Shane Adams is the star of Full Metal Jousting and has been featured in the New York Times because is the godfather of modern full contact jousting.

In full contact jousting two knights wearing 150 lbs of armour ride on charging horses and try to unhorse each other using 11 foot long solid wooden lances that deliver 2,000 lbs of force.

Yes, this is an actual sport: there are rules, competitions, champions and a point system. For example you get 1 point for hitting the opponent with your lance tip, 5 points for breaking your lance during that hit, and 10 points for unhorsing the opponent (i.e. if he falls to the ground)

But thousands of pounds of human, horse and armour colliding creates quite a bit of an impact, so broken bones, concussions and impacts that feel like you’re being hit in the chest with a sledge hammer are not uncommon.

Oh, did I mention that dodging, ducking, parrying, and blocking your opponent’s lance is NOT allowed? You have to sit there and take it. This is definitely NOT a choreographed Vegas dinner show…



I caught up with Shane shortly after one of his live shows at the Pacific National Exhibition this year where full contact jousting had quickly become one of the favorite events of the event.

Shane and I talked about the physical and mental aspects of jousting, and what really distinguishes people who manage to survive the training and stick with the sport.

I really enjoyed the part where he talks about balancing on the knife’s edge between the aggression required to do this insane sport, and the zen state of mind you need to properly plan and aim your shot.

Here’s the video version of that chat (the audio and free podcast version is like to below)…

The problem with just watching the video above (other than the fact that you might already driving your car!) is that you might miss out on future episodes…

(I hope to bring Shane back for a longer and more detailed conversation before the end of the year!)

So to get future episodes the best thing to do is to subscribe to The Strenuous Life Podcast using the podcast player that you almost certainly already have on your phone!

(For example, if you have an iPhone then it’s the purple app with the antenna-like thing in it. Just click the Apple Podcasts link below and it should open up that app for you.)

Here are the links to find the podcast on various players – the full contact jousting episode is #162…

Or you can listen here:

Check out the showtimes for the Knights of Valour at the PNE between now and September 3rd by clicking here

Catch the knights at a future event somewhere in North America by clicking here.

Or get more information about full contact jousting at www.extremejousting.com

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