If you’re wondering what all of the cool kids are up to these days, the answer will most definitely surprise you. No, they aren’t shooting sharks on wave runners or getting the titles of all of the books they’ve read tattooed on their forearms (starting a trend is hard, believe me). They’re doing something equally awesome; bringing back the medieval sport of jousting. A championship league was created by professional jousters Shane Adams and Charlie Andrews when they probably realized that every time they attempted to introduce themselves as professional jousters they were met with a round of laughter.
They rectified this problem by attempting to transform jousting from an interesting Renaissance fair novelty into a mainstream spectacle.
I’ve always thought there’s nothing more American (besides cougar attacks) than a couple of men in iron suits charging at each other on horses as they attempt to spear each other in the chest. There’s nothing better than sitting in the stands as you watch people attempt to severely injure each other on horseback.
Rather impressive video here.
Personally I can’t wait until jousting matches start appearing in rap videos. From the New York Times:
Jousting was popular enough to last for more than 400 years in Europe, but these days there are only some 200 competitive jousters around the world, about 30 of whom are in North America. (A couple hundred more perform at Renaissance fairs and festivals but do not compete.) The basic concept is unchanged from medieval times: two armor-clad opponents charge at each other on horses while wielding 11-foot-long wooden lances. The goal is to break your lance on your opponent’s shield or on a metal plate bolted to his chest called a grand guard, but unhorsings are an added thrill and — in the North American style of competition — the surest way to rack up points.
“I want to see another guy get paralyzed,” a boy squealed at a recent jousting match in Pensacola, Florida, waving a toy sword.
Yes, in America we glorify unnecessarily dangerous sports that can easily result in paralysis (which kids are rooting for). Now can somebody please convince LeBron James to spend his offseason jousting? That’ll probably put an end to the biggest civil nuisance we have today, plus who wouldn’t want to watch that?
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Is jousting the next extreme sport? [New York Times]
