[Gregg Sobocinski]

[quote] Douglas Huxtable wrote:
"I used to be interested alot in eastern weapons like the sai for example which im sure most of you have heard of, a cross between a sword, a large fork and a sheild, all in a small sword-like form, they are really quite interesting that the concept for such an effective weapon is so old."


Vincent Le Chevalier wrote: "Got to wonder why it was not used much much more if it was so efficient

The sai is really more a stick than a sword. It does not cut. I'm not even sure it has a sharp tip. It is a special weapon made useful in a very specific context. For an assassin the sai is perhaps one of the most unsuited weapon: you have to get close *and* hit very hard, possibly several times, and it is not any easier to conceal than any form of knife (perhaps even harder because of the wide guard). Given the choice, I'd take a dagger over a sai..."
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Regarding the sai: I'm not sure it was ever an assassin's weapon, but definitely part of the Karate-Do Japanese martial art tradition, even if it may have come from Chinese or Indonesian origins.

One explanation: In many cultures (in this case, Asian), the peasants were not allowed to possess weapons without specific royal edict. As a result, common tools were utilized or adapted for various combative situations (i.e. some western medieval pole weapons); from revolts to organized warfare. The actual use of the sai in farming is still debated, although the best bet was that it was adapted from the pitch fork, which any modern gardener can tell you is more efficient than a shovel for digging in rocks and clay, and for moving anything from leaves to mulch to manure.
One site to support this: http://www.martialarm.com/weapons/karate-weapons.html

Other people believe they are evolved from the head of a military trident-like spear to be used in closer combat. The three prong design is easier to make than an edged weapon, and the side prongs protect against and trap cutting attacks.

The best referenced explanation I could find is located at this site: http://www.oshirodojo.com/kobudo_sai.html

A separate note on what makes a weapon "deadly": Ask any modern emergency room surgeon and they'll tell you that puncture wounds are still more deadly than any other type. You can't sew or bandage a puncture wound like a slash, since the lower layers of tissue will still bleed.

If anyone has better sources, feel free to correct me. In searching for quick links just now, I I've read explanations that I hadn't read in books. Then again, the internet is still only as good as the author at the other end, which is why I thoroughly enjoy this site. Referenced sites still hold more salt than hearsay. (But don't believe it just because I said so....)

Regards.

[S. Mighton]

Off the top of my head it seems like most medieval European assassinations were either poisonings or large scale ambushes involving many armed assailants. And these assailants were generally not specialized assassins, but simply the retainers and fighting men of the Lord ordering the killing.

[George Hill]

My information is that the Okinawans adapted the sai out of a latching device for a irrigation floodgate.

[Jerry D]

weren't poisons used extensively in Europe. For instance the Borgias in Italy. not sure how often this was done in Northern Europe but it was frequently used in the south. i believe that there may have been schools on it or maybe courses in the existing schools. there were several books on how to successfully poison someone printed in the renaissance. a quick search and found the site below.

http://www.portfolio.mvm.ed.ac.uk/studentwebs...ntents.htm

[Jonathan Blair]

In an age before proper medical analysis, anything that looks peculiar would be attributed to poison or the will of God. So the real question would be how many "poisonings" were actually illnesses and how many "illnesses" were actually poisonings?

[Randall Moffett]

There are a number of accounts that speak of assasinations.... most on failed ones. Barbours Brus has at least two of men trying to ambush bruce but he is able to outsmart them and kill them.

RPM

[Douglas Huxtable]

[Benjamin H. Abbott]

I don't think assassinations were particularly different other forms of violence. It's simply the murder of an important person. Surprise attacks were common in both military and civilian encounters. Various manuals show that martial artists typically trained to defend themselves against such attacks. For example, Meyer gave advice on what to do about a man with dagger who seemed likely to attack. He gave instructions for defeating unexpected assailants in the streets.

[Dan Howard]

Assassination is no different to any other murder. The difference is whether it is politically motivated, not whether a fancy weapon is used. Anyone who kills for political purposes is an assassin.

[Sam N.]

[Benjamin H. Abbott]

The Syrian writer and warrior Usama recorded an encounter he had with an assassin. He claimed to have defended himself successfully, cutting through both the assassin's dagger and arm with his sword.

[George Hill]

[Craig Peters]

Although it's not really what you were asking for, I'd like to second George Hill's recommendation about reading on the Nizari-Ismaeli Assassins, since they were such a major part of the near east during the medieval period. Rather than Wikipedia, I'd suggest looking for scholarly books. A good and relatively cheap introductory book is Bernard Lewis' The Assassins: A Radical Sect of Islam: http://www.myArmoury.com/books/item.php?ASIN=0465004989

[Douglas Huxtable]

[Hugh Fuller]

The Persian end of the Nizam hashashim sect was pretty much wiped out by the Mongols under Hulugu when they tried to extort money from him. One did not do that to a Mongol lord. He set about a very methodical extermination of any and all of the sect that he could identify. Some probably made their escape, just as some of the Cherusci escaped from the legions under Germanicus in 14-15 CE.

[Douglas Huxtable]

[Russ Ellis]

[Randall Moffett]

[Douglas Huxtable]

[Jean Thibodeau]

Most of the stealth, high level skills i.e. the James Bond / Ninja qualities would be much more in spying, information gathering or " agent provocateur " and dirty tricks type of things than actual killing by the " master spy ".

Actual assassinations would probably be the blunt instrument when subtlety was no longer needed or an " enemy " became an immediate threat or really REALLY got the King or High Noble(s) angry or greedy !

Think of the Templars: Gathering / creating a false case of witchcraft and in effect doing a political assassination before it became legalized assassination/executions. ( And stealing their treasure and lands as a bonus ),

If you could provoke an enemy into an act of treason or convince the King ( A paranoid King ) that one of your rivals was plotting against him, it would be a great way to get rid of him or her !

In other words: Italian Renaissance politics or Byzantine politics. So brains rather than brawn in the service of " Raisons d' États " with the occasional stiletto between the ribs when convenient. A skilled killer or warrior doing the job, a bunch of hired tugs or a duped " lunatic/patsy "

Note: Anybody notice that the realy dirty tricks kind of thing have French names. ( Joke and I'm French Canadian ).