Quote:
Originally Posted by omon
knights can barely move, samurai is much faster, samyrai will find weak, unprotected spot in knights armor, and kill him.
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Actually the knight could do somersaults in his armor and had a great deal of flexibility. Full late period Gothic plate only weighs about 60 pounds less than the average US soldier wears today. It also offers massive protection vs hand held slashing and stabbing weapons (other than pole arms) and any missile not equipped with a bodkin point. Japanese style emphasized slashing and with weapons that simply did not have the power to pierce the steel hide.
many knights were also as thoroughly trained in hand to hand as any Spartan warrior having begun military training at ages as young as 7.
You should really watch some of the re-creationist who do live steel or use ratan. They move quick and the attacks are brutal. If you can watch an SCA event like the Pennsic wars or Antir vs the West