tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post9116913488543184163..comments2024-03-28T16:26:35.679-07:00Comments on Chant du Départ: Knives! ona-Stick!!!OldAFSargehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-58360433911909105182020-09-25T09:35:24.033-07:002020-09-25T09:35:24.033-07:00It is not a knife, but I have a walking stick(36 i...It is not a knife, but I have a walking stick(36 inch) with a ball peen hammer head for the hand grip. And yes I was trained in stick fighting.Dannyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01659932227417599107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-70244849666140727242020-09-14T18:44:41.118-07:002020-09-14T18:44:41.118-07:00I was usaf in 70s&80s. while in iceland, part ...I was usaf in 70s&80s. while in iceland, part of nato defense forces iceland was required to take marksmanship, bayonet drill and field craft with the lads at the US Marines Barracks, Keflavik NAS. the weapon du jour was my old friend M-14. the blade dance was...interesting. the 600 meter KDR was a challenge. got to flex some long distance I hadn't had since McClellan. Marines know their shit and know how to apply training. loved crawling thru the rock garden. spent a lot of time working on fieldcraft with them. never forget them. Respects.capt fasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14374459887067010071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-28715396770473458272020-09-12T07:14:44.751-07:002020-09-12T07:14:44.751-07:00I am reminded of the day in Marine boot camp when ...I am reminded of the day in Marine boot camp when we learned all about bayonet fighting. The instructors demonstrated all of the various strokes and movements, Then the Drill Instructor informed us that it was possible that that on a thrust to the chest of an enemy the bayonet could become lodged in the breast bone. If this were to occur, he informed us, the correct procedure was to stomp down on the enemy's chest and that should free the bayonet. Should that not work, he advised us, you simply pulled the trigger and the bullet would surely free the bayonet. At that point a voice was heard from an unknown recruit, "If i got one round left there ain't gonna be no bayonet fighting!"Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15482185271178889753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-9720658060394399082020-09-10T16:23:59.432-07:002020-09-10T16:23:59.432-07:00Knives-ona-stick! Even better than sausages-inna-b...Knives-ona-stick! Even better than sausages-inna-bun! Beans, your Pratchett is showing.<br />--Tennessee BuddAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-63474755790725619862020-09-09T22:34:11.826-07:002020-09-09T22:34:11.826-07:00James Burke in his "Connections" series ...James Burke in his "Connections" series had an episode going into the "pike square", and how it was maneuvered.<br /><br />If you haven't seen one in action, it's most impressive. All these guys with KoaS's moving in unison, like some giant, mutant porcupine.drjimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05647484115197408897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-68131849216556961092020-09-09T22:29:29.760-07:002020-09-09T22:29:29.760-07:00Geez....you guys keep reminding me in subtle ways ...Geez....you guys keep reminding me in subtle ways I just GOTTA get a bayonet for my Garand.<br /><br />I'll have to look and see what CMP has these days.drjimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05647484115197408897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-30038425900374993312020-09-09T18:44:05.828-07:002020-09-09T18:44:05.828-07:00The halberd is just about the pinnacle of knife on...The halberd is just about the pinnacle of knife on a stick.Angus McThaghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09295013525738248801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-47581739671395142512020-09-09T15:24:03.997-07:002020-09-09T15:24:03.997-07:00Your history is inspiring to me. I don't know...Your history is inspiring to me. I don't know a lot about it. But what I've read makes gets my blood up. General Pulaski comes to mind immediately (even though I had to look up his name.... again....)STxARhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04588850178293194825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-52072804642459192892020-09-09T11:20:16.760-07:002020-09-09T11:20:16.760-07:00Papal Swiss Guard were masters of pole-axe. At one...Papal Swiss Guard were masters of pole-axe. At one time a unit of those died to a man buying time for Pope to escape to safe castle in 1500s... Sabaton of course has a song on them. You know they would not pass such badassery...<br />https://youtu.be/vZ6wr90FNvI<br /><br />Paweł Kasperekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17636249014878876718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-81496773649290809072020-09-09T11:19:08.389-07:002020-09-09T11:19:08.389-07:00Lindybeige. YT.
https://youtu.be/afqhBODc_8ULindybeige. YT.<br />https://youtu.be/afqhBODc_8USLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05810899623778113221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-92112587839070645482020-09-09T11:17:27.268-07:002020-09-09T11:17:27.268-07:00From Greek phalanx to Macedonian version with sari...From Greek phalanx to Macedonian version with sarissas, to medieval Swiss pikemen knife-on-a-stick worked wonders.<br />Then musketmen came and mixed formation ruled the land. Finally bayonett settled the question of musket-to-pike ratio. <br />"How many pikemen versus musketmen? YES."<br />Polish insurrections of 1794-1863 era made great improvised ones by mounting harvesting scythes straight-upward, also making every peasant a soldier, and a citizen by extension. While that did not succeeded against increasingly more modern Russian army, it helped instill patriotism beyond the nobility, which ended up crucial in 1920 defense against Bolsheviks... And later on.Paweł Kasperekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17636249014878876718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-11997883763341634262020-09-09T10:35:32.512-07:002020-09-09T10:35:32.512-07:00In actuality, the square wasn't "favored ...In actuality, the square wasn't "favored by the Brits" but was a standard Napoleonic defense against cavalry. Infantry caught in line or in column were easily cut to red ribbons. The Austrians also had a formation known as a "battalion mass," which, as I understand it, is what infantry battalions in column could form very quickly when forming square took too long. Basically everybody closes the intervals and the guys on the outside face out and present bayonets.<br /><br />Very few seem to understand that a square could actually move, albeit far more slowly than a column. Also an enticing target for artillery. Virtually proof against cavalry if the infantry knew their business, which the British and the King's German Legion did.OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-51415053323782565542020-09-09T09:51:27.418-07:002020-09-09T09:51:27.418-07:00Here's the Virtual Mirage post I mentioned. I...Here's the Virtual Mirage post I mentioned. I meant to put a link but... forgot.<br /><br />https://www.virtualmirage.org/war-of-the-roses-ends/Beanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293778848879361153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-77598334811050896442020-09-09T09:49:56.272-07:002020-09-09T09:49:56.272-07:00Ah! The dreaded pole-axe. Which is a great thing...Ah! The dreaded pole-axe. Which is a great thing for self defense and poking around stuff. Non-knives-on-a-stick are fun to play with, but you have to make sure the mass of the head doesn't get too out of control. <br /><br />Sounds like a fun little project. Good luck.Beanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293778848879361153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-52855497559482841762020-09-09T09:48:11.727-07:002020-09-09T09:48:11.727-07:00Lancers en-masse are just scary dudes. Even in WW...Lancers en-masse are just scary dudes. Even in WWI, especially the Australians, were very effective with lance. And in WWII, not a bad weapon if mounted on horse-back, as both the Poles and Italians proved. Something very fearful about a line of charging horses and sharp long sticks.<br /><br />The Bayonet Square, favored by the Brits, was as vunerable as the Shield Wall on Hastings Field to one-handed downward thrusts with a lance/spear, one of the favored maneuvers of the French lancers. <br /><br />Glad to fill in the gap while you are recovering essential personnel from the Grand-Baby-Trap. Hope things went well with Blue and the road.Beanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293778848879361153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-77676378581240521572020-09-09T09:42:08.179-07:002020-09-09T09:42:08.179-07:00Yes, Boy Scouts used to teach staff fighting, eith...Yes, Boy Scouts used to teach staff fighting, either English (two handed) or French (two and one handed, a lot more twirling and whirling than English). And my dad's Sea Scout manual still had info on how to fight with a boarding pike (basically a short spear with a hook below the blade.) Because sometimes you can't or don't want to use a gun.<br /><br />The Spear is an excellent tool, useful for all sorts of things like harvesting fruit from a tree, poking wildlife and such. Very useful. It's one of the reasons it's still a viable weapon in the atomic age. <br /><br />Glad to instruct.Beanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293778848879361153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-84251930847042799212020-09-09T09:38:40.409-07:002020-09-09T09:38:40.409-07:00Oh, Nylon12, you wound me. See. Because Barbarian...Oh, Nylon12, you wound me. See. Because Barbarians are not nearly as nasty as civilized folk. So, um, they don't tend to go for cheap shots and all that. Me? If I was truly using a spear or glaive in real life? Lotsa poked and hacked feet, chopped fingers (put blade on enemy's haft, then slide down until he's missing fingers...)<br /><br />But, okay, yeah, I am a, in the eyes of many, a true Barbarian. I'm not afraid to get dirty or bloody while doing my job. <br /><br />Glad to instruct and expand the knowledge base. <br /><br />And, yes, Gun-Fu wins over Kung-Fu or knife-fu or spear-fu any day. It's just nice to have... options.<br /><br />As to state fair food, fried butter-on-a-stick? Seriously? I mean, meat-on-a-stick makes sense, but butter?Beanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293778848879361153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-2471707435746392662020-09-09T09:34:12.774-07:002020-09-09T09:34:12.774-07:00One of my best friends in the SCA went and took a ...One of my best friends in the SCA went and took a naginata class from a classic-form Japanese teacher. She had him and his buddy demonstrate SCA fighting, in full armor, to the class. He was pretty much the best SCA naginata fighter in the Southeast, maybe the world, and his buddy was pert near #2. The class was very impressed. Then she got ahold of them and handed them their asses, individually and collectively. <br /><br />She was a young teenager being trained for the US Invasion of Japan. And short, too. This was in the late 1990's, so her age was great.<br /><br />The Japanese Naginata style emphasizes a tad bit more reverse than the Euro style, which is pretty much either 'Stand yer ground' or 'Only Forward movement avialable.' But both use the basic moves. <br /><br />And one of the most famous female Samurai was very deadly with a naginata. <br /><br />Me? With a glaive I've held off 4-5 guys in a wall. With spear (9' lenght, poking only, no hacking) I've held off a whole line of 10-11 guys. Length does have power.Beanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293778848879361153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-78327473219074394482020-09-09T09:27:38.692-07:002020-09-09T09:27:38.692-07:00Ha! Bayonet Training... I helped a friend during t...Ha! Bayonet Training... I helped a friend during the WPE era how to do bayonet training. Me? I've never actually held a rifle with a bayonet, but it's just a short spear with an ugly shaft. And the supposedly 'trained' people I was instructing had no idea how to butt-punch or butt-stroke someone, or even that fun move where you step inside their legs and trip them backwards. Which are all medieval European fighting moves. It was a fun day.<br /><br />And, yes, mounting a bayonet means the Bayonet-mounters are not interested in politeness or prisoners for the most part. Kind of an unwritten law of war, if you charge with bayonets and get to the enemy, it's pretty much a no-quarter or few-get-quarter situation. The goal of the receivers of said bayonet charge is to either surrender first before the charge gets to them, die during the charge, or run away and get shot or stabbed in the back.<br /><br />I think they've de-emphasized bayonet training, as the M-16 and now the M-4 and variants make a sucky bayonet platform. Not like the M-1 Garand or M-14, with a nice wood stock and all that mass...Beanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293778848879361153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-77344735821913915262020-09-09T09:20:28.562-07:002020-09-09T09:20:28.562-07:00Knife and Knife-on-a-stick fighting can look, from...Knife and Knife-on-a-stick fighting can look, from a distance, very elegant and pretty. But up close and personal, even in the HEMA (Historical Euro-Martial Arts, they use rebated blades and beat the snot out of each other) or SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism, they use rattan batons and fiberglass spear poles and beat the snot out of each other) the brutal reality for both bludgeoning sports is lots of bruises, some concussions and the occasional broken bone. And most fighters don't use their full strength when whopping their opponent. <br /><br />Very formidable.<br /><br />LL over at Virtual Mirage brought up on August 23, 2020 the topic of "War of the Roses Ends" and one infographic shows that Richard III (actually a very good and noble king, unlike that propaganda hit by the then-mainstream media that was so pro-Tudor it challenges today's MSM for the title of 'World's largest Syncophantic Group') was chopped in the back of the helmet by a bill hook, which cleaved the helmet and his skull. Pole arms are just destructive. Fun, but destructive.Beanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293778848879361153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-33114241984355987532020-09-09T07:34:14.178-07:002020-09-09T07:34:14.178-07:00Thank you for this post. I'm making a poor-man...Thank you for this post. I'm making a poor-mans pole axe by attaching one of the 3-in-1 Multi-Function Hatchet to a 5' shaft. Should be a good thing for wood-walks and such. Is a fun little project.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-51738090050568951822020-09-09T06:51:09.539-07:002020-09-09T06:51:09.539-07:00A timely post having just read Of Living Valour: T...A timely post having just read <i>Of Living Valour: The Story of the Soldiers of Waterloo</i> by Barney White-Spunner which mentioned the effectiveness of Napoléon's lancers. Also that only the first rank was armed with the lance and the back ranks were sword only. Once you got past the lance tip, the poor bastid was defenseless.<br /><br />The lancers were more feared by the British infantry than the cuirassiers. Though the latter were armored large men on big horses with long-ish swords, horses won't deliberately walk/trot/run into a wall of bayonets (which on the end of a musket gives the lowly foot soldier a very nice spear) so even those long swords can't get you. The lance however was quite capable of reaching out and touching someone. Which it did.<br /><br />Great post.<br />OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-40091579036562243522020-09-09T05:39:38.505-07:002020-09-09T05:39:38.505-07:00I read about a man that defended his wife against ...I read about a man that defended his wife against a cougar with a Cold Steel spear. I bought one that day. It's sitting in the corner. Now that I have the manual, it's time to dust of the horse stance and start proficiency training. <br /><br />Some years ago, I found out the Boy Scouts used to teach stick fighting, Indian style. I think even Victorian Brits used to practice it. I dug up a book on pdf from that era, and it was your basic 5 foot walking stick, held over your head. Interesting and effective if you were outside and had lots of room. Your onehanded stab reminded me of a maneuver from that book.<br /><br />Thanks for the lesson.STxARhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04588850178293194825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-22725555265011845272020-09-09T05:37:39.787-07:002020-09-09T05:37:39.787-07:00Beans, you are a true Barbarian.......meant as a c...Beans, you are a true Barbarian.......meant as a compliment. Going to have to look for knives-on-a-stick at next years State Fair (EVERYTHING is on a stick there). Unfortunately getting older means less ability for the hand-to-hand stuff, that's where gunpowder makes up for diminishing physical abilities. Another interesting post Beans.....thanks for expanding my knowledge base.Nylon12noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-83481106185989530722020-09-09T05:21:09.769-07:002020-09-09T05:21:09.769-07:00Beans - In my martial art I have trained in the na...Beans - In my martial art I have trained in the naginata, sort of the equivalent of the European Glaive. Blade lengths can vary - one to two feet is standard, but there have been blades as long as three feet - as well as the pole length: for our style, our hand should reach to the tip of the blade (about 6' or so for me). That said, naginata - or any polearm - is an underappreciated weapon. We have all of the standard moves and cuts you discuss here (Japanese names, obviously) as well as specific kata for attacks and specific situations.<br /><br />In terms of ability to defend: it is estimated a 5' skilled user of a naginata could cover 484 square feet with a 5' shaft and a 3' blade. Having had to defend against them in practice, they are very difficult to attack - the length makes it very difficult.Toirdhealbheach Beucailhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14872794169534403463noreply@blogger.com