Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

PUFF · 8th March 2006, 08:37 AM

Dear Andrew, There are two major constructs for Siamese spears. The first one is "Hawk" (or Horg), footman spear. The blades were forged from square iron bar and attached with a square guard (spear #1 and #4 in my 1st pic). You may notice thick square cross section 's left at the shaft-end of the blade

. I think this profile 's designed for stab & twist.
As you may already know, traditional weapons were tailer-made. Lenght of each spear is usually about arm-rised height of the owner. The shaft can be wood or bamboo with no or little tapered toward spear 's blade.

Calvary units use another construct, called "Tuan", for their spear. Profile at the shaft-end of the blade is round. There is no "Chenk" but there are globe(s) on the ferrule with a set of tassel right above one of the globe. (see spear #2 and #3) "Tuan" 's shafts are longer then "Hawk" and can be tapered toward both end.

Fighting on elephant 's neck is a long lost art. I 'm about to ask master Chartchai at Arthamaat this month. I will let you know later.

Sorry for I cannot direct you to english version source or text for Siamese weaponaries and tactics (not many in Thai though

). Most of my knowledge are from people, collectors are good source. You can also get stories from historians and weapon masters. And, in some cases, the weapon itself can tell stories. For the time being, you can visit these sites
http://www.sarakadee.net/feature/200...thamaat_en.htm
http://www.muaychaiya.com/index_en.html

I 'm not pretending to be an expert in Thai weapons. I can share only what I heard. Most of them are verified but some aren't. However, most of what I heard are from well known experts in that field.

Either, I don't know much about the bamboo cultivation. What I know is a specific variety of bamboo have to be used. Their root are pruned to minimize growth rate (similar to Bonzi). Any bending is corrected in situ. In this way, their nodes are closer to each other than those of regular bamboo. So, the cane has more "meat". Bamboo cultivation is only on door from being a lost art. Fortunately, one of my friend is a collector and he seems to know detailed procedure for bamboo cultivation. I may learn from him some day.

8th March 2006, 08:37 AM	#17
PUFF Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 30 miles north of Bangkok, 20 miles south of Ayuthaya, Thailand Posts: 224	Dear Andrew, There are two major constructs for Siamese spears. The first one is "Hawk" (or Horg), footman spear. The blades were forged from square iron bar and attached with a square guard (spear #1 and #4 in my 1st pic). You may notice thick square cross section 's left at the shaft-end of the blade . I think this profile 's designed for stab & twist. As you may already know, traditional weapons were tailer-made. Lenght of each spear is usually about arm-rised height of the owner. The shaft can be wood or bamboo with no or little tapered toward spear 's blade. Calvary units use another construct, called "Tuan", for their spear. Profile at the shaft-end of the blade is round. There is no "Chenk" but there are globe(s) on the ferrule with a set of tassel right above one of the globe. (see spear #2 and #3) "Tuan" 's shafts are longer then "Hawk" and can be tapered toward both end. Fighting on elephant 's neck is a long lost art. I 'm about to ask master Chartchai at Arthamaat this month. I will let you know later. Sorry for I cannot direct you to english version source or text for Siamese weaponaries and tactics (not many in Thai though ). Most of my knowledge are from people, collectors are good source. You can also get stories from historians and weapon masters. And, in some cases, the weapon itself can tell stories. For the time being, you can visit these sites http://www.sarakadee.net/feature/200...thamaat_en.htm http://www.muaychaiya.com/index_en.html I 'm not pretending to be an expert in Thai weapons. I can share only what I heard. Most of them are verified but some aren't. However, most of what I heard are from well known experts in that field. Either, I don't know much about the bamboo cultivation. What I know is a specific variety of bamboo have to be used. Their root are pruned to minimize growth rate (similar to Bonzi). Any bending is corrected in situ. In this way, their nodes are closer to each other than those of regular bamboo. So, the cane has more "meat". Bamboo cultivation is only on door from being a lost art. Fortunately, one of my friend is a collector and he seems to know detailed procedure for bamboo cultivation. I may learn from him some day.