Huron Expositor, 2014-04-02, Page 1212 Huron Expositor • Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Knights of Valour
charges full steam
into REACH
Gerard Creces
QM' Agency
Imagine sitting on top of two 2,000
pounds of charging muscle, getting ready
to take a blow equivalent 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 Val-
our 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 dinner show
- it's the real deal.
"There should be plenty of broken
lances flying through the air," he said
Thursday. "And the odd knight too."
It's one thing to watch the jousters on
television, but a whole different 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 cham-
pion jousters, with heavy and light armour
and team as well. One of those jousters is
Dame Jaclyn - the only female on the ros-
ter. 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, exhil-
arating, 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. "Defi-
nitely 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 oppo-
nent, 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 bal-
ance are crucial to her performance.
Not every horse can handle a trick
rider, however, and adding to the dif-
ficulty 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.
JOUST GAUNTLET
TARGET:
The only female knight of the bunch,
Dame Jaclyn readies her lance during
the gauntlet race.
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