great episode! i don't know if you've seen or practiced kali/eskrima, the Filipino weapons martial art, they include a lot of blunt and bladed weaponry, and i think gives us some idea of the human ability with such weapons, and i think you're right about your guess in how the flat surfaces were used in swinging/slashing and thrusting a makwawitl. i wish we had some documentation in their martial art; footwork, angles, range, etc. i think i once came across a website that was promoting "aztec martial arts", i was too suspicious to bother looking into it.
Fascinating! I've read before how the flat side could be used in battle. I've wondered though: if you hit someone with the flat side, couldn't it damage the obsidian, which is a rather brittle material? I wonder how often makwawitl were replaced, and if it was possible to replace individual sections of obsidian. Such a bummer that an original one hasn't been found anywhere.
great episode!
i don't know if you've seen or practiced kali/eskrima, the Filipino weapons martial art, they include a lot of blunt and bladed weaponry, and i think gives us some idea of the human ability with such weapons, and i think you're right about your guess in how the flat surfaces were used in swinging/slashing and thrusting a makwawitl.
i wish we had some documentation in their martial art; footwork, angles, range, etc. i think i once came across a website that was promoting "aztec martial arts", i was too suspicious to bother looking into it.
Fascinating! I've read before how the flat side could be used in battle. I've wondered though: if you hit someone with the flat side, couldn't it damage the obsidian, which is a rather brittle material? I wonder how often makwawitl were replaced, and if it was possible to replace individual sections of obsidian. Such a bummer that an original one hasn't been found anywhere.
Thank you for sharing this knowledge! Btw where do you get your shirts!?