Benefits of a Combat Fan?

[tbone]

A combat fan almost sounds to me like a small buckler. Though whether it should allow blocking of missile weapons like a shield, I don't know.

That aside, as long as we're cataloging the combat fan's benefits, let's add this one for completeness: Its use as a fan. Trivial, definitely, but a tiny wind generator is handy for cooling off after a fight or fanning a campfire. (Mebbe allow a Combat Fan skill roll to dramatically snuff out a candle flame from a yard or two away? : )

Also, it seems to me that with its large surface area for swatting, sharp edge for slashing, and collateral breeze-making, a combat fan might reasonably have a small advantage over other little weapons in dispersing swarms. (Sounds kinda fun, anyway.)

[sgtcallistan]

Originally Posted by Plane

Closest thing I could find is the mention of Sasaki Kojiro at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tessenjutsu but it mentions several opponents, not a single horseman.

Right wiki page, but the entry below that is the event I encountered; Uesugi and Takeda were enemies famed for fighting several battles at (almost) the same place, Kawakanejima (spelling?).

The iron war-fan is I believe the Tessen mentioned on that page.
Pictures show a figure-of-eight solid one on a handle, (buckler-sized?); or a smaller fan made of iron slats (mandatory game element).

-and I believe the mounted samurai also had some foot spearmen with him, while the seated general had numerous supporters, guards and attendants also defending him in his field headquarters.

IIRC, the Japanese model-kit company Otaki made many model samurai in 1/35th scale, including the two central men in this incident.

Mulan's sword catching incident may be illustrating the martial art quandary of soft style over hard, also referred to in the Kung-fu Panda films.

[Plane]

Originally Posted by tbone

a tiny wind generator is handy for cooling off after a fight

Since we generate some heat through the use of our muscles to move the fan, is the most efficient way pretty much to supinate/pronate the forearm while holding the hand? Using wrist/elbow bending movement seems wasteful.

[William]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Checking wikipedia, looks like that was Takeda Shingen defending himself from Uesugi Kenshin.

Note, however, that typical representations of Shingen's signaling fan make it not the spreading wedge-shaped object that MuLan used, but a winged fabric or wooden surface over a solid core, which is a more likely object for stopping sword blows: statue, painting, and of course as a ridiculously oversized primary weapon in an anime.

Just to point out that there are two very different classes of object covered by the name. The one that can do the weapon binding and be carried as a mundane-looking object is a bit different from a good solid chunk of wood that can take a couple of sword blows head on.

Wildly cinematically, either type of fan is often used for making small wind currents; I've had a wuxia game with a ninja who could make wind big enough to do knockback (as the Sengoku Otome character up there can) or spread a sleeping powder across a cone area.

[Plane]

Originally Posted by William

and of course as a ridiculously oversized primary weapon in an anime.

You call that a fan? Now THIS is a fan.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Plane

Since we generate some heat through the use of our muscles to move the fan, is the most efficient way pretty much to supinate/pronate the forearm while holding the hand?

The most efficient way is to have your servant move the fan.

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by Anthony

The most efficient way is to have your servant move the fan.

Exactly, you have your combat fans use combat fans to fan the combat.