What’s this show called … Full Metal Jousting?

This week’s big thank you goes out to our very own Carla, who suggested Full Metal Jousting for this week’s column. I tip my lance to you, m’lady!

I had no idea what to expect going into this series. Was it a reality competition? Did it take place behind the scenes at a Medieval Times-like show? Was it just a cute name with nothing to do with jousting at all? No idea.

I found it interesting to hear jousting called an extreme sport … after watching the show I realized that that was an accurate statement. This is one brutal sport in which two knights, mounted on horses, race full speed at one another, lances out. The goal is to dismount your opponent through sheer force of the horse and the extended lance, and breaking your lance is a good thing; it means you did a stellar job of ramming it right into the armor of your opponent. Overwhelmingly brutal.

And in this competition, two teams of jousters face off to win a $100,000 prize. But here’s my question: on many reality series competitors are out to score more than money, be it a recording contract, a restaurant, or a spouse. So what happens when a jouster is victorious on Full Metal Jousting? Do they become a professional jouster? Is there a next stage for them?

A number of the competitors are already about as far into the world of jousting as you can get — many of them are so-called “theatrical jousters” at places like Medieval Times. And for those who are not in the profession, what are they looking to get (aside from the cash prize)? Is this a career move for the firefighter, the former Marine and MMA fighter, the multiple horse trainers, the show jumper, the auctioneer, the bull rider, the steer wrestler, or the philosophy student? Have things gotten so bad at Sotheby’s that a guy’s got to turn to jousting just to get by?

And speaking of men, another thing I noticed was the complete lack of female presence on the show. I don’t know whether women joust or not, and I understand not having them compete against some of these guys in this competition, but what about as coaches? Or even, excuse the gender role assignment, as some sort of etiquette teacher? The competitors talk about how important comportment and decorum is, so might it not be possible for “fair maidens” to work with the jousters on becoming knights both on and off the field of battle?

This episode featured a pretty scary injury, when a member of the red team suffered a scalp cut during practice and had to be pulled from his joust. The scene was edited to follow a talking head about how jousters “have to be a man,” meaning that they need to learn to endure all sorts of pain. Now, I’m all for playing injured, but in a sport where a guy who’s down by twenty-five points can still win by delivering a knockout punch — dismounting your opponent so violently that he’s unable to get back on his horse in the following two minutes — I think some sort of scale needs to be developed for just what constitutes reasonable endurance, and what’s asking too much.

I will say this: no matter how many reality competitions you’ve seen, Full Metal Jousting is an original … all the way from the Middle Ages.

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Mar 13, 2012 @ 12:00 EST5EDT