4 Combat Practice

CHAPTER 4

Combat Practice In full armor, the Knight of Thornwood and the Knight of Briarwood, Sir Alwin, mounted their horses. They each took an opposite side of the arena. They held up their lances—long wooden shafts with a blunt tip on the end. The flattened tips kept the knights from getting hurt. The first one to hit the opponent's shield or helmet won. If they missed, they had to turn around and charge again.

Jousting showed off a knight's skills in horsemanship, his mastery of the lance, as well as his combat moves. Lucas and Gilbert sat on the fence. Gilbert untied a bugle from his belt and offered it to Lucas. "Would you like to start the match?" he asked.

"I'd love to!" Lucas replied, grasping the bugle. He looked toward the knights. They nodded and lowered their lances into position. Lucas raised the bugle to his lips. Then he took a deep breath and blew. The knights charged at each other.

Sir Hugh struck. He swiftly jabbed Sir Alwin's shield and won the first round. Gilbert kept score by sliding beads across a wire. After five rounds Sir Hugh had defeated Sir Alwin four to one.

"Now we're going to play Grab the Flag," Gilbert said. He ran across the arena and joined the others on horseback. The knights and squires divided into two teams. Each player wore a flag on his back. Sir Hugh's team wore blue flags, and Sir Alwin's team wore white. The first team to capture all the other team's flags won.