Great River Taoist Center Forums

I just wish Hanwei would put up a preview of the swords on their website. That is what is preventing me from being enable to 'name' the thing: without knowing how it looks, behaves or otherwise distinguishes itself. It may very well be 'the' affordeable proper handling test sword quite a few people...

Buenas Brian, First I want to state that I have NO idea of Taiwanse social life so have NO reason for ANY opinion on this. The reason I write is that your comment is EXACTLY, just about wordly, what I have heard english people commenting about the life here. It is simply perception. Here, at least. ...

On horseback all you do besides riding is compromised by the riding. In this example if the guard would twist the legs, the horse would turn round because that is what he would then be signalled. Not ideal when taking aim :wink: The passenger is an indian cheetah. These were frequently used just lik...

The chape-like extention is source for speculation. The best I can up with is a wrap of tacky thin cloth to prevent the horse from puncturing itself by a mere scratch but no factual information has surfaced. The dangling straps had bcome ornamental but had a function as a fly deterrent. Very much li...

The rider is a detail from a larger illustration which is a hunting scene:



As several are looking upwards I suppose he is aiming at a bird.

petrus
www.huertecilla.net

Letting a blade bounce like described provides information about flexibility/stiffness and hardness but also about blade harmonics. It is a bit tricky too as the hardness of the surface will greatly influence the bouncing, just like a hard sword will give a more ‘musical’ sound when tapped, yet hard...

Yes that one is Ayuxi , one of my favourites as well. It dates from the sixties or seventies of the 18th century. Beautiful too yes and indeed a perfect representation of the riding style like the other ones. I meant an earlier one without a bit. Sofar I have not found it :roll: petrus p.s. Now I h...

I wonder whether the closer range the Manchus operated on affected the way they rode their horse compared to the 13th century Mongols. You have two excellent illustrations depicting just this in the series matching the one you posted with the bare sabre through a ring. Both show an unarmoured Manch...

Btw, about armour there is a striking difference too as chinese armies used paper as armour. Cut in lamels, pressed in several layers, lacquered and bound together with leather thongs to be worn over a padding of silk/felt. Relatively light, flexible and mobile yet appearantly VERY effective. This c...

A question - were the Mongol's horses/ponies, armoured? It seems a shame to me to spend so much time training a warhorse, only to have it shot in the first battle. Mongol horses as a rule were not. Those were not all that highly trained either and riders started on campaign with several each. The n...

On request by Mr.Rodell I start this topic on horse riding. The focus will be on why Chinese riding is as it is in respect to the riding by the typical medieval Western knight Several of you will be riders and I ask you to forget about what you have been taught as that is not the issue. Napoleonic w...

With help from the myarmoury forum: Not from Durer but nevertheless quite illustrative: http://www.myarmoury.com/images/features/pic_lancepistol08.jpg Worth to notice are: - how small (normal) these horse were and this is confirmed by archeological evidence - the completely different style of riding...

Peter, Would it be possible to post the European artwork you mention? It would be interesting to see parallels. What was their primary weapon on the horse, and how was the ring attached? THAT is going to be a challenge. I recall the engraving in detail and it was a late work by Albrecht Durer. He w...

Buenas, I have loads of sadlery and live in a harsh climate for leather. The best is to clean it with a most cloth, use a natural soap diluted in cold water if necessary and wipe it without soap. Be carefull with, try to avoid, using soap on one spot only. Using destilled water stains even less but ...

The wearing of a naked saber stuck through a ring attached to a belt, as in the painting kindly provided by Peter, appeared to be a rare occurrence since this is about the only such depiction in Chinese art we have yet seen. But it brings to mind a copperplate engraving I saw somewhere, showing a f...