Kenneth-

Exactly.

Hissho,

I looked through my Bottomly and Hopson book, you're right, no reference to lacquered bamboo armor. Maybe what I saw was iron laminated with bamboo on the inside as in some kendo Do. I could be wrong, but I'm thinking that I saw at Hawley, for sure. I remember making a comment "I can't believe this is made out of bamboo."

Meynard & Hissho,

You're both right...

I saw (laquered) bamboo armor (mixed with other stuff) while I was in Japan (there are also many pictures of such on the web).

Bamboo is described as a "woody or treelike tropical & subtropical grass" or a "reed" whose older stalks are often very strong & durable (& that's before laquering them).

Everything that Meynard wrote holds true to what I've both read & have seen. Likewise, I've seen & read of the type of armor that Hissho is referring to. I've even seen small tatami-mat-like thatchwork pieces & even laquered rope used in Japanese armor.

Whether this is the result of different time periods, different areas, different weather, different resources readily available, or just different preferences -- or some combination of such, the fact is that Japanese armor was made of many things & in many different ways (& were made with combat functionality in mind, no matter how "pretty").

Also, think protective & light (as the principal consideration with armor is still protection vs mobility & view). There are pros & cons to wearing armor; & excess weight is one of the cons. Most troops were always on foot, so those foot-troops -- if armored -- would definitely need light-weight armor if they were to move quickly (& they often were). Those on foot who want armor want light-weight armor (give 'em heavy-weighted armor & they will want a ride -- 'cause they ain't going to be walking very far very fast).

In vital points I meant stuff like the carotid artery, solar plexus, brain stem, temples, windpipe, dantian, armpit, eyes, you know, the stuff you would normally jab at with your fingers.

Curious Fool,

If an assailant's eyes are covered in a thick coat, then try leaving the scene while he can't see you.

One is less likely to be able to inflict damage on pressure points or vital areas when covered by a heavy jacket. Some policemen wear extremely-heavy leather jackets for this very reason. These areas can still be harmed, but it will take a very strong blow or grip to do so.

Save your knowledge of specific pressure points & vital areas for when their use is appropriate (like when an opponent is under some reasonable control, you've got easy access, & using such could either save a life or diffuse a bad situation); and know three things about such points: (1) results can (& most likely will) vary;(2) there are so many different points over the entire body & combinations of points that can have effect, that merely hitting away at an opponent without any consideration of hitting such specific points may end up bringing about a great effect (a KO, or nausia, or nerve damage, or loss of control of bodily functions, or death, etc.); and (3) striking one point repeatedly will eventually cause damage, even if one can only manage a series of moderately powerful blows (an extreme example of this is the ol' "Chinese water torture" thousands of very light blows eventually cause damage... the flip-side lesson is that one or two very powerful blows will cause damage quickly; it may take 5-or-6 moderate blows to cause similar damage, and so on).

One More Thing...

Some point-filled-areas are usually easily accessed & rarely protected with heavy clothing (whereas some points are rarely accessible); as a rule-of-thumb, find which easily-accessible point-filled areas give adequate effects when struck & aim for these broad areas rather than some one point the size of a No. 2 pencil's eraser.

hey mike, by the eyes I meant covered with glasses.

Eyes are really hard to hit anyway, they're better off struck at to create a reaction to open your opponent up for somethng else.

On the other hand, if you're up for some deep gouging during grappling, it could really take the fight out of him.

"On the other hand, if you're up for some deep gouging during grappling, it could really take the fight out of him."

...or, put more fight in him! I recall reading a case were an assailant just went beserk after being blinded in a ground-grappling situation -- still able to feel where his crime-victim was, he quickly turned him into a murder-victim (while literally in a blind rage).

Did I mention that "results can vary?" I meant it.

As for eyes "protected" by glasses...

Having worn glasses before, I speak from experience here:

1) Glasses offer some protection, but it's slight (it protects from very light stuff only)

2) Glasses or no glasses, people usually will bring their heads back when they perceive something near their eyes &/or they'll most-likely blink (offering some eye protection at the cost of seeing); such responses are natural (they can be drilled out with practice, but sometimes moving one's head &/or blinking is a good thing)

3) If glasses are hit with even a moderate blow, then the bridge of the nose is usually affected (recall that blows to the nose affect the eyes due to tears... and having glasses bent or re-adjusted to a crooked state can bring on a slight, momentary disorientation); three points here: (1) glasses stick out from the face, so a blow that may have been a miss can become a hit as the force transfers to your head, & esp. to your nose area; (2) a hit to one eye can leave the other eye in good stead, unless the person is(3) wearing glasses, because any significant eye hit also becomes a significant nose hit which causes both eyes to water

4) A heavy blow can cause all of the above to a greater degree in some respects, and may cause the glasses to break, possibly shatter (a real problem).

So glasses aren't much use in a fight unless you have time to take 'em off, fold-em up, & then ram 'em into an assailant's vital areas (or use it to make a good fist, if you're good at fist fighting), or you merely take them off as you throw them at an assailant in order to create a distraction. Otherwise keep 'em on & protect the entire glasses-region very well...

...because sometimes what "protects" you can destroy you. Note the two US Marines who drowned recently because they kept all of their protective gear & whatnot on while traversing a significant body of water in Iraq; in some situations such gear could help protect them, in others it becomes a liability. Same principle at work here.

One man's chicken is another man's cole slaw.

?

Some policemen wear extremely-heavy leather jackets for this very reason.

Really? Where did you get this information?

Please let me know and give me a contact or send me an article that mentions this, because I would love to be able to swing the leather jackets for the troops in the interest of officer safety. Right now only the motor guys get them.

Hissho,

My dad (ex-Inglewood PD, Inglewood, California... late 50s-thru-late-70s) was never a "motor guy," yet he sported one of those heavy jackets on duty. Stay with a PD long enough & you may see all sorts of changes in uniform regs. Luckily, IPD switched to hard "motor guy" helmets during a period when having such saved my dad's life (he used it to bash someone's skull). My dad also used various saps (& he was a powerful guy built like a gorilla, but with longer legs).

My dad's motto was always "When in doubt, cheat!"

Now he sounds like my kind of guy!

Ahhh - yeah, I have seen some old timers leather jackets that weren't motors. Around here, nowadays it seems only motors get the leathers.

Just never heard that the reason was to stop pressure point attacks - though those things are thick and heavy enough to be practically leather armor.

I do wish they would go back to saps. Never got to use one myself but talk to the guys that got to and they will take a sap over an asp any day.

We're kinder and gentler these days.

A sap is different from a blackjack, right? I once saw a short, skinny little leather-covered steel spring that I swear could punch a hole through someone's skull. I always thought regulating automatic knives was stupid, but I can see why people fear these things, whatever it was.

Cool story.

I had a friend back in the 80's that was a bounty hunter. He had a leather "sap glove," that looked liked a regular glove but had lead filings sewed into the palm.

My friend was attacked from behind once and slapped the attacker in the forehead with the glove. The force was so great that as she (that's right, he was attacked by a woman with a kitchen knife as he was trying to take her husband into custody. Which makes this kind of a love story) fell back, her feet flew up almost vertically. Of course, she was way unconscious before she hit the ground.

When looking for handweights for MA practice, I was told that a lot of stores stopped selling them because streetthugs were using them as sap gloves. When I worked riot squad at a state prison, we used leather gloves filled with lead filings, and believe me, you did not want to be punched with one.