Full Metal Jousting: Episode 3 ‘Death Sticks & a Coffin’

Don’t miss the previous recaps: Episode 1: The Ultimate Extreme Sport and Episode 2: Unhorsed

Episode 3: ‘Death Sticks & a Coffin’

In the Red Team’s locker room everyone is celebrating Jakes victory. Jake states that everyone thought he was a clown but after his “epic victory” they will now see him as more a threat.

Over in the Black Team’s locker room Jack’s teammates are supportive of his tilt. Coach Rod says that Jack’s theatrical jousting skills don’t carry over to this competition.

Black Team Practice
Shane says that this week they are going to concentrate on having a good seat while jousting. He explains what a good seat in jousting requires: The jousters legs will be straight down and around the horse as far as possible. While the jouster is leaning slightly forward. He advises the jousters to learn it or hit the ground.

The Black Team works on the spinning quintain and the shock qiuntain. The quintains are setup on alternate sides of the list, so the riders must continually shift their weight back and forth while maintaining a proper seat on the horse. During one pass Langdon is not sitting properly and pulls his groin muscle when he hits the shock quintain. He tries to walk off the injury but is unable to continue practicing.

During the practice Joe McKinley seems to be struggling and Coach Rod states if Joe is picked he will have a lot of single points. Impling that he is not skilled enough to break lances or unhorse an opponent.

Red Team Practice
Coach Ripper states the members who have already jousted (Mike and Jake) will not put on armor. Mike laments that he has been a detriment to the team lately and would like to be a more positive influence.

When the team arrives on the practice field they are introduce to the ‘barrel,’ a method for working on the proper seat. The barrel is suspended from the top with four ropes secured to the barrel. A saddle is palced on the barrel and the rider must hang on with only his legs while the device is moved in a galloping horse fashion. While watching the practice, Shane thinks Josh Avery will go far in this competition.

Jousting Match-up
The teams assemble, Coach Ripper and the Red Team are in control this week. Ripper chooses Josh Avery for the Red Team against Joe McKinley on the Black Team. Shane believes Josh is an exceptional jouster but that Joe is a better rider. The coaches meet Shane in the stables to pick the horses.

Final Practice
The Black Team focuses on Joe so he is prepared for the joust. Joe explains that he is a 3-day event rider. It is a mix of dressage, cross country riding and show jumping. He fells his accuracy is good but knows he needs to hit harder. The start of practice is a bit shaky as he is unable to hit any of his opponents. Shane is convinced that Avery will annihilate him. As Joe continues with the practice he is improving and break lances at will. His only problem is his reign control. He is forgetting to grab the reigns after the hit to stop the horse.

Shane explains the purpose of rein control:
At the start of the pass the jouster holds the reins, then they are dropped before a hit is delivered. The reasoning is if a jouster pulls the reins while coming off a horse, or to stay on a horse, the horse could be seriously injured. So for the safety of the horse the reins are dropped for the hit. There is a 5 point deduction for holding the reins while delivering or taking a hit.

In practice Joe is the only one with a lance. The other jousters are acting as another form of a quintain. During one pass Joe connects with Langdon and unhorses him. Langdon says that he is unable to grip the horse with his legs due to his sore groin muscle. But Shane calls him out saying he needs to stretch the muscle and if he can walk he isn’t too bad off.

Coach Rod calls in Rope to joust with Joe. Rope quickly unhorses Joe, but Joe gets up and is ready to go again. On the next few passes Joe hits Rope with solid stirkes. After their practice Rope tells Joe that he can hit hard for a little guy and shows him the dents in his armor and mentions that Joe dislocated his finger. Joe enters the joust with a little added confidence.

The Red Team is preparing for practice and Avery is confident he will will FMJ. For this practice session Coach Ripper has everyone joust Avery. He gets off to a slow start but then is able to turn it around. He is breaking lances on all the opponents. Coach Ripper is excited about what he is seeing and thinks Avery’s jousting is perfect. They end the practice and Avery is confident he will win the joust.

Back in the house there is some tension building on the Red Team. Mike, the first eliminated competitor, is asserting himself on the team and they do not like it. Even the Black Team is turning on Mike. Rope calls him abrasive and Jack says no one pays any attention to him. Josh K. states that if he sees Mike abuse anyone he will step in and end it.

The Red Team is no longer the cohesive unit they appeared to be in the first episode. The Black Team is now more unified, maybe the loses are pulling them together.

The Joust

Shane describes the elimination joust. The joust will be officiated by four judges. There will be 8 passes. During the first 4 passes the lances will be an 1.25 inches thick. For the last 4 passes the lances will be 1.5 inches thick.

Pass 1:
Black Team, Joe: Strike +1
Red Team, Avery: Broken Lance +5

Pass 2:
Black Team, Joe: Strike +1
Red Team, Avery: Broken Lance +5

Pass 3:
Black Team, Joe: Broken Lance +5
Red Team, Avery: Hit +1

Pass 4:
Black Team, Joe: Strike +1
Red Team, Avery: Miss

Pass 5:
Black Team, Joe: Miss
Red Team, Avery: Strike +1

Pass 6:
Black Team, Joe: Unhorse +10
Red Team, Avery: Unhorse +10

Pass 7:
Black Team, Joe: Strike +1
Red Team, Avery: Strike +1

Pass 8:
Black Team, Joe: Miss
Red Team, Avery: Miss

Final:
Black Team, Joe: 19
Red Team, Avery: 23

Josh Avery wins and moves on to the next round.

What a great match! Lots of broken lances and a double unhorsing! On the 5th pass we see the first ‘Forgiveness Pass’ of the series. So what is a Forgiveness Pass? It is describe as this:

Forgiveness Pass:
If a jouster decides for any reason that the pass is unsafe he can call a Forgiveness Pass. To signal the Forgiveness Pass the jouster holds his lance in a vertical (upright) position. If the opposing jouster agrees he holds his lance in the same manner as they pass. Both jousters reset and the pass is repeated.

After the joust Avery is still confident that he is a great jouster, but he says that Joe hit him hard everytime. Shane congratulates them both and sends them off to the locker rooms.

It was a great tilt and the best joust of the series!

There was little history in this episode, well besides all the jousting. I like the format of the show and so far they are keeping the drama and machismo to a minimum.

What’d you think? Tell us in the comments below.

[simple_series title=”More posts on Full Metal Jousting”]