The horse that's galloping underneath him is as good as invisible and sometimes he can't feel it. But he still holds his steel-tipped lance steady as he tries to break it on the shield strapped to his opponent's chest.

Walker, 45, is one of a growing number of people who train in authentic medieval jousting, with two annual tournaments in the Sydney area and numerous events overseas.

The sport is run by people who are taken with the daring 15th-century pastime and want to recreate it using information from historical and archaeological records. Walker has trained extensively in jousting and sword fighting and is one of an estimated 35 people worldwide who are proficient in the medieval art.

What started as a childhood love of the stories of Robin Hood and King Arthur has now translated to being able to live his dream, doing jousting and training "exactly the way it was done 500 years ago".

"If a medieval knight was to be plonked down and watch us joust, he would recognise it instantly," Mr Walker said. "When it's your turn to joust, for me personally absolutely everything – the crowd, everything – goes away. I'm not even thinking about riding a horse, because that's all preprogrammed.

"What I'm concentrating on is putting my lance on the target, which is my opponent's shield, which is strapped to his chest, or I'm aiming for his head."

The lances are made from solid timber and have three-pronged steel spikes, known as coronelles, on the end. The spikes bite into the opponent's "very thick" wooden shield, helping the lance splinter.

Before competitors take to the field, they train for at least two years to learn how to strike each other safely. Much of that time is spent getting used to riding with armour and accurately hitting targets – reconstructions of those used by knights several hundred years ago.

"You very much put your life in the hands of your opponent," Walker said.

"There is no defence. You can't dodge, you can't move out of the way. There's very much, among all of us that do this particular historical joust, there's very much a feeling of trust and camaraderie.

"You can hit somebody, break your lance, knock them off their horse, and at the end of it you're very much still best friends. You can be knocked off the horse and pick yourself up and say 'well done'."

Walker and his wife Michelle, who are based in Yetholme in the NSW central west, were pioneers for the sport's modern incarnation in Australia. In the early 1990s, when Walker was 19, he was a keen equestrian who began to research history books at libraries to see how he could recreate all aspects of jousting, also known as tilting. He researched the armour, the size of the horses and how they were trained, specialised jousting saddles, and how the jousters prepared.

In the beginning, the passion took up each moment of his spare time. He would make early-morning phone calls to museums and universities in Britain to ask if they could send photographs of medieval jousting gear. Eventually, he started his own jousting business, Full Tilt, which shows off the sport at events and allows him to pursue his passion full time.

Since the invention of the internet it has been much easier to get in touch with like-minded people throughout  the world. Many of the people who get in touch through Mr Walker's website are men in their 30s who are enamoured by jousting and finally have the money to take part, though one man is 62 and fulfilling a lifelong dream.

When he first began two decades ago, Walker made his own chain mail. Now, there are people in Australia who specialise in armour. A team of squires helps the knight into this armour and onto their horse, then they're off, riding full speed towards their opponent. If they fall off – which "is like being in a car crash" despite the armour – they're able to get up unless they're winded.

Several thousand people worldwide are involved in jousting, but the numbers who train in this elite way is much smaller. Walker estimates there are three dozen in the world who compete in jousting as a serious medieval sport, including at least two female knights in Europe.

He is preparing at St Ives this weekend before the St Ives Medieval Faire on September 24 and 25.