Knight against Samurai

Knight against Samurai - a historical reenactment of a hypothetical fight between European knight and Japanese samurai. In the history of no examples fights of European knights with the Japanese samurai, so this issue can be considered purely speculative. This issue is explored director Association for Renaissance Martial Arts John Clements.
Script
John Clement introduces several restrictions on battlefield conditions to simplify the analysis. Battle field priori it offers great flat area paved with ideal conditions for maneuvering. John Clement also suggests that the fight will go without horses, throwing weapons and one on one.
Initial conditions
The solution to this problem is made difficult diversity of the phenomenon of chivalry. You must choose for Knight era, nationality and what set of weapons and armor will participate in a hypothetical fight with samurai. Same phenomenon samurai sufficiently homogeneous, so in this case it is not necessary to choose between options. Knight era in 1100 and the samurai era in 1200 were approximately equal to a set of weapons and armor. But that we can not say when comparing the Samurai and Knight era in 1400.
Weapons and armor
First, we need to define a set of armor and weapons from the sides of a hypothetical fight. And Samurai and Knight have in this matter, depending on the era many different variations.
John Clement offers a hypothetical battle the following options:
Options for the Knight:
* Norman with chainmail, sword and kite shield from the year 1066.
* English or French chevalier in partial plate and sword for duel from the year 1350.
* Italian condottieri in full regalia from the year 1450.
* Teutonic knight in articulated Gothic plate armour and bastard sword from the year 1400.
Options for Samurai:
* older box-like Muromachi armor and tachi sword.
* close fitting Kamakura period do-maru armor and katana.
Shield
An important factor in the hypothetical battle is a shield knight.
Sword
Total
And European knight and Japanese Samurai used a specific, tailored to the specific conditions of combat tactics, armor and weapons. Therefore we can not uniquely determine the most effective warrior in the abstract universal terms. Comprehensive analysis of armor, weapons, combat tactics and moral and physical qualities of knights and samurai John Clement came to the conclusion that a clear answer to this hypothetical question the winner of the fight is impossible. John Clement concludes that the outcome of the battle will increasingly depend on the personal qualities of each soldier, not the specific school.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu