Pay a visit to Kryal Castle any Saturday or Sunday and you can see professional jouster Phillip Leitch battle it out against fellow jouster Clifford Formosa. 

Mr Leitch first came across the sport in 2010. 

“I came across the sport through my interest in the middle ages,” Mr Leitch said.

“I was looking into the medieval styles of martial arts and I had horses. So I eventually got onto to jousting.” 

In the tack room it’s more than 45 minutes before the joust.

A group of three sires are running around, clutching metal shields and pieces of armour. 

Mr Leitch chats as he is fitted into the complex armour, that has a breast plate, placards, arm and leg shields. The whole process takes nearly half an hour. 

“A full length mirror is a must in a tack room,” Mr Leitch said.

The competitive jousting circuit in Victoria is relatively small. Only a dozen jousters call themselves professionals. Overseas, it is slightly bigger. 

In America the circuit is huge, it is keenly watched by jousting enthusiasts who travel around with drones, filming every angle of the unique sport. 

To achieve a perfect “hit” takes skill and practice.

“The object is to hit the opponents with enough force that it breaks the lance,” Mr Leitch said.

With huge horses galloping across the arena, lances flying through the air and men dressed in 40 kg armour the sport looks extremely dangerous.

“No more than any other sport,” Mr Leitch said.

“You can get injured, some people have been killed.”

Mr Leitch completed 150 jousts last year. His sport took him to America and next month he will travel to France.

“Pick any obscure sport and soon you’ll find you’re one of the best in the world,” Mr Leitch said.

Given the growing popularity, will we one day see jousters in the Olympics? 

“There’s a bit of a push,” Mr Leitch said.

At the moment, Mr Leitch’s focus is on next weekend’s Keith Ryal Memorial Joust.

The first competitive joust to be held at Kryal Castle on Saturday, June 4.