Crossbow
From Karate, Kungfu, Wrestling, Mixed Fighting Information Source
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The Crossbow is a projectile weapon that consists of a bow mounted on a stock. It is fired much like a shoulder fired rocket, from a shoulder position looking down the quarrel toward the target. A crossbow string is set or “cocked” by means of a mechanical device such as a winch or simply by pulling or pushing the string onto the release mechanism. A quarrel (arrow) is placed on a “shelf” in front of the cocked string and then released by means of a mechanical “trigger”. Crossbows are often very powerful and are fun to shoot. Crossbows are also difficult to master, but when shot by a master can be deadly accurate. Crossbows also come in various shapes and sizes with different release mechanisms that are all period.
The first crossbows were constructed entirely of wood but later models incorporated animal cartilage in the yew wood frame for elasticity. Most early crossbows had a stirrup on the front of the stock. To reload the crossbow, the archer placed the stirrup on the ground, his foot through the stirrup, and pulled the bowstring back as hard as he could until he notched it in the nut (the mechanism which held the string in place, depressing the crude trigger bar allowed the bolt to fly). Mechanical loading devices involving pulleys and gears made this process considerably simpler, but by no means easy.
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History
Types of Crossbow
Arbalest
The Arbalest or Crossbow was seen as early as 1066 but didn’t become popular for about another century. The first crossbows were constructed entirely of wood but later models incorporated animal cartilage in the yew wood frame for elasticity. The original crossbows were actually very poor weapons: very slow to load, prone to misfires, and overly complicated for the generally mechanically disinclined population of the period. As technology improved during the middle ages and mechanical devices were developed for loading and aiming crossbows, their use and popularity increased.
The primary advantage crossbows had over bows was that they could be loaded ahead of time and held effortlessly loaded while aiming. Their greatest detractors were their slow reload ability, inaccuracy, and considerable weight. A crossbowman (also called an arbalester) was only expected to fire one bolt per six shots by an archer. Further, they were very short ranged weapons and their bow strings (sinew or gut) were often useless in wet or damp weather. Most early crossbows had a stirrup on the front of the stock (squint through this text to the crossbow on the wallpaper for an example). To reload the crossbow, the archer placed the stirrup on the ground, his foot through the stirrup, and pulled the bowstring back as hard as he could until he notched it in the nut (the mechanism which held the string in place, depressing the crude trigger bar allowed the bolt to fly). Mechanical loading devices involving pulleys and gears made this process considerably simpler, but by no means easy.
Ballista
Based on the same mechanical principles as the crossbow but on a larger scale, the ballistae are the siege weapons that hurl stones or metal projetiles toward their targets. It is an engine of war invented by the Greeks sometime around 800 BCE, and also used by the Romans. Ballistas were constructed of different sizes for the various purposes of siege and field warfare. The largest ones could throw projectiles weighing up to fifty pounds as far as 400 yards.
The ballista uses a pair of skeins (bundles of twisted rope) for power. Similar to the working of a crossbow, the Ballista actually preceded the crossbow in western culture by over a thousand years. Although the Ballista is not used as a weapon and martial arts.
