Spencer Sutherland » 12.18.11 »
Charlie Andrews jousts his way to TV with KNIGHTS OF MAYHEM
For children of the '80s and '90s, the term "jousting" probably brings up one of two images: either a spandex-clad American Gladiator holding a padded stick or Heath Ledger's golden locks in "A Knight's Tale."
For Utah transplant, and six-time jousting champion, Charlie Andrews, there's nothing Hollywood about the sport. For years, Andrews has been working to bring full-contact jousting to the masses through live tournaments and, most recently, a six-episode series on the National Geographic Channel called "Knights of Mayhem." In February, the sport will get its greatest exposure to date, when Fox Sports airs a jousting competition on Fuel TV.
Andrews realizes that for jousting to gain widespread popularity, the sport will have to overcome some serious misconceptions.
"People think it's fake, that it's choreographed," Andrews says. "Their only exposure to jousting is hokey dinner theater with people dressed up in frilly costumes, play-acting with balsa-tipped lances."
"Frilly" is the last word anyone would use to describe Andrews, who looks more like the leader of a Hell's Angels posse. He adds, "We practice a hardcore, heavy armor, full-contact form of jousting called Realgestech. Picture two warriors, both of them weighing-in at over 200 pounds and wearing 130 pounds of armor, wielding solid hemlock lances, and charging at each other at 30 miles an hour on giant warhorses. That's a battlefield, not a dinner show."
Andrews isn't the only gruff one in the bunch. In fact, each of the knights featured in the NatGeo series looks like he could have easily walked right out of a mixed martial arts ring.
"I've done some mixed martial arts training and everything about the sports is similar, other than with jousting, we're on horseback," Andrews says. "It's mano y mano, man against man. In both sports you've got to be smart and physically tough. You've got to compete when you're injured. You've got to overcome your fear. You've got to be courageous going into battle. You could literally get killed out there."
For the long-term success of the sport, Andrews works to help bring new competitors into the field. Though these rookies may eventually challenge his title, Andrews has no plans for relinquishing the crown.
"I refuse to lose. I train hard. In fact, I train harder now than I ever did when I was coming up. You've got to hold onto that fire, that motivation to be the best. You've got to want it every match, every pass.
But, I don't think about any of that when I'm jousting. All I'm thinking about is how I want to go out and destroy my opponent. That's just encoded in my DNA. I come from a warrior bloodline. It's like I said in the first episode of the show, 'Once I get my helmet on and I'm in the list, you're just a body in a suit that I'm trying to knock off that horse.' It's live or die out there for me every time."
All six episodes of "Knights of Mayhem" are available now on iTunes and Amazon. For more details on Andrews, his fellow knights, and the madness of competitive jousting, visit http://www.knightsofmayhem.com.
