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Kopis, Calcata & Kopesh O' My
- Thread starter King Tut
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 13, 1999
- Messages
- 1,422
You might want to try the Himalayan Imports forum, khukuris are afterall, a derivative of Kopis. And there's no better experts of such weapons than the Gurkhas.
As far as I'm concerned, downward curved blades are a great way to get a lot of chopping power out of a short blade.
As far as I'm concerned, downward curved blades are a great way to get a lot of chopping power out of a short blade.
The site above has two good examples of the Kopis.
However, it uses the word Machaira interchangeably with the word Kopis and I disagree.
The word Machaira refers to a large knife or short sword, used in the slaughter house and for very close combat (the root word mache in machaira refers to a fight or fighting); it had a double-edge and we see its form continued in the popular image of the Roman legionnaire's short sword.
It survives today as a large double-edged knife used in Europe to slit the throat of a boar held by dogs: by virtue of its double-edge, one can stab into the neck and cut either way.
The Romans also used the Kopis, calling it the Falcata.
WARFARE IN THE CLASSICAL WORLD by James Warry has several good drawings and treatments of the Kopis/Falcata on page 103.
These drawings differ from the pictures on the Thracian weapons site in that they show a smaller cross section for the ring and little fingers, and a larger cross section for the middle and index fingers.
One can see the influence of the Kopis on the Kukri and the Turkish Yatagan.
The point on the blade of the Kopis distinguishes it from the Kukri, and the curved butt of the handle shows a different philosophy of usage from both Kukri and Yatagan.
The Yatagan does have lateral "wings" at the butt, which allow the wielder to maximize the radius of the swing, as does the hook at the butt of the Kopis.
The grip and point of the Kopis facilitate the thrust to a greater degree than do the respective grip and point of the Kukri and Yatagan.
When I think of the Machaira, I imagine a Hoplite crushed by the weight of the soldiers behind him, shield to shield with his opponent
In this case, the short heavy spear and the javelin lose their effectiveness as primary weapons, and I imagine the double-edged machaira coming in to play as the antagonists attempt to reach around, under and over their shields, hacking and slicing blindly.
I have seen drawings of short swords having Kopis and Kukri features, carried by Asian horsemen.
I think these design features got around from culture to culture and repeated themselves throughout history.
Consider the recurved calvary saber, which looks like a Yatgan with more of a thrusting point.
------------------
Luke 22:36, John 18:6-11, Freedom
If one takes care of the means, the end will take care of itself.
However, it uses the word Machaira interchangeably with the word Kopis and I disagree.
The word Machaira refers to a large knife or short sword, used in the slaughter house and for very close combat (the root word mache in machaira refers to a fight or fighting); it had a double-edge and we see its form continued in the popular image of the Roman legionnaire's short sword.
It survives today as a large double-edged knife used in Europe to slit the throat of a boar held by dogs: by virtue of its double-edge, one can stab into the neck and cut either way.
The Romans also used the Kopis, calling it the Falcata.
WARFARE IN THE CLASSICAL WORLD by James Warry has several good drawings and treatments of the Kopis/Falcata on page 103.
These drawings differ from the pictures on the Thracian weapons site in that they show a smaller cross section for the ring and little fingers, and a larger cross section for the middle and index fingers.
One can see the influence of the Kopis on the Kukri and the Turkish Yatagan.
The point on the blade of the Kopis distinguishes it from the Kukri, and the curved butt of the handle shows a different philosophy of usage from both Kukri and Yatagan.
The Yatagan does have lateral "wings" at the butt, which allow the wielder to maximize the radius of the swing, as does the hook at the butt of the Kopis.
The grip and point of the Kopis facilitate the thrust to a greater degree than do the respective grip and point of the Kukri and Yatagan.
When I think of the Machaira, I imagine a Hoplite crushed by the weight of the soldiers behind him, shield to shield with his opponent
In this case, the short heavy spear and the javelin lose their effectiveness as primary weapons, and I imagine the double-edged machaira coming in to play as the antagonists attempt to reach around, under and over their shields, hacking and slicing blindly.
I have seen drawings of short swords having Kopis and Kukri features, carried by Asian horsemen.
I think these design features got around from culture to culture and repeated themselves throughout history.
Consider the recurved calvary saber, which looks like a Yatgan with more of a thrusting point.
------------------
Luke 22:36, John 18:6-11, Freedom
If one takes care of the means, the end will take care of itself.