To celebrate the release of Last Knights (out on DVD and Blu-ray Monday 29th June), we were invited along to give our best attempt at learning to become a knight of the realm! David Sztypuljak was the one lucky enough to attend the event, here’s how it went….

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David Sztypuljak as a KnightIt wasn’t until we arrived at what would become our training ground that I started to get a little nervous of what was in store. A large paddock with jousting ’tilt’ in the middle ready for us to learn our new craft! I’d ridden horses for a few years as a child so had the basics nailed by never before had a lance been place in my hand to fight an opponent coming towards me at speed.

After getting suited up, it was time to meet our steed – ‘Miracle’ was carefully selected by the (amazing) guys at the Knights of Middle England to suit my (questionable) riding style but a miracle was what we needed so I was happy.

David Sztypuljak JoustingAfter the basics were established and Miracle and I had become friends, it was time to get to work on hitting things with my lance(!) making sure not to clatter Miracle over the head with it. It wasn’t long before we were practising on hitting spinning targets i now know as ‘quintain’, peasant picking off the floor and grabbing discs from the tilt (which I was especially rubbish at!).

The climax of course was the chance to joust. You’ve seen it in the movies, now check out what it’s like for a novice to take it on in the video below.

Thanks again to the fabulous team at the Knights of Middle England who looked after us so well and were so patient! They host so much there including stag and hen packages, corporate and so on. Definitely worth checking them out for more info.

Last Knights DVD being available from June 29th courtesy of Signature Entertainment.