Hello everyone Antony Cummins here. I really hope that you enjoyed this video, it was great of Metatron to let me do it with him. Think of the samurai in the main using two-handed weapons, but in some cases, they turned to the use of the shield! If you have any questions about the ninja please ask them here and if Metatron wishes it we can do an answer video. It was lots of fun to film this so looking forward to your comments.
It was really interesting to hear about shield use and what the primary sources of the era had to say about it. Are there any surviving examples of these shields? And do we know if the use of shields went up as gunpowder was introduced? I tried to find information about the topic of shield use in Japan a few years ago, but without knowing where to being looking (and not having access to any translated primary sources) it was quite hard. I did find references to (and an illustration of) "Chinese shields" (the kind of round shield used in China) being used by individuals in the 13th or 14th century, but nothing about any form of widespread use, it just seemed like some samurais used them when they were on their own, due to personal preferences.
Very much so. It is overlooked, we say "oh it's based on Chinese stuff" and "Europe was more advanced" The Japanese have loads left to show us. It is a subject called Gungaku - military study. I have two channels, Antony Cummins and Natori Ryu for more info on gungaku see Natori Ryu
Recently "discovered" Antony Cummins and I've been watching a lot of his videos, they're great, so much knowledge and clarification of quite misunderstood warriors - seeing you two colaborating is awesome and I hope to see a lot more!
Very good video and Antony when you ask about not being boring your enthusiasm and passion makes the subject matter more interesting. I always thought that a warrior culture such as the samurai would use shields in some way as it makes sense that they would experiment in different tactics. However I did not think they would use how you described very enlightening you two should definitely do more videos.
this is such an interesting topic, thanks so much for clearing up this subject for some of us that may not know about this. always glad to see a new video from you. good collaboration too
See this is why i love this channel. People that actually know what they are talking about and have degrees or experience to back it all up. Not some crappy top 10 that used google and Wikipedia for everything.
Aye, religious symbolism is my mise-en-scène. I guess that's one of the reasons I relate to this channel. AN was the original "sky-daddy" and with all the polemic conflict in the world today the star is both a symbol of my faith and a personal reminder that the kami were here long before there were Muslims and Christians and Jews. It's not the end of the road, it's just sign leading the way. The trouble is that the study of paleotheology gets rather difficult in the aeons before before we started writing things down, but traces of the oral traditions still remain and there's enough contemporary material to keep me occupied for many lifetimes. I could go on for hours about Saturn, but I won't bore you any more than I already have. ;) While I appreciate historical presentations (especially accurate ones) about the mundane aspects I'm really more interested in the spiritual life of the samurai and how that relationship between the realms played a role in society. He doesn't delve into it much but I can read between the lines and he clearly has some familiarity with the subject. In particular, I'd love to hear Metatron's thoughts on kuji-kiri. Unfortunately most of the available discussions are "authentic" ninjas and McDojo's selling snake oil. I think, generally speaking, when it comes to Japanese martial arts the Western world is missing the real meaning and value of the more mystical influences that permeate the culture. I know most folks are only here for the swords, but I'm more fascinated by the light reflected in the steel. 凡夫も悟れば仏なり
This is great! I like Antony and the work he is doing as much as you and your work. I really appreciate you doing this great collaboration and getting part 2 out this fast!
really good video and great info. I knew about the pauldron shields from all the images i have seen but didn't know they actually used hand held shields with swords. thanks to both you guys.
Even though I am not really a fan of Antony Cummins personally, I do appreciate that he does do the research. So, I found this video extremely interesting and informative. Great collab.
Sound like interesting books, will buy and read just to support Cummins supporting your channel. Look forward to reading Cummins work. Go Man U! Great collaboration video, quite enjoyed the information and the primary evidence researched and presented. It's excellent having a channel on this subject matter from researcher/educator/etc perspective courtesy of Meta and his fantastic guest here today. Very informative and enjoyable.
Very good video guys! You definitely have to do more like this. Very nice to hear of real History regarding samurais and not some stupid assumptions created by video game addicted people!
What kind did they use and when because I honestly haven't heard of them using anything ranged except possibly muskets before Knights as combatants became less common
There's an account from the Crusades, The Battle of Arsuf in 1191, where knights and sergeants took up crossbows. Basically the christian army marched down the coastline from one city to another and got shot at the whole way, but their armour was too heavy so the saracen bowmen could shoot them full of arrows and they'd just keep going, but a lot of men at arms lost their horses. Apparently a lot of them went and joined the crossbowmen at the back of the christian army , nicked crossbows off of fallen and wounded soldiers, and then started shooting saracen horses.
+Meriadoc Gunson I'm sure that's due to the fact that they had such an advantage in melee combat that there wasn't usually much of a point to using ranged weapons for them.
Vaughn DuPont also, especially in the late middle ages and before gunpowder, when armour was getting an edge over weapons, they probably knew that anything but a very heavy crossbow could not do much to someone wearing a decent amount of armour
In the historical Sengoku manga, there are shield walls slithering all over the battlefield, guarding the first men in spear formations and each archer had his own shieldbearer. Also, sources available within.
i remember seeing a picture of samurai arms and armour that had a small turtle shell adapted as a one handed shield, it was about 50cm long by 40cm wide and the kamon of the warrior was lacquered onto the frontof the shield
Very interesting video, you're a talented speaker mister Cummins. I got one small thing i would like you to add if possible, and that's using the meteric system, since i and a lot of people don't know the imperial system. Other then that, great job :)
Hi Metatron, great video! I really enjoy watching your videos on Medieval Japan. I was wondering if you would make a video on Samurai Battle Formations/Tactics. That's a topic that hasn't really been covered before. I haven't found that many sources on that topic either. It would be really interesting to hear your thoughts and information on Samurai Battle Formations/Tactics. Thanks :)
Antony Cummins I certainly will if/when I am able to get it done. I still need to get around to finishing up the new handle for my bronze khopesh (lovely blade made by Neil Burridge), but after that I might see what I can do to make the one with a mail skirt. I've got several viking rounds, a greek aspis, a Celtic hexagon, a buckler, a large heater, and some others running around already. The Tallhoffer dueling shield, a kite, and a scutum were on my to-do list already. Know where I can get more information on the construction of the skirted Japanese shield?
On the first video I was going to comment on how the people of the modern day Okinawa Prefecture used a shield (called a tinbe) when defending against wako pirates, but 1. I never got around to it, and 2. Upon further research I found that the Ryukyu Kingdom (which controlled Okinawa and the rest of the Ryukyu Islands) were not 100% part of Japan until 1875, so technically not completely Japanese, although in 1609 the Shimazu clan invaded some of the Ryukyu Islands and took control of them (they are still part of the Kagoshima Prefecture today), so it could be argued that some of the techniques might have found their way into Japanese culture. After all Okinawa is where karate and kobudo originated from. Also I would love to see more videos like this. Maybe even comparing similar weapons from various different cultures (Naginata, Guan-dao and....similar European polearm, probably a glaive for example).
Very thorough research and not much to object about that. But it maybe boils down to the very individualistic nature of samurai fighting, that means: some will use and like to use a shield and some will never use it. By individualistic I mean; they liked to personalize their armour/outfit, because "you must look pretty when you die".
hey met! big fan would u mind some sugestions? i would like you to cover anything that we dont hear too much about: wierd/unsusual wepons some other cultures that dont have that much (african,india,china) more pop culture
Hello Metatron, do you think you could do videos on how The Roman Empire fell and how the language changed in Italy as a part of this? If not keep up the awesome work your doing and keep spreading those wings mate 😉 Love your videos btw :D
That I know but according to my opinion Byzantine wasn't a roman empire, they were more a empire of many cultures, germanic, slavic and roman culture and they became that because of the hunnic invasions which resulted in the Empire becoming a mix of people.....which the Romans we know and see in films were heavy against I think. But don't get me wrong the Eastern Roman Empire still had the foundation of the Roman culture and architect, alas the thing I meant was the Roman Empire as a whole, what it was before the splitting of the western and eastern roman empire and how that came to be et.c.
It appears that shields were actually quite common. My question is why is it then that knowledge of them is so uncommon? Is it simply the focus on the sword in the Japanese mentality? And why have I seen no art containing the shield in Japanese artwork.
TheJosephB333 All great auestions I wonder myself. Its possible that it was all rare to see sheilded warriors, but common enough to see once or teice on the battle feild or being used in specfic tactic missions the eldites would hsve knowledge of happening.
Hi, i live in Wales in the countryside. the moment you open the door the flies are in! I spend most of my time getting them out. The video was filmed in my front room and i do my best not to invite my mother round, she steals all my plant pots.
Great! I think people like Metaron, Anthony Cummins, ThegnThrand, Scholagladiatoria and some others should form a YT community about historical combat.
It is amazing! This video do answer my question. So samurais do use shield indeed, even in horseback. That is quite right, since shield is very useful in man to man melee.
Aloha, did you already finished the books? I know you said you are going to review them and I am sure that the double checking will take quite a lot of time. I just wonder if you can already say that these books would be good enough too be used as a source at university. I started to study japan, the coutry, the language and history as well, this semester.
man those shields look cool too. I always liked japanese armor and defensive items, even more than the pretty standard weapons, even if they're not all that efficient.
Great video. But I was thinking: The Samurai carried two blades of different lengths, but I've always heard that one of them was entirely for ceremonial purposes. But it's tempting to suggest that maybe the shorter one was used for one-handed fighting with a shield, and the longer one for use two-handed. Is there any evidence for anything like this ever having been the case?
This is new. I thought that the samurai didn't use shields (the common thought). Well to a different topic, could you cover some medieval soliders from other nations, like the Turkish Janissary or the Nord Vikings? That would be intresting.
weirdly enough i always thought there were shield bearers from japan just from watching there samurai movies. If you watch some of the big film you always see a group of shield guards (its what i calling them not there real name) in front of the infantry setting big shields down protect the rifleman. interesting enough a lot of those movies always seem to employ rifle battlalion in there set battle pieces. Yes i know movies are the least accurate form of information but i suspected that japanese film makers would try to be as close as possible.
So it rather sounds like these shields used for night raids, etc. were a little bit like the riot shields used today by riot police? I look forward to seeing more collaborations!
Wait, he said that you can't use a spear with a shield but didn't the Greek hoplites do exactly that? and also the french armored archers? Also he talked about Ninja scaling the walls during a siege, i thought ninja were only used as spies and assassins, were they used on the battlefield too?
He was talking about the big two-handed shields used to smash through the enemy line. Obviously if you hold a shield with both hands you can't also hold a spear, unlike a katana which which is worn at your side. Also, a better way to think of ninjas is as guerrilla fighters, instead of spies/assassins.
Richard, the idea of the ninja is actually almost totally wrong. That's the point of my whole crusade. Of course subscribe to my channel but search "list 25 ninja"
I always love your videos Metatron. I have a question related to an older video. Do you think the Catholic Church is evil? I was watching one of your older videos and the inquisition one caught my attention. See I know their was bad people in the inquisition, a lot of good jobs back then could be found in the church, so a lot of people got positions that benefited them, that they didn't deserve, it happens a lot now days in relation to everything. See I was taught that the inquisition was formed to prevent Kingdoms from torturing and executing Christians of other denominations. The time period I am talking about would have been around the time when one of the earlier crusades was ending, and the European kingdoms where suspicious of spies from the invading forces still snooping about. Also if I am remembering this correctly, I don't have my books right next to me so forgive me if I am wrong, but weren't the Cathars Dualist, not the combat meaning, because I do remember Crusaders during the 1st or 2nd Crusade becoming Dualist, and when the pope came to see them, why they weren't doing what they had originally sought out to do, they took the pope, cut his head off, and sent it back to the Vatican. Its been awhile since I red up on Dualist groups, so I could be mixing some of them up. Anyway, I feel their will be bad people in every group in the world, and I don't think they, the Catholics are evil, just human, no human is perfect. You wouldn't believe how many Catholic were oppressed in the United States for example. Their was a time where they weren't allowed to have a job, education, property, nor could they fight in the military. Its because of that the Catholics had to make their own school system in the united states, and Ireland if I remember it correctly. Also the KKK has killed, at least at one point, more Catholics than any other religious group in the united states, which were predominantly Baptist. I know Baptists are not evil, it had some bad members is all. Anyway I look forward to more of your videos. If I can make a request, could you make a video about Lances, Crossbows, Samosterls (Russian crossbow,) and Russian armour and weapons oh and morning star flails or all the flails you can? Besides Italian Armour and Catholic Knights, these thing interest me the most. Maybe a video on your thoughts on the Spartan armor from the HALO series?
Some samurai does use shields but it is not a popular concept and it just for specific purpose on specific occasion by specific samurai. It doesn't mean using shield is a culture widespread.
Nice video, very enlightening but what's up with the image quality on this one? Normally you come out pretty sharp but in this video you're a bit dark and and grainy as well.
As soon as Cummins is involved, don't forget to bring a huge of salt. For example, he's talking about "the shōgun" attacking in 1584. Very interesting, as there were no shōgun between 1573 and 1603. I'd very much like to see some more credible experts reacting on the so-called sources provided by Cummins. I unfortunately cannot say a lot about that. It's very new information and it contradicts all that is known about shields. If it were true, I'd think that these usages of shields would not be so obscure, but general knowledge. But then, as I said, I do not know the sources he refers to. Except for the Bansenshukai, that is, which was NOT written by shinobi no mono, but by so-called experts as a manual to fight them, and it's got quite some hearsay that actually proved to be wrong afterwards. Just do a bit of research on the controversy about the Bansenshukai and you'll easily find references to this.
The important thing here is: I will try to research the validity of the sources Cummins gave and see if there's any merit to it. If yes, then this would be a history changer.
Ninpiden (the so-called Hattori Hanzō writings) are written around 1655, while Hattori fell in battle in the 1590's. Ogasawara didn't write in the first two decades of the 1600's, but probably 1653, which makes it quite doubtful that he really had seen his share of battles in the Azuchi Momoyama Jidai. In reality the years claimed here by Cummins weren't the years he wrote in, but the years he was in active combat duty. (1615-1624). "This is not the tate". Yes it is. Tate is shield. Period. No matter what kind or type of shield, it's tate. It's a DIFFERENT type of tate at best, if the sources provided by Cummins here really are genuine and correctly transcripted and translated. Igaji no Shirubei and to some extent Rodanshu (shū?) - no sources found that confirm the existence of these writings outside of Cummin's book. And really? 1584 and the shōgun Tokugawa attacking? Tokugawa only became shōgun in 1603. And no, I do not provide links. Find your own sources. I don't trust people who provide links, as those links are most of the time just confirmation bias. It's not difficult to Google for your first steps of investigation. You'll find that Cummin's dates are off, sometimes even quite a bit. At one point even nearly a century, setting the books in peace time era instead of war time era.
Don't reply if all you can do is insult all people who are fascinated by Japan. I don't insult you either because you aren't. Instead focus on real criticism about things that are correct (like exposing the fraud Cummins) or that aren't (like 95% of what Cummins claims).
A variation of shield usage ib fiction. Game of thrones battle of the bastards. A row of big shields used two handed with behind them a few rows of pike poking through the gabs between the shields. Presenting a spiked wall. Don't know if Martin and the producers got inpired by some part of history. Disadvantages are the pikes get little room to get an aimed thrust in because the shields are so big. And the ranks are not very maneuvrable because of the long pikes and complex formation. And the pikes suck in close combat. Did you see that episode.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
Hello everyone Antony Cummins here. I really hope that you enjoyed this video, it was great of Metatron to let me do it with him. Think of the samurai in the main using two-handed weapons, but in some cases, they turned to the use of the shield!
If you have any questions about the ninja please ask them here and if Metatron wishes it we can do an answer video.
It was lots of fun to film this so looking forward to your comments.
It was really interesting to hear about shield use and what the primary sources of the era had to say about it. Are there any surviving examples of these shields? And do we know if the use of shields went up as gunpowder was introduced?
I tried to find information about the topic of shield use in Japan a few years ago, but without knowing where to being looking (and not having access to any translated primary sources) it was quite hard. I did find references to (and an illustration of) "Chinese shields" (the kind of round shield used in China) being used by individuals in the 13th or 14th century, but nothing about any form of widespread use, it just seemed like some samurais used them when they were on their own, due to personal preferences.
It was great! A real pleasure listening to you. I hope you do more stuff in the future!
Very much so. It is overlooked, we say "oh it's based on Chinese stuff" and "Europe was more advanced" The Japanese have loads left to show us. It is a subject called Gungaku - military study. I have two channels, Antony Cummins and Natori Ryu for more info on gungaku see Natori Ryu
Me too. Looking forward to loads more videos.
You are good at this, you should make a lot more content and metatron can help you get a bit more popular
I love this guy, his energy and enthusiasm are awesome! :D Definitely do more stuff together!
I actually tone it down. I would be out of my seat shouting if i could.
hey Antony, you have any designs for these sheilds? like what they wouldve looked like on the outside, and if theyre flat or slightly curved?
oh I really like him! so much energy. would love to see more from him!
Thank you. i hope we work together more.
Recently "discovered" Antony Cummins and I've been watching a lot of his videos, they're great, so much knowledge and clarification of quite misunderstood warriors - seeing you two colaborating is awesome and I hope to see a lot more!
Very good video and Antony when you ask about not being boring your enthusiasm and passion makes the subject matter more interesting. I always thought that a warrior culture such as the samurai would use shields in some way as it makes sense that they would experiment in different tactics. However I did not think they would use how you described very enlightening you two should definitely do more videos.
this is such an interesting topic, thanks so much for clearing up this subject for some of us that may not know about this. always glad to see a new video from you. good collaboration too
See this is why i love this channel. People that actually know what they are talking about and have degrees or experience to back it all up. Not some crappy top 10 that used google and Wikipedia for everything.
Please do continue. In a sea of fluff you are a refreshing source of higher education; the shining jewel on the fox's tail.
Namaste.
Some one likes rings of Saturn and or Sumerian stuff
Aye, religious symbolism is my mise-en-scène. I guess that's one of the reasons I relate to this channel. AN was the original "sky-daddy" and with all the polemic conflict in the world today the star is both a symbol of my faith and a personal reminder that the kami were here long before there were Muslims and Christians and Jews. It's not the end of the road, it's just sign leading the way. The trouble is that the study of paleotheology gets rather difficult in the aeons before before we started writing things down, but traces of the oral traditions still remain and there's enough contemporary material to keep me occupied for many lifetimes. I could go on for hours about Saturn, but I won't bore you any more than I already have. ;)
While I appreciate historical presentations (especially accurate ones) about the mundane aspects I'm really more interested in the spiritual life of the samurai and how that relationship between the realms played a role in society. He doesn't delve into it much but I can read between the lines and he clearly has some familiarity with the subject. In particular, I'd love to hear Metatron's thoughts on kuji-kiri. Unfortunately most of the available discussions are "authentic" ninjas and McDojo's selling snake oil. I think, generally speaking, when it comes to Japanese martial arts the Western world is missing the real meaning and value of the more mystical influences that permeate the culture. I know most folks are only here for the swords, but I'm more fascinated by the light reflected in the steel.
凡夫も悟れば仏なり
This is great! I like Antony and the work he is doing as much as you and your work. I really appreciate you doing this great collaboration and getting part 2 out this fast!
Thanks mik
really good video and great info. I knew about the pauldron shields from all the images i have seen but didn't know they actually used hand held shields with swords. thanks to both you guys.
He clearly is very passionate about what he is doing. It is always inspiring to see someone who loves what he is doing.
Oh sweet! Cool to see you two collaborating. Thanks for the video.
Even though I am not really a fan of Antony Cummins personally, I do appreciate that he does do the research. So, I found this video extremely interesting and informative. Great collab.
Awesome vid guys. Antony had some really interesting information. Had no idea the samurai used shields so much - but it makes sense!
Sound like interesting books, will buy and read just to support Cummins
supporting your channel. Look forward to reading Cummins work. Go Man
U! Great collaboration video, quite enjoyed the information and the
primary evidence researched and presented. It's excellent having a
channel on this subject matter from researcher/educator/etc perspective courtesy of Meta and his fantastic guest here today.
Very informative and enjoyable.
Thank you for the support, its always needed!
This guys just earned a new subscriber. Knowledge and enthusiasm made me instantly subscribe.
Very good video guys! You definitely have to do more like this. Very nice to hear of real History regarding samurais and not some stupid assumptions created by video game addicted people!
you could make a video about ranged weapons used by knights since most people only see them as melee fighters
What kind did they use and when because I honestly haven't heard of them using anything ranged except possibly muskets before Knights as combatants became less common
There's an account from the Crusades, The Battle of Arsuf in 1191, where knights and sergeants took up crossbows. Basically the christian army marched down the coastline from one city to another and got shot at the whole way, but their armour was too heavy so the saracen bowmen could shoot them full of arrows and they'd just keep going, but a lot of men at arms lost their horses. Apparently a lot of them went and joined the crossbowmen at the back of the christian army , nicked crossbows off of fallen and wounded soldiers, and then started shooting saracen horses.
+Emmanuel that's some serious Chain of Dogs stuff right there.
+Meriadoc Gunson I'm sure that's due to the fact that they had such an advantage in melee combat that there wasn't usually much of a point to using ranged weapons for them.
Vaughn DuPont also, especially in the late middle ages and before gunpowder, when armour was getting an edge over weapons, they probably knew that anything but a very heavy crossbow could not do much to someone wearing a decent amount of armour
In the historical Sengoku manga, there are shield walls slithering all over the battlefield, guarding the first men in spear formations and each archer had his own shieldbearer. Also, sources available within.
i remember seeing a picture of samurai arms and armour that had a small turtle shell adapted as a one handed shield, it was about 50cm long by 40cm wide and the kamon of the warrior was lacquered onto the frontof the shield
Really enjoyed this collaboration!!
Great to see another passionate student of history on the channel.
Thank you
Very interesting video, you're a talented speaker mister Cummins. I got one small thing i would like you to add if possible, and that's using the meteric system, since i and a lot of people don't know the imperial system. Other then that, great job :)
This is great, I am happy we learnt a lot more than we expected when this question was first brought up. :)
OMG this video was soo interesting! Great collab :)
This collab is great Metatron. Antonys research is great, you will not be disappointed by his books ^^.
Thank you Francis
So glad to see a follow up!
Hi Metatron, great video! I really enjoy watching your videos on Medieval Japan. I was wondering if you would make a video on Samurai Battle Formations/Tactics. That's a topic that hasn't really been covered before. I haven't found that many sources on that topic either. It would be really interesting to hear your thoughts and information on Samurai Battle Formations/Tactics. Thanks :)
You should have way more subscribers. You are most certainly up there with Skall and other famous warrior history youtubers.
Well poop, that means I have another type of shield missing from my collection. Well, guess I need to get around to fixing that.
Please email me images when you get it
Antony Cummins I certainly will if/when I am able to get it done. I still need to get around to finishing up the new handle for my bronze khopesh (lovely blade made by Neil Burridge), but after that I might see what I can do to make the one with a mail skirt.
I've got several viking rounds, a greek aspis, a Celtic hexagon, a buckler, a large heater, and some others running around already. The Tallhoffer dueling shield, a kite, and a scutum were on my to-do list already.
Know where I can get more information on the construction of the skirted Japanese shield?
so the natori ryu guy and this guy finally collabed, it's about time.
On the first video I was going to comment on how the people of the modern day Okinawa Prefecture used a shield (called a tinbe) when defending against wako pirates, but 1. I never got around to it, and 2. Upon further research I found that the Ryukyu Kingdom (which controlled Okinawa and the rest of the Ryukyu Islands) were not 100% part of Japan until 1875, so technically not completely Japanese, although in 1609 the Shimazu clan invaded some of the Ryukyu Islands and took control of them (they are still part of the Kagoshima Prefecture today), so it could be argued that some of the techniques might have found their way into Japanese culture. After all Okinawa is where karate and kobudo originated from.
Also I would love to see more videos like this. Maybe even comparing similar weapons from various different cultures (Naginata, Guan-dao and....similar European polearm, probably a glaive for example).
Good points.
Big fan of Antony. Would be good to see some exmples of how these shields were used.
ANTONY'S ACCENT IS REALLY GANGSTA, I EXPECT SOMEONE WITH HIS SPEECH TO WEAR A FEDORA AND EATING A CIGAR WEARING A TRENCHCOAT.
I might have to check these books out. I do prefer reading about the earlier periods, but having later stuff means I can add to more topics.
Very cool. I would like to see more colabs.
Great video enjoyed it thank you both
Very thorough research and not much to object about that.
But it maybe boils down to the very individualistic nature of samurai fighting, that means: some will use and like to use a shield and some will never use it.
By individualistic I mean; they liked to personalize their armour/outfit, because "you must look pretty when you die".
"I hope you're not getting bored of this, chaps." Never.
hey met! big fan would u mind some sugestions?
i would like you to cover anything that we dont hear too much about:
wierd/unsusual wepons
some other cultures that dont have that much (african,india,china)
more pop culture
i enjoyed it greatly thanks gentleman
I've already known Anthony for some time. I'm dying to get my hands in those books.
Hello Metatron, do you think you could do videos on how The Roman Empire fell and how the language changed in Italy as a part of this? If not keep up the awesome work your doing and keep spreading those wings mate 😉 Love your videos btw :D
The Eastern Roman empire, Byzantine which lasted to mid 15th Century
That I know but according to my opinion Byzantine wasn't a roman empire, they were more a empire of many cultures, germanic, slavic and roman culture and they became that because of the hunnic invasions which resulted in the Empire becoming a mix of people.....which the Romans we know and see in films were heavy against I think. But don't get me wrong the Eastern Roman Empire still had the foundation of the Roman culture and architect, alas the thing I meant was the Roman Empire as a whole, what it was before the splitting of the western and eastern roman empire and how that came to be et.c.
good video, also im happy to see you have a nice shirt and not your usual 90's tribal T-shirs :) that no dude older than 15 should use
This Antony Cummins guy looks legit. Time to subscribe!
It appears that shields were actually quite common. My question is why is it then that knowledge of them is so uncommon? Is it simply the focus on the sword in the Japanese mentality? And why have I seen no art containing the shield in Japanese artwork.
TheJosephB333 All great auestions I wonder myself. Its possible that it was all rare to see sheilded warriors, but common enough to see once or teice on the battle feild or being used in specfic tactic missions the eldites would hsve knowledge of happening.
Wait...
...Cummins is a real last name?
No, he has used it his entire life just to mess with you on this one video.
hahaha yes. Cummins is a real name. Scottish. But get this, i live in Commins Coch!
Is the Coch in Commins Coch pronounced the way I think it is?
Such an informative video.
Really enjoyed this.
Did anyone else get distracted by the bug in the background (7:23)?
There's another one next to it, it just doesn't seem to be moving... Where is he recording this? D:
Hi, i live in Wales in the countryside. the moment you open the door the flies are in! I spend most of my time getting them out. The video was filmed in my front room and i do my best not to invite my mother round, she steals all my plant pots.
You:
"Here are two very interesting books I've published, after a lifetime of study."
Me:
"LOOK, A BUG!"
We both made our contributions to this video.
So why did the torch shield have a candle on it? Would that not betray a night attack?
Great collab! Who needs history class when we have these resources? :D
Great!
I think people like Metaron, Anthony Cummins, ThegnThrand, Scholagladiatoria and some others should form a YT community about historical combat.
Were they used en masse by regular infantry blocks?
It is amazing! This video do answer my question.
So samurais do use shield indeed, even in horseback.
That is quite right, since shield is very useful in man to man melee.
Except that is wan't that they used it for, if you listen to the video. It was mostly for arrow protection.
Tight job guys!
Awesome video i really like him Antony you just got an extra sub
Because of you I've become a fan of Samurai...
I've got some questions: did the Japanese use crossbows in that era? Did they use cannons and not just arquebuses? Did they use mortars?
Hey metatron! would you make a video talking about the tsurugi and tachi japanese swords? there's a lack of this subject in the youtube..
Aloha,
did you already finished the books? I know you said you are going to review them and I am sure that the double checking will take quite a lot of time. I just wonder if you can already say that these books would be good enough too be used as a source at university. I started to study japan, the coutry, the language and history as well, this semester.
I find it really interesting that they seemed to prefer rectangular shields. is there a specific reason for that?
man those shields look cool too. I always liked japanese armor and defensive items, even more than the pretty standard weapons, even if they're not all that efficient.
Good collab !
Nice to see a fellow manc in the youtube business
Great to see another fanatic of ninjutsu, do you also practice ninjutsu? And if so with whom?
Antony is funny. make more collab with him.
hahah i hope in a good way but thank you
Sir Metatron, what about crossbows & throwing spears. Did Samurais use them?
When you mention books reviews would it be possible to do video about how historically accurate is Shogun by James Clavell?
that moment when you've heard the outro so many times that it's no longer awkward XD
I like this video. Do more.
Great video. But I was thinking: The Samurai carried two blades of different lengths, but I've always heard that one of them was entirely for ceremonial purposes. But it's tempting to suggest that maybe the shorter one was used for one-handed fighting with a shield, and the longer one for use two-handed. Is there any evidence for anything like this ever having been the case?
u guys should work together again. I think ud make an amazing team
Thank you. Me too. I really want to bring the truth to the world and this is a great step.
cool video do more collab wiith antony
This is new. I thought that the samurai didn't use shields (the common thought).
Well to a different topic, could you cover some medieval soliders from other nations, like the Turkish Janissary or the Nord Vikings? That would be intresting.
hi metatron! I was wondering what song you use in the intro?
awesome video, cheers
Shield lanterns were a thing in Japan as well? Cool.
ironically miyamoto musashi states that the katana and its predecessor the tachi were one handed swords.
weirdly enough i always thought there were shield bearers from japan just from watching there samurai movies. If you watch some of the big film you always see a group of shield guards (its what i calling them not there real name) in front of the infantry setting big shields down protect the rifleman. interesting enough a lot of those movies always seem to employ rifle battlalion in there set battle pieces. Yes i know movies are the least accurate form of information but i suspected that japanese film makers would try to be as close as possible.
Megatron can you do a video about sengoku jidai
Metatron why didn't gladiators use weapons like axes or pole arms?
yeah do more collaborationd
thank you!
Ok nice citations - now how often did shield use happen - any way to guess numbers for that?
Unknown. Seems it was a case of when moving into a place that was dark, or if you expected bullets and arrows.
I can't believe there are people crying about Anthony advertising his books. The man knows his stuff but most importantly a man's gotta eat.
So it rather sounds like these shields used for night raids, etc. were a little bit like the riot shields used today by riot police?
I look forward to seeing more collaborations!
Wait, he said that you can't use a spear with a shield but didn't the Greek hoplites do exactly that? and also the french armored archers? Also he talked about Ninja scaling the walls during a siege, i thought ninja were only used as spies and assassins, were they used on the battlefield too?
He was talking about the big two-handed shields used to smash through the enemy line. Obviously if you hold a shield with both hands you can't also hold a spear, unlike a katana which which is worn at your side.
Also, a better way to think of ninjas is as guerrilla fighters, instead of spies/assassins.
Richard, the idea of the ninja is actually almost totally wrong. That's the point of my whole crusade. Of course subscribe to my channel but search "list 25 ninja"
whats this, a new video so soon? More historic goodness. Count me in.
I always love your videos Metatron. I have a question related to an older video. Do you think the Catholic Church is evil? I was watching one of your older videos and the inquisition one caught my attention. See I know their was bad people in the inquisition, a lot of good jobs back then could be found in the church, so a lot of people got positions that benefited them, that they didn't deserve, it happens a lot now days in relation to everything.
See I was taught that the inquisition was formed to prevent Kingdoms from torturing and executing Christians of other denominations. The time period I am talking about would have been around the time when one of the earlier crusades was ending, and the European kingdoms where suspicious of spies from the invading forces still snooping about.
Also if I am remembering this correctly, I don't have my books right next to me so forgive me if I am wrong, but weren't the Cathars Dualist, not the combat meaning, because I do remember Crusaders during the 1st or 2nd Crusade becoming Dualist, and when the pope came to see them, why they weren't doing what they had originally sought out to do, they took the pope, cut his head off, and sent it back to the Vatican. Its been awhile since I red up on Dualist groups, so I could be mixing some of them up.
Anyway, I feel their will be bad people in every group in the world, and I don't think they, the Catholics are evil, just human, no human is perfect. You wouldn't believe how many Catholic were oppressed in the United States for example. Their was a time where they weren't allowed to have a job, education, property, nor could they fight in the military. Its because of that the Catholics had to make their own school system in the united states, and Ireland if I remember it correctly. Also the KKK has killed, at least at one point, more Catholics than any other religious group in the united states, which were predominantly Baptist. I know Baptists are not evil, it had some bad members is all.
Anyway I look forward to more of your videos.
If I can make a request, could you make a video about Lances, Crossbows, Samosterls (Russian crossbow,) and Russian armour and weapons oh and morning star flails or all the flails you can? Besides Italian Armour and Catholic Knights, these thing interest me the most.
Maybe a video on your thoughts on the Spartan armor from the HALO series?
Some samurai does use shields but it is not a popular concept and it just for specific purpose on specific occasion by specific samurai. It doesn't mean using shield is a culture widespread.
So was a regular katana used single handed with a shield?
average length, weight and balance, instead of say a shorter lighter one
Interesting stuff, but if/when you do more videos together, try to get him to cut back on the sales pitch a little.
How historically accurate is the depiction of Ninja in Naruto? Just kidding I couldn't resist! LOL
Nice video, very enlightening but what's up with the image quality on this one? Normally you come out pretty sharp but in this video you're a bit dark and and grainy as well.
It may be my Camera. I think i will need to upgrade.
I originally thumb down this video but you fixed your captions so I took away the thumb down. Thanks. (but there is still maybe 10% gibberish)
As soon as Cummins is involved, don't forget to bring a huge of salt.
For example, he's talking about "the shōgun" attacking in 1584.
Very interesting, as there were no shōgun between 1573 and 1603.
I'd very much like to see some more credible experts reacting on the so-called sources provided by Cummins.
I unfortunately cannot say a lot about that. It's very new information and it contradicts all that is known about shields.
If it were true, I'd think that these usages of shields would not be so obscure, but general knowledge.
But then, as I said, I do not know the sources he refers to. Except for the Bansenshukai, that is, which was NOT written by shinobi no mono, but by so-called experts as a manual to fight them, and it's got quite some hearsay that actually proved to be wrong afterwards. Just do a bit of research on the controversy about the Bansenshukai and you'll easily find references to this.
The important thing here is: I will try to research the validity of the sources Cummins gave and see if there's any merit to it.
If yes, then this would be a history changer.
Ninpiden (the so-called Hattori Hanzō writings) are written around 1655, while Hattori fell in battle in the 1590's.
Ogasawara didn't write in the first two decades of the 1600's, but probably 1653, which makes it quite doubtful that he really had seen his share of battles in the Azuchi Momoyama Jidai. In reality the years claimed here by Cummins weren't the years he wrote in, but the years he was in active combat duty. (1615-1624).
"This is not the tate".
Yes it is. Tate is shield. Period. No matter what kind or type of shield, it's tate. It's a DIFFERENT type of tate at best, if the sources provided by Cummins here really are genuine and correctly transcripted and translated.
Igaji no Shirubei and to some extent Rodanshu (shū?) - no sources found that confirm the existence of these writings outside of Cummin's book. And really? 1584 and the shōgun Tokugawa attacking? Tokugawa only became shōgun in 1603.
And no, I do not provide links. Find your own sources. I don't trust people who provide links, as those links are most of the time just confirmation bias. It's not difficult to Google for your first steps of investigation. You'll find that Cummin's dates are off, sometimes even quite a bit. At one point even nearly a century, setting the books in peace time era instead of war time era.
Don't reply if all you can do is insult all people who are fascinated by Japan. I don't insult you either because you aren't.
Instead focus on real criticism about things that are correct (like exposing the fraud Cummins) or that aren't (like 95% of what Cummins claims).
A variation of shield usage ib fiction. Game of thrones battle of the bastards. A row of big shields used two handed with behind them a few rows of pike poking through the gabs between the shields. Presenting a spiked wall. Don't know if Martin and the producers got inpired by some part of history.
Disadvantages are the pikes get little room to get an aimed thrust in because the shields are so big. And the ranks are not very maneuvrable because of the long pikes and complex formation. And the pikes suck in close combat.
Did you see that episode.
I like how they had impromptu shields xD
What would happen if you crossed a Spartan (Greek) with a samurai?