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western-star.com
Shane Adams has heard the occasional snicker since he was a teenager and told his guidance counselor his life’s ambition was to become a knight in shining armor.
But when Adams puts on his full 150 pounds of metal armor and uses a 30-pound wooden lance to knock another man off a horse, the snickers stop.
“I’m just a dumb kid trying to live my childhood dream,” Adams said.
Adams is the head of the Knights of Valour jousting troupe, one of the most popular attractions at the Ohio Renaissance Festival in Harveysburg. Competitions are held three times daily. The festival runs on Saturdays and Sundays, Sept. 4 through Oct. 25, including Labor Day.
Adams insists his jousts are real competitions with no predetermined outcomes or staging, unlike many troupes.
He grew up on a horse farm outside of Toronto, where, inspired by movies like “Robin Hood,” he dreamed of becoming a knight.
He got his first taste of the round table at 23 when he was hired as a performer at a medieval-themed restaurant, but considered himself “a knight in shining polyester and tinsel.”
Adams eventually began serious training and hosting his own jousting championships. In 2005, he left Canada to promote jousting around the U.S.
He made his home base the Ohio Renaissance Festival, but his troupe travels to several events across country each summer.
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