The soul of the knight -- Part I

The jump is beautiful. The knight and the horse are one in the jump and participate in the same flight.

It is a most beautiful, faithful and expressive manifestation of human courage. It is human spirit at its finest, in its capacity to dare and to advance.

When in Portugal, visit the Tower of Belem from where the Portuguese kings once saw off their fleets that crossed the ocean in search of new lands, always “increasing in Christian daring.”

It is beautiful to see the human spirit with this outlook of faith. Launching into the unknown. For the Portuguese sailors of the 15th century, the ocean was the great unknown.

Their ships were nutshells compared to today’s huge merchant vessels. It is beautiful to see the human spirit at the moment when it departs on a daring and brave mission.

There is much less beauty of spirit in flying an airplane. The risk factor in flying is extremely low due to the specialized material used to make airplanes, and all the help from technology, machines and computers.

There is a certain determinism in flying by which the degree of risk is perfectly measured. Everything has been charted, measured and tested. To fly a plane is far less risky than to sail in a ship like Christopher Columbus did.

It is beautiful to see men in a ship floating upon the uncertainties of the ocean, sailing towards a far away place. We see this same beauty in the knight as he lunges forward on horseback.

But the knight has an advantage over the plane; the knight steers a living, breathing animal. He governs its movement, direction and energy.

The vitality of the horse depends on the mental control that the knight has over it. A bold knight conveys resolve to his horse. The knight weighs on the horse, but he helps the horse to carry the weight. The knight and horse form, in a sense, one daring powerful attack. They participate in the same flight.

One more thing. We now understand the meaning of the horse’s jump. We realize that the knight’s jump is more important the horse’s.

The impression I get from the picture is that almost the entire jump comes from the soul of the knight.

The horse is bigger. But the knight is human and controls the horse. The knight’s body is bigger than his head. But his head guides his body and is worth more. The head is smaller than the body. But the intelligence shines forth from the head. It should, therefore, be crowned with all the glory conquered in battle.