Kusazuri

[Takeda Hirotsune]

Hi folks, I wanted to ask something about the Kusazuri (waistline tassets) on various types of armour.

In older types of armour (haramaki, domaru, oyoroi) the kusazuri are connected 'directly' to the do. In tosei gusoku, they hang lower than the do by long lacing.

I want to ask you folks wether there's a difference in protection and comfort in both styles. I can't try it out for myself, so I hope some of you might have tried both and could share your experiances with me .

Thanks in advance!

[fujiwara]

I am uncertain where you are getting your information, but I've never seen kusazuri connected directly to the dou. Exhibit 1:

from the Kyoto Costume Museum, of the Kamakura Era.

Exhibit 2:

also from the KCM, also Kamakura (a tatami dou)

I think where the confusion lies is that everyone in armour is wearing an obi directly over the suspensory lacing, obscuring it from view. Looking at Effingham-dono's website, he mentions nothing about kusazuri being affixed to the dou directly, only via suspensory lacing or hung (by lacing or fabric panels) from a belt.

I believe Date-dono built an o-yoroi from kydex, and you can clearly see the suspensory lacing on the kusazuri.

- Fujiwara

[Takeda Hirotsune]

www.wakagashira.com/history/

This should show what I mean.

[Otagiri Tatsuzou]

fujiwara said:

I am uncertain where you are getting your information, but I've never seen kusazuri connected directly to the dou.

I believe he is referring to the oyoroi which doesn't have yurugi ito, the lace from which kusazuri hang.



Whether or not it is long enough to show depends on the armour you make. I make tosei gusoku ( 'modern armours' ) so I have such 'exposed' lacing. Mine hangs 4-5 inches and that 'gap' is mostly covered by a double wrap of a soft, rolled obi. So I don't have a problem with getting hit in the hips/waist and rarely bruise there. The rolled obi is probably not as authentic as a simple flat cloth, but then you would need to address the 'gap' by some other method.

[Mykaru]

The only difference is the length of the yurugi ito. Comfort is relative, but the O-yoroi were never designed to be used on foot. Comfort otherwise is going to depend on 2 things the shape of the dou and your shape. If you are rather pear shaped I'd recommend the Dou-maru. Lightbulb shaped a sendai-dou. If you have large weight changes, a haramaki.

[Takeda Hirotsune]

I'm mostly checking because I'm thinking of makeing either a domaru, or a tosei gusoku with full lacing (too sleepy to look up the name now . One of the main differences is in the Kusazuri. So I was wondering wether the tosei would be more comfortable and what the difference in protection it would be.

[AJBryant]

Actually, do maru and haramaki had yurugi ito made the same length as the other kedate (suspensory laces). The only way to tell that they were now connecting kusazuri was the sudden break in the "solid" lame from one to five or seven lames.

Yurugi ito of three or four inches in length was a product of the sengoku period, and doesn't appear in armours predating the early/mid 1500s.


Tony

[fujiwara]

Huh...I stand corrected That'll help a lot when I get around to making my do maru (once I get the money for the kozane...it'll be okugawa do until then)

- Fujiwara