Text and photos provided by Dmitry Savchenko
Edited by Zhi Zhu
The 8th annual festival “Zhelezny Grad” (Iron Town) was held 1-3 of August in the town of Izborsk in the Pskov region of Russia. Izborsk is a town 30 km from Pskov where a well-preserved fortress exists. This event was the first Joust in Izborsk using shaped solid wood lances with coronels. Competitions included jousting and melee with cudgels in the format "every man for himself". The tournament lasted for 2 days.
The fortess at Izborsk(photo by Eugenia Komarova)
We should also note that in addition to the Joust, an important part of the event was the camp life of the knights-participants with its own program and a high level of historical authenticity. Also, some of the errors of “Times & Epochs” Tournament were corrected. Particularly, we used vamplates on our solid pine lances, and we tested a new design for the tilt barrier. We are working hard together to hold our tournaments at the highest level.
Five riders took part in the Joust: Yuri Bogunov, Sergey Zhuravlev, Boris Mashtakov, Viktor Ruchkin and Dmitry Savchenko.
Dmitry Savchenko(left) jousts Yuri Bogunov(right)(photo by Eugenia Komarova)
The tournament officials were:
Marshal of the Tournament - Rafael Gukasov
Two linear equestrian judges - Evgeny Vasilev and Yuri Galilov
Secretary of the Tournament - Aleksandr Kolyaskin
Herald of the Tournament - Michail Susanov
The Ladies Court included: Daria Tarasova, Daria Ruzhova, Ksenia Galilova and Marina Savchenko, who created and wore the costume for the Lady of Justice. (The theme for this tournament was justice.)
The Ladies Court(left to right)Marina Savchenko, Daria Ryzhova, Ksenia Galilova and Maria Tarasova(photo by Eugenia Komarova)
Scoring was carried out as follows. Each broken lance was counted as 1 point. The lance should be broken a minimum of 40 cm from the tip or broken down into several parts. The Ladies Court could encourage knights with ribbons. One ribbon counted for one point. The Lady of Justice could reward knights with a white ribbon that brought 2 points and penalize them with a black ribbon which took away 2 points.
In melee the competitors fought until the melee ended. The best fighters got extra points at the request of the Marshal and judges. The melees were fought all against all. During the melees, two cudgels were broken.
Yuri Bogunov's cudgel breaks as he attempts to block a blow from Victor Ruchkin
(photo by Eugenia Komarova)
In the joust each participant first competed with every other participant, then later the knights were able to challenge opponents at their own discretion. The Joust was held in two sessions. The Judges counted 24 broken lances in total.
Victor Ruchkin breaks his lance against Boris Mashtakov(photo by Eugenia Komarova)
After two days of the tournament, Boris Mashtakov took first place with 14 points. He received a white ribbon from the Lady of Justice for valor. He also earned one extra point from the Marshal for the fight with Victor Ruchkin.
Boris Mashtakov(photo by Eugenia Komarova)
In second place was Yuri Bogunov with 12 points.
Yuri Bogunov(photo by Eugenia Komarova)
Dmitry Savchenko earned third place with 10 points. He received a white ribbon from the Lady of Justice for the beauty of the fight, and knocked Sergey Zhuravlev out of the saddle.
Dmitry Savchenko(photo by Eugenia Komarova)
Related articles:
Jousting Tournament To Be Held during Железный Град (Iron City Festival) in Russia
Christmas Tournament at Khrabrovo 2014
The Mounted Melees at the "Times & Epochs 2013" Jousting Tournament
