Clinton News Record, 2014-04-02, Page 11Wednesday, April 2, 2014 • News Record 11
Knights of Valour charges full steam into REACH
Gerard Creces
Clinton News Record
Imagine sitting on top of two
2,000 pounds of charging muscle,
getting ready to take a blow equiva-
lent to 5,000 pounds per square
inch right in the chest.
Sounds crazy, and the jousters of
Knights of Valour will tell you first
hand - it is.
On Friday, March 28, the Knights
of Valour put their skills to the test
with live jousting at the REACH
Centre. Shane Adams, the man
behind Knights of Valour and the
popular television program, Full
Metal Jousting, says this is no din-
ner show - it's the real deal.
"There should be plenty of bro-
ken lances flying through the air,"
he said Thursday. "And the odd
knight too."
It's one thing to watch the joust-
ers on television, but a whole dif-
ferent world when you see it live,
feel the ground shake and the
impact force while sitting in the
stands.
Friday's crowd was rapt with
attention as the armoured knights
shattered lance after lance on one
another.
The Knights of Valour are world
champion jousters, with heavy and
light armour and team as well. One
of those jousters is Dame Jaclyn -
the only female on the roster.
Decked out in 14 -gauge stainless
steel armour, she faced off against
opponents nearly double her
weight. She has been training with
heavy armour for two years now in
a sport she describes as fun, exhila-
rating, terrifying and painful.
"It's taken a while to figure out
what to do to be my best," she said,
sitting in full armour atop her
horse, Superman. "Definitely a lot
of push ups."
As the sole female knight, Dame
Jaclyn said if she can hold her own,
so can any woman or girl.
"What I'd say to young girls and
even adult women is nothing can
hold us back but ourselves," she
said.
And when barreling toward an
opponent, the one thing going
through her head is as practical as
it is obvious - "Don't look at the
other lance!"
For the jousters to be successful
on the field, size is secondary to
working as a team with their horse.
A well-connected horse and rider
have that much more momentum.
Jordana learned trick riding from
a 10th generation circus family and
has been on horseback since she
was four years old.
Strength, agility, flexibility and
balance are crucial to her
performance.
Not every horse can handle a
trick rider, however, and adding to
the difficulty is the fact Jordana
rides bareback.
Prior to the joust, the audience
was treated to a gladiator match
complete with Roman chariot, as
well as a gauntlet where the knights
tested their sword, spear and lance
skills on horseback.
As part of the gauntlet,
riders had to successfully
strike an apple atop a post
with their swords.
Photos by
Gerard Creces
Clinton News Record
The only female knight of the bunch,
Dame Jaclyn readies her lance
during the gauntlet race.
Riders tested
their accuracy
throwing
spears on
horseback.
.1I
A knight gets
knocked off
his horse
during the live
jousting.
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