Orange Medieval Faire shows the evolution of the jousting tournament into a professional sport

A resurgence in medieval jousting has seen it evolve from amateurs at “broncos” to a growing professional sport.

Core items:

• More than 5,000 people attended the first Orange Medieval Faire this weekend
• Tournament participants say the event’s success shows how much the sport has grown
• Women made up almost half of the tournament participants

In the 15th and 16th centuries, jousting was one of the most popular sports, as knights and nobles risked their lives for glory.

However, the sport largely died out in the 17th century as people turned to other equestrian events.

However, in the last decade there has been an increasing interest in the sport among everyday Australians who aspired to be knights in shining armour.

Luke Binks has been playing tournaments for more than 20 years and has seen the sport grow from just a handful of people across the country to hundreds of participants today.

Luke Binks has been playing tournaments and making armor for more than 20 years. (ABC Central West: Hamish Cole)

“I used to travel from Brisbane to Bathurst just to have someone to train with,” Mr Binks said.

“Back then it was just people with patchwork armor and sticks on wild horses trying to hit each other.

“It’s gone from that backyard tournament to a very sophisticated sport where people do it professionally.”

Growing female presence

On Saturday, the Orange Medieval Faire showed how the once male-dominated sport has evolved.

Three of the eight competitors were women, who Renae Marisma hopes will inspire the next generation of jousters.

“There’s a good handful of us now that actually play tournaments professionally and there are a lot of girls in training,” she said.

“I hope other women will see what we’re doing and realize they can do it too.”

Jousters from Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales attended the first Orange Medieval Faire.ABC Central West: Hamish Cole)

Ms. Marisma says the opportunity to compete against men in a contact sport is a rare opportunity and something she enjoys.

“There are no disabilities, so we all ride exactly the same type of armor, the same horses. We only ride against the guys and we do it really well.

“No matter how much we weigh, how big or small our horses are, we just ride.

“We just have to put ourselves in their shoes.”

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Discipline is key

For former Australian Special Forces agent Philip Leitch, the tournament provided the post-duty environment he needed.

“Special forces and tournaments are about discipline,” he said.

“Any kind of training if you learn this discipline will help you, before you were in the army it was the martial arts discipline, now it’s the tournament.”

The fair included Viking fights, falcon flight and medieval cuisine. (ABC Central West: Hamish Cole)

During his 12-year tournament career, Mr. Leitch has competed around the world including a World Championship which inspired his daughter to take up the sport.

During that time he has witnessed some of the perils of the sport.

“Sometimes you walk by and you’re like, ‘Did I actually get hit?’ because the armor works pretty well.

“Other times your eyes roll back and you see stars for a second and then you wake up and wonder what happened.”

“Thousands of Hammer Blows”

In addition to being Jouster, Luke Binks continues the lost art of the blacksmith.

Mr Binks said the methods of making knight armor hadn’t changed in 700 years.

“There aren’t many modern machines that can be used to replicate medieval armor because they’re very specific in the way they have to work and fit,” he said.

“Pro armor is usually about six months of work with thousands and thousands of hammer blows.”

More than 5,000 people attended the Orange Medieval Fair.(ABC Central West: Hamish Cole)

Mr Binks says replicating armor used by knights in the 15th and 16th centuries is vital to the sport.

“They also used this stuff to protect themselves and save their lives and they perfected it.

“For us, it’s almost impossible to find anything better than what they created back then, so we kind of have the gift of just copying what was historically done.”