Documentaries on Jousting?

So the game I'm going to run is for a group of young teenagers (including my 13 yr old son) without a lot of education of the middle ages. Is anyone aware of a good 5-10 minute documentary that can summarize the medieval knight tournaments described in Lords of Men?

I tried rewatching "A Knight's Tale" with my son but he found all the romance scenes too embarrasing to watch. All suggestions are welcome! :smiley:

There is the TV series "Full Metal Jousting" which you can watch over on Dailymotion. While it is a modern sport, it tries to be closer to classic jousting rather than the sport form common today while meeting safety requirements. Some of the hits are rather brutal later in the series as skill levels raise. Here is an intro video about it on youtube to give you an idea.

Tilt is the second TV show from the guys behind "Full Metal Jousting". They are just as brutal. Earlier this year they released their first three seasons on Youtube.

Speaking of the modern sport form, there is the World Invitational "Grail of Chivalry" jousting tournament which takes place biyearly in Harcourt Park that is the World Championship for modern sport jousting (much softer than that seen in Full Metal Jousting). Short documentaries from 2013, 2015, and 2019 though I am sure you could find others. They have a much better feel, though the actual hits are no where near as spectacular.

Also in Australia is the tournament in Warragul. This is a full range tournament featuring not just jousting but melee and other events.

"Knights of Valour" is a full contact form using a mix of the Full Metal Jousting/Tilt style with the modern sport style. They have some great hits and brutal action. It is also the one most widespread in the USA, so depending on where you live you might actually get to watch it live. They host their events in rodeo arenas.

The Youtube channel "The Jousting Life" has not been updated for a long time but is full of short clips of passes and training.

If you are interested in the other events that went on at a tournament, there are many videos of full contact melee.

There is an actual international league in which teams from different countries fight in team format called "Battle of Nations". Yes the USA does have a team. Their 150v150 grand melee is like watching a video game in real life. The 2021 event has rounds 1, 2, and 3. I actually enjoy the Battle of Nations events more than jousting, and I really enjoy jousting.

If you are wondering where my interest in this comes from, I grew up with it. The "Le Tournoi" is an event that started in my home town in the early 1800's, still going strong. It is a ring jousting event with almost 200 years of history with the championship held in Ville Platte every year. Not quiet what you are looking for since it is ring rather than contact jousting. Not much video, but some cool pictures going back to the 1950s. Those guys are nuts since most of them ride quarter horses hitting 50+ mph.

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Wow, this is pretty epic, thank you for all the videos!

Let me know if you need anything more.

There are actually quite a few documentaries on youtube about historical jousting I figured you could easily find yourself. I tried to avoid things like clips from Medieval Times, which are pure show with minimal actual contact. Figured that the boys would much rather watch actual jousting rather than show jousting.

I never realized how few people know that jousting was still a thing until I got excited FMJ was coming out and started talking about it a decade ago. I highly suggest going watch a live event if there is ever one in your area. Take your son, he will lose his mind. At the very least you could find ring joust like Louisiana and Maryland have statewide events in. Not quite as exciting but events are much more often. BTW, it is the state sport of Maryland.

I forgot to link the Knights of Valour's homepage. Their next event is the end of November in Alabama. They have events all over the US and Canada.

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