Renaissance People - Charlie Andrews

…Charlie Andrews does the full-contact jousting he does, in armor and on horseback, at Renaissance festivals.

If you think the image is jarring, wait until you see the actual jousting.

"I love it," said Andrews, 38, of Eagle Mountain. "I love the competition, the violence, the hard-hitting nature of the sport. I love that's it's a competition of man against man. I love working with my horse as my teammate. I love that you can't lose because of a judge's bad call. I love walking around a Renaissance festival and feeling really cool, like a rock star at a concert."

There are drawbacks.

"You do get a lot of injuries," Andrews said. "I almost died there years ago. I broke my ribs and punctured a lung, and I had pulmonary embolisms. You get hurt a little every time you do it, but if you're good, you only get hurt really bad maybe once a year."

Andrews founded a jousting group, the Knights of Mayhem…. His jousting name is Sir Charles of St. Andrews.

"I played rugby when I was younger," Andrews said. "I did rodeoing in high school. I've been in the military. I've done a little bit of ultimate fighting. I've been in combat. The next evolution for me was something like this. It's just so unique. In the year 2009, how many guys wear armor and do full-contact jousting? Not the sissy jousting they do at Medieval Times dinner shows. Nobody does what we do."

Andrews, who is 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds, gets into his custom armor, which weighs about 150 pounds. Suits of armor cost about $6,000 for a plain suit, and as much as $30,000 for those with ornate decorations.

Andrews uses a 12-foot lance made of Douglas fir, which screws into his chest plate. He and his opponent run their horses at each other, each going about 20 miles per hour. To score a point, they must use their lance to hit a grid attached to their opponent's breast plate.

The loser can get a broken collarbone, a dislocated shoulder, broken ribs and any number of sprains and bruises resulting from the fall from his horse…

Andrews said he jousts full time and owns a California business, Trident Security & Associates, that supplies bodyguards to people around the world.

"It's one of those businesses that thrives in bad economic times and post-9/11," he said.

Andrews took second place in 2008 and first place in 2007 at the U.S. International Jousting Championships in Estes Park, Colo. Taking first in 2008 was friend Shane Adams, of Toronto, founder of the jousting group Knights of Valour…

For more information on the sport, visit www.knightsofmayhem.com
 or www.fullcontactjousting.com

Complete article:

http://www.standard.net/live/news/172288

Comments

[josie]

38? He just turned 41 ....