Historical Goguryeo Armor
Donation protected
The Message:
Hello, my name is Andrew Jefferson. I am the owner of Bulsajo TaeKwonDo with over 20 years of martial arts experience. I have a 5th degree black belt in the Korean martial art of TaeKwonDo and I'm very passionate about Martial Arts in general.
Although I train in a modern martial art, I would like to further my knowledge in ancient and historical combat by adding armored combat to my studies. Most principles of hand to hand combat have changed very little over time, and therefor studying the roots of a combat style will help to understand how apply these princicples to any time period.
My inspiration for this research comes from watching friends of mine practice and compete in Knightly Combat and Western Martial Arts. For years I told them that I would love to try it but the opportunity never arose. Finally at The Black Swan Renaissance Festival of 2014 I got a chance and was hooked instantly.
Here are some videos from that day:
Andy (Garreth) vs Sir Brian
Andy (Garreth) vs Man-At-Arms Tony
The Armor:
Korean Lamellar Armor from the “Three Kingdoms Period”.
57BC - 688AD
Lamellar armor was one of three early body armor types, made from rectangular or vaguely rectangular armor plates laced into horizontal rows. The other two types are scale and laminar armor. Lamellar armor was used over a wide range of time periods in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and across Asia, including Japan. (from Wikipedia)
Why Korean armor? Well I practice Korean martial arts and I love Korean culture. I'm learning to speak Korean and I hope to one day visit South Korea. When people think of the far east most think of China or Japan, rarely the small peninsula between them. So I would like to bring a bit of ancient Korean history to life!
Now, I will need to protect my hands, forearms and face as well so I will need to purchase separate pieces of armor to do that.
The Face Mask:
Ancient Korea had some very powerful neighbors in the Chinese, Russian, Mongolian and Japanese kingdoms. There is a great deal of history on battles won and lost as well as times of peace, alliances and trade. Lamellar armor was probably brought to Korea via China or Mongolia. In all my research I could not find any information or proof that Korean soldiers wore face protection beyond the lamellar high collar. However, there is plenty of evidence of China and Mongolia using armored face masks and so I shall take from these examples. In the end I chose the above Chinese face mask.
The Bracers (protects forearms):
Bazubands are very similar to the bracers that the ancient Koreans were wearing. However, finding very good photos or information was difficult and so I am going with a slightly different bracer that will offer a bit more protection.
In the picture of the mannequin in armor you can see the Korean version of this bracer. Basically the difference is that the above braces will wrap around the forearms where as the Korean version flattens out and leaves some of the forearms exposed.
The gauntlets:
Hello, my name is Andrew Jefferson. I am the owner of Bulsajo TaeKwonDo with over 20 years of martial arts experience. I have a 5th degree black belt in the Korean martial art of TaeKwonDo and I'm very passionate about Martial Arts in general.
Although I train in a modern martial art, I would like to further my knowledge in ancient and historical combat by adding armored combat to my studies. Most principles of hand to hand combat have changed very little over time, and therefor studying the roots of a combat style will help to understand how apply these princicples to any time period.
My inspiration for this research comes from watching friends of mine practice and compete in Knightly Combat and Western Martial Arts. For years I told them that I would love to try it but the opportunity never arose. Finally at The Black Swan Renaissance Festival of 2014 I got a chance and was hooked instantly.
Here are some videos from that day:
Andy (Garreth) vs Sir Brian
Andy (Garreth) vs Man-At-Arms Tony
The Armor:
Korean Lamellar Armor from the “Three Kingdoms Period”. 57BC - 688AD
Lamellar armor was one of three early body armor types, made from rectangular or vaguely rectangular armor plates laced into horizontal rows. The other two types are scale and laminar armor. Lamellar armor was used over a wide range of time periods in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and across Asia, including Japan. (from Wikipedia)
Why Korean armor? Well I practice Korean martial arts and I love Korean culture. I'm learning to speak Korean and I hope to one day visit South Korea. When people think of the far east most think of China or Japan, rarely the small peninsula between them. So I would like to bring a bit of ancient Korean history to life!
Now, I will need to protect my hands, forearms and face as well so I will need to purchase separate pieces of armor to do that.
The Face Mask:
Ancient Korea had some very powerful neighbors in the Chinese, Russian, Mongolian and Japanese kingdoms. There is a great deal of history on battles won and lost as well as times of peace, alliances and trade. Lamellar armor was probably brought to Korea via China or Mongolia. In all my research I could not find any information or proof that Korean soldiers wore face protection beyond the lamellar high collar. However, there is plenty of evidence of China and Mongolia using armored face masks and so I shall take from these examples. In the end I chose the above Chinese face mask.
The Bracers (protects forearms):
Bazubands are very similar to the bracers that the ancient Koreans were wearing. However, finding very good photos or information was difficult and so I am going with a slightly different bracer that will offer a bit more protection.
In the picture of the mannequin in armor you can see the Korean version of this bracer. Basically the difference is that the above braces will wrap around the forearms where as the Korean version flattens out and leaves some of the forearms exposed.
The gauntlets:
Again I can not find any information or pictures of what ancient Koreans would have used so I am going with a European Medieval gauntlet that fits the lamellar look and will offer me plenty of protection.
And finally here is just a cool drawing I found of a Goguryeo soldier.
Swords, polearms and shields will have to be purchased and or made but for the time being I have some that I can use. The money raised will cover the armor, face mask, helmet, bracers and shipping. Anything leftover (if any) will go towards cleaning supplies (yes the armor is not stainless and so I will need to care for it), swords and shields etc.
Great appreciation will be felt with every blow the armor protects me from and every strike I land. But if words are what you need; please donate to my historical combat fund and thank you a thousand times over.
And finally here is just a cool drawing I found of a Goguryeo soldier.
Swords, polearms and shields will have to be purchased and or made but for the time being I have some that I can use. The money raised will cover the armor, face mask, helmet, bracers and shipping. Anything leftover (if any) will go towards cleaning supplies (yes the armor is not stainless and so I will need to care for it), swords and shields etc.
Great appreciation will be felt with every blow the armor protects me from and every strike I land. But if words are what you need; please donate to my historical combat fund and thank you a thousand times over.
Organizer
Andrew Jefferson
Organizer
Manchester, NH