Early tournaments were mock battles between small 'armies' of knights ... but too many people ended up dead so, by Lord and Lady Sherwood's day, they had turned into jousts: lots of competitions between two knights at a time... all refereed by a marshall, to see fair play. The knights would start by charging each other on horseback with long poles called lances. Once knocked off their horses the fight sometimes continued with arm-to-arm combat. The winner won the loser's armour... and people still ended up getting killed once in a while.