Peasant Flail Combat

[SomethingEls]

thats a really good vid, thanks

[destroth0R]

I want my click back

[shadowkunt]

Great video!

[KrautGoesWild]

"You have flailed me for the last time, Admiral!"

[TheCrimsonDay]

These guys flail. Anyone?? An..aw to hell with it..

[MutedStoryteller]

That was quite interesting. Good work!

[MoonPine1016]

I want a morning star flail for a long time, but didn't have the chance ^^

[MoonPine1016]

Wow, it's quite fun ^^ where did you get the toy flail?

[Djemps]

@MoonPine1016 I made it! :-)

[tullyDT]

Djemps how difficult is it to get used to fighting with the flail? I don't mean as in controlling it I'm thinking more about the "flinch factor"

[Djemps]

@tullyDT I honestly don't know how to answer that. For a few reasons... 1) these training flails are made of wooden dowels, covered in pool noodles, and wrapped in duct tape, so they don't hurt (too much) .. 2) Because a lot of techniques in the video strike to the head, we have trained ourselves to not flinch too bad when receiving the strike to our mask .. 3) Although good for training, this construction is not good for sparring, so I haven't done any of that yet. So I honestly don't know.

[mdude009]

the flail was a great european weapon, my only problem is when people call it a mace, the flail was not a mace

in fact the mace like flail always depicted in movies and games is debated to have never actually been used as a weapon but rather a gardening tool

[PahaLukki]

This is the best flail combat I've seen. Too bad flails aren't modeled like this in games. Or even exist in this form to begin with.

[Djemps]

@PahaLukki Thanks for the compliment! I agree that most representations of the 'Flail' in games and movies are pretty silly. Isn't real history so much better than fiction?

[starsfury]

Weren't flails used mostly by cavalry after they'd dropped their lances during a charge?

[Djemps]

Hey, that's a very good question. I think you might be talking about the short handled military flail that some people call a Ball and Chain. This particular weapon is very iconic, but it's true history is highly debatable. There are plenty of people who think that the short handled flail was used on foot in medieval times, but most surviving examples are from the renaissance. I agree that it was probably used on horseback instead. But the long handled Flail WAS used on horseback in Korea.

[starsfury]

@Djemps Indeed, I'm thinking about a 'morning star'- type flail. After the calvary charge it would have have been an ideal melee weapon at close quarters, better than a sword due to the concussive force you could give from horseback onto enemy helms in a hit and move style- which would also reduce the risk of being dismounted.

[tullyDT]

@starsfury It would definitely be better suited to horse back on foot you run the risk of hitting your allies and leaving yourself open to attack when winding it up for a strike. I have read reference to them being used in tandem with a sword while on foot apparently it allowed you to force the enemy to back off by lashing out at him and you could also grapple his weapon with the chain. How much truth is in this I don't know, but it makes sense when you see multi chained flails

[IvinesJ]

That's awesome! I was wondering how my fighter in D&D might fight with such an awkward looking two-handed flail. Now I know!

How well would it defend against swords and other "simpler" weapons though?

[EpitathTourist]

Epic F(l)ail

[Deibodese]

I really enjoyed this. Thank you for posting. I've been training in a branch of Kung Fu, so the handling of weapons has become an interest of mine. This is some of the most detailed instruction of European weapons I've seen yet.

Is the set meant to be practiced through the separate plays to build up one's offense and defense?

[Djemps]

@Deibodese Thanks. Paulus Hector Mair, the master who made the manual that is shown in this video, is the only one to compose his pages with multiple plays between opponents. I'm not sure why he made it this way but certainly it is best to examine each stage of the fight seperatly to learn it's purpose and possible responses.

[omzdog]

What's this type of music called? And what are the instruments used?

[CleverAssessment]

@omzdog Crumhorns it sounds like. No clue what the song title is though

[myez]

This is pretty interesting. I wonder how the flail fairs against sword + shield.

[Heemoproductions]

You bash the shield and then you bash his head ;)

[Elearis]

@Heemoproductions LOL

[bowman2061]

@Heemoproductions

Are you mad? Save the precious shield ... just bash his head ... after bashing you sell the helmet as a pan :)

[barley1027]

@myez - I think that you'll find that anyone with a light enough shield and fast enough foot work would able to overcome a two handed flail wielder. Once you're inside the flails minimum range the flail wielder either has to back pedal like crazy or haft strike like crazy. Somebody wielding double short sword would have a massive advantage; they would be able to dodge and then trap the flail against the wielder's body, quickly making mincemeat of them.

[Djemps]

I'm not convinced that any amount of fancy footwork could get inside the guard of a Flail without being struck at least once. According to Mair, the Flail can easily shorten its range by striking 'ubereinander' (over and under) so that the arms are 'kreutzweis' (crosswise). You can see it at 3:44 and again quickly at 4:03 . Also you speak about fighting with the staff as if it was a disadvantage. Consider that 2/3 of the French Pollaxe manual Le Jeu de la Hache is about fighting with the haft.

[Djemps]

Also, I'm totally confused about what you said about double short swords. 'Dual Wielding' never existed as a method of combat in medieval Europe. So how can you be so confident that double short swords would make 'mincemeat' out of a Flail? If anything, the fact that dual wielding never existed on the battlefield suggests that it was a pretty useless form of combat.

[insertoriginaluser]

LOL@BLOOPER

[jacobbenmichael]

Very nice work. I see some interpretation early in the video I disagree with. However, I really enjoy the video, and think the padded replicas are a very cool idea.

[Djemps]

Thanks for the nice words! I'm always interested in sharing notes and ideas with anyone who is also studying PHM's Flail. (there aren't too many)  .. Flail 6 is very confusing. We had some other ideas on how to deflect the first wrap shot but they looked crazy. What would you have done instead?

[jacobbenmichael]

As far as interpreting "to the letter"....I would probably have stepped in as my opponent was trying to strike my side, then I would have brought (maybe slid) the lower part of my grip down to block the shaft of the opponent, thus "blocking from his left". Then I would have struck him in the head, while his flail would have wrapped around me, thereby not actually striking me. What you did instead would work in a real situation though, I think.

[purebaldfury]

Flail 6 is tricky ... I want to try your "blocking from his left". Thanks for your input!

[Djemps]

The text for this play does not mention any steps. And I goofed up with my caption. :-( .. The text says deflect the strike to your RIGHT side... By rotating my body to my left, I was technicaly still blocking the strike from my Right side. Clearly this is the weakest interpertation in the video. We even had to change distance for it to work. But our only other idea was to bring the staff behind our back and stop the Flail like Obi Wan Kenobi. That was way too risky and unrealistic.

[purebaldfury]

AHHH! I'm sorry I look so bad!

Round guy in red

[Djemps]

You mean Bad Ass. Check out 3:22 where you knock my mask sideways. The belly just helps to generate more Chi.

[purebaldfury]

the belly is where I hid John Bax for the summer!

[sb007]

PH Mair ftw! :)

[Djemps]

PHM pwns @11 noobz

[TherionArms]

Very professional video, very cool subject. Excellent Mair work!

[danegilbert]

awesooome.

5/5

[Spartiatai300]

A very nice video again, old style music really go well with it =).

[zukuru]

tx for sharing !

°v°

[MEMAG]

Wonderful!