Is there any reason why the vast majority of people on this forum appear to be primarily interested in European arms and armour? While myArmoury is dedicated to any sort of historical weapons, it seems that most of the threads are on European rather than Asian weapons.

Perhaps the people with Asian weapons as their primary interest hangs out at other forums that are more purely dedicated to Asian weaponry.

That, and the fact that the admin team seems to be mostly into european arms (judging from their colections...),
which leads to most of the content of the site being about these weapons when it first started, which again attracts people interested in western weapons, who contribute more content about the same, and so on?

Just the way it turns out...

Avoids culture clash! ;)

Once I get my antique Chinese jian fully restored I hope to provide a little taste of the Orient to myArmoury.com. :D

In the meantime, myArmoury.com is by far the best resourse available for indulging my interest in western European arms.

It also is focused on weapons from x date BC to around 1700 AD, primarily. I would like to know a bit more about some of them there mid-19th c. rifles, but that is probably being discussed elsewhere entirely.

We would love to branch out. We have tried to branch out. We are in the process of branching out. :)

The bottom line is that the vast majority of the people who have been willing to contribute articles/reviews (admin, team members, other readers) are into Euro items. We would probably publish non-Euro-heavy collections if people ever showed us their collections and were willing to go through the lengthy process of documenting it. Not having many non-Euro items doesn't mean we won't publish other things or that we don't want to publish other things. We simply haven't had the items to publish to this point. The recent call for articles has put some new areas into the lineup for down the road, though.

If you want to discuss non-Euro items, go ahead. If you want to write about non-Euro items, contact us and we'll work out details. If no one volunteers to write about or posts about non-Euro items, then the one-sided appearance of the site may remain.

I'm not going to review a katana because I don't have access to one. I'm not going to write a spotlight on Chinese armour because I don't have the resources in my library. I won't add a jambiya to my collection because it falls outside my area of interest, either. But I'm not the only one with a word-processing program, camera, and a few spare hours.... :)

Catch my drift? ;)

No chance to head off the dreaded knight vs. samurai. Not even by trying to focus on the swords alone, since comparing apples and oranges tends to bring folks back to the notion that it is the skill of the use that makes the big difference. So, just say no.... :D

Now, on to the subject of whether the site is too Eurocentric.... Maybe, but it is sometimes nice to have a dedicated place to one thing. Still, there is a world out there outside this and it is a good thing to be aware of it. I think many weapons do not get the time they need. The katana and associated weapons do see a lot of discussion all over the net. Chinese weapons and other mid and far eastern types deserve a deeper understanding, I think. But, the folks with the expertise to bring the katana, the dao, the kilic, etc. have to pony up to the task. It is hard to get really good solid education on these from folks that don''t know a lot about them. So the experts need to chime in....

I actually really like the fact that myArmoury's front forum page isn't filled with questions about various chinese made kats. ;)

However, Keith Larman pops in time to time with some really interesting stuff on the Japanese side of the sword world.

How about Ninjas Vs Pirates...
or my favorite;
Shaolin warrior monks vs Knights Templar


You can say a lot of nice things about the katana, but in the end they, well, all look the same...
I would be more interested in continental, Chinese weapons, where there is more variation...

For variety we could also have discussions about firearms from the very earliest handgonnes to modern assault rifles.

I don't think any period or region is off limits but there are other sites that specialize about firearms or Japanese weapons and armour etc ....... Personally exploring these subject here would also be worth while, but I do appreciate the mostly Medieval European content here that is more in depth than in most other sites.

The possible subjects can be even wider if one includes fortification / castles, warships from the earliest galley to galleon to 19th century ironclads to WWI / WWII battleships.

Tactics, battles, strategy .......... Well just about all of human history is at least distantly related to weapons and warfare: The history of the World is the history of war.

My point ! Hmmmmmm ..... I'm not sure??? Only that it is possible that trying to cover everything would overdilute what makes this site work ! Just some thoughts: Not sure if they are very helpful. :eek:

There's more bias than just being Eurocentric (and I do not mean just at this site either)...

When talking about Western arms and armor, the attention seems to be focused on the swords. Swords of every size, shape, and description. Roman swords, Viking swords, longswords, rapiers. Swords everywhere. Occasionally armor, but mostly swords.
Precious little attention seems to be given to the other weapons common in Europe at the time--axes, spears, maces, polearms, hammers, shields, etc. Sure, they pop up every now and then, but they seem to be "left out of the loop" so to speak by "sword-mania." Both by reviewers, enthusiasts, and even reproduction manufacturers. Admittedly, they're not completely left out, but they just don't seem to garner as much attention.
just my $0.02 to throw out there.