Watch Full Metal Jousting Online - Full Episodes

Sixteenth-century German Jousting is brought front and center into the 21st century. This reality-based competition series starts out with 16 champion modern-day knights, all competing for a cash prize of $100,000.

The armor is not the 16th-century style, but it does weigh about same as it did back then, at between 80 to 90 pounds. Modern day knights are using stainless steel and shock-absorbing padding. They have also constructed a huge target plate that fits over the left shoulder and is constructed with a heavy, 16-gauge steel plate. This is gridded and is the main guard against the lance attacks. The lances are 11 feet long, weigh 10 lbs. and are made of Douglas fir. The weight of the lance changes, getting heavier, from 1.25 inches thick and later, towards the end of the matches, to 1.5 inches.

The challenges are fought outdoors, on a farm in Jackson, Mississippi. They are performed before a live audience. The rules are simple. The knights are split into two teams of eight, the Red Team and the Black Team, with each having a professional coach. The coaches decide which teammate rides first, who rides which horse, and so on. A knight gets 1 point for striking his opponent with his lance tip. He gets 5 points if he breaks his lance when he hits his opponent. If he knocks him off his horse, then he gets 10 points. There are 5-point penalties for hitting in the head or below the guard, not letting up on your horse's rein on impact and for not having control of your horse. At the end of eight passes, the knight with the most points is the winner of the $100,000.