilled with her performance. ” – John King

Fortunately, Rod Walker, famous from the “Full Metal Jousting” tv show, was not injured when fellow Australian jouster Andrew McKinnon managed to break his lance against Rod's helm during one of their matches on the first day of jousting.

“Andrew McKinnon puts it right on my nose ;-) Funny bugger.” – Rod Walker

Rod Walker(left) gets a lance to the face from Andrew McKinnon(right)
(photo by Sarah Hay using Rod Walker's camera*)

Unfortunately, Rod hit his knee against the tilt during the first day of jousting and injured it again during the mounted melee on the morning of the second day of the tourney. After the second injury, he chose to withdraw from the competition. Rod was actually in the lead at the end of the 1st day, so it was not an easy decision to make.

“It was a great event, and it was a really hard decision to pull out knowing I had a good lead.” – Rod Walker

A surprising thing about this tournament was the number of tip to tip lance hits. These kind of hits are usually extremely rare, but there were four of them during this tournament. A photographer managed to capture a picture an instant before Sarah Hay and Frederic Piraux smashed their tips together.

Sarah Hay(left) and Frederic Piraux(right) about to hit their lances tip to tip
(photo by Mark Dinsbury)

Although the tournament organizer, Callum Forbes of “The Order of the Boar”, was trying out a new style of frangible lance tip[more about that in a future article], it is unlikely that the new tips had anything to do with the increase in tip to tip hits.

In addition to the jousting tournament, the Harcourt Park event also included a Battle of the Nations(BotN) style ground combat display and competition, an archery display and competition and various living history displays. You can find out more about Callum Forbes and “The Order of the Boar” on their website. They are planning for the next “Harcourt Park World Invitational Jousting Tournament” to take place in the year 2015.

Many of the jousters and ground crew responsible for putting on the tournament.
(photo from Rod Walker's camera*)

List of the Winners at Harcourt Park 2013:

Grail of Chivalry:
1st – Dale Gienow (Canada)
2nd – Sarah Hay (Australia)
3rd – Anders Fernstedt (Sweden)
4th – Frederic Piraux (Belgium)

Chalice of Courage(for novice jousters):
1st – John King (New Zealand)
No other places were given for the Chalice of Courage as none of the other novice competitors managed to complete the competition.

Winner of the tilt – Sarah Hay

Winner of the mounted melee – John King

Winner of the mounted skill-at-arms competition – John King

John King, Sarah Hay, Dale Gienow and Anders Fernstedt – winners at Harcourt Park 2013 
(photo by Linda King)

Photo Albums of Harcourt Park 2013
– Andrew Turner/ATPhoto
– KL Photography


News articles that mention the “Harcourt Park 2013 World Invitational Jousting Tournament”:
1-10-13 CNN Travel: World's most extreme sport? The modern renaissance of jousting

1-17-13 Wellington Scoop: Jousting in Upper Hutt named by CNN as one of world’s top six locations

1-23-13 Upper Hutt Leader: Serious jousting event goes global

2-15-13 The Dominion Post: Battles ahead in medieval sport

2-17-13 Stuff.co.nz: Joust so you know, armour-plated sheilas do it too

2-19-13 The Dominion Post: Joust another day at the office

2-20-13 Upper Hutt Leader: Nations jostle for position in ancient action


*Although these pictures came from Rod Walker's camera, he was usually not the one taking the pictures. He simply handed the camera to whomever was available to take pictures, thus it is impossible to know exactly who took which pictures.

Jousting in the News 7-25-12 through 8-4-12

7-26-2012
TV Midt-Vest.dk: Ridder Ole er i finalen ved EM i Ridderdyst (news video of Ole Bach competing during ECS at Spottrup Borg)


(video from article)

Reuters: Travel Postcard: 48 hours jousting in Sulmona, Italy (somewhat confusing article about some sort of jousting competition in Italy, probably a translation)

Get Surrey: A jousting good time at Loxwood Meadow (mentions jousting at a medieval festival)

7-28-12
TV Midt-Vest.dk: Ridder Ole Bach fra Viborg blev nummer 2 til EM i Ridderdyst pa Spottrup Borg (news video of ECS aka EM i Ridderturnering featuring Ole Bach, also shows Steve Hemphill getting his helmet knocked off by Gunnar Cederberg's lance)


(video from article)

Heste-nettet.dk: Et brag af en finale med mjød, riddere og skønjomfruer(Nice article with very good pictures about the Bishop's Market medieval faire and EM i Ridderturnering at Spottrup Borg) (I recommend google translate to read articles in foreign languages)

Heste-nettet.dk: Interview med Ridder Ole (interview with Danish jouster Ole Bach of Viborg)

7-29-12
Winnipeg Free Press: Medieval Festival is more than joust for fun (Nice article about Cook's Creek Medieval Festival featuring jousters Jordan Heron, Alison Mercer and Shawn Morrow, includes some nice pictures)

Jordan Heron and Alison Mercer (photo by Melissa Tait)

7-30-12
The Columbus Dispatch: Jousting tournament gives fairgoers a knight to remember (article features American jouster Thomas Nader and has a nice video as well as a photo slideshow)

(video from article)

The Columbus Dispatch: Photos: Jousting tournament at the Ohio State Fair (a direct link to the aforementioned photo slideshow)

Toronto Sun: 48 hours jousting in Sulmona (the same article as earlier, but this one includes a picture)

Jousting in Sulmona, Italy (photo from article)

Horseyard.com.au: Want To Get Medieval With Your Horse? (announcement of a jousting seminar in CAMDEN led by Rod Walker of FMJ and Full Tilt jousting)

8-1-12
CNN I Report: International Jousting League admires the Gniew Castle (brief article about Gniew tournament, mentions Frederic Piraux)

8-2-12
Horseyard.com.au: Victoria's Turn To Get Medieval (announcement of a jousting seminar in VICTORIA area led by Rod Walker of FMJ and Full Tilt jousting)

The Reporter Online: Hear ye! Hear ye! (announcement for a renaissance faire that has jousting)

Little Hampton Gazette: {photo from front page of paper} (picture of jouster Dominic Sewell on the front page of a local newspaper)

(newspaper photo by Stephen Goodger, photo of newspaper by anonymous)

8-3-12
DailyMail.co.uk: The Knights of Mayhem: Full contact medieval jousting aims to become the latest U.S. extreme sport (Interesting but rather inaccurate article about the sport of modern jousting)

Competitors From Around the World to Compete at the 2012 European Championship Jousting Tournament

Seventeen jousters, including several female jousters, who have demonstrated their skills in previous tournaments around the world will be competing at this year's European Championship Jousting Tournament which will be held at Spottrup Castle in Denmark, July 23 – 27, 2012. This event is sanctioned by both the International Jousting Association(IJA) and the International Jousting League(IJL), and the winner of this tournament will become the 2012 European Jousting Champion.

SWEDEN:

Klas Lundberg

Klas Lundgerg is the current European Jousting Champion and will be defending his title in 2012. He has been riding since age 6. He started with dressage and jumping, but nowadays, he mostly rides western and competes in classes such as reining, herdwork and roping. He also makes armour parts, spear tips, etc... However, his day job is teaching welding. He has been in the Celeres Nordica jousting troupe as a knight since 1994. He tried competitive jousting and competed internationally in IJA World Championships 2005. He's an IJA level 4 instructor.
(photo from Facebook)


Acheivements:
Winner of European Championship in 2010
Winner of European Championship in 2009
Uppsala tournament 2008 – joust, 2nd place
Uppsala tournament 2008 – skill at arms, 1st place
Uppsala Tournament 2007 – joust, 2nd place
Uppsala tournament 2007 – skill at arms, 2nd place
Oslo International 2006 – skill at arms, 1st place
Uppsala tournament 2006 – skill at arms, 1st place
Uppsala Tournament 2006 – joust, 1st place
New Zealand 2005 - IJA World Champion of Chivalry
New Zealand 2005 – joust, 4th place
Oslo international 2005 – skill at arms, 1st place
Oslo International 2005 – joust, 3rd place

Per Nerlund

Per Nurlund is part of the Celeres Nordica jousting troupe in Sweden. He has been riding since 1968 and has been training horses since 1980. Lately, he has been working to develop a better jousting saddle. Per has only recently started jousting. He has participated in several jousting competitions in Sweden, but this will be his fist international event.
(photo from Facebook)





Gunnar Cederberg

Gunnar Cederberg has experience jousting with the Celeres Nordica troupe in Sweden. He is only 19 years old, but has been riding since he was 6, mostly dressage but also jumping. He has been riding in tournaments for many years, but this will be his first international event.
(photo by Asa Cidh)

BELGIUM:

Frederic Piraux

Frederic Piraux of Belgium has been a member of the Compagnie des Hackamores jousting troupe since 2000. He is also the founder of the International Jousting League. From 1989 – 1995, Fred worked as a mounted policeman. He is currently an instructor for the Liege Police Academy. When he's not training with horses, he studies historical swordsmanship. Fred now runs clinics around Europe where he teaches beginners to become accomplished jousters and combatants. He has participated in shows and competitions in USA, Canada, UK, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Poland, Australia and New Zealand. (photo by Pamela Morgan)

Achievements:
European Championship 2010 – 5th place
European Championship 2009 – 4th place
Conclave 2009 - Mounted Games Champion
Conclave 2009 - Mounted Archery Champion
Hackaland 2009 - Historical Division Champion
Hackaland 2009 - Mounted Archery Champion
Taupo 2008 - winning team
Hackaland 2007 – Champion
Gniew 2007 - Champion
Hackaland 2006 – Champion
Eyneburg 2006 – Champion
Sword of Honour 2005 - winning team
Sword of Honour 2003 - winning team

Mathieu Kevers

Mathieu Kevers is a 24 year old from Belgium. He is part of the Compagnie des Hackamores jousting troupe. He is an experienced rider and has competed in tournaments for some years now. This will be his first competition in Denmark.
(photo by Danny Van Hecke)

DENMARK:

Toby Kaas

Toby Kaas is a descendant of one of the old knights of Denmark. He jousts with the Himmerlands Middelaldercenter. He has done a lot of jousting and knights tournaments in Denmark.
(photo from Ridder-Kaas.dk)

Achievements:
European Championship 2010 – 17th place
European Championship 2009 – 14th place





Ole Bach

Ole Bach of Viborg has done a lot of jousting both in his home country Denmark and internationally. He rides with the Ildhesten jousting troupe. In 2009 and 2010, he earned third place in the European championship in Jousting. Ole was the crowd favorite last time, and we suspect that the crowds cheering him on will be just as loud this year. (photo from spottrupborg.dk)

Achievements:
European Championship 2010 – 3rd place
European Championship 2009 – 3rd place

FRANCE:

Luc Petillot

Luc Petillot has been riding for many years, and is one of the best knights in France. He has been jousting for the last 10 years and is one of the key members in the International Jousting League. He is the manager of the group Excalibur ile de France.
(photo by Cori Killian)




Achievements:
European Championship 2010, 8th place
European Championship 2009, 6th place
Hackaland 2009 – behourd, 1st place
Gniew 2008 – joust, 2nd place
Gniew 2008 – skill at arms, 3rd place
France 2008 – joust in 3 tournaments
Gniew 2007 - crest melee, 1st place
Gniew 2007 – joust, 9th place
Gniew 2007 – skill at arms, 10th place
Normandy 2006 – joust, 1st place
Eyenburg 2006 – joust, 2nd place
Liege 2006 – joust, 6th place
Liege 2006 – skill at arms, 1st place

Xavier Fauvel

Xavier Fauvel rides with the Excalibur ile de France jousting troupe. Also known as Xavier de Gonneville, he has been jousting since 2001 and is a well-known competitor around Europe, however, this will be his first competition in Denmark. He won the European Championships in 2003 and 2004. He participated in the World Championships in London, Canada in 2003, and was the winner of the Polish tournament in Golubsky Castle in 2011.
(photo by Pamela Morgan)




Marie Baron

Marie Baron is a seasoned jouster and a fierce competitor. She has been in the jousting troupe Excalibur ile de France for 8 years and has participated in many international tournaments in the the past few years.
(photo by Bronwyn Elliot)

Achievements:
European Championship 2010, 14th place
European Championship 2009, 9th place
Liege 2006 – joust, 1st place
Normandy 2006 – joust, 2nd place
Eyenburg 2006 – joust, 2nd plac

NORWAY:

Petter Ellingsen

Petter Ellingsen rode his first horse 14 years ago, and has been jousting the last 13 years. He runs the company Ridderhest and was the organizer of the first Norwegian championship in jousting. He is an IJA grade 4 jousting instructor and has done shows and competitions in Norway, Sweden, France, Belgium, Germany, Canada, Poland, New Zealand, USA, Australia and England. Overall, he has participated in more than 300 shows and tournaments.
(photo from Petter Ellingson)


Achievements:
European championship 2010, 2nd place
European Championship 2009, 2nd place
Gniew 2009 – jousting champion
France 2009 – Tournament champion
Australia 2009 – joust, 3rd place
Hackaland 2009 – joust and skill at arms
Uppsala tournament 2008 – skill at arms, 2nd place
Gniew 2008 – jousting champion
Gniew 2008 – Behourd champion
USA 2008 – Team and individual champion
Hackaland 2008 – Jousting champion
France 2008 – skill at arms, 1st place
New Zealand 2007 –joust, 3rd place and skill at arms
Sonora 2007 – joust, 3rd place
Eyenburg 2006 – winner grand champion(jousting, skill at arms)
Sonora 2006 – joust, 1st place.
Eyenburg 2006 – Crest melee, 1st place
Liege 2006 – joust, 4th place
Liege 2006 – skill at arms, 4th place
Oslo 2006 – joust champion
Hackaland 2005 – jousting and skill at arms champion
New zealand 2005 – IJA world skill at arms reserve champion
Agincourt 2004 – joust, 3rd place

Ivar Mauritz-Hansen

Ivar Mauritz-Hansen began his knightly career in 2007 when he became a member of the reenactment group De Norske Frilansene Compagnie d'Oslo in which he started out as a foot soldier. He also began training to ride horses, focusing on knightly riding, at The Riding School of Trollspeilet, where he is still being instructed by Per Estein Prøis-Røhjell. In the winter of 2010, Ivar bought his horse Laszlo, a Holsteiner gelding, which led to more training and even more focus on knightly riding and sports. In the spring of 2011, he was accepted into the riding group of Frilansene and has since participated as a knight in most of the battles and tournaments that Frilansene attends.
(photo from Petter Ellingson)




Achievements:
Hamar Medieval Festival 2012
Hadeland 2012
Bergenshusdagene 2011
Oslo Medieval Festival 2011
Hamar Medieval Festival 2011
TV-production for NRK Super 2011
Battle of Wisby 2011
Battle of Hamar 2011

ENGLAND:

Nicky Willis

Nicky Willis has been riding since she was 11 years old. She has tried lots of different riding disciplines such as dressage, jumping, western, driving and tournaments. For the past four and a half years, she has worked for Tournament Stud, where they breed, train and joust the horses. She has been doing Mounted Skill at Arms(MSA) and jousting for several years. Her first joust outside England was in Belgium in 2010. The tournament at Spøttrup Borg will be her third joust representing England abroad.
(Photo from Facebook)



Achievements:
European championship 2010, 11th place

Sarah Hay

Sarah Hay is from Australia, but will be riding for England. She has been riding for over three decades in a variety of disciplines such as western, dressage, jumping, sporting, side saddle, mounted archery and jousting. This is her fourth year of jousting, and her third year of competing internationally. In recent years she has won international tournaments in both the northern and southern hemispheres. This extremely accomplished female jouster is not a member of any jousting troupe, but is a member of the International Jousting League.
(photo from Facebook)




Achievements:
1st place archery, Warsaw, 2012
5th place joust, Warsaw jousting tournament, Warsaw, 2012
1st place MSA, Blacktown int joust, Australia, 2012
2nd place joust, Blacktown int joust, Australia, 2012
2nd place MSA, St Georges day int joust, Australia, 2012
2nd place joust, St Georges day int joust, Australia, 2012
Tournament champion, France, 2012
3rd place horse archery, Hackaland, Belgium, 2012
Tournament champion, Hackaland hist joust, Belgium, 2011
Tournament champion, Winterfest international joust, Australia, 2010
Tournament champion, Abbey int IJL tournament, Australia, 2010
3rd place MSA, France, 2010
4th place joust, France, 2010
Tournament champion, Belgium, 2010
Tournament champion, Winterfest international joust, Australia, 2009

Darth Rimmer

Although Darth Rimmer is from the US, he will be riding for England. He began medieval foot combat at the age of 16 and began jousting in 2009 after attending the Sword of Chivalry tournament. He is a member of the Knights of the Golden Sun and participates in re-enactments of many different time periods including Medieval, Ancient Japan, Great War and WW2. His motto is: "Per Angusta in Augusta" (Through difficulties to great things).
(photo by Ulrich Kiener)



Achievements:
Hackaland, Belgium 2011
Tournament of the phoenix, USA, 2011
Tournament of the Phoenix, USA 2010

GERMANY:

Ulrich Kiener

Ulrich Kiener began riding in 1990 (English, western, horsemanship). His first experience with a jousting tournament was in 2006, and he has competed in several tournaments since then. He is a member of the Societas-equestris, and he and his wife run the IJL Team Germany “Deutsche Tjostvereinigung” and give seminars for Mounted Skill at Arms and jousting. In 2000, Ulrich also began historical sword-fencing, and has participated in several competitions both semi and full contact.
(photo from Facebook)

Achievements:
Roma (joust), 2012
Kaunas Hansadays (jousting), 2011
Battle of Grunwald (jousting), 2011
Forest (Belgium), 2011

Steve Hemphill

Steve fondly remembers his father teaching him how to respect, train and ride the family’s horses. In the 1980's, he became interested in medieval and renaissance history while he was attending college, and in 2003, Steve decided to renew his interest in horses and to combine it with his love of medieval history. Since then, he has produced and competed in a number of medieval equestrian events around the world which showcased competitive jousting and other medieval equestrian sports. Steve is a member of the Board of Representatives of the International Jousting League and a level 2 Jouster with the International Jousting Association. He is the owner of a’Plaisance, Ltd. and the Executive Producer of the “Lysts on the Lake”. When Steve is not involved with jousting, he can be found competing in Dressage and Eventing. (photo by AzulOx)

Achievements:
Neauphle Le Chateau 2012, winning team
Verneuil-sur-Avre, France 2012
Lysts on the Lake 2012
Lysts on the Lake 2011, 1st place jousting
Tournament of the Phoenix 2010, 1st place MSA
Lysts at Castleton 2010, 1st place MSA, 1st place jousting
Tournament of the Phoenix 2009, 1st place MSA


For more information about the European Championship Jousting Tournament at Spottrup Castle in Denmark, see the previous article about this event and/or see the Spottrup Borg website.