Days of old: Justin Holland, riding Blade, prepares to face his challengers. PICTURE: KATE HEALY
KRYAL Castle will become the only venue in Australia holding regular jousting tournaments, with the first knights set to charge in December.
The Ballarat attraction has secured an international jousting champion to train a team of combatants who will face-off in daily jousting tournaments later this year.
Jousting, a medieval challenge between two mounted knights, is a sport where competitors in chain mail and coats of armour use wooden lances to strike their opponents.
Fans of comedy film The Castle will also recall the debate over the value of jousting sticks and the subsequent need for such an item in a 1990s suburban home.
With years of experience performing in Belgium, France, the UK and New Zealand, Justin Holland is very familiar with the sport and will now train a team of "Castle Knights" to perform when Kryal Castle opens later this year.
Mr Holland said the Castle would become the "home of jousting" in Australia.
"We've already got some applicants together and undertaken some rider assessment," he said.
"Then we're hoping to call on some local talent to have a pool of jousters so that when we open in December we'll be able to do jousting every day."
With 18 years’ experience facing down other knights, Mr Holland said his suit of armour was the one thing separating him from serious injury.
"It does the job - it keeps the sweat in and the pointy bits out," he said.
"I don't wear it just for the looks, that's for sure."
Mr Holland was emphatic about what visitors could expect from the jousting shows.
"They can expect awesomeness squared,” he said.
“There will be timber flying all over from shattered lances.”
What you want to know
Yesterday The Courier asked readers what they'd most like to know about being a knight. Here's what they came up with:
Does the armour chafe?
It does. If you don't have the proper undergarments, it can rub and chafe you quite badly.
Is it hard to go to the bathroom?
Extremely difficult. It can be a fairly prolonged experience. You have to plan ahead.
What does it all weigh?
The whole harness weighs 32kg when I've got it all on.
How much does it cost?
Entry level stuff, the bare minimum you would require, will probably set you back between $2000 and $3000.
I've got a mate in Tasmania who has just purchased a tailored suit of spring steel, hardened 15 century English jousting harness for $19,000.