Free Republic

There is far more to it than two armoured horse riders hurtling towards each other with 12ft lances. Jousting demands levels of athleticism, agility and equestrianism that make it an ideal candidate for the Olympics, English Heritage argues. The organisation has launched a campaign to get jousting recognised as an Olympic sport in time for Tokyo 2020.“We are being deadly serious,” said Lucy Hutchings, English Heritage’s head of projects. “It is an incredible spectator sport, a really fascinating thing to watch. The skill of the knight and the horses make it a great thing to witness … we absolutely believe...

If chivalry, as the common saying goes, is dead, someone forgot to tell Shane Adams—the host of History's new original reality series, Full Metal Jousting, which aims to resurrect the medieval and renaissance competition as a legitimate sport over 500 years after its heyday. Which isn't to say that things don't get gritty—"Do not stick out your tongue. You will bite it off," Adams advises the series' would-be knights in last night's premiere episode. Full Metal Jousting, which premiered last night, takes 16 amateur competitors and trains them in competitive full-contact jousting, with a $100,000 prize to be awarded to...

We dressed up in appropriate costumes, piled in the car, and went to Atlanta for the Renaissance Festival last weekend. One of the performances there was, of course, jousting. Those who haven't seen jousting probably have a false idea about how it's done. If you've watched some movies, like Ivanhoe, you think that jousting is fought to the death and is generally hard on the health of the participants. Not so. The phrase "blackmail" came from the period when jousting was the equivalent of NFL games in Europe. Here's how it was conducted: Weather permitting, jousts were held in venues...