One age-old design, the fighter kite, became hep throughout Asia. Most variations, including the fighter kites of India, Thailand and Japan, are small, flat, roughly diamond-shaped kites false of paper, with a tapered bamboo spine and a balanced bow. Flown without tails that would hinder their agility, these highly maneuverable flat kites have a length of cutting line coated with an mild attached to the bridle, which is then tied to a bright cotton flying line. Although the rules of kite fencing varied from campestral to country, the basic combat was to maneuver the swift kite in such a instrument as to cut the opponent's flying line.

Kite flying began much later in Europe than in Asia. While unambiguous drawings of kites first appeared in print in the Netherlands and England in the 17th century, pennon-type kites that evolved from army Wind Spinners banners dating back to Roman times and earlier were flown during the Mid Ages. Joseph Needham says that the earliest European description of a kite comes from the Magia Naturalis written in 1589 by the Italian polymath Giambattista della Porta (1535–1615).