Fighting Irons

[estcrh]

Originally Posted by Ian

The weapon that Andrew shows would be extremely difficult to master--it has three hinges, the arms are of unequal length, and the weight distribution is not uniform. Its behavior when swung would be very challenging to reproduce and therefore not especially useful as a weapon. There is a good chance that the one wielding it would be impaled with his own weapon. I doubt that these were ever widely used or very popular.

Ian

Ian, there is something to be said for a weapon that you could use but would be practically useless when an untrained person tried to use it.
Here is an interesting video of a chain whip in action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whuBjeGxQig

Three section staff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNE3WuNfgQI

[Ian]

Eric,

Thanks for the links to the videos. I think they highlight the point I was making that these are difficult weapons to use. The technique of simply winging these in a wide continuous arc may be the only practical way to use these hinged weapons. The user does this to maintain some control over a system that would otherwise behave in a chaotic manner. To use the weapon as shown in the video requires considerable open space, free from obstacles that would catch the lengthy weapon. Definitely not a close quarters weapon.

I'm not sure that this "weapon" could really be used very effectively by either a skilled or unskilled combatant. As shown in the video, its use requires a special set of circumstances and the intended victim could see it coming and take evasive action relatively easily--find the nearest tree to get behind, use a spear or staff to catch the flail, etc. Also, once the attacker has struck with the weapon, it may become entangled on some other object rendering it useless and the attacker vulnerable.

If I recall correctly, there was a chain and spiked ball weapon used in the movie "Kill Bill 1" (during the particularly bloody Japanese night club scenes)--Uma Thuman's character managed to counter that threat effectively.

Ian

Originally Posted by estcrh

Ian, there is something to be said for a weapon that you could use but would be practically useless when an untrained person tried to use it.
Here is an interesting video of a chain whip in action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whuBjeGxQig

Three section staff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNE3WuNfgQI

[Gavin Nugent]

Originally Posted by estcrh

Ian, there is something to be said for a weapon that you could use but would be practically useless when an untrained person tried to use it.
Here is an interesting video of a chain whip in action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whuBjeGxQig

Three section staff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNE3WuNfgQI

I prefer Jet Li's version :-) He shows just how close and effective the weapon is in Hollywood and no doubt real life too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMw37Dbx1os

Gavin