How did knights participate in tournaments like jousting without killing themselves?

Question

If movies have not lied to me (😜), knights’ tournaments are involve hacking, slashing, and jousting each other. How did they not kill each other using such weapons or speed on horses? And if it was actually dangerous, why did they participate?

In: 155

Answer 1

You could probably ask the same about boxing, UFC, freeclimbing, rugby, Formula 1, etc..

If there’s a dangerous sport then some people will want to do it. And if jousting was still a thing then people would probably be lining up to participate.