Jousting is making a comeback and people are trying to keep it in its original form. It should be mentioned that this isn’t like the Renaissance fairs that you may see.
Recently, an event was held in the Keene State Mountain View Room on the third floor of the student center.
This was an event showing off the revival of the medieval sport, jousting. The event was called, “The Most Dangerous Sport is About to Be Reborn: The Return of Jousting and Medieval Combat.”
Seton Hall University English Professor Dr. Angela Weisl gave the presentation. A medieval enthusiast, Weisl came to Keene State to show off the revival of jousting.
She said, “I first learned about this by reading an article in the New York Times.” She also said she heard about it through the History Channel series, “Full Metal Jousting,” which she said she recommends watching.
During the presentation, Weisl talked about how the contestants that take part in this are not at all trying to preserve history.
Colton McCraken / Equinox Staff
She said there’s a Battle of the Nations event where teams from all over Europe, the Americas, Australia and a few countries in central Asia participate.
She explained that the United States differs from European and other countries because in Europe, the injuries are not as severe and they typically stop if someone has been injured. In the United States, participants tend to keep going, even if a leg is broken.
Weisl continued to say that this is a sport where people compete and can get hurt. She said in order to protect themselves, combatants use plate armour and less deadly versions of real weapons.
Jousting isn’t a very common sport though. Weisl said, “It’s hard to put a Nike swoosh on authentic knight armour.”
KSC first-year Ethan Sweetland said he had never heard of jousting outside of Renaissance fairs. Sweetland also said that he would also try it too, provided he was taught well and received proper medical care afterwards.
Sweetland said he might check out the “Full Metal Jousting” TV show on the History Channel.
Cheshire Academy for Lifelong Learning (CALL) member Cliff Johnson said he would be concerned about the injuries students could sustain if KSC ever had jousting as a potential sport. “They would need to know how and where it could be treated,” he said.
Johnson also said he didn’t know if jousting would work in general for KSC. He said, “Could the state or college afford that if students were doing it here?”
Michael Fremeau can be contacted at mfremeau@kscequinox.com
