Announcement for "The Tournament of the Phoenix 2012"

From a press release for “The Tournament of the Phoenix 2012”:

“The Tournament of the Phoenix”™ is a two day invitational jousting tournament where highly skilled jousters compete for the coveted Phoenix prize. This event is not a performance or re-enactment. This is a sports contest, the original 'extreme' sport. This year's tournament will take place in Poway, California, USA on October 26-28th. Six jousters from the USA, England, Canada and France will compete against each other in foot combat with axes, mounted melee and four sessions of jousting.

Jousters(photo provided by “The Tournament of the Phoenix”)

The popular “Festival of History” complements the Tournament, providing a host of activities for all ages and interests. Costumed interpreters inhabit fully outfitted period camps spanning Rome to the Renaissance. With live music as well as demonstrations from blacksmithing and falconry to glass blowing and gladiatorial combat, this event provides fun, food and excitement for all!

New for 2012

• Skill at Arms competition – 8 West-coast competitors demonstrate their prowess with lances, swords, spears and other weaponry as they accumulate points in 9 events over 3 days.
• Gladiators! – Watch authentically armoured gladiators fight in 2 demonstrations a day.
• Glasswork – Stained glass and lampwork demonstrated on site.
• Local artisans – This year, the tournament has made a commitment to assure most vendors are local artisans. Start your holiday shopping and support a local artist!
• Pony rides and petting zoo from Zoo4You.
• More than 8 registered charities have been given free spaces to spread the message about their focus: Make a Wish, Uganda education, animal rescue, historic horses, birds of prey and more.

Background
The name of this tournament was coined during the first WorldJoust Tournaments™ event in October 2007. When the Witch Creek fires devastated Southern California, most of San Diego – including the event organizers and an early arriving competitor – were evacuated, and it seemed the event would have to be canceled.

A decision was made to put the event on anyway, and hundreds of area residents turned out to enjoy an entertaining day away from the cares and worries that had plagued so many. Surrounded by a sea of smiling faces, English competitor Dominic Sewell declared,”We thought the fires would defeat us, but instead we have risen, phoenix like, from the flames.” And so "The Tournament of the Phoenix" was named.

Since that first tournament in 2007, the event has grown, adding more competitions, displays and exhibitors every year. It has established itself as a unique and valuable opportunity for students and their families to experience history.

You can find out more about this event by visiting "The Tournament of the Phoenix" website.

Joust For Fun: How to Clean Your Armour

A knight at the laundromat (photo by Unknown)

I found this funny photo floating around the internet. If anyone knows who took this picture, please let me know so that I can give them the credit they deserve.


UPDATE: According to Fred, the image comes from a promotional poster for Jacques Chocolate in Belgium. Thanks for the information, Fred!

Random Pic: Knight at Night

This dramatic picture of a jouster at night was taken by Marcin Lipinski of Studio A during the 2012 tournament at Gniew Castle.

Unknown jouster at Gniew Castle 2012(photo by Studio A)

If you know who this jouster is, feel free to make a comment identifying him, and I will update the caption on the picture.

Charlie Andrews and the Knights of Mayhem at "Run to the Cascades 2012"

Charlie Andrews and the Knights of Mayhem put on a jousting tournament at the biker rally "Run to the Cascades 2012" which took place September 7 - 8. Unfortunately, due to violence breaking out between rival biker gangs who were attending the biker rally, the event had to be shut down, and the tournament was never completed. However, here are a few pictures of Charlie Andrews and his Knights of Mayhem while they were at the "Run to the Cascades".

Many thanks to Pashaa Sanwick of Dreamline Photos and Pamela Morgan of Pamela Morgan Photography for sharing their pictures.
(click on the smaller pictures to embiggen.)

Jason Armstrong and Charlie Andrews joust at "Run to the Cascades 2012"(photo by Pashaa Sanwick)




Joe Ambrosius and Fast Eddie Rigney unhorse each other(photo by Pashaa Sanwick)




Jason Armstrong and Greg Boxma joust(photo by Pamela Morgan)






Fast Eddie Rigney and Joe Ambrosius joust(photo by Pamela Morgan)

To see which photographer took the smaller photos move your cursor over the image and pause. Text stating who took the photo should appear.

Shane Adams Wins Overall Championship for “Estes Park 2012”, While Kryssi Jeaux Miller Becomes the First Female Jouster to Ever Win a Daily Joust at “Estes Park”

For many years, as part of the “Longs Peak Scottish/Irish Highland Festival”, there has been a very popular jousting tournament, commonly referred to as “Estes Park”(since the event takes place in Estes Park, Colorado). This year the tournament was held on September 6 - 9 and included jousters from Shane Adam's troupe The Knights of Valour and the Knight's Edge Jousting Academy.

Shane Adams, from the tv show “Full Metal Jousting”, won the overall tournament championship.

Shane Adams with the award for Tournament Champion(photo by Suzanne DeMink)

Of course, he could not have won without the support of his trusty steed, Paladin, a 16 year old, 17 hand, black Percheron gelding.

Shane Adams on his Percheron gelding Paladin(photo by Suzanne DeMink)

Other members of the Knights of Valour earned second, third and fourth place overall:
2nd place – Robert Combe on the 12 year old, 17.1 hand Belgian Draft gelding Jake,

Robert Combe on Jake(photo by Suzanne DeMink)

3rd place – Zach Lovering on the 9 year old, 17.1 hand gelding Harland,

Zach Lovering with Harland(photo by Suzanne DeMink)

4th place – Ken Barton on the 13 year old, 17 hand gelding Phantom.

Ken Barton on Phantom(photo by Suzanne DeMink)

The tournament consisted of a Mounted Skill at Arms(MSA) Individual Events competition, a “Light Armor” competition and a “Heavy Armor” competition. Fifteen competitors participated in MSA – IE, 11 in "Light Armor" and 6 in "Heavy Armor". Awards were given daily for each competition, as well as counting towards the overall tournament title.

The “Light Armor” jousting competition involved using plain Straight Solid lances to hit the opponent's large hand held shield on its upper right hand corner. To make scoring more accurate, there was a target affixed to the upper right quadrant of each shield. Points were earned by hitting the red center of the target with fewer points earned for hitting the outer yellow area of the target. Before each pass, the squires would rub the end of each lance with black "chalk" which would rub off on the target if there was a hit.

Shane Adams strikes his opponent's shield and leaves a black mark in the yellow area of the target.(photo by Suzanne DeMink)

The “Heavy Armor” jousting competition involved using Straight Solid lances with Vamplates and Grappers attached to strike the opponent's Gridded Grand Guard which was bolted to their left shoulder.

Straight Solid lances with Vamplates and Grappers(left) Ken Barton with a Gridded Grand Guard bolted to his shoulder(right)(photos by Suzanne DeMink)

Points were earned for hitting the grand guard with the lance, breaking the lance against the grand guard and for unhorsing your opponent. Due to an error on Friday, the vamplates were screwed onto the lances instead of being taped on, which resulted in three jousters – Ken Barton, Rob Combe, and Zach Lovering – breaking their hands that day.

According to photographer Suzanne DeMink:

”They corrected the problem, but it made for an interesting weekend with everyone doing their best to try and hold the lances! That's also why, in some of my pictures, the knight's grip may look awkward.” – Suzanne DeMink

The female competitors from Knight's Edge Jousting Academy did well this year. Lauren Sturges, a recent graduate of Colorado State University, won the MSA Individual Event in rings on Friday by spearing all four rings.

Lauren Sturges tilts at rings during "Estes Park 2012"(photo by Suzanne DeMink)

And on Saturday, Kryssi Jeaux Miller made “Estes Park” history by being the first female jouster to win one of the jousting competitions. She took first place in the "Light Armor" competition, beating out Shane Adams who came first in "Light Armor" on both Friday and Sunday, and who earned first place in "Heavy Armor" all three days.

Kryssi Jeaux Miller takes aim at the quintain(photo by Suzanne DeMink)

According to photographer Suzanne DeMink:

”The weather was perfect, and the stands were packed every day of the competition. The judging was very professional and easy to follow, with the results of every pass announced to the crowd. All of the Knights of Valour and the members of KEJA that I met were very nice, and everyone helped. Overall, it was an enjoyable time for all.” – Suzanne DeMink

Many thanks to Suzanne DeMink for the information and pictures used in this article.