For everyone that was at the Albion event this weekend, I have to say thank you for the greatest experience we have had in a long time.

For those that were not able to make it, you missed an incredible time.

I am with the jousting troupe "The Kings Champions". We set up, and the first day went fairly well. no one got hurt, and nothing broke. (thats a good day for us!)
The second day...... well, thats another story. It started with Sir Loyd falling on the slippery benches as he dismounted his horse just before the first show, resulting in some broken pieces of armor. But the show must go on, so we ran the broken pieces to the albion booth. This is where the guys at Albion start to shine. They ran back to the shop, and got the pieces and tools to fix it. In the mean time, Loyd Jousted with an open right shoulder. It was fixed before the start of the third show.

The field was a bit damp from the rain the night before, and the horses were not getting the traction they were used to.
On the third pass, Sir Rod ( who is the current world jousting champion) took a glancing blow to the...... well, to the junk.
The EMT's on site controlled the situation until the ambulance got there. Rod eventually walked to his own truck, and his wife took him to the hospital.
This left us with one jouster, and one whole show to go! Not much of a show, you might think, but we were prepared to do an exibition on knight training and the like. The show started with Loyd using a few of Albion's horseback swords, and doing some cutting demo's (which were awesome by the way)

Long story short, Rod made it back in the middle of the second show. He INSISTED on running a few more passes.
so I geared him up, got him on his horse, and away he went.

After the 4 passes, the guys from Albion presented both Loyd and Rod swords. I know Loyd was presented with a Duke, but I didn't get to see what They gave Rod.

I think the point of this whole post is to let everyone know what kind of people are behind the beautiful pieces of art that come out of the Albion Armoury. They gave 110% to make the show what it was. We are looking forward to seeing them and everyone in October at the Dodge County Fair Grounds in Beaver Dam Wisconsin (shameless plug)

Thank you guys again.


Bob

I don't have alot to say, but when I do I say alot.........

Hi Bob,

I would like to extend a thank you back to everyone at The King's Champions, especially Loyd, and very especially Rod. The above injury described not withstanding, both Loyd and Rod were jousting with broken hands (which had happened a few weeks earlier at Tourney), and yet they made sure that the show went on. You guys are both pretty hardcore.

Again, thanks to the King's Champions from all of us at Albion.

PS. The swords presented were a Duke and a Templar.

Glad to hear the Lanzfest was a success despite the unscheduled excitement. If I didn't live so far away, I probably would have been there (jousting YAY! :D ). I have a couple of questions for the jousters. How do you get into jousting as a sport anyway? Are the previously mentioned injuries typical :\ ? Finally, what kind of lances do you use (type of wood, length, etc.)?

Thanks and may your next event involve fewer ambulances :eek: ,

Jousting has many forms, and I will be the first to admit that I am no expert at any of them. I am but a squire with high expectations at this point.
Before I explain anything I guess I have to stress that we are NOT a show group. We do demonstrations and the like, but the jousting is as real as it gets. We did not cut the lances to break easier, and the guys do not play up hits during tournaments.

The best way to get involved is to hook up with a knight, and squire for him. Loyd is one of, if not the only, certified jousting trainer in the US.

There is a tournament circuit for the type of jousting that we do. I believe the lances we use are made of pine and are 11", but there is a 12" piece of heavy balsa capped in brass at the end. Points are awarded for breaking the tip, breaking the lance itself, and unhorsing. There are many other things involved in scoring, depending on the format. Example, We started the weekend with a later type where there is a "target" added to the armor. I am still rusty with the correct terminology for the plate, but it is bolted and/or pinned to the breastplate. points are only awarded if the target is hit. if the knight is unhorsed but the lance did not hit the target, no points are awarded.

The other type that we did was an early to mid period itialian style where the entire torso and head are valid targets.

Now that you have that, I can answer the question about injuries...
Rod's breastplate is designed to deflect lance blows via a "point" in the low center of the breastplate. Many breastplates have a feature similar to this. unfortunately, because of the conditions being slippery, rod was raised out of the saddle slightly, and the lance deflected down, instead of to the side like it normally would have.
This type of injury happens, but is not real common. The broken wrists that both have are far more common.

Hope that answers some of your questions.

Bob

If any of you folks ever gets the opportunity to see these guys in action DO SO. These fellas are hard core ! Loyd put on a great mounted cutting demo and Rod was..well lets just say I hope I never feel his pain . A great show !

It sounds like everyone had a great time. These kinds of posts always bring back memories. When I was young and single I was involved in a similar troupe. No tilting but lots of heavy foot combat. I'd say that "hardcore" was a pretty apt description. It was as real as it gets without anyone getting killed, and I still have the scars to prove it! Good memories all the way around (well, except for the blood pumping out of the top of my left foot that one time..........).

It sounds like everyone came through when it counted.

. . . so I head to New Glarus this weekend with Bob. . . and things got interesting :D

There's quite a story here (let's just say, we had a bit of an adventure), which I'll probably post a bit later, but I figured tonight I would post a couple of pics. . .

. . . and some thanks to:

The King's Champions for letting the guy who figured he just came along as transportation get involved with the show.
Howy, Amy, Mike, Kevin, Jason, Steve, Gage, and everybody at Albion for a plethora of toys to play with and so much more - a fun crowd, all, and a pleasure spending the weekend with you!
And I want to give a special thank you to Eric for letting me examine your PJ type XVI, your hospitality, dinner, and a great conversation by the fire. You really helped make us feel welcome.

As I've said before, the people make the difference, and that's the short version of my story for the weekend (and something about a slasher flick - later ;) )

Again, everbody within striking distance, remember October - you won't want to miss it! Also, if anyone hasn't heard, in Oshkosh, WI, from Sept. 25 through Oct. 31, A&A is hosting an exhibit from the Oakeshott Institute Collection at the Oshkosh Public Museum. . . only about an hour apart and two great reasons to invade the land of beer and cheeze for a weekend. . .

Lastly, of course, just as I figured I'd find nothing worth splurging some extra cash on (we drove from the last weekend of the Bristol Ren Faire (and A&A's booth) on Saturday into New Glarus Saturday night and spent the next few days with Albion) I scored big by what I figure has to be dumb luck. The first pic is two of Albion's Achilles Mycenaen Thrusting Swords (sorry, folks, haven't got them cleaned up yet) that were left on Albion's Del Tin table as the show was wrapping up and folks were starting to pack it in. I snapped them up so fast I had to let one go to my friend, Matt, as he took too long picking his jaw up off the ground when he heard the price and realized what they were. . . :cool: I'm not going to post the actual dollar amount of the sale (to protect the innocent), but let's just say I'll probably never see an Albion sword at that price ever again.

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The OTHER half of the Albion Mark sword table. Keep in mind that about a third of the swords in these pics were the PJ prototypes!

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Half for the Albion Mark sword table. . .

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The Albion Achilles Swords - I may as well have hit Mike over the head with a sock full of quarters. . .

Did you get the "artistic" pix done yet?

I'll let someone hit me in my "junk" if a free albion sword is in the offing....

Sounds like a fun time. I wonder how far New Glarus is from Muncie, IN?

Mike

Hi All,

This is Lloyd and I want to not only echo what Bob posted at the top of this topic but to add my sincere thanks and appreciation to Albion for not only putting on the Lanzefest but for hiring us to do the "show". Both Rod and I enjoyed ourselves immensely (even with the one mishap) as this was the last time we would joust each other before Michele and he go home to Australia.

We were (and still are) both shocked at the presentation of the swords, you really didn't have to do that, but take our heartfelt appreciation for the gifts. We will both treasure them and (as you probably guessed), I am going to be using mine in cutting demos from horseback from now on! (shameless plug - Get a DUKE if you want a truly exceptional horseback weapon!)

I want to thank everyone at Albion for letting us "join their family" for the weekend and look forward to a long relationship.

Jason - bring the Death Dealer gear along and we can do the picture at the October faire.

Eric - I can't wait to test the Duke out against chainmail. Anything else you want me to kill from horseback?

Last, I want to thank the "Scoobies" (my name for my new squires and fighting group that I am putting together) - you guys and girls ROCK! If I didn't know, I would never have been able to tell that it was your first time squiring. Now we just gotta get enough horses to get you up rockin' and rollin'!

Jonathan - Tonya Roberts in "Hearts and Armour"....

For everyone else - We were going through a list of the worst sword movies ever made last night.

Oho no...... not MORE.....Please god .. NO!!!!!!

Wait, it wasnt that bad.

A cult movie for sure, but "The Princess Bride" was a bit cheezy

Howie, you should join the Scoobies (I'm still not sure I want to be related to a stoned cartoon dog....).
I am having a blast, and learning more than I could have imagined. Lloyd is a lot of fun to work with, and is as enthusiastic as any martial arts teacher I have met.

Step...step...step...................

To Howy and everyone at Albion:

You all have an open invitation to become part of the King's Champions, in whatever capacity that you wish, and since it looks as if we will have a new training ground soon, I plan on beginning joust training early next Spring for those that wish it. Now we just gotta find a new herd of horses!

Cheers!

some photos from LanzeFest 2004 (and The King's Champions in action) can he seen here:

http://albion-swords.com/lanzefest-2004-gallery.htm

Great pics, Howy, mind if I use them on the King's Champions site?

BTW - did anyone get a photo of me cutting with the Duke or Tritonia? I would love to just have a good one of those!