Is This the Perfect Dueling Shield? - Let's Try it Out!
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- čas přidán 29. 09. 2022
- Everyone knows shields are great, particularly on the battlefield. In a duel however, and particularly for civilian self-defense in medieval times or a travelling adventurer in a fantasy setting, they are a clunky and cumbersome to haul around.
Bucklers are much more practical for that purpose, but they are awfully small and don't cover much. But what about a spiked arm shield that acts as a secondary weapon? This type is sometimes called Hungarian shield, and it's quite rare in historical depictions.
Oddly enough, considering its usefulness. In order to test its effectiveness I got a pair of practice arm shields with rubber spike from MAC Armour.
www.mac-armour.cz/p/hungarian...
The sparring was quite interesting and made me appreciate this design even more. The coverage is limited but it's very mobile and doesn't get in the way. This may very well be the best shield in a 1-on-1 duel or other situation where large shields are not feasible or desirable. Perhaps with the exception of the Gou-Rang, which is also excellent (see below).
Follow-up video (dual shields): • Dual Wielding Shields ...
Other relevant videos you might like:
Arm Blades & Spiked Shields: Better Than You Think?
• Arm Blades & Spiked Sh...
Which Shield Type is Better? - Pros & Cons
• Which Shield Type is B...
Trying Out the Chinese Hook Shield (Gou-Rang)
• Trying Out the Chinese...
Shields! - Top 5 Pros & Cons
• Shields! - Top 5 Pros ...
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Outro:
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What an outrageous over-sight... I forgot to mention that you could perfectly well hold a dagger with an ice-pick grip in the same hand that holds the shield handle. That would seem like quite a good idea, not just for downward thrusts but also for defense. The dagger blade could help block attacks that might otherwise pass under the shield.
Anyway, since I already have your attention... Check out these videos too:
Arm Blades & Spiked Shields: Better Than You Think?
czcams.com/video/WW-006LogY0/video.html
Which Shield Type is Better? - Pros & Cons
czcams.com/video/xLuRHCaIcb0/video.html
Trying Out the Chinese Hook Shield (Gou-Rang)
czcams.com/video/RXYltNPlMaM/video.html
Shields! - Top 5 Pros & Cons
czcams.com/video/I1LScbpp9vM/video.html
Hi Skall! Unrelated thought: you've mentioned that going back to any historical time and place would suck, what with the disease and the lack of technology and the paranoia and the religious persecution and the disease and the lack of medicine and the disease, but that brings up a question: what super-power would you need to make going to some historical time and place with Cara an attractive prospect?
Immunity to disease? Regeneration? Eternal youth? A flask of infinite pure water, a flask of infinite 95% ethanol, a flask of infinite pale ale and a flask of infinite dark ale? A bowl that fills with freshly-boiled oatmeal on request? Perfect memory of everything you've ever seen, heard or read (including every lesson and every textbook, oh yes)? Invisibility? Levitation? Telekinetic elemental purification so you can pull iron bars out of piles or ore and rust with the power of your mind? Kilowatt ultra-violet laser beams projected from your fingertips whenever you do "finger gun" gestures?
What's the minimum set that would make it worth it, and where and when would you go?
Separate question, from someone else in the side-chat a few streams back: if a long spear, partizan, halberd or similar gets broken off about 20 - 25 cm below the head, is the head with the much-reduced haft still a useful melee weapon, or would you be better off just using the rest of the haft as a wooden spear?
Something like a dirk?
Wait a minute this video says you posted it 11 minutes ago, but this post is 7 days old. Yt be tripping.
hey skall this is just a though but what if instead of the grip and you turn it into some kind of oversized bracer or something (replace the grip with a second strap that you can tighten and fasten) wouldn't that give you much more protection when using a two handed weapon?
It would also allow a realistic niche for the two-sided dagger portrayed in DND
This shield is actually shown in multiple 15th-16th century germanic, polish/Czech and hungarian artworks. However they are usually a lot bigger, for battlefield purpose. From heater shield size to pavise size, with the spike resting on the floor, serving as the main line of defense against projectile. Underated design.
Do you know of any specific treatise this might be in? The design is fascinating to me. It would seem like a very practical design for a man at arms in good, comprehensive armor.
@@alexcue6509 Look up "hand pavise shield" or similar query to yield the results you may be looking for
Makes me wonder how well it would be paired with a Hungarian saber style
I saw the same thing when I researched this shield. This has been my favorite shield for years now!
@@taianonni ngl they don’t look similar
You mentioned that judicial dueling would often entail unusual practices and equipment you wouldn't normally see. I'd like to see a video about that.
Big agree here
i once was in amsterdam and saw a "ping pong show" where two naked women duelled with 2 foot dildoes, the winner was the first to knock the other unconscious, it was rather fun
Improvised weapons and armour; I'd like to see that!
Same
Yes, indeed.
I know it’s way more work but I absolutely love the direction of this channel with focusing on actual trying out unusual weapons in a semi realistic (safe) context
Yes
Yes
It's definitely more work, but I'm glad you enjoy it so much. :)
I agree
Was going to post this comment myself. The perspectives and editing are great.
Aww, and here I was anxiously awaiting the examples of dual wielding shields, the dynamics of ending them rightly, and the guarded forbidden history of the ancient and powerful toaster flail
Don't despair, technically he did promise the toasterflail for part 2. 😉
Well, Skall already did videos about dual wielding shields. And I'm sure you can find something about thrown pommels too. I don't think he did anything about toasters yet, though.
It's funny to see that the second sparring partner (with the fancy pants) quite clearly has his background in saber. Just goes to show that weapon skills are highly transferable and that overall fighting experience is much more important than specialized technique for a certain weapon!
Not gonna lie, I want those pants.
Dude those shields look so dang cool in practice, aesthetics-wise I think they may be my favourite shield design
Omg the dual-wielding shenanigans 😂
The mmo fist monk
@@thegk-verse4216nioh fist weapon
@moderna spider no u
Cool! Nice Hajime no Ippo reference at the end!
I definetly think that ease of draw was the reason this wasn't used in civilian life. Also, if we think about duels (In the sense of a honor fight), it is suposed to be equal, so you might as well both use easy-to-carry bucklers, since everything will be equalized in the end. (same reason why people used smallswords)
Glad to see more of the unusual stuff from manuscripts applied in sparring, keep it up Skall and Co. Your work and effort are appreciated!
Thanks!
This was a really cool video! I really enjoyed the sparring with the instructor (I think I recognise him but don't remember his name...). It's also great to see someone at a high level fight, and the mix of both the POV cam and side cam was really nicely done. There's something really engaging and enlightening about watching someone at a high level from that POV perspective.
I agree! I love watching sword duels and find it so fun to watch
Like any offensive/defensive device, practice makes you as good as possible (no one is ever 'perfect'). Thank you for this informative video.
Skall, I hope you don't mind this bit of input here: I'm actually practiced with these shields, and while I hardly consider myself to be any better than mediocre, I can see a few things with your use that are counter to how I learned to use it. Unlike other shields you have to think of it as being only half or three quarters defensive, and the other part it's really a punching dagger. Try intentionally binding against your opponent to get into punching distance. I know this runs counter to how we're taught, but I've found that that is actually pretty effective. Bind, close, and strike, don't bother with the hollywood struggle for control. We're used to having to focus so much on keeping our primary weapons between us and our opponent, but it's worth letting your sword move to the side if it takes your opponents with it and opens them up for the spike.
Man, fighting the instructor almost felt like a scary duel 😂
Man thanks again for turning me onto the beautiful world of HEMA . Reign in glory Skal
Oughta do more sparring with that hema instructor, that footage was REALLY interesting, from the first person view the fights felt completely different from usual. He looked slippery as an eel, no binding, super tight small movements, always looks like he's standing upright too. And that sneaky false edge cut at 8:11, that's just beautiful.
Never did any hema myself, just fencing and kendo, but still it just felt like the guy had little to no openings.
This sort of reminds me of Lion-O's Claw Shield from Thundercats, though it functioned more like a gauntlet with a lot of armor. The claw shield also functions as a scabbard, interestingly enough, so I think there is something to combining all of those functions into one. It also reminds me a lot of Cap. America's Wakandan shields in Infinity War and Edward Elric's arm blade.
I'm really looking forward to the follow-up video. If you were to combine this shield with a katar or claws and maybe even a spike on the other end, you'd get something that really lets you utilize more hand-to-hand techniques against weapons. Some big ol' armored greaves might help too, for a little extra "kick."
I was literally doing research on this exact type of shield just 2 days ago (partly because im hungarian). What a chance you just decided to make this video about it, thanks a lot Skall!
i think adding something like a "scorpion stinger" at the back will add the ability to catch the enemy sword instead of making it slide off and potentially hit you while changing direction mid air
I'd almost say to have swordbreaker-style ridges along the spine of the shield to potentially catch an opponent's blade or disarm them with a twist. Not sure if it would work in practice though
@@OverlordIntecris probably not, since the further you are from your wrist the lest control you have
@@OverlordIntecris like Batman
There are many modern version of this type of shield sold as tactical weapons,even for pretty cheap,like 60, made of some sort of aluminium alloy. It would be a nice theme for a future review.
One thing i would love to see is how effective would be such type of weapon be alone.
Yeah, I've been eyeballing one of those.
So edward elric was onto something here! When he turned his prosthetic arm into an arm sword in the show, it basically functioned like a spiked arm shield.
More like an Indian pata, really.
I always thought ed's spiked arm was more based on the katar, but this also makes sense
@@nevisysbryd7450 A Pata is swung with motions from the wrist, a Katar has the prongs to align the blade with the forearm and restrict any motion form the wrist, they are used very differently.
The spiked pavise would be something I'd love to see Skallagrim talk about. Shadiversity made a video on it and it would be perfect for having the same utility of an offense/defensive spike but bigger too.
Damn boi. You're content is getting better every day! It's awesome to see you hitting your stride again!
The "dance" at the end is fantastic! A remix is needed...
One thing I noticed is that all users had the habit of swinging the shield towards the oncoming blow. This caused the sword to get past their guard. I think if rather than swinging, they did a static block and then pushed the sword away there would be less chance of a fatal error. At least with a static block the blow gets stopped, then you can worry about the blade from there. That said, amazing video! It was awesome seeing something that childhood me had thought of being used historically and in this particular video. Great job skall!
They are trying to intercept and parry but lack shield specific experience and the right stance to make it work.
Cool video! I really like all the sparring footage you're uploading recently
Your thumbnail game is getting better, this caught my attention instantly. Well done!
Going to be honest, I always did love the Uruk Hai shield design from the Peter Jackson LOTR trilogy.
Ngl I wasn't expecting the spike on that shield to do much, but it saved you quiet a bit.
I wonder if there were sword breaker notches cut in it if it might allow the user to catch the blade of the opponents sword and move in for a thrust more easily.
So Batman's scallops?
TV series Andromeda (2001) had the Nietzscheans with forearm spikes as a weapon too
"maybe even..... pomels" ending him rightly gets me everytime hahaha
"of course you can, you can do whatever you want. You can pick up a toaster and swing it like a flail" absolutely died laughing, can't wait for part two of that XD
The best shield for dueling is a powerful magnet with a handle on it, stick the end of their sword to it, maybe sandwich the blade between the magnet and their plate armour if they're wearing it, its perfect.
I love the amount of sparring you have gotten to do recently! Hope you are having fun.
Nice piece, i'd definitely have one of those shields in my arsenal
Can wait to see the dual wielding test
It reminds me of how in some video games like NeaR Automata, there are entire classes of weapons that are literally just you punching people, but there are some metal around your hands so it’s totally more effective.
You Nierly spelled Nier right
This has been one of your best videos yet. Thanks for making it.
I love the design of this kind of armament. Lookin forward to the next part!
Seeing this video i remembered that The Hero Class in Fire Emblem Awakening also uses an Armshield. But one that protects everything from the hand to the shoulder.
I love it when fantasy games have some neat ideas for combat in real live
A vid exploring attacks with this type of shield when used with a one handed sword would be good.
I enjoyed the sparring as always. Thanks for posting this :)
Sparring parts are always so cool and you do them very well. Great video.
The best dueling shield i can think of is a small category of rather unusual shields,that i call parrying shields. The chinese Gou Rang is one of those ,another would be the indian madu,but the most striking example would be an aboriginal one,basically a long stick with and handguard,used to parry and deflect attacks,and maybe as secondary weapon. Since it is meant for a closed enviroment it is almost useless for ranged weapons,defeating the most common purpose of a shield.
12:50 You should do a video where you explore what weapons and weapon configurations would be best for if you're jumped. Like for example you're sitting at a bar in medieval Europe and some suspiciously armed characters begin approaching you. What weapons and configurations would allow you to draw and get in a defensive position the fastest. I know getting jumped is not ideal already but what gives the best possible chance of survival in that scenario?
Dagger and buckler. You're not playing defense anymore, granted, but it'll be out the fastest.
Very interesting topic and entertaining sparing.
I'm am looking forward to part 2 Very Much.
This is so cool to watch! I would love to see more videos of this format where we can see you duel someone and test stuff. Obviously as safely as possible
I feel like if you use a perrying dagger with the sheild it could work given how ridged your grip becomes. Then given the attacks close in with the dagger become an option at that point and aren't really hampered by the ridged grip.
Or just punch them. There's a spike for a reason.
@@shadowmancy9183 true but how fatal is that gonna be? Ya it'll hurt but a dagger in the gut or lung is gonna do a lot more.
Can't wait to use this on elden ring
Really enjoying the two part videos, keep it up!!
yo, I like the duelling footage lately, good job :)
Ok, here me out, could you make a shield like this and then have some kind of release that opens it up more to be bigger for projectiles?
Now I'm curious how it would be in a duel with this shield vs longsword
You'll see some of that in the next video (scheduled for October 7).
@@Skallagrim FYI: Someone is spoofing your icon to try pfishing your followers on here. I received one, as well as at least two others declaring us on "a shortlist of winners. Kindly send a direct massage Above to acknowledge your prize.......❤.."
I reported them. If this truly was you, then let me know how to send you a "direct massage".
@@greggs1067 I know, I've reported that scam account multiple times, and CZcams won't do anything.
Really good series!
Please, keep on!
Love it. Its very nice that you spar so much lately. THAT ENDING BRO XD!
The stiffest hammer grip you can imagine
Sword-chucks are the future.
I like swords
@@johnduquette7023 If you know, you know.
@@clivedoe9674 Welcome to Corneria!
I really enjoy this kind of practical examples of weapons
It really helps drive the point you are telling
Hope your channel is doing better, saw several posts where videos weren’t doing as well. I’ve actually been getting all your vids in my feed lately so that’s awesome
Hey skalla? Have you tried to attack an opponent with THE POMMELL of your sword????
Absolutely not, he's never heard of such a thing.
So dishonorable
These videos are the reason im subbed to youa i loved this theory, test, summary!
I love this style of video, good balance of history, fencing theory and practical application
Your approach of "Talking is cheap..." is awesome! This was always the reason why I follow you since idk 2013 or so.
I came for Skal’s amazing commentary, but I stayed for the beautiful orange pantaloons
This is actually really useful to me. I was already thinking of a similar concept in a story; while it’s not quite the same (my rough idea was less intrusive on movement, more easily concealed, and strapped to the arm so the hand is mostly free) this provides an excellent reference for the dynamics and movement in combat. I absolutely will use this, thank you so much for uploading
Good vid, this is the kinda stuff we want more of! Or at least I want more of.:)
Can’t wait for part 2!!
Yes! More sparrings! And more sparrings with cool stuff!
Unrelated to the shield, but I've been watching your videos for probably around eight years now and every time I see a new sparring video I think to myself about how much your skill has developed. Very well done Skall =)
Can't wait for part two!
Amazing video, and quite impresive shield too. Love how you got your ass handled to yourself on the second fight, that guy's defence is damn good.
Loving the content Brother!
Man those spar demos look dangerous, great to know you got good gear
Excellent and interesting vid Skal. I was going to comment you to duel wield them next but looks like you read my mind lol.
Great demonstration!
I think my favorite part was where skall pussied out of a bind like twice in a row in one of the clips. We love to see it
Loving your vid!
Seriously, can't wait for the next episode
I couldn't believe my eyes and ears when I saw you doing a Dempsey Roll while double-wielding shields! I can't wait to see part 2!
The rare but dreaded dual messer appearance. Spiked my envy with the short one first and then finished me with the big one. Sword envy is eating me like a carnivorous bacteria.
Uhhh can't wait for part 2, nice!
Something fairly similar to this did actually see military use. Large, left-hand gauntlets which covered the forearm were reasonably popular for cavalry in the mid-17th century, e.g. during the English Civil Wars. They didn't have the offensive spike (which doesn't seem very useful anyway), but they could be used in quite a similar way defensively. This was at the point where full plate armour was falling out of fashion, but steel helmets and cuirasses remained in common use. The right hand needed to be free to fire and load pistols or carbines, and would be given decent protection by a basket hilt during melees, but wearing a gauntlet on the left allowed it to control the horse's reins but also block sword cuts in combat.
Every now and again I'm struck by how good Skal's editing is.
I've been wondering for years how one of these paired with a conventional shield would work.
I dont know if you read the comments but I think your content is improving. I like watching sparing of this kind. good stuff man.
Epic throwback💥
Really entertaining can’t wait for the dual wield video 😂
That Hajime no Ippo Dempsey Roll at the end 🤣🤣🤣 love it
Hey, I always wanted to make one of these as a theory for fighting, good to see its actual a thing
Thank you! This reminds me of that Dwarf named Thorin Oakenshield from The Hobit.
Footwork is such a big component in combat sports, and is a great measure of someone's skill and familiarity with the techniques
Well, i am about to start drawing a comic in a medieval world with a very little magic, and main character will mostly fight by sword, and i planed some scenes where he will have to face multiple opponents. I actually planed that he will take down opponents one by one very fast in these fights, not because he is much more skilled in sword fight then his opponents, or his enemies are just dumb, but because he just has a inhuman strength. After this and few other of yours videos i decided that my character will have to take down one enemy practically in one move, in order to keep up with other attackers and he will have to very carefully control whole fight and this how many opponents are actually able to attack him at the time to after all, survive. Only for my fulfillment i wanted to create a story with a realistic hand armed fights, and thanks to your videos on CZcams i feel that i am closer then ever to accomplish this. Thank you for your work, and have a good day.
Now I want to make one. Great!
Oh man, I've designed quite a few of these types of shields on paper! Always loved to idea of the katar weapons and there's quite a lot of configurations you can do to these shields.
That fencing work with the misteurious fencing-instructor was very entertaining and interesting. 👍
The ottoman/persian/indian bazuband(lower arm guard) was used in the same way worn on the left lower arm up until the first World War for close combat in combo with a variety of sabres.
That was tasty. I love demonstrational videos like that.
That is an interesting shield. Nice vid.😃
1:50, Skall you can actually shape the shield handle so it allows a recess , or have a curve to the handle so it projects beyond the parts connecting to the shield, that way it will be even more secure.
I think there are versions of Indian Dhal, or metal buckler which have that. This so that one can wear a fist dagger and a normal dagger behind the Dhal projecting outside the shield, this gives 'V' shaped setup also allowing to trap opposing weapons apart from blocking and gives more offensive ability to the offhand.
I think there is a Shatravidya episode on it.
Wow, I'm surprised you found my new design I've been talking about. I definitely like the length with the balance, might go for more of a more of a triangle than bladed point, with wrapped, x grip carbon nanotube handles, and should stay on after letting go sometimes while easier to grip things or maybe nylon or kevlar straps wouldn't be too bad either,
as I should have some 1/8" shocktec air2gel foam coming pretty soon, the 1/4" steel 4x12"s on the way, are looking a little too small with fitting into some of the smaller forges, I'll have to guesstimate the length later on, looks pretty cool though.
That looks SICK
These backyard videos are great....give us more
I really like this shield design. I used it in larp; it was light and easy to carry (A fundamental consideration when your day job is a desk jockey). The larp arrows are so heavy with low-power bows for safety that it is easy to block or deflect arrows with the small shield, and it wasn't a "spell catcher" (Our larp group rules shields don't block spells/effects, so massive tower shields were less common as its harder to dodge spells with it.)
I hope to get back into larp again.
A toaster flail sounds like an ideal way to confuse a Tech Priest while attacking him.