Читать книгу Modern Hand to Hand Combat. Ancient Samurai Techniques on the Battlefield and in the Street (Downloadable Audio Included) онлайн

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Armor Comparison

For its time, samurai armor was very advanced in its protective nature and design. As stated earlier, improvements were constantly being made as samurai returning from the battlefield provided information on changes that could enhance their armor’s effectiveness, as well as information gained from other cultures. Through similar trial and error, we are learning and improving our armor in the same way the samurai did so long ago. The armor worn by today’s U.S. military not only bears great resemblance in design and function to the samurai’s, but the weight of the armor is also similar. Samurai armor could weigh 60 pounds and up; the modern U.S. service member’s armor and full combat kit also starts at 60 pounds and proceeds upward. As a visual testament to this fact, I have provided a comparison of modern Army armor to samurai armor in function and design.

Kabuto (Samurai)

The kabuto was the helmet of the samurai. One of the names for the example shown here was suji-bachi kabuto (ribbed bowl helmet), which protected the samurai’s head from blunt trauma injuries, as well as helping to deflect projectiles and bladed weapons. Not shown here is the helmet’s U-shaped neck guard, or the shikoro, which was a series of scales that hung from the helmet’s rim.