I've never been to Sudan and I don't have a degree in anthropology, but every time I look out of the window or go for a walk, chances are that there will be 10ish year old boys fighting with sticks, broom handles, or whatever they can get their hands on. It works! :)
I've made the point of studying surviving tribal fighting systems for clues as to how ancient people fought with things like sword and shield and spear and shield and generally hear crickets or get in an argument with someone who thinks using I33 as a source for how people used sword and shield in the Viking Era is a good idea . . .
I love I.33 but I have a feeling it isn't a complete system. Like it uses a basic system not discussed because it assumes the read knows, at that time, said system of fighting. Unlike later fight books that start from the beginning and go through basically everything.
@@bentrieschmann I.33 is a great source for circa 1300 German sword and buckler fighting but has absolutely nothing to do with Viking Era sword and shield fighting but people like Roland Warzecha try to use is as a source for the latter!
@bubbagump2341 I am well aware of what Roland W. has been trying to do, even before the vikings shield stuff. I feel it is some of the biggest bs I have seen.
@@bubbagump2341I think it's legit to use it as *a* source for reconstructions just not as *the* source. Since we have basically no depictions to go off the best would be to look at the broadest amount of sources for sword and shield and work out the commonalities that would best apply for the weapons we have. Obviously any reconstruction is highly unlikely to be right. If we didn't have any sources for dussack/messer for example porting 19th century cutlass would be really far off the mark. But if we looked at the breadth of all short cutting sword techniques around the world we would at least know what someone could do with it.
BTW and off topic, I received my Windlass Matt Easton 1796 Light Cavalry Trooper sword this morning. What a beauty! I can hardly wait to cut with it. Fantastic sword. Thank you for your efforts on this sword and all the others you have consulted on. Cheers!
It seems so wonderfully simple and yet I had never thought about it before! A part of me feared that videos like this were never taken in the first place. I would be interested to see you analyze some of these older films and discuss this more in the future if you are so inclined.
@@GrunttamerStrongly stated position. Good hook. I'll bite - In your opinion: Which Humanities Studies are "Greatly overappreciated"? How & Why, if you please?
@@Grunttamer Also notable is your failure to respond to the "How & Why" query. Haven't you read that far through the 5 lines of text yet? Take all the time you need.
I studied a Filipino stick art for a while. We were all told that the techniques would transfer to a sword or long knife. A large part of that was true, but we never practiced proper edge alignment (which was difficult with a cylindrical stick). I noticed perfectly adequate stick strikes that would be less than effective if delivered the same way with a single edged sword.
Use a curved, broad-bladed sword, with an oblong handle - something that alligns itself easily with the direction of the strike. Won't solve the problem, but it will be easier.
@@daveburklund2295How long have you been practicing? I was under the impression that learning to use the blade in Arnis/Eskrima was advanced, and that learning with the stick is primarily to understand how to swing your arms and not hit yourself (in short, basics). I unfortunately am not able to practice the art, but I am Filipino and looked into it.
Love the source, and absolutely we should lean on these cross anthropological references. The stick is sometimes under appreciated, but I do know many good instructors who will say that if you want to start learning your forms all you need is “a stick”, so hopefully that idea will persist. As a quick counterpoint, historically these folks were using “safe wasters” to practice while leaning on the very real experience of being able to use sharp swords in actual combat. Something no modern person gets to do. Even if it is just at a veteran or instructor level, that is important when it comes to giving feedback as to how the weapon operates. Some of the reason we end up compensating with close-to-original trainers is everyone’s lack of exposure to using sharp swords in actual combat.
Great video. It is sad how so much information haa been lost and/or how later medieval systems do not resemble earlier systems. I've read that the ancient Han Dynasty (200s BC to 200s AD) had dozens of different fencing and swordsmanship manuals...all of which has been lost. People try to apply later medieval pr early modern fighting systems that do have documentation to this ancient era but they probably don't quite match and could be quite different.
Anthropology is such a broad term. It encompasses culture and artifacts. The one way ,in my mind, that I use to distinguish anthropology from other categorizations that one might use is the idea of primary sources. You showed us a video of tribal fencing in the 20s, and that is a perfect example of modern technology enabling the preservation of a 1st hand account of historical culture. There is a wealth of knowledge on magnetic tape stored ariund the world with recordings and video of various practices that possibly exist in no other form. I hope that the organizations that have them in their charge are up to the task of preserving them. It would be quite a shame to lose it all to background radiation and the occasional solar flare.
There are several very graphic videos of tribal warfare in West Papua and East Africa showing groups fighting each other with bows and arrows and spears. The encounters bear very little in common with sensationalist UA-camrs' ideas of how archery should be done. They are careful, drawn out, and conducted at surprisingly long distances at a low rate of fire. Then you also have the many videos showing tribal hunting with heavy self bows (eg the Hadza in Africa) which are some of the best analogues of historical European archery that we have. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they use their equipment very similar to modern "warbow" archers.
Yes that old video from Papua New Guinea tribal warfare is excellent. It is like a view into the past, when primitive man engaged in war. Recently it has become hard to find other videos from the 1930's and 1940's, of tribesmen displaying their martial prowesses.
Being half Native most of the tribal Martial Arts I know are related to horsemanship, archery, long knife & tomahawk combat, war club, etc. It's mostly an oral tradition, passed down from father to son/ master to apprentice type thing though. Im not aware of any treatise or anything.
Archeology,and anthropology, are but two thirds of the triangle of historical knowledge. Don't forget bio mechanics. Any who love you're channel and keep swinging friend
In I:33 the author states "this is not a system I have developed, This is how one fights with a sword. It is an ancient way, I'm simply recording it."(paraphrasing) In other words fencing is fencing. Differences in equipment and mindset are subtleties. The fundamentals never change.
This is exactly how FMA really was. Rural Filipinos almost invariably carried blades everyday in a farming community. The use of sticks only came about for practice. Serious fights would, inevitably, be with bolos.
Fighting with wild caught sticks and domestic dowels since I was a babe! Before HEMA came on the scene. Before I fell in with a JSA crowd. Thanks for this video! I’m going to call and thank my father for getting me fighting with sticks at a young age!
Polish saber was tought with sticks. There are even XVIIIth and XIXth century paintings of it being done, there are also a few XVIIth century book art of stick saber. The method of training/dueling was called "palcaty" (which means something close to "one with many fingers" palec being the polish word for finger) . Zbigniew Sawicki wrote a nice book about it called "Palcaty. Old polish fencing style with sticks. A historical study of physical culture".
I think the stick and shield is also common because the shield protects you well enough that you don't feel wanting for a guard or for the binding actions that edged/rectangular trainers grant you.
Matt is a Warrior Sage. I was wondering if Matt would highlight some Stick weapon arts from individual Regions of the world. It would be amazing to see how the Stick Fighting "progressed" in term of location. Almost every Culture has some form of martial art, but I'm not a scholar so i will rely on Sages like Matt!
@@BlackMasterRoshi I come from Trinidad my grandfather was a Stick Fighter (kalinda) and I was into Filipino stuff from JKD and Inosanto (Game of Death) I love all the arts!
In the US, most degreed archaeologists have a degree in Anthropology. Indeed Anthropology degrees often require that the student take classes in archaeology, physical anthropology, and linguistics as well as cultural anthropology.
Nice to see a takuba featured. Have you ever had a Tuareg lance come through your collection? I came across a few in Mali and always wondered how the distinctive fan shaped butt end was actually used.
This might also explain why some moves from ancient unarmed combat, especially from Asia, look silly to us in this generation: the skills are meant to be used with weapons, and the unarmed version is just for training.
So first off this is really interesting content, which is great. (Also, a rolled up newspaper was also great. Much less dangerous than a stick, even!) The angle that I'm a little wary of still is that 'sword games' tend to *extremely rapidly* favour techniques and methods that let you win the game, which is probably still the case even if they're literally being used as a direct training substitute by actual warriors. (e.g the myriad descriptions of *actual* duels, including the one where both guys just immediately jumped at the other and shoved both their weapons right into the other guy. The guy with two blades in his body lived, the guy with two blades in his neck did not. *Zero* concern for right of way OR scoring a point after the second riposte!) But still - just watching that video and trying to figure out how two clued up guys in decent armour, with proper helmets and greaves, and short bronze blades, could *ever* actually kill each other, let alone quickly and efficiently. Maybe you really do need a plan along the lines of cutting someone's hand when they try the third feint to your left ankle!
The Tuareg fighters often seem to go down on one knee when defending to protect their legs. It'd be interesting to get some commentary on that. It doesn't seem to be a common technique in HEMA or many other surviving martial arts. I don't know whether it's a cultural thing, or a side effect of using their particular shield design or something else. It'd be interesting to know if it was an effective technique with other types of long shields, like the scutum or kite shields.
One thing I've recently been confused by is videos of stick fights from in and around India. They seem to prefer using these big four-foot floppy sticks, and they hit each other with these big over-the-head wind-up strikes, while standing within arm's reach of each other. And I'm just thinking, like, a one-foot stick would do as much damage as the ones they're using, if they just used them properly, none of the blows seem to have any effect and people are more likely to get hurt by losing their balance and falling over. But you see these kinds of fights even in a military context, in the border with China or wherever where they're not allowed to fight with guns. I just think it's a wild sort of cultural practice, and I wonder how many other such practices might have existed historically in various times and places.
My list of not so known stick arts that ya''ll might want to know about 1. Presean , Indonesian stick art with shields and prize fights. ua-cam.com/video/pGw8hSTXJA0/v-deo.html This Ombak guy is OG. 2. Matrag or Matraque, North African, think mostly Algerian stick art ua-cam.com/video/4GOmyUDYgtk/v-deo.html Seems to share a lot with French La Canne. 3. Venezuelan Garrote ua-cam.com/video/1s65ZZZKzMo/v-deo.html Don't tell the FMA guys that maybe that maybe there is a big Spanish connection. 4. Juego de Palo Canario, Canary island stick fighting. Nowadays mostly staff but there are some styles with shorter sticks. ua-cam.com/video/uSUMJ-qArb0/v-deo.html 5. South African stick fighting ua-cam.com/video/hQL0FKurmOs/v-deo.html As the name suggests. No place for cowards. Interesting defensive weapons and gotta respect that sort of bulged but rather acute edge on the end of the striking stick.
Curious to know if you could do a bit on African metallurgy and forging. I am under the impression it was pretty rare and most of their blades were imported so it would be great to learn more abut that topic. Anyway great discussion. Thank you. Cheers!
African metallurgie was rather far developed - the later import of Solingen blades was more a price matter, especially as Sahara trade -and with it a lot of prosperity - was replaced by Shipping from the late 14 hundreds on.
@@aasphaltmueller5178 I guess I need to do my own research. I want to know about the entire process from what they used for ore and a heat source through the forging and finishing techniques. Thanks for the reply.
@@kaoskronostyche9939 The late Christopher Roy had a great series of videos on traditional metal working and other crafts in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Ghana. His longest video on smelting is here: ua-cam.com/video/RuCnZClWwpQ/v-deo.html
While anthropology is a good source I am pretty sure I'm far from the only one who fought with sticks (of various sizes) when I was growing up. Not claiming I'm a good swordsman by any stretch of the imagination but I do know I was able to handle about 90% of the other larpers around me (I know, not the most skilled group either) with ease and only struggled against the other 10% One more disclaimer: I'm no expert in just about anything but a few niche subjects but far more a generalist who should ideally be listening to his betters but can't always keep his mouth shut.
5:50 I'm not convinced it's that safe, especially when hit in the face. It's true that the stick you're using here is flexible, but still - the effects of hitting the eye... The training manual from the 18th century that I know said to wrap the sticks with additional soft material.
My only slight comment. Is that while anthropology is useful. As an archaeologiast. I am critical on relying to heavily on anthropological models for direct analogs for ancient societies. I think some archeologists do this too much. Using modern og close to modern fighting styles or cultural pactices in africa or the far east. As a basis for fact about how people in early Scandinavia cultures fought with weapons and shields. I dubious ar best. Especially with the large varieties of styles in modern og close to modern sources. Id only ever use it as a part of a meshwork analyzelis, never as a part of independant evidence. Imo some groups or persons rely too heavly on anthropological models. To the point that you almost get into the anything goes archaeology or the post-procesual archaeology. IMO, the Danes usually rely too much on anthropology in their analysis of Viking era finds. In terms of the ruling paradime in Danish viking archaeology. IMO, the way modern archeology/anthropology is going. On of the disciplines are sufficient on their own in a thorough analysis. You have to use everything from Anthropology and philology, to experimental archeology and modern scientific analysis (dna and others) to get a complete picture.
Are you sure they had a round shield and that it was used for combat and isn't possibly a modern innovation? I have never seen a round shield in photography or collections of Tuareg arms. I do believe anthropology is valuable but by introducing something unverified and not in the anthropological evidence you have presented are disputing your own point of the value of anthropology.
This is why I prefer this channel: actual academic expertise and mindset.
Yes, more anthropology videos, please :-)
I've never been to Sudan and I don't have a degree in anthropology, but every time I look out of the window or go for a walk, chances are that there will be 10ish year old boys fighting with sticks, broom handles, or whatever they can get their hands on. It works! :)
I've made the point of studying surviving tribal fighting systems for clues as to how ancient people fought with things like sword and shield and spear and shield and generally hear crickets or get in an argument with someone who thinks using I33 as a source for how people used sword and shield in the Viking Era is a good idea . . .
I love I.33 but I have a feeling it isn't a complete system. Like it uses a basic system not discussed because it assumes the read knows, at that time, said system of fighting. Unlike later fight books that start from the beginning and go through basically everything.
@@bentrieschmann I.33 is a great source for circa 1300 German sword and buckler fighting but has absolutely nothing to do with Viking Era sword and shield fighting but people like Roland Warzecha try to use is as a source for the latter!
@bubbagump2341 I am well aware of what Roland W. has been trying to do, even before the vikings shield stuff. I feel it is some of the biggest bs I have seen.
@@bentrieschmann Then we are in complete agreement!
@@bubbagump2341I think it's legit to use it as *a* source for reconstructions just not as *the* source. Since we have basically no depictions to go off the best would be to look at the broadest amount of sources for sword and shield and work out the commonalities that would best apply for the weapons we have. Obviously any reconstruction is highly unlikely to be right. If we didn't have any sources for dussack/messer for example porting 19th century cutlass would be really far off the mark. But if we looked at the breadth of all short cutting sword techniques around the world we would at least know what someone could do with it.
BTW and off topic, I received my Windlass Matt Easton 1796 Light Cavalry Trooper sword this morning. What a beauty! I can hardly wait to cut with it. Fantastic sword.
Thank you for your efforts on this sword and all the others you have consulted on.
Cheers!
It seems so wonderfully simple and yet I had never thought about it before! A part of me feared that videos like this were never taken in the first place. I would be interested to see you analyze some of these older films and discuss this more in the future if you are so inclined.
I've concluded for a long while now that anthropology is *_THE_* most underappreciated of the humanities.
I would argue that it’s the only underappreciated one. The others are greatly over appreciated
@@GrunttamerStrongly stated position. Good hook. I'll bite - In your opinion: Which Humanities Studies are "Greatly overappreciated"? How & Why, if you please?
@@yeahnaaa292 law and gender studies are two that spring to mind
@@Grunttamer That tracks with the tone of your statement. Thanks for confirming.
@@Grunttamer Also notable is your failure to respond to the "How & Why" query. Haven't you read that far through the 5 lines of text yet? Take all the time you need.
I studied a Filipino stick art for a while. We were all told that the techniques would transfer to a sword or long knife. A large part of that was true, but we never practiced proper edge alignment (which was difficult with a cylindrical stick). I noticed perfectly adequate stick strikes that would be less than effective if delivered the same way with a single edged sword.
A light Asian fillipino sticks are ,quick ,if the get within Yr circle ,Yr in trouble ,its a martial form
Use a curved, broad-bladed sword, with an oblong handle - something that alligns itself easily with the direction of the strike.
Won't solve the problem, but it will be easier.
@@daveburklund2295 if y applied the form to strong light steel with some flexible parameters, with same length ,scary
@@EgoEroTergum I was talking about the sticks. We couldn't practice edge alignment well with sticks.
@@daveburklund2295How long have you been practicing? I was under the impression that learning to use the blade in Arnis/Eskrima was advanced, and that learning with the stick is primarily to understand how to swing your arms and not hit yourself (in short, basics). I unfortunately am not able to practice the art, but I am Filipino and looked into it.
Love the source, and absolutely we should lean on these cross anthropological references.
The stick is sometimes under appreciated, but I do know many good instructors who will say that if you want to start learning your forms all you need is “a stick”, so hopefully that idea will persist.
As a quick counterpoint, historically these folks were using “safe wasters” to practice while leaning on the very real experience of being able to use sharp swords in actual combat. Something no modern person gets to do. Even if it is just at a veteran or instructor level, that is important when it comes to giving feedback as to how the weapon operates. Some of the reason we end up compensating with close-to-original trainers is everyone’s lack of exposure to using sharp swords in actual combat.
Author James LaFond is a stickfighter/anthropologist/historian that anyone interested in these subjects may want to look up.
As a Gen-Xer this is how I spent my childhood. plywood shield and "sword" made out of a hockey stick.
We made cardboard armor and shields with plastic swords. And jousted with broomsticks on our bicycles. Don't know how we didn't get really hurt.
I like how fluid their movements are.
I think we would love to see you diving deeper into anthropology related videos
Great video. It is sad how so much information haa been lost and/or how later medieval systems do not resemble earlier systems.
I've read that the ancient Han Dynasty (200s BC to 200s AD) had dozens of different fencing and swordsmanship manuals...all of which has been lost. People try to apply later medieval pr early modern fighting systems that do have documentation to this ancient era but they probably don't quite match and could be quite different.
Anthropology is such a broad term. It encompasses culture and artifacts. The one way ,in my mind, that I use to distinguish anthropology from other categorizations that one might use is the idea of primary sources. You showed us a video of tribal fencing in the 20s, and that is a perfect example of modern technology enabling the preservation of a 1st hand account of historical culture. There is a wealth of knowledge on magnetic tape stored ariund the world with recordings and video of various practices that possibly exist in no other form. I hope that the organizations that have them in their charge are up to the task of preserving them. It would be quite a shame to lose it all to background radiation and the occasional solar flare.
There are several very graphic videos of tribal warfare in West Papua and East Africa showing groups fighting each other with bows and arrows and spears. The encounters bear very little in common with sensationalist UA-camrs' ideas of how archery should be done. They are careful, drawn out, and conducted at surprisingly long distances at a low rate of fire.
Then you also have the many videos showing tribal hunting with heavy self bows (eg the Hadza in Africa) which are some of the best analogues of historical European archery that we have. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they use their equipment very similar to modern "warbow" archers.
Yes that old video from Papua New Guinea tribal warfare is excellent. It is like a view into the past, when primitive man engaged in war. Recently it has become hard to find other videos from the 1930's and 1940's, of tribesmen displaying their martial prowesses.
Those old films are amazing we can learn so much from them .there is one of you-tube by Edison it was a real British cavalry charge against the Boers
Stick fighting may be the deepest well of knowledge when in comes to weapon fighting and humans. Thanks for another video 🙏❤🧠🙏
Love this take!
Being half Native most of the tribal Martial Arts I know are related to horsemanship, archery, long knife & tomahawk combat, war club, etc. It's mostly an oral tradition, passed down from father to son/ master to apprentice type thing though. Im not aware of any treatise or anything.
You should record some videos
Archeology,and anthropology, are but two thirds of the triangle of historical knowledge. Don't forget bio mechanics. Any who love you're channel and keep swinging friend
Great material, especially backing it up with actual historic footage
In I:33 the author states "this is not a system I have developed, This is how one fights with a sword. It is an ancient way, I'm simply recording it."(paraphrasing)
In other words fencing is fencing. Differences in equipment and mindset are subtleties. The fundamentals never change.
Brillant Video. Thanks.
Great video! I enjoyed it very much being both a martial artist and an anthropologist
Fun video! I would like to see you do more on this topic.
This is exactly how FMA really was. Rural Filipinos almost invariably carried blades everyday in a farming community. The use of sticks only came about for practice. Serious fights would, inevitably, be with bolos.
Fighting with wild caught sticks and domestic dowels since I was a babe! Before HEMA came on the scene. Before I fell in with a JSA crowd. Thanks for this video! I’m going to call and thank my father for getting me fighting with sticks at a young age!
Polish saber was tought with sticks. There are even XVIIIth and XIXth century paintings of it being done, there are also a few XVIIth century book art of stick saber. The method of training/dueling was called "palcaty" (which means something close to "one with many fingers" palec being the polish word for finger) .
Zbigniew Sawicki wrote a nice book about it called "Palcaty. Old polish fencing style with sticks. A historical study of physical culture".
I think the stick and shield is also common because the shield protects you well enough that you don't feel wanting for a guard or for the binding actions that edged/rectangular trainers grant you.
Well said sir
As a child I got into fencing due to playing with sticks !!
Although Basil Rathbone films undoubtedly played an part in inspiration
Great vid. Just in time for our club sword and shield practice unit too.
Matt is a Warrior Sage. I was wondering if Matt would highlight some Stick weapon arts from individual Regions of the world. It would be amazing to see how the Stick Fighting "progressed" in term of location. Almost every Culture has some form of martial art, but I'm not a scholar so i will rely on Sages like Matt!
Author James LaFond is a modern stickfighter, anthropologist and historian. you could look to his works
@@BlackMasterRoshi I come from Trinidad my grandfather was a Stick Fighter (kalinda) and I was into Filipino stuff from JKD and Inosanto (Game of Death) I love all the arts!
Brings back memories of using the metre and a soup pot lid, in grade school.
Somewhere Shad’s crystal ball is sounding the almighty “Stick” alarm!😝
Would love to see you do more of these - where anthropology can inform where documents do not exist
Oh, i've been watching you for years and had no clue you were an archaeologist!
Definitely food for thought
In the US, most degreed archaeologists have a degree in Anthropology. Indeed Anthropology degrees often require that the student take classes in archaeology, physical anthropology, and linguistics as well as cultural anthropology.
In the US, Archeology is a branch of Anthropology...So, Archeologists are also Anthropologists. Is that different in the UK?
I studied Anthropology in Austria - only very brief sorties into Archäologie.
Nice to see a takuba featured. Have you ever had a Tuareg lance come through your collection? I came across a few in Mali and always wondered how the distinctive fan shaped butt end was actually used.
Matt: just a small simple video!
Me: .. I want an hour long lecture.
Oh anthropologist, I know why I love this channel even more! =D dig me up some combat facts…
My dad was fortunate enough to witness the Hadendowa of the Sudan sparring in the traditional way.
The video with the Tuaregs was most likely shot in Mauritania, which is considered to be in West Africa.
Did you ever do that bit on lenticular shields? At one time you said that you were going to. I think it was like 2-3 years ago.
Did I miss that?
They teach us some Taiaha at school.
All they taught me of Mere/Patu combat is use it close, and aim for the temple.
Cool old vid, thanks 👍🏼
I imagine the Zulu, for instance, assegai and hide shield, fought a certain way--system, style, culture.
This might also explain why some moves from ancient unarmed combat, especially from Asia, look silly to us in this generation: the skills are meant to be used with weapons, and the unarmed version is just for training.
Sticks are good; there were also however wooden swords - several simple ones were onearthed in Norway, dating to the 12th-13th centuries.
So first off this is really interesting content, which is great. (Also, a rolled up newspaper was also great. Much less dangerous than a stick, even!)
The angle that I'm a little wary of still is that 'sword games' tend to *extremely rapidly* favour techniques and methods that let you win the game, which is probably still the case even if they're literally being used as a direct training substitute by actual warriors. (e.g the myriad descriptions of *actual* duels, including the one where both guys just immediately jumped at the other and shoved both their weapons right into the other guy. The guy with two blades in his body lived, the guy with two blades in his neck did not. *Zero* concern for right of way OR scoring a point after the second riposte!)
But still - just watching that video and trying to figure out how two clued up guys in decent armour, with proper helmets and greaves, and short bronze blades, could *ever* actually kill each other, let alone quickly and efficiently. Maybe you really do need a plan along the lines of cutting someone's hand when they try the third feint to your left ankle!
The Tuareg fighters often seem to go down on one knee when defending to protect their legs. It'd be interesting to get some commentary on that. It doesn't seem to be a common technique in HEMA or many other surviving martial arts. I don't know whether it's a cultural thing, or a side effect of using their particular shield design or something else. It'd be interesting to know if it was an effective technique with other types of long shields, like the scutum or kite shields.
Looks like they are also doing a bit of hand sniping waiting for the hand to be extended.
One thing I've recently been confused by is videos of stick fights from in and around India. They seem to prefer using these big four-foot floppy sticks, and they hit each other with these big over-the-head wind-up strikes, while standing within arm's reach of each other. And I'm just thinking, like, a one-foot stick would do as much damage as the ones they're using, if they just used them properly, none of the blows seem to have any effect and people are more likely to get hurt by losing their balance and falling over. But you see these kinds of fights even in a military context, in the border with China or wherever where they're not allowed to fight with guns. I just think it's a wild sort of cultural practice, and I wonder how many other such practices might have existed historically in various times and places.
I definitely enjoy Matt's scholarship. Yeah, I've got a brain!
That's a really nice-looking hoodie. What brand is it?
Thanks, Superdry
A video on the amazing stick? Did I end up on Shadiversity by mistake. :-)
Truly, I am the first of many- Matt Easton is a Snow Elf
He's every character in the game Half-Sword.
Archaeology degree with units in anthropology? It's the opposite here in the US, anthropology degreee with archaeology units.
My list of not so known stick arts that ya''ll might want to know about
1. Presean , Indonesian stick art with shields and prize fights. ua-cam.com/video/pGw8hSTXJA0/v-deo.html This Ombak guy is OG.
2. Matrag or Matraque, North African, think mostly Algerian stick art ua-cam.com/video/4GOmyUDYgtk/v-deo.html Seems to share a lot with French La Canne.
3. Venezuelan Garrote ua-cam.com/video/1s65ZZZKzMo/v-deo.html Don't tell the FMA guys that maybe that maybe there is a big Spanish connection.
4. Juego de Palo Canario, Canary island stick fighting. Nowadays mostly staff but there are some styles with shorter sticks. ua-cam.com/video/uSUMJ-qArb0/v-deo.html
5. South African stick fighting ua-cam.com/video/hQL0FKurmOs/v-deo.html As the name suggests. No place for cowards. Interesting defensive weapons and gotta respect that sort of bulged but rather acute edge on the end of the striking stick.
Ah yes, many a walk home from primary school was extended, fencing with sticks ;-)
Nice jacket
Sticks are only "safe," not SAFE. Remember, early WMA used a lot of wood and involved broken thumbs all around.
I think a more accurate term would be ‘Less lethal ’ .
Curious to know if you could do a bit on African metallurgy and forging. I am under the impression it was pretty rare and most of their blades were imported so it would be great to learn more abut that topic. Anyway great discussion. Thank you. Cheers!
African metallurgie was rather far developed - the later import of Solingen blades was more a price matter, especially as Sahara trade -and with it a lot of prosperity - was replaced by Shipping from the late 14 hundreds on.
@@aasphaltmueller5178 I guess I need to do my own research. I want to know about the entire process from what they used for ore and a heat source through the forging and finishing techniques.
Thanks for the reply.
@@kaoskronostyche9939 The late Christopher Roy had a great series of videos on traditional metal working and other crafts in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Ghana. His longest video on smelting is here: ua-cam.com/video/RuCnZClWwpQ/v-deo.html
While anthropology is a good source I am pretty sure I'm far from the only one who fought with sticks (of various sizes) when I was growing up.
Not claiming I'm a good swordsman by any stretch of the imagination but I do know I was able to handle about 90% of the other larpers around me (I know, not the most skilled group either) with ease and only struggled against the other 10%
One more disclaimer: I'm no expert in just about anything but a few niche subjects but far more a generalist who should ideally be listening to his betters but can't always keep his mouth shut.
1:36- fart ?
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Lmao😂
Speak to or bring in Da'mon Stith to talk about H.A.M.A.
1:35 a fart perhaps? 🎉😂
Love it
I'm sure I remember hearing a really loud fart in one of Matt's older videos lol
Stick is safe unless it is a pointed stick
You should do a vid on Portuguese, jogo do pau.
If we all use sticks... how can we waste a fortune to buy blunts weapons?
"Sheilds"
5:50 I'm not convinced it's that safe, especially when hit in the face. It's true that the stick you're using here is flexible, but still - the effects of hitting the eye... The training manual from the 18th century that I know said to wrap the sticks with additional soft material.
I think ‘Less lethal ’ in the label that fits this .
My only slight comment. Is that while anthropology is useful. As an archaeologiast. I am critical on relying to heavily on anthropological models for direct analogs for ancient societies. I think some archeologists do this too much. Using modern og close to modern fighting styles or cultural pactices in africa or the far east. As a basis for fact about how people in early Scandinavia cultures fought with weapons and shields. I dubious ar best. Especially with the large varieties of styles in modern og close to modern sources. Id only ever use it as a part of a meshwork analyzelis, never as a part of independant evidence. Imo some groups or persons rely too heavly on anthropological models. To the point that you almost get into the anything goes archaeology or the post-procesual archaeology. IMO, the Danes usually rely too much on anthropology in their analysis of Viking era finds. In terms of the ruling paradime in Danish viking archaeology.
IMO, the way modern archeology/anthropology is going. On of the disciplines are sufficient on their own in a thorough analysis. You have to use everything from Anthropology and philology, to experimental archeology and modern scientific analysis (dna and others) to get a complete picture.
🗿👍
Shad will appreciate this one!
Are you sure they had a round shield and that it was used for combat and isn't possibly a modern innovation? I have never seen a round shield in photography or collections of Tuareg arms. I do believe anthropology is valuable but by introducing something unverified and not in the anthropological evidence you have presented are disputing your own point of the value of anthropology.