08-15-2006, 08:21 PM
It is possible to conduct shock combat without stirrups, the Companions of Alexander showed this. It may not be easy to use a couched lance (i.e. tucked under the arm) without stirrups, but the main force of impact tends to push the rider back (so I am told) off the rump of the horse, and it is the saddle which is most critical in preventing this. There are other ways of spearing an opponent.
"Cavalry depictions from the Roman period show cavalrymen with the spear held overhand"
There is a famous Roman era illustration of a lance used underhanded, two-handed, for shock without stirrups - the Dura Europos graffito. Two handed use of the lance was recorded by Tacitus for the Sarmatians, and is described in medieval muslim manuals of horsmanship - as a shock weapon. The contos can be used to stab without the full impact of the thrust being absorbed by the body of the rider - his arms take up some of the recoil; and this technique endured for thousands of years.
"Cavalry depictions from the Roman period show cavalrymen with the spear held overhand"
There is a famous Roman era illustration of a lance used underhanded, two-handed, for shock without stirrups - the Dura Europos graffito. Two handed use of the lance was recorded by Tacitus for the Sarmatians, and is described in medieval muslim manuals of horsmanship - as a shock weapon. The contos can be used to stab without the full impact of the thrust being absorbed by the body of the rider - his arms take up some of the recoil; and this technique endured for thousands of years.
Felix Wang
