Kote

Origin

The kote is thought to have developed as a part of samurai armor in the late Heian period of Japan. At first, fitted for mounted archery, it was common to wear a single kote only on the left arm, the bow-holding arm, so as not to hinder drawing the bow. Later, as close combat with sword and spear grew, wearing a kote on both arms became standard, and it was used widely with armors such as the do-maru and the tosei-gusoku. By the Edo period a form fitted for swordsmanship training appeared, and the kote used in kendo today descends directly from this tradition.

Features

• Composite structure of mail (kusari) and plates on cloth
• Asymmetric practice reinforcing the left (bow-holding) arm
• Iron hand plate (tekko) and small plates on the forearm
• An arm defense worn as a set with the o-yoroi or do-maru
• A flexible defensive structure joining metal and textile
• The direct ancestor of the modern kendo kote

Stories

The kote was the war gear of the samurai, used to guard the arm and hand in archery and swordsmanship. Being a structure of mail and small plates fixed on a cloth backing, it let the elbow and wrist bend freely, so it did not greatly hinder drawing the bow or swinging the sword. Worn as a set with the cuirass (do), along with shoulder guards and shin guards, it took the arm's part of the samurai harness that ran from head to foot. At first worn only on the left, bow-holding arm, it became common to wear it on both arms once close combat took the center.

Weakness

The weakness of the kote is the limit of its protection compared with plate armor. Being a structure that joins mail, small plates, and cloth, it is flexible, but against a strong blunt blow or a thrust driven persistently at one spot it holds out less well than the Western gauntlet made of solid plate. The mail and cloth parts cannot fully disperse a shock, and a slender point can work into the gaps between the small plates. The mail parts also needed care against rust and breakage. Yet this is a balance accepted to gain flexibility and freedom of movement, for the kote was by nature a defense that favored motion over absolute protection.

Cultural Significance

The kote is a piece that shows well the design philosophy of Japanese armor, the 'balance of flexibility and protection'. Unlike Western armor wrapped wholly in plate, the character of Japanese armor, weaving cloth, mail, and small plates to keep movement alive, is fully held in this arm defense. Above all, the asymmetric practice of guarding the left, bow-holding arm first and more heavily silently testifies that samurai combat began in mounted archery. The kote refined for swordsmanship in the Edo period carried on into the kote of kendo today, a rare case in which the armor of the old samurai lives on within a modern martial art.

In Popular Culture

The kote appears often as a part of armor in period dramas, films, games, and Japanese-style fantasy about the samurai. It draws less notice than the cuirass or the helmet, however, and is commonly drawn lumped in as a part of the whole armor. Today it is in fact more familiar as the gear of kendo, and many think first of the wrist guard of kendo armor when they hear 'kote'. In fiction the detail of the real structure, joining mail and small plates, is often not reflected accurately, and it is often simplified into a plain sleeve or glove.

Trivia

• In the early age of mounted archery it was common to wear a single kote only on the left, bow-holding arm, and after close combat took the center, wearing it on both arms became standard.
• Unlike the Western gauntlet made wholly of plate, the kote was a composite of mail (kusari) and small iron plates on a cloth backing, seeking flexibility and protection together.
• The kote refined for swordsmanship in the Edo period carried on into the wrist guard of kendo today, a rare case of old samurai armor living on in a modern martial art.