history of the yoyo as a weapon

[ariel]

For a demonstration of this technique, please rent James Bond's "Octopussy"
Seeing Maude Adams is a bonus......

[fearn]

Argh, somewhere I read a demolition of the idea of a yoyo weapon--I wish I could remember where it was! Oh well, one of these days....

Anyway, the central thesis of the demolition was that there's a big problem with a yoyo as a weapon. That problem is that it slows as it reaches the end of its string, which is precisely the opposite of what you want a good weapon to do (i.e. hit maximum velocity at the end).

The other thing is that if you bounce a yoyo off of someone, it's hard to recover, which negates the utility of having that well-balanced spinning thing on the end of a line.

It is quite possible to use a weighted rope or chain--witness the manriki-kusari, the suruchin, bolos, and all their relatives. You can also use faster recovery weapon such as a meteor hammer, which is basically a weight at the end of a 3-4 m line. But if you want to swat someone with a yoyo, I think generally you let it run out and swing it.

Oh well, I'm sure the next person on will have a sample of a filipino combat yoyo from the mountain tribes , but that's my take

F

[moose]

Here's a reference. Nothing really new.
http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/u...ML/002180.html

The twisted cord was I believe so that it did not slow down but actually increased at the end. Kind of a crack the whip motion.
I've also heard of the large ones. I believe they even had spikes on them.

Here's a link to a book about the more obscure Philippine Martial weapons. It doesn't mention the yo-yo, but if anyone knew more about it, A. Pat Marinas would be a good candidate.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...034519-6521728

I could swear I read something about it that he had wrote but a 1/2 hour search of my favorites and the web came up empty. I'll try again later.

I would also like to hear from any fellow forumites if they have information on this topic.

moose

[moose]

did a little more searching.

If you punch Pedro Flores into google you'll bring up more stuff.
Here's one which references it as a weapon.

http://inventors.about.com/od/hispan...dro_Flores.htm

moose

[fearn]

mmm-hmmm.

Well, I've got 20' of rope somewhere. Anyone want to help me build a yoyo big enough to hold it? If that works, we can put some sharp edges and studs on it...

Come on! Please, think this through! Start by putting 10' of line on a butterfly yoyo (they're more forgiving) and see if you can make the bloody thing work. I'd recommend going to an upstairs window and seeing if you can make it yo out the window. If you can, work up to 20'.

Once you can get a yoyo to go 20' and come back (round the world? Walking the dog? On flat ground? In a combat setting???), then you can add studs and edges. Remember, if the yoyo gets knocked to one side or isn't perfectly balanced, the edges rub against the rope.

And you have to catch the thing on the rebound, when it comes back to your hand about as fast as it left it.

And the studs and sharp edges have to be perfectly balanced, so that it will spin evenly and rewind.

This isn't to say that they're weren't weighted rope weapons, but this "battle yo" simply doesn't make sense.

F

[zamboanga]

here is a replica of a philippine battle yoyo sold online at: http://www.primitiveweapons.com/products/misc.html

[fearn]

Well, apparently I stand corrected, although I'll note that it's a non returning weapon (see description below). Perhaps a couple of us should buy them and try them out in test drops?

" Another weapon of the Philippines the battle tree yo-yo has been in use for 500+ years. It is dropped from trees (lucky that it does not return). Comes with History & Cord. Comes Painted or Stained (your choice)"

I can see it now, the Ethnographic Edged Weapons and battle yoyo forum...

F