do you think, what is your favorite chinese armor? Please!

The Tang dynasty sort with the dog or dragn headed sleeves. Lots of lokapala use that design.

Do you have the picture of your favorite armor? that's also my requirement!

Look at this - this is a brigandine. Experiments proved that to penetrate the good brigabdine with overlapping scales you need a good musket.

So I would prefer this type of armour.

Best regards,

Alexey.

Like AM, I favour the brigandine. Unlike lamellar, no cords are exposed, yet unlike "hanging" scale armour, an upward thrust cannot penetrate. My conclusion - brigandine is flexible, durable and suitable for both the cavalry and infantry.

The Brigandine armor in my Story is worn by the Pope. But his headgear is still the tiara.

anyway, its just fiction.

I always imagined it'd be terrible in rainy or humid weather though. Were they treated in any way for that sort of environment?

I've always liked the brigandine armour of the Qing for high rank. For common soldiers probably the Ming.

the ming guang armor, is fit for a woman warrior. especially with modifications like mixing greek, roman & japanese armor with.


here's the armor for a woman:

er...............no. That isn't.

Brigandine armoured soldiers mostly saw action in dry northern China, I think. The leather types might be more suitable for humid weather.

BTW, you might find it interesting that Kenneth Swope's article on the Imjin war mentions a type of bulletproof armour developed by the ming, which allowed them to better resist the arquebus volleys of Japanese soldiers. This could be the armour mentioned in Turnbulls "Warriors of medieval Japan" as being highly valued by the Samurai.

LOL!!!!!

For me,I guess my preference is brigadine armor because it is very flexible and durable as well.....
What is the heaviest and thickest of all chinese armor ?

I would guess the double layered lamellar armor worn by the 'iron pagoda' guys. Forget which dynasty.





this is the fancy armor I was talking about.

The armor of Ming Dynasty is definately my favourite, it impresed me alot.

why? is there something wong if i modify it?

Because the Mingguangjia was not a woman's armour to begin with. It wasn't designed with women's 'assets' in mind when they made it nor was it ever modified for women.

hmm........
ok, thanks wujiang for the reply and the others for those who reply about the mingguangjia. It is a man's armor, but i used the mingguangjia as a basis for the armor used by a female hero in my story. there are some modifications in there that you think is somewhat diffrent or wrong. anyway, im just overimaginative, making fiction out of reality.

If anything, lamellar would be most suitable for adjustment for a woman's breasts.
I've even heard that Japanese do-maru style lamellar was invented for the pregnant empress to wear. Sounds like just a made up story, but it's got enough flexibility to fit those kinds of curves.

do you have a picture of the do-maru armor? please!

European brigandines often featured plates that were covered in tin, to protect against rust.

Perhaps Chinese versions utilized something similar?



According to Scott Rodell in his book, Chinese Swordsmanship--The Yang Family Taiji Jian Tradition, the plates of the brigandine shown in A M's post above are actually vulnerable to the liao cut. Rodell has even theorized that the liao cut was developed in response to brigandine armors of this type.

I won't put much stock on that. Vulnerabilities to liao are pretty much universial to all chinese armour type. There is no reason to believe that any sword methods that was developed specifically for the mianjia. If anything, brigandine does provide one of the most protection out of other chinese armour types. It only means there are certain techniques are being rendered less effective. Not any becoming more.

I take it you disagree with Mr. Rodell, then?

do you think, is brigandine fit to infuse with plate and lamellar armor? its just part of my curiousity.

Centurion, I mean that the soaked cloth would become heavy and uncomfortable. That's probably true of anything in the rain though (say the underclothing to other armor). I just thought of this when I read an exerp about how the cords in Japanese lamellar armor would get soaked and cause disease.

and from what I know, East Asian armor is often laquored to protect from rust. I know the Qin had some kinda anti-rust coating, but I don't know if it was lost over time.


and what is the 'liao' cut?

My guess is javelin.

An ascending draw cut typically aimed under the arm or between the legs.

Technically, the liao is just the upward movement which can or can not be a cut. There isn't any requirements on exactly where the technique lands.

My description is taken from Scott Rodell's book on Chinese swordsmanship.

He defines the liao as a "sliding upward slash".

Why there isn't a way or method used to reduce the power of liao cut to a armor?

He is not wrong in that discription, just incomplete. Remember, Chinese characters are founded on "applicability", unlike English which is based on "definitions." I understand how this is normally a nightmare for translaters everywhere when a chinese word doesn't have a good english translations. Practically EVERYTHING in Chinese martial arts doesn't have a clear english definition. My guess is that he used that discriptions for those who are unfamiliar with the common use of Chinese while at the same time not making it sound unachademic. It is better to give someone a really basic (although incomplete) understanding of a word for them to rest on before teaching them more complex application of that word. I do that too.


Its mainly because the areas where it is particularly weak against the liao are generally areas where movement are concentrated. armpits and the groin are the main ones while in certain less common times, the elbow, thighs and wrists too. If one reinforces those areas, it decrease the level of movements one has when wearing armour. Hindering those areas would be a lot worse than protecting them. In addition because of the who problem with gravity, hindering those areas while at the same time maintaining the same level of movement is much less efficient then protectings areas points up which is vulnerable to even more devastating downward cuts.

Actually the picture of the Mingguang armor was based on a statue. The statue has extremely feminine features and body shape, which led to some people to believe that the statue depicted a female warrior.

is the mingguangjia fit to be modified to be truly a woman's armor?

Any armour can be worn by a woman without modification.

This Mingguang armor is modified with western styles and worn by prototype Berg Saxbergoth in my story etitled Bergoth_SS
(SS means SuperSoldier to avoid connections with the nazi SS).

But the font use for SS in your drawing is the as used by the Nazi.

I've seen many depictions in Europe of knights with very slim waists, big hips (an hourglass frame), smooth faces and long hair. You could call it pretty feminine, but they were still men. Kinda like how today some famous actors are so handsome they're beautiful, taste has always been like that.

Seems the only '100% macho' armor is short, squat samurai with bristly beards and grimacing faces

Actually, depictions of Samurai are often extremely feminine. And rarely are they depicted with facial hair.

lol yeah, tell me about it



both are male by the way

I was about to post the exact same picture.

I know, I meant the armor with the bristly moustaches and 'old man' chest plates

ya i know, but has a diffrent meaning for me, i just use the same font but relinquished from its past, giving to a new meaning.



this picture seems homosexual, and some samurais are gays. Yuck!

I guess it was practiced anywhere between Sparta and Japan :B

Anyways- that twin lightning bolt SS has too much bad connotation associated with it, regardless of your meaning. I advise you NOT use it.

i will not use it. and i changed my mind since i know the real truth behind this meaning.


Here is the edited version of the drawing above, free from SS.