Research and Discussion Forums

Hiya all. It's been a long time since I've been here!

I had some questions I was hoping you all you could shed some light on, a couple of things I can't test out for myself due to lack of materials and info:

First up, shields. I've found it very hard to find detailed information on shields ...

This reminds me of a little thing that impressed me greatly a while ago.

There was this computer game, I can't remember the name at the moment, based on real-world modern combat, mostly in reasonably large outdoor settings. The game was very realistic, and I think that's what made it possible ...

I do not believe the vibration would have much effect on the piercing qualities at all (considering that the head is on of the still-points of vibration effect), and besides that, vibration should be an issue at a range of 20ft.

True. Often battle-accounts which have been passed on by mouth for a long period of time before they were comitted to paper will have an exaggeration magnitude of 10. (i.e. the 2000 charging horsemen were in reality no more then 200)

try to shoot any bow point blank to some hard wood plank - it would not penetrate so deep as from distance.

i am SURE that bullet had less power point blank, than on distance. i know that issue "my-friend-policeman-said-so" isn't good, but, "he told me so"

*shakes head* Life comes up and ...

The fused do was present ever since the first O-yoroi, I think even as early as the 9th century. For the exact date, I'll have to dig into my notes again. But the cuiras part itself has always been a rigid piece.

The false edge cuts might do something, but the location of these weak spots tells ...

I side with the idea that the gauntlets were probably left out of the drawings to make it easier to show what the hands were doing. Seems more plausible to me.

Alright, thanks for the responses. There are too many I want to respond to to sum them up, so I'll just adress the posters who's posts I want to respond to:


@ Casper Bradak

Yes, this was what I was wondering. What would an "average" knight be carrying as secondary weapons when on ...

"One of the advantages of the longsword over the katana/gatana is going to be its reach. Because the European swordsman armed with a longsword can outreach the Japanese swordsman armed with a katata/gatana, he can step just out of range of the Japanese swordsman's cut and still be in range for his ...

"Also, you mention arming swords. This term is generally meant to indicate a single handed sword normally used in conjunction with a shield. Knights in the period 1300 - 1500 would most often be equipped with a longsword, a "hand and a half" weapon.

It's worth noting that the longsword, in ...

Ahh, I glad you guys liked it, thanks for the feedback.

I believe an explenation from my side is in order: With predictability, I have probably chosen a bad word to describe it. I'll try to describe what each does as well as I can. Most attacks in JMA come from over the head, but it does not ...

Hello gentlemen, this is my first post here on the board, on a little subject I was pondering on after reading the "knight vs Samurai" article on the board.

I should maybe explain a little about myself first. I'm a malaysian born cultural mutt, currently living in holland (and I will have to ask ...