Fighter Kites

In The Hands Of Young And Old

However, a pair of scissors did make an appearance during one highly irregular Rokkaku Battle. That was during a South Australian kite festival some years ago, here in Adelaide! So a little birdie told me.

Most other fighter kite designs are actually unstable in the air while there is low tension in the flying line.

For example, Indian fighters like the Patang. Handling one of these fighters well is quite a skill so it's not just 'kids stuff'.

However, huge numbers of kids in the countries with a kite-fighting culture do participate. The skills, in both construction and flying, have been passed down for generations. In addition to Japan's Rokkaku, a number of other countries have one or more distinctive local fighter kite designs. Here are the main examples, followed by the name of the traditional kite:

• India and Pakistan, with the Patang design. Other Indian Fighter designs exist, which are not so often flown by children.
• Afghanistan, with the Gudiparan design - Afghan Fighter to most of us. These are made in a range of sizes, all much bigger than the Indian kites. I can't imagine the very biggest Afghan fighters being flown by children!
• Korea, with the Pangp'aeyon design - or Shield Kite. These have a distinctive large hole in the middle.
• Brazil, with the Piao design. Known as Top Kites since the shape and traditional patterns make them look like spinning tops. Tails are used on these kites.
• Cuba, where kites are known as Papalotes.. Children fly fighters that are rather small, 6-sided designs that also use a tail for stability. No fighting kite is too stable though! That would make it an easy target.

Here is a picture of all 5 types, in order corresponding to the points above:

Now, getting back to those child fliers, in all cultures... The kids make fairly crude designs from whatever materials are available. Crude in comparison to what can be bought from the local kite makers...

Kite masters or designers and their assistants turn out extremely neat and well-balanced fighter kites for sale. Often these kites are exquisitely attractive to look at too! The smallest and cheapest of these are often flown by kids. Bamboo still dominates as a great traditional spar material, but the traditional sail materials of tissue and silk are starting to give way to more modern materials such as nylon, mylar and plastic.

Photo courtesy of Tony George.

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