Weird Weapons from History Flail

Well that definitely hit!   Hi it's Tod of Tod's Workshop and Tod Cutler here  and i'm back with Matt Easton of Scholagladiatoria   yeah but importantly we're actually back  at Matt and Lucy Easton's Fight Camp 21   which is a weekend training for all kinds of  martial arts of everything you can ever imagine.   But i've got an unboxing video for Matt and he  doesn't know anything about it eight months ago   six months ago uh matt made a film great film on  his channel Scholagladiatoria, go check it out,   about 10 weird weapons from the medieval area now  there are an awful lot of weird weapons in the   medieval era i thought this is a great opportunity  i can make the stuff, Matt not so good. He can use   the stuff, me not so good, so this is just  a perfect combination so you don't know what   i'm proposing matt. I haven't got a clue, now  I don't know whether it's one of those ten or   whether. It is one of those ten. So here is your  unboxing video right okay let's see what we got   and the idea is the idea is if this works  out we're going to run quite a few films not   that you know that but if you're happy for this  where i make weird stuff from the medieval era   and matt tests it out and then we talk about  it. So what have you got Matt, I wonder if the   viewers have guessed from the shape, i don't  know it's a funny one so have you guessed   there you go so it's a it's a flail it is  a fan it's already had my knuckles i can   tell you that. really. yeah, so my very rough  user guide is because it's quite end heavy yeah   your natural thing is that what you do is you put  that hand up there to help support the weight okay   and then you lift it up i'm not even gonna do it  and then you lift your hand up and that happens   so that is my first word of warning yeah so keep  your hands down the bottom yeah so these weapons   we know that they were used between the 14th  and 16th centuries famously by the hussites um   but we also see Landsknechts later with forms of  flail and they're shown in a few of the treatises   that we work from in HEMA so uh Paulus Hector  Mair is one of the famous ones 16th century,   mid-16th century treaty it's interesting though  isn't it because you want to know how far that   yeah i see if i had that i would want a disc guard  on it or put a mark yeah just or even a notch or   something something but what i would say is a lot  of using these is about keeping the acceleration   and deceleration with them so they shouldn't come  back and hit the shot right anyway so just rank   amateurs like me yeah when you swing the thing it  should be almost. It's nasty isn't it. Should be   almost straight out when it's swinging and then  it only at the end you decelerate it yeah no i   can see it it's stopping and decelerate and it  shouldn't it shouldn't be coming and hitting its   own shaft because it damages yeah but but again  on the it's one of those things about weapons now   is that you train with a blunt sword and you  expect your sword to last for three years and   you might do a bit of deburring and stuff yeah if  you need to change the shaft on that historically   after a battle so what yeah you know really so  what it's just a bit of wood yeah going back   you're saying that there are treaties about how to  use these things because for me i really struggled   to see how you can use it in a measured way  this for me almost seems like an all or nothing   weapon you are fully committing to a blow. Yeah  so i mean you are but at the same time a lot of   the principles from other pole weapon use comes  into it as well um so they they'll stand in in   guard positions whereby they will be able to use  the rest of the shaft for potentially uh pushing   aside or parrying incoming thrust from a spear  or something like that but equally if you've   hit someone with the weapon you might then step  in close to use the back end of the weapon as well   so i think sometimes people get so fixated on this  bit because that's the novelty yeah um yeah they   forget that this is still this is still a lump of  wood and you know even if you held it backwards   you could still hit something with the with the  back end of it somehow but but yeah principally   i think that that's a really good point actually  it is a weapon in its own right with a bit of   extra nastiness on the end it's an unusual tool uh  but the thing is we've also got to remember these   fencing treatises are not necessarily showing  typical use of a weapon yeah they're showing   one-on-one the gentleman yeah who were like oh  let's let's have a bout with something oh you   think do you think you honestly think it is a  little bit of that yeah because like getting   back to their roots they have a fight just with  two large lumps of wood as well just because   they can yeah yeah particularly interested  me and that is why our shield is here is   the sectional end of it you can do things  that you can't do with a regular pole weapon   and one of those things quite clearly is it  wants to wrap itself around things it wants   to come over the top of a shield it wants to  around someone's weapon yeah or around their   back for instance you know whether there might  be lesser armored or the back of the legs even   you know all those kind of nastiness so this is  not particularly well mounted but that in a way   is slightly deliberate that that you can pull  it can you have a quick go at hooking it and   seeing if it comes so if that feels in front of  me and i just want to batter it for some reason because this is articulated yeah you don't  feel any real shock oh don't you because this   becomes like a projectile it's a projectile  that's tethered yeah to a lever oh oh so you   get almost like an atlatl it's you're you're  accelerating this but at the moment of impact   you can continue your motion with the shaft and  that shock will just be left in that yeah object   i don't know which it was sort of up here wasn't  it i think hasn't particularly marked it but oh   there's one that's a new one that's not an arrow  strike so it's up there i mean i can try and mark   it more if you want me to i can put a bit more  welly into it give it a go see what happens well that definitely hit oh that's okay so  that's actually the shaft but i mean okay   so let's see what it does okay so that's what  that's what the marking is here so we've got   that's a square hole yeah and that one there  too oh okay so i hit quite fast on it so that's   yeah something like that it's not like the spikes  necessarily do a lot to a hard target like this   no but they bite in i guess and you've got  quite a lot of energy in the end of this   it's not lead shot or anything no i haven't it's  just the art yeah give it hook over and i just   want to see how that pulls i just i just got  an idea that if you've got it like this it's   so an interesting thing as well because you've  got that articulation even if you hit the top   of the shield with the shaft that's going to swing  over the top and either hit the person in the face   or hit the arm holding the shield as well  yeah so you can actually if there's someone   someone's arm behind that shield you can actually  do this yes and hit them in the back of the arms   and also i'm guessing that that the stopping of  the shaft it's a bit like a trebuchet the stopping   of the shaft will accelerate that around that's a  good point yeah so yeah well in fact look at that   so that very casual swing of mats here it came  over the top and it just removed this big hole   in there big tipping oh and another hole here so  an arm up there is going to be being hit behind   absolutely yeah i always thought about hitting  the head i didn't think about hitting the shield   yeah next question matt have i hooked you in  the idea of doing a series of films on weirdo   weapons oh 100 definitely yeah good the next one  i'd love it if you can just try and i suppose   get that around there and just see if it wants to  bring the shield down because i'm i'm pretty sure yeah but i would have thought actually  no because when you because when you hit   there this rather than hooking it just swings very  hard into there and hits that wood but i'm sure   let me experiment a bit more yeah i  mean you know this is day one isn't it i mean it's making a mess of the wood yeah again  yeah i mean you can see matt's first idea about it   you know mutilating your arm i think it's  completely right because that is utterly landing   where your arm is going to be yeah um so without  a doubt an edge of a weapon that was parrying for   example if someone was putting you know some kind  of pole arm or sword in the way then that's at the   moment of its stopping that's going to accelerate  around and hit whatever behind it yeah i think the   next thing is we've got two guys here who willing  to do some sparring with uh sparring versions   that they knocked up and i think it's just a  perfect opportunity for us to just have a look   yeah see if there's anything more to add to it  and um and take it from there yeah but anyway so   far on this thank you very much and let's have a  look at what they've got thank you for making this   so we've got sam rob and richard here who have  been sparring at fight camp and we're going to   bring in the two flails now and we're going to  go flail on flail flail on sword flail on i don't   know whatever yeah we'll just have a little  bit of play and see what happens and then um   these guys haven't trained with flail at all so  they know what they're doing with long swords but   not necessarily with flails although they can  apply their knowledge from other weapons to it   and then we'll get some feedback from them maybe  and see what they found all right brilliant it didn't immediately bind around yes and you  can also immediately see that the the reach   oh yeah that was a hit that's an interesting thing  so that was a parry on the main and of course   the end swing towards yeah yeah and of course  the reach advantage is quite big on the flail again okay so so yeah that's i mean that's a  tricky exchange but it's an interesting   point that the flail is not edged like a sword  is yeah so it's easier to grapple and grab it   if you can stop that head moving  yeah if you get that first one in oh okay one thing that occurs to me is i remember um   i used to fence but i remember  whenever i went up against yeah so but i remember when i uh used to go up against  the left-hander because i wasn't used to it   it was literally a killer i really  struggled with that and i i think   this might be a little bit like that that  if you don't come across flails every day   you end up with one other new trick you end up  with one of these things against you and you just   don't know what to do and that thing about like  you know right at the beginning you got whacked   around the side of the head yeah because he's  not expecting it and had it been a real fight   that would have been a fight ender, a flail to  the side of the head unless you're wearing a   helmet well even so i mean it's quite a whack to  get on the side of your head yeah should we swap   them out get another couple yeah do you want to  uh yeah should we change over fighters yeah please so a little bit like sword versus any pole arm  the sword isn't going to make up the distance   to come in close enough so oh you see that that  was on the back of the leg yeah that would have   been nasty although the sword did hit the flail  user on the lead arm as well oh he's nothing he likes the flail he knows  exactly what to do with the flail so an interesting thing there he actually hit  him with the shaft rather than the head initially   but like you said the shaft is  still a quarter staff foremost   big lump of wood still what it looked like  he was doing there was he was keeping it in   the distance with the knuckle did you notice  there was an uppercut there a swing from below straighten the head it seems very easy to snipe  with it we call this sniping from staying out   of distance and just oh yeah so going for the  like with all pole arms for the sword user going   for the lead hand on the pole weapon because  you've got no hand guard yeah no protection it is the flails day isn't it because it comes  in from such weird angles as well doesn't it   right okay should we should we stop there yeah so  shall we switch out do you want to come back on   and you get a flail as well this time oh you're  giving me playtime let's go flail versus flail okay clearly with with two similar weapons you're  more likely to cancel out and you'll want to come   in close and come to grappling oh yeah so i mean  that that that would be a disabling blow with a   real flower i mean what was interesting  on the first one going black and yellow   he didn't even try and back out the way do you  think because he was not visualizing it coming in so that that was a classic example  of where the parry went in but   it basically just came around anyway yeah yeah oh yeah that was also a case of absolutely  committed too much there and just left himself   wide open oh oh yeah yeah leg and head so  in both cases there it wasn't possible to   defend the leg in time but when the  head defence in went in it came over   it's very interesting with this particular  weapon heads seem to get really punished   but that was nice i mean you know he  absolutely went in to block it but of course   maybe forgot didn't think whatever it just comes  tumbling if you could catch just that head then   it would stop it but yeah that's what i  was attempting just too close yeah yeah okay stop so it's interesting so i think a lot  of people because we're used to fighting with   non-articulated weapons when you get the center  line you're used to occupying that centerline   because you've got a point on your weapon  with a bit of sword or a halberd or whatever   but with these you don't have they're not very  effective thrusting weapons at all and to hit   with them again you've got to reload them to  swing them again yeah they kind of wiggled the   flails around in the middle there and neither of  them i mean except for incidental glancing hurts   yeah no i think i think your point about reloading  is quite interesting because i hadn't considered   it like that to get the weapon to work properly  again you have to go for a full on swing it's not   a so maybe maybe a more continuous motion  is yeah but a bit more like a montanto but what was interesting there so he did get  the first blow on the tummy but then there was   a blow to the face which was already in  motion so even if if that had gutted him   that still would have swung down in here and both  guys would have been there but not enough when   he just came straight from a power through  yeah i'm a big guy and a block just right   yeah matt this is much more your world in that  sense so tell me what you thought of what you   saw there and then we'll ask the guys well you  know it's always interesting when people pick up   an unfamiliar weapon because you see them trying  to adapt what they know to the unfamiliar thing   um and there was an evolution through what we're  watching them do one of the things being that   you've got to charge that weapon to to unload  it you've got to load it to unload it and um   the positions they were standing in the distance  changed as well i think they all moved apart a bit   i think initially they were all a bit close uh and  then they realized how far these things can reach   and then that how do you defend against such a  thing you try i guess and either move out the   distance or defend the head and if you try and  if you try and block the shaft then that head   will come around and hit you anyway and that  was the major factor that was i mean lack of   familiarity with it i think was evident as well  no i suspect even when you're on the battlefield   you'd be facing spear spears staff staff  polox whatever and suddenly this thing comes   along and you've got to reset your brain  about how to react to it and and i think   yeah i think that that would change so i mean guys  what did what do you make of it start at the end   it's horrendous to fight against having not done  it before i went into it essentially assuming it   was slightly like a spear so the plan was to try  and parry it as it comes in to then get inside its   circle but that's not effective as you said the  other end just comes around and cracks you in the   back of the head from weird angles that a straight  weapon doesn't do yeah um i think distance for me   i was thinking my length was here yes and i was  you got an extra few feet and then towards the   end of it i was trying to like snipe with it a bit  more yeah but then yeah it's a big hit and coming   back to guard yourself against something  because you have to kind of throw it out   i guess i was doing that throughout quite quite  a way so yeah weird because in your hand you feel   the length of the handle but not you don't feel  so much to the end way too close yeah yeah so   you were the first guy to get hit yes i had that  dubious honor in itself it's a very interesting   thing i mean i was blocking trying to gauge that  distance to block the head strike now when this is   a solid weight mass against the sword i wonder how  much damage that would do to a weapon yeah when   you actually hit hard with the dam because these  things hit like fractions we need to plant it then   i was still going oh yeah that's really clunked  me one really and they still hit like freight   trains you can imagine a full weight when it's  metal yeah yeah that's just going to start really   denting things exactly and spiked yeah nonetheless  yeah one thing me and tom found in particular i   mean we were changing the angles going high  going low once you start moving with this   it's not like where you've got a solid weapon  where you can manipulate the angle nice and   easily there's all that mass momentum still  contained yeah within the top of the weapon here   makes it so much harder you've got to commit with  everything everything you do is going in it has   to go forward your tricks are either on the back  end yeah or you're fainting quick and driving on   a new angle really interesting weapon so tom is  the creator and loner of these wonderful objects   thank you very much but uh yeah how do you find it  it's that high low angle like you said it's very   much and range you have to kind of stay away from  where the head is because any kind of power is   no good even if you block the head the head just  whips around and strikes you from somewhere else   and due to the unpredictability of it i find  it's best to kind of stay away stay away   and then if you can take a big step in and you  kind of just launch it into a quarter and let the   head do its thing you just throw it wherever  roughly where it needs to go and it'll hit   something and it'll bounce around and that's how  i found you use them the interesting counterpoint   to that though is when i did driving close to you  and you brought manchester in the head background   yes i tried kind of thinking blocked yeah now i  blocked right on the shaft what happened is it   came straight back round back of the head and  i'm used to fighting a glaive when that would   come round that'd block it i have the inside  track but that's just got it that's not the same   different strategy completely required although we  didn't see it done uh many times in these bouts i   also noticed that it seemed particularly easy  to hit someone in the legs with them as well   you get the high got the first thing one of  the sources shows is a high guard like this   as if you're charged for a shot to the head  yeah but you actually drop down the knee yeah   it's very easy to get very easy to change  targets yeah i think that's it guys really   you've just got yourself in the back of the  head so so far you've hit yourself in the back   of the head matt's drawn blood on his knuckles  with this we're doing well yeah we're turning   around so anyway so uh thank you very much so  hopefully this will be the first of Tod and Matt's   weird medieval weapons shown for real what's  going to be next i don't know well you tell us   what's going to be next because i know which one  i want to do okay so thank you very much guys you

Channel: Tod's Workshop

Views: 644,597

Keywords: Medieval, Tod's Workshop, History, flail, tod cutler, tod todeschini, Matt Easton, Schola gladiatoria, hussite

Id: MpIPX30v62c

Length: 19min 40sec (1180 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 03 2021