Examining "Flail Two"

[bp968]

Very interesting video. Its too bad there is so little original information on the use of the weapon.

[Djemps]

@bp968 Yes. I wish there was more information on the Flail as well. I'm happy to hear to watched the whole video. I think I made it too long. :-)

[CollegiumInArmis]

Good work and nice demo of the interpretive process. Actually, I believe the earlier abnahmen in Doby, Ringeck, PvD etc is analagous to Meyer's ablauffen: try inserting ablauffen (i.e. meet the attack in a bind with soft resistance, raise the hilt up and allow the force of his attack to run off toward the ground, then strike around) whenever you see abnahmen. Works a treat.

[CollegiumInArmis]

Meant to add, executing the abnahmen as ablauffen is essentially what you did in the end to solve challenge one, and it seemed to work great!

[Djemps]

Thanks! I'm happy to know you watched the whole video. Thanks for the explanation about the similarities between Ablauffen and Abnemen. I will keep this in mind as I go back to the texts.

[hitokijb]

Hi... im fan of blunt/hammer weapon type...

seems that you have study the flail fr a while, could you give me some answers?

is the 2-handed staff flail the only available material to study?

the weapons show a 2 ring most betwen head and staff, but in some museum pictures, there are chains with maybe 10cm, this changes the swinging way and attacking positions? And a longer chain is not better to use in swinged attacks?

how much can be the weight of the flail head?

[Djemps]

Hi! Lots of great questions. I will try to answer them quickly. Paulus Hector Mair's work that you see in my videos is the largest source on the Flail that I know about: 8 pages of techniques. A little known book by Jacob Sutor shows the Flail twice. Joachim Meyer has a picture of two 'little people' fighting with the Flail but no text about it. I just learned that one of Talhoffer's manuals has two pages depicting the Flail. All of these sources show the two hand Flail with a short band.

[Djemps]

My opinion is that there were three basic styles of the Flail. The original Grain Flail was two pieces of wood, connected by a leather strap. Only Talhoffer's book shows this style and he is the oldest source. All of the rest of the sources show a Flail with a very large, almost bulbous head, with a short band of leather or chain. Suttor shows a city watchman using this type of Flail. I think this style was meant for self defense and personal combat and this is why it is included in manuals.

[Djemps]

The style of two handed Flails with very long chains were meant for warfare. I don't know of any information on HOW these were used on the battlefield other than the fact they were very effective. Just read about the Hussite wars.

[Galaktia]

Very nice.

Might I suggest looking round your local for someone who is experienced at using a Bo or a Jo , or perhaps one of the other long staffs from martial arts. As alot of your problems with hand positions, stances and the methods of movement are familiar.

Alot of new students with the Jo in my karate classes get the same tangle of how do we move it from this side to that side without hitting ourselves.

While a flail is more complex, the knowledge seems applicable.

[MEMAG]

Well done!

[Djemps]

Thanks guys! Has Chuck got you all hooked on the Flegel and Bauren Stangen yet?

[MEMAG]

Yes, they're really cool!

[punio4]

Great work, as always.

[Djemps]

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm happy to know that people are actually watching and enjoying these videos. I'll admit they can be a little long, and there's a lot of reading. So I'm glad you liked it. Stay tuned, I should have some more vids up in a few weeks.