+ssfsx17 Sorry I had to look up the knights of Carim. It's great to see African weaponry getting some exposure. Let me know how the battle goes.Good luck!
Very interesting ! It's sort of a combination of hooking and the type of draw cuts you also see in Indian tulwar sabre use. Hats off to early modern Ethiopia for developing such a sword and fighting style. :-)
Your blowing my mind at the 3:00 mark mate. I never picked up on the curve countering the turn of center grip shields. Given me a while new appreciation for the weapon
Very cool and unique sword design. It seems some examples of the sword were even more curved than the one you used in the video, almost making a sickle shape. To be honest I never even knew any Africans invented any swords.
William Rodriguez after some research I found out in sub Saharan Africa the iron age began during what is thought to be the stone age for the rest of the world
No, the Iron Age began roughly at the same time in Africa as the rest of the world. Large parts of Africa did not have a Bronze age prior to the Iron Age though - so there was a sudden shift. Some of the earliest examples of Carbon steel was made in Africa though.
lol so the explorer-fighter wasnt impressed? Well I dont think much should put in that, if he was accomplished then obviously he will be quite strict and stern about fighting. If he was colonialist-type as well then he wouldnt impressed with anything done by people from the African continent . So I think it likely was a lot more impressive then he implying. Great video
Huge fan of the Shotel. Da'Mon, how long is the blade of this shotel? Also is the inner curve on the sickle side sharpened? And does the Shotel fit in an appropriate sheath or scabbard?
I'm sure you've heard this already, but the thrusting-cut where you use the edge in the thrust is referred to as a push-cut. These African weapons are absolutely fascinating. I've been wanting some good resources on the use of the shotel and mambele.
I have the Shotel practice weapon it is great I am the envy of all my SCA friends hoping to get to Austin to work directly with DaMonStith he is the best !!
Look up montu manuals. The hook is meant to parry egyptian wooden axes and pointed wood weapons with reach advantages. Look up Shotel its a very similar weapon. The parry is done as a back hand action
Isn't there a disadvantage for some curved weapons like the shotel and scimitar when going up against straight swords? Does the short length inhibit the fighter too much?
wanadeenaStraight swords are good at thrusting, but curved blades are used in a swinging motion. It depends on your fighting style wether you need a straight sword, or a curved sword. The fighters skill in using the weapon shows its effectiveness. The same goes for the sword length.
wanadeena Depends on the fighting style, and believe it or not your body type makes a difference as well. The same can be said about short swords, but my brother for example who is 6'3 the short sword is his favorite . His body and his style of fighting close combat is great for him. Yet a guy taller than him who uses all long curved swords, but that's his specialty. For me I find that curved swords are a bit harder to block then a straight one so it depends.
Exactly! Lol. finding suitable materials for shield has been an issue, since the shields were made from like antelope, elephant, hippo etc. I am considering using cow hide, fiberglass or several layers of linen, cotton, or denim. All of these methods are either expensive or labor intensive. Thanks brother for stopping by.
pnyxx1 He makes them actually. I've bought a few of them and actually plan on buying the shotel next. Their website is www.silentsword.org/ they have a contact link on there .
That broadsword looks quite similar to the sort of things celts were using in the iron age. Largely unarmoured people with oval shields. Yet another example of convergent evolution of weapons maybe!
I just got back from Austin went to take a lesson with Da Mon great lesson, He made a practice shotel for me and I had Castille Armory make a metal SCA compliant version off of Da Mon practice shotel
What was it that underwhelmed the explorer? If it was the weapon itself: It's a pretty sure thing that the weapon itself, having been used successfully for centuries, is well suited to match other weapons in the area at the time. It may have been ill suited to match the weapons used in Europe, but that hardly matters; a good weapon is a weapon that's good in the contexts it's being used. A 19th century, European saber would've been useless against the chain mail of a 12th century knight, but was still an excellent weapon for it's own time and place. It also has similarities with other weapons that have been very successful in other places. If it was the fencers/techniques: Well... There were good and bad fencers, everywhere. The explorer was unlikely to be sufficiently well informed on exactly who he was watching. If it was "just" demonstrations that he watched, he might not have known the local rules for sparring. The fact that there were fighters using the shotel means that there were fighters/techniques good enough to use it well; if they'd been laughed at and killed, every time they showed up for battle, people would've quit that martial art pretty fast. Nobody likes to be laughed at.
"Thank you, yes, sincerely. I am Knight Lautrec of Carim. I truly appreciate this, and I guarantee a reward, only later."
+ssfsx17 Sorry I had to look up the knights of Carim. It's great to see African weaponry getting some exposure. Let me know how the battle goes.Good luck!
+Da'Mon Stith That was actually a reference to Dark Souls. The character "Lautrec of Carim" uses a shotel in his main hand.
I thought he duel wielded them...
+Rajoovi1 ^^^that was meant for you
Singleton2003 Nah, he has a shotel in main hand and parrying dagger in his off-hand.
Very interesting ! It's sort of a combination of hooking and the type of draw cuts you also see in Indian tulwar sabre use. Hats off to early modern Ethiopia for developing such a sword and fighting style. :-)
a basic attack at 16 in castle age? these blades are BEAST!
Great work God bless keep going
Your blowing my mind at the 3:00 mark mate. I never picked up on the curve countering the turn of center grip shields. Given me a while new appreciation for the weapon
Very cool and unique sword design. It seems some examples of the sword were even more curved than the one you used in the video, almost making a sickle shape. To be honest I never even knew any Africans invented any swords.
William Rodriguez after some research I found out in sub Saharan Africa the iron age began during what is thought to be the stone age for the rest of the world
No, the Iron Age began roughly at the same time in Africa as the rest of the world. Large parts of Africa did not have a Bronze age prior to the Iron Age though - so there was a sudden shift. Some of the earliest examples of Carbon steel was made in Africa though.
lol so the explorer-fighter wasnt impressed? Well I dont think much should put in that, if he was accomplished then obviously he will be quite strict and stern about fighting. If he was colonialist-type as well then he wouldnt impressed with anything done by people from the African continent . So I think it likely was a lot more impressive then he implying. Great video
Huge fan of the Shotel. Da'Mon, how long is the blade of this shotel? Also is the inner curve on the sickle side sharpened? And does the Shotel fit in an appropriate sheath or scabbard?
I'm sure you've heard this already, but the thrusting-cut where you use the edge in the thrust is referred to as a push-cut.
These African weapons are absolutely fascinating. I've been wanting some good resources on the use of the shotel and mambele.
A esgrima persa é muito parecida com o combate com a shotel, muito bom
My question about shotel sword is does it have edges both side or just the inner edge like sickle could it be used like talwar or saber ?
Both sides are sharp.
I have the Shotel practice weapon it is great I am the envy of all my SCA friends hoping to get to Austin to work directly with DaMonStith he is the best !!
dark souls 2 PvP tutorial
I'm so glad somebody else plays the game.
Look up montu manuals. The hook is meant to parry egyptian wooden axes and pointed wood weapons with reach advantages. Look up Shotel its a very similar weapon. The parry is done as a back hand action
Isn't there a disadvantage for some curved weapons like the shotel and scimitar when going up against straight swords? Does the short length inhibit the fighter too much?
wanadeenaStraight swords are good at thrusting, but curved blades are used in a swinging motion. It depends on your fighting style wether you need a straight sword, or a curved sword. The fighters skill in using the weapon shows its effectiveness. The same goes for the sword length.
wanadeena There is disadvantages to every sword, but the wielder can compensate for it
wanadeena Depends on the fighting style, and believe it or not your body type makes a difference as well. The same can be said about short swords, but my brother for example who is 6'3 the short sword is his favorite . His body and his style of fighting close combat is great for him. Yet a guy taller than him who uses all long curved swords, but that's his specialty. For me I find that curved swords are a bit harder to block then a straight one so it depends.
Huge fan mate, What are your shields made from?....Looks like carboard and ducktape?
Exactly! Lol. finding suitable materials for shield has been an issue, since the shields were made from like antelope, elephant, hippo etc. I am considering using cow hide, fiberglass or several layers of linen, cotton, or denim. All of these methods are either expensive or labor intensive. Thanks brother for stopping by.
What's the link to the shop where you have your swords made?
pnyxx1 He makes them actually. I've bought a few of them and actually plan on buying the shotel next. Their website is www.silentsword.org/ they have a contact link on there .
That broadsword looks quite similar to the sort of things celts were using in the iron age. Largely unarmoured people with oval shields. Yet another example of convergent evolution of weapons maybe!
I have been fighting with a shotel in SCA it is important to get the strong edge on the opponent's weapon
Where did you get a practice shotel?
I just got back from Austin went to take a lesson with Da Mon great lesson, He made a practice shotel for me and I had Castille Armory make a metal SCA compliant version off of Da Mon practice shotel
i like this shotel with less pronounced curvature.
What was it that underwhelmed the explorer?
If it was the weapon itself: It's a pretty sure thing that the weapon itself, having been used successfully for centuries, is well suited to match other weapons in the area at the time. It may have been ill suited to match the weapons used in Europe, but that hardly matters; a good weapon is a weapon that's good in the contexts it's being used. A 19th century, European saber would've been useless against the chain mail of a 12th century knight, but was still an excellent weapon for it's own time and place. It also has similarities with other weapons that have been very successful in other places.
If it was the fencers/techniques: Well... There were good and bad fencers, everywhere. The explorer was unlikely to be sufficiently well informed on exactly who he was watching. If it was "just" demonstrations that he watched, he might not have known the local rules for sparring. The fact that there were fighters using the shotel means that there were fighters/techniques good enough to use it well; if they'd been laughed at and killed, every time they showed up for battle, people would've quit that martial art pretty fast. Nobody likes to be laughed at.
Got here from AoAK
Welcome. Thank you for stopping by.
Such an interesting weapon, do you happen to know a company that can forge a quality reproduction?
thank you. As of now i can't think of any on a large scale but we don't have a swordsmith that has made one for me.
+Da'Mon Stith sorry meant to say that we have a smith...
Da'Mon Stith Well a custom blade is also a good option. Can you give me the name of this smith?
+SirPilkington his name is paul terrier
Da'Mon Stith Thank you very much.
While I love the look of it.. I'm glad I don't have to live like that. Brutal :-/
I wouldn't last a minute.