Wujing Zongyao in the context of "Fire arrow"

Gunpowder is the first explosive to have been created in the world. Popularly listed as one of the "Four Great Inventions" of China, it was invented during the late Tang dynasty (9th century) while the earliest recorded chemical formula for gunpowder dates to the Song dynasty (11th century). Knowledge of gunpowder spread rapidly throughout Eurasia, possibly as a result of the Mongol conquests during the 13th century, with written formulas for it appearing in the Middle East between 1240 and 1280 in a treatise by Hasan al-Rammah, and in Europe by 1267 in the Opus Majus by Roger Bacon. It was employed in warfare to some effect from at least the 10th century in weapons such as fire arrows, bombs, and the fire lance before the appearance of the gun in the 13th century. While the fire lance was eventually supplanted by the gun, other gunpowder weapons such as rockets and fire arrows continued to see use in China, Korea, India, and this eventually led to its use in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. Bombs too never ceased to develop and continued to progress into the modern day as grenades, mines, and other explosive implements. Gunpowder has also been used for non-military purposes such as fireworks for entertainment, or in explosives for mining and tunneling.

The evolution of guns led to the development of large artillery pieces, popularly known as bombards, during the 15th century, pioneered by states such as the Duchy of Burgundy. Firearms came to dominate early modern warfare in Europe by the 17th century. The gradual improvement of cannons firing heavier rounds for a greater impact against fortifications led to the invention of the star fort and the bastion in the Western world, where traditional city walls and castles were no longer suitable for defense. The use of gunpowder technology also spread throughout the Islamic world and to India, Korea, and Japan. The so-called Gunpowder Empires of the early modern period consisted of the Mughal Empire, Safavid Empire, and Ottoman Empire.

Barding (also spelled bard or barb) is body armour for war-horses. The practice of armoring horses first developed extensively in antiquity in the Asian kingdoms of Parthia and Pahlava. After the conquests of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BCE it likely made its way - along with cataphract technology - into European military practices via the Seleucid Empire and later the Byzantine Empire. Though its historical roots lie in antiquity in the regions of what was once the Persian Empire, barded horses have become a symbol of the late European Middle Ages chivalry and the era of knights.

Examples of armour for horses could be found as far back as classical antiquity. Many historians believe that cataphracts, with scale armour for both rider and horse, influenced the later European knights, via contact with the Byzantine Empire.

A club (also known as a cudgel, baton, bludgeon, truncheon, cosh, nightstick, or impact weapon) is a short staff or stick, usually made of wood, wielded as a weapon or tool since prehistory. There are several examples of blunt-force trauma caused by clubs in the past, including at the site of Nataruk in Turkana, Kenya, described as the scene of a prehistoric conflict between bands of hunter-gatherers 10,000 years ago.

Most clubs are small enough to be swung with one hand, although larger clubs may require the use of two to be effective. Various specialized clubs are used in martial arts and other fields, including the law-enforcement baton. The military mace is a more sophisticated descendant of the club, typically made of metal and featuring a spiked, knobbed, or flanged head attached to a shaft.

A guandao is a type of Chinese polearm that is used in some forms of Chinese martial arts. In Chinese, it is properly called a yanyuedao (偃月刀; lit. "reclining moon blade"), the name under which it appears in texts such as the Wujing Zongyao and Huangchao Liqi Tushi. It consists of a heavy blade with a spike at the back and sometimes also a notch at the spike's upper base that can catch an opponent's weapon. In addition, there are often irregular serrations that lead the back edge of the blade to the spike. The blade is mounted atop a 1.5 to 1.8 m (4 ft 11 in to 5 ft 11 in) long wooden or metal pole and a pointed metal counterweight on the opposite end, which is used to balance the heavy blade and for striking.

On modern versions, a red sash or tassel is attached at the joint of the pole and blade. Variations include rings along the length of the straight back edge as found in the nine-ring guandao, the tip curling into a rounded spiral as in the elephant guandao, or a more ornate design as exemplified by the dragon head guandao. However, apart from the "elephant guandao", none of these variations seem to have historical grounding.

Zeng Gongliang (曾公亮, Tseng Kung-Liang; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chan Kong-liāng; 998–1078) was a Chinese scholar of the Song dynasty, who helped write the Wujing Zongyao.

The Fierce-fire Oil Cabinet (Chinese: 喷火气; pinyin: pēnhuǒqì; lit. ''fire spraying air'') was a double-piston pump naphtha flamethrower first recorded to have been used in 919 AD in China, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.