An interesting article on the sport of Jousting in the US

[callistotoni]

This link was posted over on the WK Yahoo Group:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/magazine/11Jousting-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&hp

It is a *long* article, but if you are going to read it I highly recommend you read the whole thing. The following is, I confess, me rambling.

What I find interesting about this article is that, IMHO, the first group described, the American-only full contact "extreme sport" jousters, represent to me a 3-sigma* example of what I believe some Westerners that I know are afraid SCA heavy combat fighting will become if we are not careful. I, myself, am not that worried, given the reality that I see. But I do think I can point to this and say "This is what some people are afraid of". I suppose this might encourage a more conscious advocacy of Honoring and Respecting one's opponent as compared to just wanting to brutalize them. Note I Have Not Seen such "brutality" in the West. I think our fighters *do* try to be Chivalrous, even though some disagree as to what *exactly* that means. What sets the US-only jousters apart is that they explicitly are all about the violence and bragging rights only. But it may still be useful to hold up this example to newcomers to say We Are Not These Guys! :-0

I also thought the ruthlessness and lack of empathy of the Florida audience was, ironically, akin to historical audiences whether they wanted to be or not (e.g. little boy in audience: "I want to see a guy get paralyzed!".) Medieval and Rennaissance people did turn out to watch animals get ripped apart for entertainment, after all.

Sigh. Didn't we have the Enlightenment? People scare me out there. That's why I hang out with my idealistic friends.

* 3-sigma = the exteme edge of the bell curve.

Comments

[aimeric.livejournal.com]

Oh, we had the Enlightenment...and we gave it back (e.g. Texas schoolbooks getting rid of Thomas Jefferson).

[love3angle.livejournal.com]

I couldn't read the article without registering for the NYT, but I have been to full contact jousts and did not have the same experience.

The entire event was "billed" as a sporting event. These guys were some of the top jousters in the world and the field marshal spoke to the crowd to explain how points are tallied, and what the object of the sport was (i.e breaking lances and getting a good hit on your opponent in a safe manner).

Having said that, it was both brutal and exhilarating in the same way football is. It was extremely athletic and skillful, but anyone taking cheap shots at any place but the opponent's shield, especially at the horse, would be immediately disqualified.

These competitors are in extremely rarefied air, and very skilled horsement. It is not a sport for amateurs. The SCA does what it does, and that is great, but it is not this.

I am friends with a couple of these guys now and have heard them talk about competitors who are intent on harm or just plain unsportsmanlike. They don't lat long before they are banned from the competitions.

As for the crowd, everyone had a great time and it was not at all bloodthirsty. I think people are "trained" by Hollywood to expect impaling and black knights, etc. thinking it's a show. The promoters of the events are the ones responsible for setting the tone and people who attend will have an expectation of what they're about to see.

[callistotoni.livejournal.com]

Um, you need to read the article to understand what I was saying. The article discusses 2 groups of jousters. The first group (which most of the article focuses on) are some American and Canadian-only jousters that don't try to be historically authentic and are in it for the "extreme" nature of the sport. The second group discussed (mostly as a point of comparison) is the group that the folks at Historic Enterprises plays with, and that is worldwide. That group comes accross like what you discribe.