In medieval Asia, cloth and bamboo were both used in certain types of armor. Cloth was also used in Europe, but usually in conjunction with other materials. A heavy, quilted cloth layer surrounded by strategically located "shell" of bamboo "plates" could do well against blunt force trauma. Obviously, with medieval armor, you always have the basic tradeoff that armor which is great against blunt force is usually bad against stabbing or slicing, and armor which is great against stabbing or slicing is usually bad against blunt force attacks. This is why warriors of the era would be proficient in multiple types of weapons and armies would alternate things like polearms, long bladed weapons, piercing arrows, and maces or war hammers. It is very hard to create an ideal armor against all of that (eventually, Europe did with Maximilian plate, but by that time, hand held weapons were already on the way out).

An alternative is to forget about the armor. We are talking about a lightweight species with limited strength that needs to move a lot. In ancient Greece, the Hoplites maximized mobility and protection by forgoing any armor (and sometimes even clothes) apart from greaves and a helm. To protect themselves, they used a very heavy duty shield, and the warriors trained for years to be able to coordinate their defense by locking shields together and protecting the man on their left as they moved as one unit. It took a lot of skill and discipline (and years of training) to do well, but the Greeks were able to get a heck of a lot of protection out of (almost) nothing but very well built shields.

In medieval Asia, cloth and bamboo were both used in certain types of armor. Cloth was also used in Europe, but usually in conjunction with other materials. A heavy, quilted cloth layer surrounded by strategically located "shell" of bamboo "plates" could do well against blunt force trauma. Obviously, with medieval armor, you always have the basic tradeoff that armor which is great against blunt force is usually bad against stabbing or slicing, and armor which is great against stabbing or slicing is usually bad against blunt force attacks. This is why warriors of the era would be proficient in multiple types of weapons and armies would alternate things like polearms, long bladed weapons, piercing arrows, and maces or war hammers. It is very hard to create an ideal armor against all of that (eventually, Europe did with Maximilian plate, but by that time, hand to hand weapons were already on the way out).

An alternative is to forget about the armor. We are talking about a lightweight species with limited strength that needs to move a lot. In ancient Greece, the Hoplites maximized mobility and protection by forgoing any armor (and sometimes even clothes) apart from greaves and a helm. To protect themselves, they used a very heavy duty shield, and the warriors trained for years to be able to coordinate their defense by locking shields together and protecting the man on their left as they moved as one unit. It took a lot of skill and discipline (and years of training) to do well, but the Greeks were able to get a heck of a lot of protection out of (almost) nothing but very well built shields.