We’ve done a VERY cursory examination of unarmed fighting, and I’ve left a lot out. I didn’t even touch on Filipino arts at all – Trust me, we’re getting to that. My weapons training has left me with the conclusion that if you grip a knife with your thumb, you’re untrained.
MUCH more on that later.
Weapons fall into categories – melee (hand to hand), edged, length, flexible and projectile.
Melee weapons include a club, hammer, mace, anything with a blunt end to hammer with. It used to be in the days of armored men on a battlefield, you’d have someone carrying a war hammer every three or four men in the front ranks. Why? Shields. A hammer blow on a shield, properly delivered, breaks the arm of the shield carrier.
The Roman shield could protect the soldiers against any projectile weapons, and even against length weapons. So you needed a war hammer to get rid of that shield. Break up the wall of shields, and now you can kill the enemies.
As mounted soldiers entered the battlefield, the hammer became smaller, and became a length weapon. Incidentally, except for pikes, lances and spears, almost all length weapons originated in response to horse riding or camel riding foes.
Edged weapons include swords, sabers, broadswords, knives and daggers. Here’s where weapons get interesting. Inevitably, you end up with a mixture. What starts as a melee weapon, usually ends up mixing with edged and/or length weapons at one point.
Few cultures hang onto weapons such as China does. China would add more length and projectile weaponries as the Mongols attacked. Then lightweight length weapons such as staffs and spades as unarmored men began to fight pirates.
short bladed weapons in response to robbers.
longer sword blades for battlefield. As the men on the battlefield adopted armor, the blades became either narrower (for getting between joints in armor), or bigger (to break through armor).
China just hangs on to the various weapons. By studying Chinese battle weapons, you’re almost seeing the history of combat depicted.
As you see, the ideas behind weaponry was to specialize for the situation around you. The knight on the battlefield in 1066 would have sneered at the lightweight swords of the 1600’s, while the Musketeer would have laughed at the heavy sword of 1066.
Both would be right. Armor requires weight. Weight makes slow. Light makes fast.
Flexible weapons were something few countries used. India and China are almost unique in those weapons. The idea is that you could take rope, chain, or VERY thin metal and attach a dart or weight to the end of it. India came up with a long sword made of thin metal. A warrior stood calm in the center of a whirling, slashing length of ribbon steel that sliced and diced an onrushing army.
One of the weapons I’m afraid to learn is the Chinese chain whip. The links can actually flay flesh off of you – and the end has a dart. Shaolin would wrap up enemy with the chain whip, and usually dispatch with a merciful killing strike. Imagine the links embedded in your skin. Modern practice weapons are not as dangerous, but Chinese court records show use of the chain whip in battle killing people.
Length weapons are always a pole, most of the time with a blade, axe head or hammer affixed to the end. Again, China added things like a flail tip. The idea was that the front line of Chinese foot soldiers – usually written off as a loss by their commanders – would attack the mounted enemies, and bring them down. The survivors would then deal with the Chinese foot troops behind them. Weaponry was constantly being modified and adapted. Asia specialized in many different kinds of bladed length weapons, such as the Spring Autumn blade, the Kwan Do, the Japanese Naginata, etc.
Chinese history has a special history with the staff. A simple length of flexible wood was cut to the height of the Shaolin Monk – and he traveled the countryside, armed only with that, or sometimes with a spade.
A group of Shaolin monks with only staffs fought battles with a group of pirates and actually killed them. One or two of the monks died. All of the pirates died. It’s not known if the staffs were the typical springy wooden staff we use today, or if they traded them in for a lead tipped one later on. Modern tests question the history – the history remains firm on the fact that it happened. We’ll never know the answer.
If you like spending a lot of money collecting ancient Chinese weapons, try Kung Fu – you end up learning often up to 18 weapons. One style of Kung Fu (Jow Ga) has thirty different styles of weapons you must master. Apparently in China, battlefield weapons included everything you could get your hands on, including wooden stools!
The prince of weapons in China is the Ch’iang, the common spear. The Chinese spear, by the way, really upsets snakes. Take the spear, and rotate it on tight circles at the snakes’ face, and they usually run. The Chinese spear has usually red fringe near the spear top. These spears are not thrown like Roman javelins, but held on to. The fighting moves include parrying, stabbing, striking and slashing movements. The most common move a Chinese soldier had was a leap into battle, take a strong stance, parry the weapon, then slash the spear across the face of the enemy – and a stab through with the spear to finish it. The whole fight lasts less than three seconds.
Last is projectile weapons. Bow/arrow, javelin, dart, sling, pistol.
tomorrow we start examining each weapon for characteristics and use.
