Fuck katanas.

Actually, just kicking the knight down on his back should do the trick, as the armor is so heavy, a Knight on ground is a dead Knight.

Hell, one of the Holy Roman Emperors died in the Second Crusade because he fell into an Anatolian river and his armor brought him down. It is without combat of any type.

 

Pics or it never happened.

If you are already are in range to kick a knight down, then you're either dead, the knight wields a shield to defend himself against kicks or the knight has failed miserably.

 

Just as soon as you show me a night killing a samurai to prove that a katana couldn't get through the armor.

It's a known fact that the English longbow can and did penetrate suits of armor. They even had armor piercing arrow heads. If the English longbow can do it, so can the Daikyū.

 

That armor FAILS! It's where the Katana and Japanese armor shine.

You do realize that people died in those tin cans right? And not just because of crossbows. Try to imagine how + try to move with that thing on. You'd be trying to pick up your weapon with your teeth afetr loosing your libs. A chainmail is lighter and gives more movement then that thing and the visability... does it even have any? You can barely see a fast moving opponent in that.

Btw metal can cut thre metal.Just like a sword can cut threw another sword.

 

Slapping a generic suit of platemail onto the average Joe and sending him straight into battle would be stupid. If anyone in history ever did that, then they deserved the death they received. Fitness and preparation are paramount for survival in dangerous situations, regardless of the circumstances.

As DE mentioned, weapons have different uses. No one in their right mind would want to use a katana against a well-prepared and properly armoured knight. Katanas are notorious, but they're now over-hyped by fan-boys and Danny John-Jules.

Why should this discussion even be taking place? I don't think you have the right forum.

 

Two points on this:

- If you fall down, it's a death trap. At a cavalry cahrge, you'll get trampled before you can "try" to get up, and if you're on foot, you'll get up slowly, which essentially means you're dead in the war. To be able to get up fastly, your abdominal muscles need to exert enough explosive force to accelarate both you upper body and the plate mail you're wearing. Try doing a pull up with 15 kg+ on your chest to see my point.

- Heavy cavalry were not mobile. English Longbowmen wiped out the French Chevaliers in the Battle of Agincourt, and Turkish cavalrymen (we invented ranged cavalry combat by the way) wiped out any Crusader or Cataphrachtoi they faced (excluding the First Crusade, when a 20 year old Anatolian Seljuk State faced a few hundred thousand men Crusader army. All the others were defated though.) Long Ranged/Mobile units always rule the battlefield better than heavily armored targets, unless their armor is to the point of giving them immunity. Only Longbows/Composite Bows could pierce through armor at that time though.

Also, do note that those swords are heavy and they have a massive moment of inertia, meaning that if the Knight misses his heavy one hit blow, the Samurai will wipe him out. Added with all the martial arts training they have, it's obvious who would win at that.

Final point - All the pirates/privateers/navymen equipping light clothing and rapiers instead of heavy swords and platemail for close quarters boarding action should tell you that Heavy Knights were obsolete even in melee combat after Renaissance.

Note: I'm rooting for the lighter swords because I used to be a fencer and my Romanian Instructor (who has a 4th and a 6th place in the Olympics!) once explained to me why rapiers, sabers and other light arms were now used instead of heavy swords+armor. Basically, you cannot (simply cannot) use heavy two handed swords to quickly parry/riposte and keep the sword in front of you. While you are swinging to power up a blow which will slice you opponent in half, you leave massive openings to your opponents. Even if your armor would protect you from a rapier/katana/other lightarm, the opening is enough for you opponent to "fleche" right at you and drop you down (assuming he didn't just decide to put his sword in one of the connection points of armor pieces), take your swords and kill you, or worst case possibility, see the attack (because it is so obvious) and dodge it and do his thing. I enjoy Chivalry stories too, but they just were effective against opponents who didn't know any better.

Another thing you seem to forget: Katanas and Broadswords are both made for slashing. Broadsword is too heavy to make a lunge with, so a piercing thrust is out of question for Broadswords. The reason you don't thrust with Katanas is because Japanese melee doctrine suggests that you finish off your opponent in one blow, or he can kill you too while hemorrhaging to death. Piercing thrusts are for fencing (and polearms, to be honest)

 

http://en.sevenload.com/videos/wvPvmfg- ... d-Part-2-2

Katana - first best.

Swords + Crossbows > Armor

And also they don't make those Katan's like they used to.

 

Hell, by the time I got out of the military I could wear full combat armor, a fully weighted down backpack, two weapons, plus my medical gear and firemen carry another Marine with said stuff minus the medical and run like the wind in the hottest environments on Earth. With the right training and adrenaline those suits of armor would be a breeze to use.

Nolanoth: Sounds like some of your information might have come from anime. In that case I would rather have good ol' fashion Japanese breast milk.

 

Link... nuff said...

 

Yes, pity that. The threat of progress necesitates its pursuit. Take the example of indigineous tribespeople around the world. There's is a perfectly sustainable lifestyle that has been threatened at all times by "progress."

 

Gaining 20 kg direct fat would kill your ability to do a pushup, but still, I don't feel I should object you on this.

Even if the sword isn't raw iron mounted on a hilt, the blade will weigh more than the hilt - which means the moment of inertia will be A LOT more than the moment of inertia of katana. Also, having the center of mass on the blade means that the gravitational force will pull the blade downwards with greater torque, which means that you cannot use quick thrusts and touches with that sword. In a swordfight, even fractions of seconds matter, and a skilled light arms fighter will have enough of a timegap to launch a fleche (running thrust) to the opponents weak spot.

Of course, that doesn't mean the Knights aren't good. Quite the opposite - French Knights wiped out the Emevi Caliphates Armies (Arabs basically) armed with Crescent Swords ("the" most excellent slashing weapon due to the shape and the physics it involves). I really doubt they could've done that if they didn't have the armor advantage. European swordplay didn't evolve to fencing just because of firearms.(Sabers were inspired by slightly bent Turkish/Mongol Cavalry swords (thus saber fighters don't hit under the waist / saber is practically cavalry combat simulation adding the attack advantages), and the nobles created the fleuret while the Scoundrels created the épée.

I don't have a lot of sympathy over some Japanese nobility myself. Considering their honor rules just considered inter-Samurai affairs and they could execute anyone publicly (by turning a basic affair to "you insulted my honor"), they aren't really as honorable as they seem to be either. It is just that with the melee combat knowledge I have, I know that mobility, reflexes and quick reactions always beat the ability to exert brute force, while someone can use a broadsword fast, a person can use a rapier even faster.

Note: I really regard fencing as the ultimate form of melee combat, as it is the pinnacle of the evolution of melee combat over the course of centuries.

 

The reason you started using lighter weapons and threw away your armour, were because a simple chinese invention called blackpowder.

When everyone start using weapons which are easily used to pierce armour, the need for any armour disepears. And when you are fightning with no armour, you want light and mobile weapons, like rapiers.

 

Firearms isn't the only reason people develop lighter arms. Agile light cavalry armed with composite bows and light swords wiped out many heavy Knights. Warfare itself evolves with melee techniques.

Saying Medieval Knights would be better than fencer because of the armor is like saying the Roman Praetorian Guard would defeat medieval Knights because of their tower shields. Not happening. Melee combat itself has evolved and embraced a faster, deadlier approach.

Besides, it is very easy for a fencer to attack the hands on an opponent, and broadswords have no hilt-guards.

 

How much is the most you have worn while doing pushups?

Because I have worn a 10kg chainmail loaded with a couple of kg plates, all and all maybe 15 kg, but that didn't stop me from running around nor doing push ups. Granted, I got tired real quick, but I am not a trained warrior spending a lot of time to improve my physical strength or my fighting capability.