Andrey Kamin Wins the Tournament of St. George in Moscow, Russia

written by Dmitry Savchenko (edited by Zhi Zhu)
photos by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show

"Laissez aller!"

For a long time this phrase will sound in the heads of those who visited The Tournament of St.George which took place on the 2nd and 3rd of May 2015 as the central event of the Ratobor Knight Tournaments series. The Tournament lasted two days and gathered 4,000 people in the tournament stands and about 40,000 visitors in the Interactive Zone. The event was truly international: there were knights from Germany, Norway and Russia, as well as flag-wavers from Italy.

Ivar Mauritz-Hansen of Norway(left) jousts Arne Koets from Germany(right) during the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

The Military Program:
The Military Program consisted of equestrian jousting with lances, group fights of riders with wooden cudgels (Mounted Melees) and foot combats with poleaxes. The jousters also tilted at very decorative flower rings during the event.

Russian jousters Sergey Zhuravlev(left) and Yuri Bogunov(right) joust during the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

The jousters fight in one of the mounted melees held during the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

Viktor Ruchkin(left) chops part of the crest off of Sergey Zhuravlev's helm during the poleaxe competition at the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia
(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

Jouster Arne Koets successfully spears a ring of flowers with his lance during the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

The knights scored points by competing in the three contests. After the contests were over, their points were added together to determine the winner of the Tournament. At the end of the second day of competition, the tournament champion was a jouster from St. Petersburg, Russia, Andrey Kamin.

Andrey Kamin, a jouster from St. Petersburg, Russia was the champion of the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

The results after two days of competition:

Victor Ruchkin (Moscow, Russia) - 13 points
Sergey Zhuravlev (Moscow, Russia) - 14 points
Ivar Mauritz-Hansen (Skotterud, Norway) - 14 points
Arne Koets (Bückeburg, Germany) - 15 points
Alexsey Malinin (St.Petersburg, Russia) - 15 points
Yuri Bogunov (Moscow, Russia) - 19 points
Andrey Kamin (St.Petersburg, Russia) - 27 points

As a prize, the winner received a replica of a XV century tournament cup from Basel, Switzerland – a gold-plated cup made of silver and brass.

Marina Savchenko, leader of the Court of Honour, carries the championship prize, a replica of a XV century tournament cup, for the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia
(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

Manners:
The Knight Tournament of the XV century is not only a military contest, but also a courtly representation, which is why the manners of the knight in the arena(and out of it) are no less important than his skill. During the two days of the jousting tournament the Ladies of the Court of Honour were watching the chivalry of the jousters with specific attention. The story of the Tournament was taken from one of the historical sources (Podarm) of the XV century, and each Lady represented of one of the knightly virtues: Honesty, Youth, Humility, Hope, Magnanimity, Nobility, Modesty and Courtesy. The Lady of Justice led the Court of Honour.

Left to right: Elizabeth Rylova: Humility, Elena Markova: Generosity, Xenia Galilova: Courtesy, Daria Ryzhova: Modesty, Marina Savchenko: Justice, Margarita Zolotareva: Youth, Victoria Borisova: Nobility, Anastasia Radomskaya: Honesty, Elizaveta Ilina: Hope
(photo by Andrew Boykov)

The favorite of many women in both this tournament as well as the jousting tournament held during the 2013 Times & Epochs: Middle Ages history festival, was the jouster from Germany, Arne Koets. In spite of becoming ill just before the competitions, Arne, as a true knight, was true to his word and did indeed participate in the jousting tournament. Although during the first day of the competition, he was forced to miss one evening round of jousting for health reasons. Numerous shouts from the stands of "Where is Arne?" showed that the audience knew this knight and remembered him from the jousting tournament in 2013.

Jouster Arne Koets bows to the Court of Honour while the Ladies of the Court applaud, 
Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

The Cultural Program:
In addition to military competitions, the program included musical groups Schellen, Trebuchet, Teufelstanz and Five Shillings, which played medieval music throughout the festival. There was also the show of flag-wavers from the Italian town of Pistoia.

Italian flag-wavers perform during the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia
(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

The Program for Participants:
Knights, squires, beautiful ladies and other participants/reenactors lived in a closed authentic camp during the festival, where they had a separate cultural program. In the evening of the first day, there was a gala dinner held in the style of the XV century. Dishes were prepared according to medieval recipes, and a theatrical play about St. George’s exploits was shown.

Food for the feast is prepared using traditional methods during the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

Participants enjoy a grand feast during the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia
(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

A play about St. George is performed during the feast at the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

At the end of the dinner, there was ludicrous tournament. Clowns mounted on broomsticks, fought with mops for the honorary prize, a mountain of leavings. However, the next morning the participants were again ready for a serious fight and real work.

Summary:
The Tournament of St. George, much like the jousting tournament during the 2013 Times & Epochs: Middle Ages history festival, has shown again the great interest of the Russian public in the traditions and spectacles of the European Middle Ages. We plan to make the Ratobor Knight Tournaments series an annual historical adventure that will involve not only Moscow but also other cities in Russia. So this autumn, we hope to please you with The Tournament of St. Peter. Follow the development of these events on the theme of chivalry on the Knight Tournaments page of the Ratobor website.

For the Future:
We have already begun to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the most recent jousting tournament and have made the following decisions:
- It is necessary to reduce the intensity of the tournament to no more than 2 sessions of jousting each day.
- We need to make sure that the lances break a little more and that the riders are unhorsed a little less!
- We need to re-work the rules for foot combats, and pay more attention to safety issues.

Arne Koets' ecranche is ripped off during a jousting pass against Yuri Bogunov at the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)


Tournament Champion Andrey Kamin's dented breastplate at the end of the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia(photo from Ratobor Show)

Alexsey Malinin's visor is knocked loose during a poleaxe fight against Sergey Zhuravlev at the Tournament of St. George 2015, Moscow, Russia(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

In general, we are very pleased with the work so far and are always open to discussions, constructive criticism and friendly advice.

This tournament was held with the support of the Moscow Government. The coordinator and organizer of the competitive aspects of this event was Dmitry Savchenko, who is also the producer of the annual Christmas Tournament in Khrabrovo and was the organizer of the Times & Epochs 2013 jousting tournament.

Tournament organizer Dmitry Savchenko on the Arab/Trakehner stallion Grey, at the Tournament of St George 2015 in Moscow, Russia(photo by Andrew Boykov/Ratobor Show)

You can read more about the tournament on the following blog posts:
Jousting in Moscow written by Norwegian jouster Ivar Mauritz-Hansen

Турнир Святого Георгия 2-3 мая 2015 written by Viktoria Borisova, one of the Ladies of the Court of Honour

турнир written by Russian blogger Dmitry Chernyshev

Турнир Святого Георгия on the Ratobor Show website

There is also a Russian interview with jouster Arne Koets: Современный рыцарь Арне Коэтс о седлах, железе и искусстве верховой езды

More photos from the Tournament of St. George 2015:
(all photos courtesy of Andrew Boykov and Ratobor Show.)

Mouseover the photo to see caption. Left Click on the photo to enlarge.

Related articles from The Jousting Life:
Christmas Tournament in Khrabrovo 2015

Jousting at Zhelezny Grad 2014

Christmas Tournament at Khrabrovo 2014

Interview With the Cavalry Brotherhood at Times & Epochs 2013

The Mounted Melees at the Times & Epochs 2013 Jousting Tournament

Pavel "Paul" Kalinkov Wins the Times & Epochs 2013 Jousting Tournament

The Tournament of St George 2015 to be held at the Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve in Moscow, Russia

On May 2 - 3, the Tournament of Saint George will be held on the beautiful grounds of the Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve in Moscow, Russia. This fifteenth century style competitive jousting tournament will be hosted by Ratobor Show, the same group who produced the first international jousting tournament in Russia during the Times & Epochs History Festival in 2013, and by jouster/tournament organizer Dmitry Savchenko. Dmitry and Ratobor Show also worked together recently to produce the gorgeous Christmas Tournament in Khrabrovo 2015.

Russian jouster/tournament organizer Dmitry Savchenko and his wife Marina Savchenko
at the Christmas Tournament in Khrabrovo 2015 (photo by Andrew Boykov)

The Tournament of St George will include seven jousters from four different countries: From Canada, Steve R. Gagnon; from Germany, Arne Koets(who was born in the Netherlands, but lives in Germany); from Norway, Ivar Mauritz-Hansen; and from Russia, Alexei Malinin, Sergey Zhuravlev, Victor Ruchkin and Yuri Bogunov.

The tournament will involve competitions in solid lance jousting, mounted melee and ground fighting with the poleaxe.

Турнир Святого Георгия 2015 from RatoborShow on Vimeo.

You can find out more about the event on the Tournament of St George website and on the Tournament of St George page on the Ratobor Show website.

Related articles:
Christmas Tournament in Khrabrovo 2015

Jousting at Zhelezny Grad 2014

There are several articles about the Times & Epochs 2013 Jousting Tournament

Christmas Tournament in Khrabrovo 2015

Editorial note:  The Christmas Tournament in Khrabrovo, Mozhaisk, Russia is a private(not open to the public), historical joust.  Many thanks to Dmitry Savchenko for sharing the details of the tournament with The Jousting Life (both this year and last year) and to Eugenia Komarova and Andrew Boykov for sharing their beautiful photographs of the event.

Written by Dmitry Savchenko

The fifth annual Christmas Tournament was held 5 - 7 January 2015, in Khrabrovo, near Mozhaisk in the Moscow Region of Russia. This Tournament has already become a traditional event. There, in a circle of friends, in a festive atmosphere, we open the Russian tournament season. Furthermore, a large winter event allows jousters to maintain their shape and skills as horsemen as well as a field team. Since last year, the tournament participants are jousting with lances, fighting in mounted melee and on foot, with long swords and poleaxes.

Sergey Zhuravlev(left) and Yuri Bogunov(right) joust during the Christmas Tournament at Khrabrovo 2015 (photo by Andrew Boykov)

This year, the Christmas Tournament had a record number of participants: it was attended by forty participants, of whom seven fought on foot and eight were horsemen. The horsemen were subdivided into Knights and Squires. Knights joust with lances, while a squire’s level of training and armor does not yet allow them to joust. So for the present, the squires train, eager to achieve results, and they fight in mounted melee with swords, compete in mounted skill-at-arms and also fight on foot.

Left to right: Yuri Bogunov, Dmitry Savchenko, Viktor Ruchkin and Sergey Zhuravlev during the mounted melee at the Christmas Tournament at Khrabrovo 2015 (photo by Andrew Boykov)

Tournament competitions were held over two days, and Saturday evening, January 6, was marked by a grand celebratory feast. During the feast, we completely re-created the ceremonies of a medieval feast – from hand washing and strict order of serving dishes to the feast servers' service under control of the Feast Steward. Cultural activities during the feast included medieval music played by the "Sсhellen" ensemble, the medieval theater play Orpheus and Eurydice and various fun games, like “Jesting Jousting”.

Julia Davidoskaya serves the meat during the feast held at the
Christmas Tournament at Khrabrovo 2015 (photo by Eugenia Komarova)

It should be mentioned that this year the Tournament was held in hard weather conditions. During the night from 5 to 6 January, air temperature dropped to -26 °C, in the morning it was -24 °C and by noon the air warmed up to -21 °C. During January 7 – old calendar[orthodox] Christmas – the temperature stayed at -20 °C. It was a clear and calm beautiful winter day. Fortunately, all the participants of the tournament were equipped with appropriate winter suits. However, for the sake of the horses' health, we reduced the usual tournament time at the expense of some ceremonial moments. Nevertheless the tournament competitions were carried out in full.

The Winners of the Christmas Tournament 2015:

First, among the knights - Yuri Bogunov

Yuri Bogunov, Winner of the knights competition during the 
Christmas Tournament in Khrabrovo 2015 (photo by Eugenia Komarova)

First, among the squires - Yuri Galilov

Yuri Galilov(left), Winner of the squires competition, fights Yuri Bogunov(right) during the
Christmas Tournament in Khrabrovo 2015 (photo by Eugenia Komarova)

Ladies Court Prize - Victor Ruchkin

Jouster Viktor Ruchkin, Winner of the Ladies Court prize during the
Christmas Tournament in Khrabrovo 2015 (photo by Andrew Boykov)

Tournament Scores Table:

by Head Marshal Sergey Vislenev and Judges Rafael Gukasov and Alexander Kolyaskin

Left to right: Rafael Gukasov, Sergey Vislenev and Alexander Kolyaskin, judges during the
Christmas Tournament in Khrabrovo 2015 (photo by Eugenia Komarova)

Knights Jousting:
(l.b. – lance(s) broken)

1st match: Dmitry Savchenko vs Yuri Bogunov(winner) (1 l.b. – 2 l.b.)
2nd match: Sergey Zhuravlev (winner) vs Victor Ruchkin (2 l.b. – none)
3rd match: Yuri Bogunov(winner) vs Sergey Zhuravlev (2 l.b. – 1 l.b.)
4th match: Dmitry Savchenko (winner) vs Victor Ruchkin (2 l.b. – 1 l.b.)

Total Scores:
1. Yuri Bogunov 4 points for 4 l.b. + 3 points for 1 place = total 7 points, the Winner of the Jousting
2. Sergey Zhuravlev 3 points for 3 l.b. + 2 points for 2 place = total 5 points
3. Dmitry Savchenko 3 points for 3 l.b. + 1 point for 3 place = total 4 points
4. Victor Ruchkin 1 points for 1 l.b. = total 1 point

Yuri Bogunov(Winner of the Jousting) and Sergey Zhuravlev joust during the
Christmas Tournament in Khrabrovo 2015 (photo by Andrew Boykov)

Knights Mounted Melee:
Absolute Winner - Dmitry Savchenko, 3 points

Dmitry Savchenko(Winner of the Mounted Melee) and his wife Marina Savchenko at the Christmas Tournament at Khrabrovo 2015 (photo by Andrew Boykov)

Foot Combat:

1st match: Dmitry Savchenko – Konstantine Klang 2:5
2nd match: Yuri Bogunov - Yuri Galilov 5:1
3rd match: Victor Ruchkin - Sergey Zhuravlev 3:5
4th match: Victor Ruchkin - Dmitry Savchenko 0:5 (last fight for semifinal)
5th match: Yuri Bogunov – Konstantine Klang 5:3 (semifinal)
6th match: Dmitry Savchenko - Sergey Zhuravlev 4:5 (semifinal)
7th match: Yuri Bogunov - Sergey Zhuravlev 3:5 (final)
8th match: Dmitry Savchenko – Konstantine Klang 5:2 (3rd place fight)

Total Scores:
1. Sergey Zhuravlev – the Winner in Foot Combat – 3 points for 1 place
2. Yuri Bogunov – 2 points for 2 place
3. Dmitry Savchenko – 1 point for 3 place

Sergey Zhuravlev, Winner of the Foot Combat during the
Christmas Tournament at Khrabrovo 2015 (photo by Eugenia Komarova)

Overall Scores in the Knight’s Tournament:

First place - Yuri Bogunov with 9 points

Yuri Bogunov, Champion of the Christmas Tournament at Khrabrovo 2015
(photo by Andrew Boykov)

Second place - Dmitry Savchenko and Sergey Zhuravlev tied with 8 points each

More photographs from the event:

L to R: Yuri Bogunov, Sergey Zhuravlev, Sergey Vislenev(Head Marshal), Dmitry Savchenko and Viktor Ruchkin at the Christmas Tournament at Khrabrovo 2015 (photo by Eugenia Komarova)

Left: Yuri Bogonov jousts Dmitry Savchenko
Right: Dmitry Savchenko carries his broken lance to the end of the tilt
Christmas Tournament at Khrabrovo 2015 (photos by Eugenia Komarova)

Sergey Zhuravlev, Christmas Tournament at Khrabrovo 2015 (photo by Andrew Boykov)

Left: Sergey Zhuravlev fights Yuri Bogunov (photos by Andrew Boykov)
Right: Dmitry Savchenko fights Constantine Klang (photos by Andrew Boykov)

Yuri Galilov, Constantine Klang, Dmitry Savchenko, Sergey Vislenev, Viktor Ruchkin, Rafael Gukasov, Yuri Bogunov and Sergey Zhuravlev at the Christmas Tournament in Khrabrovo 2015 (photo by Andrew Boykov)

Members of the Ladies Court L to R: Marina Savchenko, Daria Ryzhov, Maria Tarasova, Margarita Zolotaryova, Ksenia Galilova and Elizaveta Rylova(not shown) at the Christmas Tournament in Khrabrovo 2015 (photo by Andrew Boykov)

The Feast at the Christmas Tournament in Khrabrovo 2015 (photo by Andrew Boykov)

A chicken knight riding a suckling pig mount at the feast of the Christmas Tournament in Khrabrovo 2015 (photos by Eugenia Komarova)

Hand washing during the Feast of the Christmas Tournament in Khrabrovo 2015
(photo by Andrew Boykov)

Dmitry Savchenko(standing) speaks to the participants at the Feast of the
Christmas Tournament in Khrabrovo 2015 (photo by Andrew Boykov)

Related articles:
Christmas Tournament at Khrabrovo 2014

Jousting at Zhelezny Grad

Jousting Tournament To Be Held during Железный Град (Iron City Festival) in Russia