THe last one was fun, and this might make for a good youtube series and I have alot of time on my hands.
So here we go:
Staff weapons. I will mostly foucus on long staffs like quarter staffs, but I will give some love to the short staff.
Possibly the earliest of human weapons, somewhere one of our ancestors realized a big stick can hurt something a lot more then their fists.
This is also a wide ranging weapon in the world. It was a go to weapon amongst Robin Hood's Merry men, and the go to weapon of Kung Fu Fighters. Even in modern media, it gets some love as the favored weapon of Donatello: the smart guy of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Robin number 3: Tim Drake.
While you could get lucky and find a good walking stick in the woods, most are man made. The term quarterstaff doesn't come from the length but from the practice of quartering logs, which these staves were made from.
There are a few advantages to them.
1. They were common. Much cheaper than an ax or a sword, they were a good weapon for personal defence. They probably not much of a weapon of war, but in a jiffy they could do. As a blunt weapon, they can still leave a mark. Break bones, bruise body parts, make nut shuts unbearable, crush windpipes, and give you a nasty concussion.
2. They are none threatening compared to more typical weapons. A dagger, knife, spear, ax, or sword are going to be obvious forms of violence. A walking stick? Less so, especially if you pull the old man trick like Gandalf did in the Two Towers. Most of the time it you can use it as a walking stick, but if you get attacked by brigands you can still defend yourself and have a weapon already out.
3. Perfect weapon to start training with: THere was a documentary I found on Youtube that I think was done by Great Briton, but it was looking at the top ten Kung Fu weapons. This was the first one covered, and one of the reasons they picked this was because its the first weapon kung fu practitioners learn. As a two handed weapon, you learn to have balance to work it well. And lets be honest, some of the more interesting weapons both on that show and elsewhere are not as forgiving in mistakes as this is. Seriously, anyone seen a hooked sword Mortal Kombat's Kabal uses?
4. Length. The same documentary also said a common phrase is 2 inches longer is 2 inches stronger. The basis for this maxim is simple: As its a weapon with reach, meaning you can strike the enemy from farther out than you would with a sword or mace. Said swordsman has to farther away not to get hit.
It doesn't have to be too terribly long, just taller than the user so a good six to nine feet is effective.
In a modern setting, you may not see too much of this outside of the Ninja Turtles, but a broom in the garage or a walking stick while on a hike can be effective.
Even shorter staves can get some use. Things like the Hanbo can see more modern day use with law enforcement and self defence. Looking up the wikipedia page there are even several styles and types in Japan alone.
Or a simple cane. THose that need the extra help in mobility short term or long term could use it to whack someone pretty good, while a gentleman in some time periods needed to have them as a proper accessory to their attire. Heck, that's still the case in for some people.
Probably easier to carry around and consel, or to find a stick this length laying in the woods.
FInally there are the shorter ones. Escrima Stick fighting in the Philippines comes to mind as they can easily be carried on the body and taken out to defend oneself in a jiffy. THere are also tonfas, night sticks, batons, and the like. While they can do damage, they are mostly to be a deterrent, which is something all of these weapons share in common. You want a dedicated killing weapon, have a mace, a dagger, a spear. This will hurt, but you can aim it to not kill. However its these smallest ones I can see in a more modern setting, especially in tight quarters.
If you wanted something that could kill to the longer staffs, have a metal cap. The added weight will definitely bring on the hurt. More metal for the shorter staffs as well.
So how would largly keep it as is. For the long staffs, they are pretty well used. Nearly every kung fu loving film has the long staffs; a proper Robin Hood has at least quarterstaff fight or fighter. Its a go to weapon for Mortal Kombat's Raiden and Ninja Turtles. And its a must have item for wizards. Needless to say, it gets enough love, and I don't know how to improve on it.
The Shorter staffs I would simply have more of it. Unless your name is the Penguin and you fight a guy in a bat suit, you are probably not going to see alot of the bo or cane fighting. Have at least one scene like say the 1920's, someone that looks like a dandy gets cornered by some thugs and beats the crap out of them while still looking spiffy.
The latter probably more of as well. You see it now and then, but not often. Heck, it would definitely make the wizarding fights in Harry Potter more interesting.
What I miss, what I got wrong, what I got right, your ideas?
So here we go:
Staff weapons. I will mostly foucus on long staffs like quarter staffs, but I will give some love to the short staff.
Possibly the earliest of human weapons, somewhere one of our ancestors realized a big stick can hurt something a lot more then their fists.
This is also a wide ranging weapon in the world. It was a go to weapon amongst Robin Hood's Merry men, and the go to weapon of Kung Fu Fighters. Even in modern media, it gets some love as the favored weapon of Donatello: the smart guy of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Robin number 3: Tim Drake.
While you could get lucky and find a good walking stick in the woods, most are man made. The term quarterstaff doesn't come from the length but from the practice of quartering logs, which these staves were made from.
There are a few advantages to them.
1. They were common. Much cheaper than an ax or a sword, they were a good weapon for personal defence. They probably not much of a weapon of war, but in a jiffy they could do. As a blunt weapon, they can still leave a mark. Break bones, bruise body parts, make nut shuts unbearable, crush windpipes, and give you a nasty concussion.
2. They are none threatening compared to more typical weapons. A dagger, knife, spear, ax, or sword are going to be obvious forms of violence. A walking stick? Less so, especially if you pull the old man trick like Gandalf did in the Two Towers. Most of the time it you can use it as a walking stick, but if you get attacked by brigands you can still defend yourself and have a weapon already out.
3. Perfect weapon to start training with: THere was a documentary I found on Youtube that I think was done by Great Briton, but it was looking at the top ten Kung Fu weapons. This was the first one covered, and one of the reasons they picked this was because its the first weapon kung fu practitioners learn. As a two handed weapon, you learn to have balance to work it well. And lets be honest, some of the more interesting weapons both on that show and elsewhere are not as forgiving in mistakes as this is. Seriously, anyone seen a hooked sword Mortal Kombat's Kabal uses?
4. Length. The same documentary also said a common phrase is 2 inches longer is 2 inches stronger. The basis for this maxim is simple: As its a weapon with reach, meaning you can strike the enemy from farther out than you would with a sword or mace. Said swordsman has to farther away not to get hit.
It doesn't have to be too terribly long, just taller than the user so a good six to nine feet is effective.
In a modern setting, you may not see too much of this outside of the Ninja Turtles, but a broom in the garage or a walking stick while on a hike can be effective.
Even shorter staves can get some use. Things like the Hanbo can see more modern day use with law enforcement and self defence. Looking up the wikipedia page there are even several styles and types in Japan alone.
Or a simple cane. THose that need the extra help in mobility short term or long term could use it to whack someone pretty good, while a gentleman in some time periods needed to have them as a proper accessory to their attire. Heck, that's still the case in for some people.
Probably easier to carry around and consel, or to find a stick this length laying in the woods.
FInally there are the shorter ones. Escrima Stick fighting in the Philippines comes to mind as they can easily be carried on the body and taken out to defend oneself in a jiffy. THere are also tonfas, night sticks, batons, and the like. While they can do damage, they are mostly to be a deterrent, which is something all of these weapons share in common. You want a dedicated killing weapon, have a mace, a dagger, a spear. This will hurt, but you can aim it to not kill. However its these smallest ones I can see in a more modern setting, especially in tight quarters.
If you wanted something that could kill to the longer staffs, have a metal cap. The added weight will definitely bring on the hurt. More metal for the shorter staffs as well.
So how would largly keep it as is. For the long staffs, they are pretty well used. Nearly every kung fu loving film has the long staffs; a proper Robin Hood has at least quarterstaff fight or fighter. Its a go to weapon for Mortal Kombat's Raiden and Ninja Turtles. And its a must have item for wizards. Needless to say, it gets enough love, and I don't know how to improve on it.
The Shorter staffs I would simply have more of it. Unless your name is the Penguin and you fight a guy in a bat suit, you are probably not going to see alot of the bo or cane fighting. Have at least one scene like say the 1920's, someone that looks like a dandy gets cornered by some thugs and beats the crap out of them while still looking spiffy.
The latter probably more of as well. You see it now and then, but not often. Heck, it would definitely make the wizarding fights in Harry Potter more interesting.
What I miss, what I got wrong, what I got right, your ideas?