I frequently dual wield a goose and a swan, the two biggest assholes out of all the birds, as I rush into the fray of the produce section of my local supermarket.
you probably dont give a shit but if you're stoned like me atm then you can watch pretty much all of the latest series on InstaFlixxer. I've been binge watching with my brother during the lockdown =)
When I was younger, we had "hit each other with sticks" day. Which was essentially Larping, but getting a solid hit on torso or head was a kill, not a critical hit - and there was no HP. With dual swords, I had a massive advantage over anyone using sword and shield, but I was at a disadvantage against spears. I would end up having to bait a strong thrust, parry it and move in really closely really fast. Really hard to do with a fucked ankle, but it was the only way I could win.
I have been training with the sword for 10 years. I am best with a katana, and can also dual wield as well. I run a fight club where I spar with others with like interests and teach them what I know. Against spears, I have learned to cross my blades to catch their shaft in btwn the scissor form and either force it away to move inward, or simply let the blades travel along the length of their spear until at last my blades connect with their bodies as I go in towards them.
I'm an amateur medieval weapons enthusiast and I agree. Duel wielding vs a pole arm, shifting your opponents thrust to the side then running the blade up his shaft is a satisfying kill. The look of sheer horror on the opponent when they realize they fucked up is amazing XD Although if it were a real life fight, the pole arm wielder would simply have to step back and use the hilt of the pole arm to strike the duelists face, then you would either quickly regain your distance and thrust or trip the duelist with your superior leverage and downward impale them. (Got penalized at a tourney for doing the latter XD)
MrVkull I've had a few try that and it's fairly easy to parry since your weapons are still in contact. I'd like to try it with armor on some time, though. I want to see how difficult it would be to gain control of the spearman. Of course, spears shine in skirmishes whereas dual swords really fail hard core compares to sword and shield or sword and spear. It's really only viable for duels - which is a major downfall. You're not going to sell yourself to an army by saying "look at these sweet dueling skills" unless you were trying to be a champion hoping your leaders decide on a champion vs champion battle - which were quite rare. You'd have to make a living in tournaments and it's still a pretty high risk vs reward to go without a shield.
Actually, I would disagree about dual wielding weapons of the same length. Of course, having a longer weapon in your striking arm has its advantages. However, the psychological "warfare" should also be taken into account. If you wield two weapons of the same length, your opponent will probably have doubts about which arm is your striking arm. And if you are ambidextrous, this can be lethal to him, because you can actually strike with both your right and your left arm with similar, even equal efficiency. Also, attacking with both weapons, though might be non-instinctive (i still prefer the concept of blocking with one and striking a defenseless opponent with the other [assuming they use a two-handed weapon]) if well-timed and/or coupled with a well done dodge, this way could yield lethal results to the opponent. Again, it is all a matter of good timing and reflexes.
Armando Gutierrez You absolutely sure none of the masters ever attacked with the two swords? Also remember not every master had his teachings written down.
A small note. Hara kiri and seppuku, while they mean, literally, the same thing, they carry different connotations. I would equate seppuku to an honorable taking of your own life or, as you said, a way for a person to regain honor for their family name. I say this because seppuku was not always done in "disgrace", but was also recorded as being done to show loyalty (Some warriors would do seppuku if their lord died) , or steadfastness to a cause (those who did seppuku when the sword was officially outlawed in japan). the Kami Kaze, flying their planes into ships, while not seppuku, was seen similarly. the European equivalent might be "falling on your sword". You would generally have a second to semi-behead you, most of the time as soon as you reached for the knife, usually a kaiken rather than a wakizashi or tanto. Hara kiri is essentially just suicide and carries similar views in western culture, something extreme and sometimes selfish or wasteful. You probably don't have a second to semi-behead you and you're probably using your wakizashi to do it. I'd also like to clarify that the wakizashi's purpose, as designed, was to enable a samurai to fight inside, where the length of a katana would be a disadvantage and/or where weapons were to be left at the door. It was to the "every day carry" what the katana is to the combat assault rifle. One was a weapon, the other was just protection.
Hara kiri was actually the same thing as Seppuku, but it was a slangy, low-class way of saying it. Literally, it translates as 'belly-slitting'. The method was the same, though.
Yeah, they're one in the same. But I wouldn't say harakiri is slang, or even low-class. It's just the Japanese reading of the kanji (kun-yomi). Seppuku is the Chinese reading (on-yomi). On-yomi generally sounds flowery and poetic, and kun-yomi sounds a bit folksy-er, but either one is perfectly legitimate. Of course, seppuku tended to be the preferred pronunciation, given the ceremonial/aristocratic context of the act.
Hi Metatron, I'd like to suggest that you check out eskrima (also known as kali, or arnis). It's a Filipino martial arts that specializes in dual wielding. It's recently been popularized by Bruce Lee, but originally was used in guerrilla warfare by Filipino rebels during the Spanish occupation of the Philippines. While the more popular depiction of arnis is using two sticks of equal length (roughly that of the ninjato/short sword), there are variations: espada-y-daga and daga-y-daga ("sword and dagger", and "dagger and dagger" respectively). Unlike what you mentioned in the video however, the long/short blade combo in arnis isn't always to have the dagger defending and the sword attacking; instead, the sword can also be used to make an opening for you to get very close to the enemy and you can shiv or slice the guy up close with your dagger (being nearly chest-to-chest against your enemy makes it harder for them to fight back with the longsword, which at this point has been reduced to just the pommel due to lack of swinging room). Just in case you'd like to revisit the topic 😊
"Recently been popularized by Bruce Lee" Buddy... Bruce Lee has been dead for quite some time. Not to mention, if you're going to parry, you can't just counter straight after. It's both at once, or not at all, in any style of dual wielding.
I'm fully aware that he's been dead for quite some time; the term was used in a relative fashion. I'd like to know how it's not possible to do what I just mentioned, which is to parry while moving forward, followed by a dagger attack up close.
***** If two people are dual wielding, hell, even if it were just one, it becomes a game of parry. It looks cool, but you just end up in a giant cycle. It's pointless.
Given that's exactly how arnis works - two people dual wielding - and it is often considered one of the deadliest martial arts in the world (at least from what I've gathered), I find it amusing that you consider it pointless.
***** You don't quite seem to get my point. If you parried, and than attacked, it gives them a huge amount of time to parry back. And than they attack after they parry, and it's just an endless cycle. If you're going to step forward to parry, attack at the same time, as this gives your opponent no time to really defend himself against your second strike. He may parry your blow as you counter, but your weapon tat countered is now free to attack. Yes, there are many different styles. But this idea of "Parry, than attack with the other blade" is just stupid. Why the hell wouldn't you use your second blade at the same timing anyway?
There is an example of dual wielding 2 swords on foot and on horseback in a comprehensive military manual developed by Korea during the Joseon Dynasty called the Muye Dobo Tongji. This military manual brought together many different martial arts from Korea, China, and Japan for use by Korea's army and included dual wielding. It was a difficult martial art to master and only some of their best soldiers were expected to know it, but apparently it was used in their military examinations. I would like to know what your thoughts are on that.
My own (limited) experience in fencing I wound up using the shorter weapon for attack more often. I personally find it helpful to tangle up my opponents primary weapon and then clsoe within dagger range. I find a lot of opponets used to the opposite strategy get surprised by this and when your in close enough with their main weapon out of the way the dagger is the weapon you want.
Espada y daga is fairly simple extension of the sword'n'board techniques in a duel/arena conditions, where you do not expect a lot of things getting thrown at you. It takes some practice, but not overwhelmingly so. If you care to wield two near equal swords - you want to have near equal skill and strength wielding it with each arm. High skill at that. Took me four years of work to become any good with it, but it does give me a solid advantage switching my attack pattern at will.
+Metatron Your videos are great. I was never interested in this kind of things until I stumbled upon your channel. Now you have my curiosity aroused! One question that came to my mind is that, is there any scientific approach to these fights? For instance, has there been any modelling of the forces involved in a real combat? (Sorry to take away it from an art form, I'm an engineer you see)
Actually, the Filippino Kali system of "stick and knife" fighting was adopted from the spanish "Espada y daga" (rapier and dagger), which was very popular during the Spanish colonization period. So, one thing to add, the double wielding was really very popular in Europe, and very often used in battle, when the mellay started
@@kylewilliams8114 he definitely did not say to use two long blades. specifically the sword and the companion sword in most translations. not sure why you would make stuff up like that?
Darius Durandal its a joke that now that i have to explain it is way less funny. manny say sudoku instead of sepaku, so its a running gag that you say it wrong.
The manga "Vagabond" Loosely portrays a lot of Miyamoto Musashi's story. It's obviously a work of fiction, but it contains details and stories that are believed to be true about his journey. It's an excellent read, it's one of the reasons why I got into learning more about the various weapons you can find in this world
Great explanation of an interesting topic. I think it would be interesting for you to watch or join in some sparring of Eskrima, the Philippine duel stick system and then hear your take on two short weapons vs a short and long. I have trained in it for a number of years (in a "Cacoy" Cañete Kali Arnis Eskrima school) and can say from experience that its super combat effective and I am having trouble picturing a person being successful against it if one hand had a long weapon such as a sword. In my mind I see the sword being too slow and easy to bypass/unbalance with the much faster strikes from an Eskrimador's stick. One of the big advantages of the two short weapons being that you can step forward as you deflect with one stick and simultaneously strike with the other stick, ending in close quarters and inside the most effective range of swords or spears. I actually used to train against spears in sparing and it was pretty easy to deflect a thrust moving forwards or advance past the spears point as it tries to slash. I have never trained in any sword styles though so its just speculation on my part as to if two shorter weapons would be more effective than a long and a short. Just putting this out there as mental exercise to hear peoples thoughts on it, nothing negative about your video which was well presented and historically interesting!
What a great video. Now, I cannot speak at all for western fighting, but I am learning Shin Kagerou style swordsmanship and learning just a bit about the samurai culture, I've learned that samurai carried anywhere between one and three swords based entirely on what their Daimyo decreed, so it is not entirely unrealistic that some samurai were required to carry two katana. I would certainly never want to dual wield katana however. Taking one hand off your katana is a good way to lose power and speed. Awesome analysis, though. Spot on about not dual wielding longswords or katana.
The chinese monks have a lot of paired weapon sets of the same size, the longest of which being the Twin Hooks and scaling down into punching daggers and these crazy little spinning daggers of which I've forgotten the name. As has also been mentioned, Eskrima is another style that is centered around two weapons of equal length, and Sai's were often weilded in pairs.
Several Okinawan weapons are commonly wielded in pairs: sai, kama, and tonfa, or tuifa. (Okinawa nunchaku could also be wielded in pairs, as well as a solo weapon.) There are equivalent weapons found in China, Southeast Asia and even South Asia (it is thought the sai may have arisen from the Indian trisula, or trident spear), where some or all may have originated. (This may not be 100 percent true, though, but I recall that the Chinese guǎi is longer than the Okinawan tonfa and usually wielded solo.) I remember reading that an Okinawan sai master was said to carry three sai: one in each hand, with a third sai kept in his obi. He could pin the foot of an opponent to the ground with a fling of one sai, then replace the sai he had thrown in his empty hand with the third sai.
Could you a video on philipno dual short swords? I've found using a sword shorter then the length of your arm much like the ones used in Sinawali can make it really effective. Also you can mount them on your back parallel. (Along the spine)
Well, there are some asian martial arts that use dual weilding as main techniques: various styles of wushu (several blades, some look like hooks, others are round, curved, etc) , kobudo (tonfa, sai, kama, nunchaku, jitte), philipino/malasyan/singaporean martial arts (knifes, daggers, battons).
Can you do a video on the greatest classic warriors, and the qualities that made them the men, or women they were? And how these lessons apply to living in the modern world?
On the subject of "dual wielding" similar length swords I can somewhat confidently say that, yes it did happen historically in China. There are mentions of it in books, manuals, and scholarly treatises, and it is practiced today in several Chinese Martial Arts. There are forms for both the Dāo (Chinese saber) and Jiàn (double edged sword) and these forms are called Shuāng Dāo (雙刀) and Shuāng Jiàn (雙劍) respectively. In fact there are (modern and historical) Chinese swords designed for the purpose of dual wielding, and are the same length. The design aspect is that they are built to both fit inside of the same scabbard. However, I will admit that some of these weapons conform to the type you mentioned in your video, where one is shorter than the other. And again, as you said, it probably was only used in personal duels rather than on the battlefield, where a sword and shield was preferable. But I'm no expert on this either. I'm just a martial arts amateur who learned Chinese and dabbles in oriental history a little. Greatly appreciate your videos by the way. Very honest and very informative.
have you heard about Traditional Filipino Martial Arts(Arnis/Eskrima/Kali)? We can use both of equal sized swords/dagger for dual wielding and yeah we do Espada y Daga (sword and dagger) too.
A friend of mine was trying to dual-wield with my Falchion [I'm pretty sure its a falchion, it looks similar to your Orcrist but is almost 4' long with an 18" hilt, full crossguard ans gentle S-curve from the tip of the blade to the end of the pommel] and his nunchaku. He wasn't grasping the concept that both are 2-handed weapons [based on the length and balance of the hilt of the falchion its a 2.5 hand sword as there are 3 different places you can grip it depending on the strike or guard you are trying to perform].
+JAEnterprice i could see potential use for axes and short cutlass/daggers in naval combat. fighting below decks in boarding actions restricts the use of longer swords and could be very chaotic.
In Japan it was a katana and a wakazashi for parries like a fencer with a dagger. The Chinese martial arts used two short swords that are almost knives, or long ones for performance.
Same length twin blades were used in China and the Philippines primarily. It was used more often in the Philippines, however, in arts such as Kali Salak, where two identical short blades were used in together not as two separate weapons, but together, as two halves of the same whole. The Chinese took this concept even further by quite literally making twin blades that fit together in the same sheath, both for practicality and symbolism (they were also a little easier to handle with dual wielding than other weapons).
The case of swords (two rapiers) is described in XVI - XVII century Iberian sources: - Figueiredo was a Verdadeira Destreza master who in his «Oplosophia», stated (I'm editing heavily because he is wordy): «And for about all the double weapons [sword and dagger, sword and buckler, etc] I will write in this book, but I won't deal here with the two swords for they are of little use, and I will write about them somewhere else, and how one can effectively defend against them and control them both with one single sword; because they are only admired inasmuch as they are feared by the ignorants, and that fear once admitted it is hard to put to rest. But I will trust what I saw in my experience so that people who carry two swords will find an end to their martyrdom, and those who don't will fear them less.» So, TLDR: some people did carry twin swords around, and Figueiredo scorned them for that. - Godinho, on the other hand, was a master belonging into the «Destreza Comum», which basically means all swordfighting not considered «Verdadeira Destreza». He wrote in «Arte de Esgrima» about the case of swords extensively, giving rules for how they should be used in various scenarios, including: - A narrow street - A not-so-narrow street - When you are attacked from both sides - Against multiple opponents in a wide street - When you have to defend someone (i.e. bodyguard duty) - To clear a crowd ...etc He's very specific, writing about 11folios (recto+verso, so 22 pages) on the matter. It is no coincidence that the rule titles (not the movements) are similar to the montante rules: they are part of the same pedagogic method, where they taught swordfighting based on scenarios and set sequences of movements. You can get «Oplosophia» (and also «Arte de Esgrima», when it is back on stock) here: ageaeditora.com/livros/oplosophia-e-verdadeira-destreza-das-armas/ ageaeditora.com/livros/arte-de-esgrima/
What about fma? I do Kali (PTK) and we train a lot with two swords (Sticks). A second video about the topic would be very nice =). I realy like your channel btw, thx for the cool stuff ^^
Hey buddy, thanks for the video, I am glad there are people worried about correcting all these misconceptions, most of which I believed in. Anyways, do you have a video on Myiamoto Musashi? Not sure if that's how it's written anymore, but I have read the mangá Vagabond, that tells his tale and it is very interesting (if anything close to reality, he was a real badass). If you don't, hey, I think it would be a nice topic. Peace!
There is some stuff in IIRC one of Fiore's manuscripts about using two rapiers. Although, its a similar situation, just more ambidextrous, one defends and the other strikes. Preferably in one motion haha
SerAlgernop BlitzKrieger Fiore doesn't deal with rapiers as they didn't exist yet, so I suspect that you are thinking of Agrippa or someone later on. Fiore does , however, show dual wielding with clubs, altho I believe that he tells you to throw the second club, then rush in with the first :p
one complaint and I could be wrong in all my studies of the samurai it was said that the Tanto was used to commit hara kiri not the wakazashi as the blade itself is to long
I can still see two gladii being wielded in tandem effective, though this would be more suitable in an urban setting like Suburbia, rather than a battlefield... It would take a good bit of effort to train the non-dominant to be as effective and as agile as the dominant hand, but it could be done and to great effect.
It is also possible to use the long sword to parry in a switch up and go into close range with the dagger. One of the big things with duels using longer swords is that they are not exactly effective in close range. Samurai had Wakizashi's for that exact reason as well (They were used while fighting indoors, or pulled when the enemies got close and/or you couldn't use your katana.)
hey man lovin ur stuff id like to get ur opinion on light sabers and their various and forms keeping in mind force sensitivity also double bladed swords ur thoughts and finally spartans lost against romans im curious and finally can u shed some light on some of the bs from the deadliest warrior show lol
Great video again! Only I'd add that "they mostly use 'seppuku'" means that most of the Japanese won't even understand the word 'harakiri'. Been there, tried it. They just don't know it and it usually sounds very weird to them. Though my experience only applies to the people from Osaka. :)
A set of swords carried by a samurai were called a Daisho, and were only carried by samurai as a way to show their social status(samurai were considered to be a sort or ruling class. The Daisho wasn't however considered to simpy be just a katana and wakazashi, a tanto could also be substituted for a wakazashi. This second sword wasn't just used for seppuku however, as you pointed out it was also used as an auxiliary weapon, should the katana be damaged or lost, but also for indoors combat, as the length of a katana would make it very difficult if not near impossible to fight in tight spaces, so a smaller sword would instead be used. Another point is that while a katana was limited t the samurai class, a wakazashi could be worn by some one of the chonin(merchants, etc.) class. I recommend you read Musashi's "The Book of Five Rings" he actually discusses his principles behind Ni-Ten No Ichi Ryu as well as his philosophy on strategy, he has some other books but the names escape me.
+Metatron I don't want to sound an idiot. I have leant double knives, also every baton. I just wondered if learning double gladius was a good option over one. for self defensive purpose
9 лет назад+2
+Metatron dual wielding short swords like ginuntings and barongs is done in philipino martial arts.
7:15 Not correct about the "doesn't make sense" part. Dual wielding katanas can be highly effective and advantageous. Takes some training but do-able. Just like using chopsticks with your left hand, or even using two pairs simultaneously with both hands. Can be trained. Some ppl can do it naturally. Granted some ppl are totally bad at it, so it "doesn't make sense" to them.
Dual wielding in Duels was actually pretty common. There were even specializedeapons, called "left hand daggers", designed to parry or even catch and break the oponents blade. Some of them had also several blades (used e.g. in Spain), like this: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springklingendolch#/media/File:Left_hand_dagger_w-spring.JPG My question would be theoretical: Would it be possible to modify such a dagger so you could use the 3blade-mechanism to inflict heavier wounds to a (non armored) enemy?
I think that the parrying dagger (not just any knife) is optimal for the offhand not only because of its [speed], but because you need a weapon [short] enough to not interfere with your main hand. Parrying is done with the [strong] of the blade so parrying with a katana in the offhand means the main hand (arm) must be already out of the way, as shown in some heavily choreographed videos on youtube. (In a real duel such techniques would get someone killed I believe). But [rapier+dagger] and [backsword+buckler] are not the only dual-wielding systems. There is also the [rapier+rapier] system, in which the focus is the exact opposite; you parry with the main hand and attack with the offhand. The key point here is the [thrust-centric] nature of the offhand weapon and its extraordinary [length] to counteract the offhand's decreased [reach]. That is, you can actually even attack with main hand and offhand at the same time - it is essentially a single-tempo system - provided you keep them far enough from each other to keep the opponent from controlling both your weapons. Oh and I should point out that the shield is the best offhand weapon in a duel too, as it covers more lines of attack, and being heavy and big it can actually push the opponent's weapon out of line quite easily. The only reason one would not use a shield - in any conceivable scenario - is because he already enjoys adequate protection from full-plate armor or he has a pole-arm. Thank you for your time creating this educating and entertaining video.
Nah... Wakizashi were a spare apparently they had to leave the katana outside, but could carry the wakizashi indoors, the tanto was for suicide. They would cut across the bowel, go back half way then downwards so the entrails spilled out (ideally, but most didn't). Then the second (person, usually an ally) would slice their heads off, before they screamed in pain like a bitch, thus embarrassing themselves. The Wakizashi is a bit unweildy for surgically removing your own bowels. I bet you knew that tho, too many bevies the night before or something. Very educational tho. thanks for the video..
:/ Dagger... not really. As for a Rapier, I know next to nothing about those. Consider a Wakizashi blade would be around 2 to three foot long. I'm certainly no expert with sword technique.
"something like this", yeah, but, as you know, the japanese didn't used trust attacks, therefore there would be no reason for the main blade to be pointed forward. So, there were multiple stands using the dual wielding, but for simplification lets use the basic stand: the main attack of samurais was a vertical cut to split the enemy in 2, from the skull to the crotch in a single cut. Therefore, there would always be one blade protecting your head from such attacks, and another ready to slice an enemy that attempts to advance, you would attack by simultaneously lifting your front blade to protect your head and lower the back hand on a cut against the enemy, this way you would stay protected as you attacked, and would always have one hand "cocked" to cut, not needing to "wait" while you recover from one blade's swing to attack again, allowing for a fast barrage of attacks, without lowering one's defence. Of course, this is not the only stance of dual wielding, but it's is the only one we are allowed to tell people that don't train in our dojo, for situations like this. Hope I've helped.
1066, battle of hastings... William the conquerer cleverly feigns retreat before ordering his Norman knights to charge Harold's pursuing Saxon Huscarls while dual weilding swords, utterly smashing the Saxon shield formation :D
So in every dojo they have diferent techique or we can learn anything in 1 dojo, i mean i want dual wielding weapon but i littebit nervous about dojo in my town, and what should i aks to them ?
"icepick grip", as its called, is usually used more with knife that with a sword. Its taught because you aren't ALWAYS able to pick up a weapon in a normal grip - if you just grab a knife in a hurry out of a knife block, for example, you don't necessarily have time to turn the weapon around.
Biomechanically, it's great for defense. It acts in correlation to our arms so we can absorb heavier impacts and spring them back. Also, skallagrims video was flawed and lacked real experience. He was using reverse grip and still attacking/defending like it was in a normal grip. A different grip requires different attack methods. Reverse grips aren't really *limited* to close range, more like they *excel* , it's more comfortable to weild and a lot more aggressive. I love dual wielding with only my left sword in reverse grip. It's so effective.
I'm way late because I'm doing research for a novel I'm working on, and this popped up in my searches. Before I ask this, just be warned; I talk about my stories and characters like they're real, and they often have more control over themselves than I do. People often talk about how using two weapons (sword or otherwise) wouldn't be practical for the battlefield, and as a mainstay tactic, I might agree. If you're talking armies, you would want that shield line. The problem I'm having in my research is the fact that the character who may be using this style, isn't on the battlefield. He's traveling, and doing a lot of it. He's a swordsman, but more of a finesse fighter even so, and I just don't see him being comfortable with anything but blades in his hands. The twin blades he wants to carry feel right for his character, and provide a host of symbolisms that will enhance the story further. So I'm curious what your thoughts are on more of a Xena type situation for "dual wielding". Someone spending a lot of time on the road, and in my case, without a horse. He might run into a few soldiers, but mostly, it's bandits and other stray problems that he's fighting. Never a full on war. I understand that bucklers are small and light, but if he prefers dual swords, and is good with them, I question wither he'd bother carrying one. Just more weight and another thing to care for on the road.
He says the word "harikiri" is more popular in the West than "seppuku", maybe it was in 2014 or it is in Europe, but I'd never heard the word "harikiri" until this video.
So would it make sense to use two short swords or would that just be a big disadvantage? Logically it sounds bad unless one fights defensively. What do you guys think?
Many have the opinion that dual wielding was only done in the context of individual combat and civilian contexts, and that it was an improvisation by people who didn't have access to better armaments.
yes I agree it was done in the context of individual combat, but I don't fully agree with the idea of it being an improvisation, becasue there are many treatises particularly here in Italy which lead us to think it was practiced by sword masters. Also sword and buckler was rather common in England, and the idea of using a dagger together with the buckler to me sounds very intelligent. Anyhow you could be right and I could be wrong, we never stop learning ;) Thanks for watching anyways :D
Something I have seen in video games (particularly Dragon Age Origins and Awakening) is the shield used for offense in addition to the standard defense. Like, for example, a shield bash, taking the shield and making a punching or striking motion with it. Is this something that was ever done, or is this strictly "because it looks cool" fiction?
Buckler only. Well, shield shoves were a thing. The Greek Phalanx is known for doing something similar. They would all push each other, whilst the front row occasionally bashes their opponent. But it wasn't too common.
Could someone who's ambidextrous effectively use two swords of the same length? For example, two wakizashi rather than a wakizashi and katana combo. I've heard others talk about dual wielding, mainly rapier and dagger, and it seemed like yes the dagger was used for defense, but also for offensive diversion. IE, strike the opponent's sword with the dagger while at the same time thrusting with your own sword. I'm certainly not trying to criticize or discredit historical fighting styles, but I just feel it would make more sense to use two wakizashi, or even a wakizashi/tanto combo, as opposed to a katana/wakizashi combo, mainly because the katana is meant to be used with two hands. I feel like using the katana with only one hand would be awkward and more difficult.
some tips for those who are going to duel willed. train each hand to use a sword wen you have got both hands to a good level of doing both atacking and defending then pic the best stance and work on using both swords together this is what i was tort from a Japanese sword master so i trust his advice
I think you are looking at "Case of Swords" (the historical name for duel wielding) in a very narrow way. You wanted both weapons to be the same length so that you could change which swords attacked and which one defended at will, which was the appeal of it that fencing masters discussed. The concept you discuss in this video is that of sword and dagger, which is a different thing entirely. Case of swords refers specifically to the use of two swords of equal length. That is what the two men in the plate from Agrappa's treatise shows, and that Is what Mancelino, Morozzo, and Di Grassi all discuss in their respective treatises featuring case.
I frequently dual wield a goose and a swan, the two biggest assholes out of all the birds, as I rush into the fray of the produce section of my local supermarket.
Do you keep a stellar's jay in the boot for surprises?
I’m terrified of your power my good man
you probably dont give a shit but if you're stoned like me atm then you can watch pretty much all of the latest series on InstaFlixxer. I've been binge watching with my brother during the lockdown =)
@Callum Royal definitely, I've been using InstaFlixxer for years myself :)
If you haven't, could you please do a video on Sword-Breakers?
When I was younger, we had "hit each other with sticks" day. Which was essentially Larping, but getting a solid hit on torso or head was a kill, not a critical hit - and there was no HP. With dual swords, I had a massive advantage over anyone using sword and shield, but I was at a disadvantage against spears. I would end up having to bait a strong thrust, parry it and move in really closely really fast. Really hard to do with a fucked ankle, but it was the only way I could win.
You had an advantage against people who probably didn't know how to use a shield to maximum effectiveness.
Yeah, I'm sure shields require years of training to make sure you keep it in front of you.
I have been training with the sword for 10 years. I am best with a katana, and can also dual wield as well. I run a fight club where I spar with others with like interests and teach them what I know. Against spears, I have learned to cross my blades to catch their shaft in btwn the scissor form and either force it away to move inward, or simply let the blades travel along the length of their spear until at last my blades connect with their bodies as I go in towards them.
I'm an amateur medieval weapons enthusiast and I agree. Duel wielding vs a pole arm, shifting your opponents thrust to the side then running the blade up his shaft is a satisfying kill. The look of sheer horror on the opponent when they realize they fucked up is amazing XD Although if it were a real life fight, the pole arm wielder would simply have to step back and use the hilt of the pole arm to strike the duelists face, then you would either quickly regain your distance and thrust or trip the duelist with your superior leverage and downward impale them. (Got penalized at a tourney for doing the latter XD)
MrVkull
I've had a few try that and it's fairly easy to parry since your weapons are still in contact. I'd like to try it with armor on some time, though. I want to see how difficult it would be to gain control of the spearman.
Of course, spears shine in skirmishes whereas dual swords really fail hard core compares to sword and shield or sword and spear. It's really only viable for duels - which is a major downfall. You're not going to sell yourself to an army by saying "look at these sweet dueling skills" unless you were trying to be a champion hoping your leaders decide on a champion vs champion battle - which were quite rare.
You'd have to make a living in tournaments and it's still a pretty high risk vs reward to go without a shield.
Actually, I would disagree about dual wielding weapons of the same length. Of course, having a longer weapon in your striking arm has its advantages.
However, the psychological "warfare" should also be taken into account. If you wield two weapons of the same length, your opponent will probably have doubts about which arm is your striking arm. And if you are ambidextrous, this can be lethal to him, because you can actually strike with both your right and your left arm with similar, even equal efficiency. Also, attacking with both weapons, though might be non-instinctive (i still prefer the concept of blocking with one and striking a defenseless opponent with the other [assuming they use a two-handed weapon]) if well-timed and/or coupled with a well done dodge, this way could yield lethal results to the opponent. Again, it is all a matter of good timing and reflexes.
Maciej Kozak yeah, fuck the swordmasters who practiced dueling all their lives, this dude knows his Dark Souls
Armando Gutierrez You absolutely sure none of the masters ever attacked with the two swords? Also remember not every master had his teachings written down.
When I use two weapons I always make sure they are of equal size.
Im dual-wielding a sword and a shield ;)
I'm dual wielding boxing gloves
Noup, you're wearing gloves, not wielding it. But can dual-wield two shields, wearing boxing gloves ;)
I'm dual wielding a mouse and a keyboard
and I have a two handed mouse...
Dual shields baby lets go!!!
A small note. Hara kiri and seppuku, while they mean, literally, the same thing, they carry different connotations. I would equate seppuku to an honorable taking of your own life or, as you said, a way for a person to regain honor for their family name. I say this because seppuku was not always done in "disgrace", but was also recorded as being done to show loyalty (Some warriors would do seppuku if their lord died) , or steadfastness to a cause (those who did seppuku when the sword was officially outlawed in japan). the Kami Kaze, flying their planes into ships, while not seppuku, was seen similarly. the European equivalent might be "falling on your sword". You would generally have a second to semi-behead you, most of the time as soon as you reached for the knife, usually a kaiken rather than a wakizashi or tanto.
Hara kiri is essentially just suicide and carries similar views in western culture, something extreme and sometimes selfish or wasteful. You probably don't have a second to semi-behead you and you're probably using your wakizashi to do it.
I'd also like to clarify that the wakizashi's purpose, as designed, was to enable a samurai to fight inside, where the length of a katana would be a disadvantage and/or where weapons were to be left at the door. It was to the "every day carry" what the katana is to the combat assault rifle. One was a weapon, the other was just protection.
Hara kiri was actually the same thing as Seppuku, but it was a slangy, low-class way of saying it. Literally, it translates as 'belly-slitting'. The method was the same, though.
Yeah, they're one in the same. But I wouldn't say harakiri is slang, or even low-class. It's just the Japanese reading of the kanji (kun-yomi). Seppuku is the Chinese reading (on-yomi). On-yomi generally sounds flowery and poetic, and kun-yomi sounds a bit folksy-er, but either one is perfectly legitimate. Of course, seppuku tended to be the preferred pronunciation, given the ceremonial/aristocratic context of the act.
Hi Metatron, I'd like to suggest that you check out eskrima (also known as kali, or arnis). It's a Filipino martial arts that specializes in dual wielding. It's recently been popularized by Bruce Lee, but originally was used in guerrilla warfare by Filipino rebels during the Spanish occupation of the Philippines. While the more popular depiction of arnis is using two sticks of equal length (roughly that of the ninjato/short sword), there are variations: espada-y-daga and daga-y-daga ("sword and dagger", and "dagger and dagger" respectively). Unlike what you mentioned in the video however, the long/short blade combo in arnis isn't always to have the dagger defending and the sword attacking; instead, the sword can also be used to make an opening for you to get very close to the enemy and you can shiv or slice the guy up close with your dagger (being nearly chest-to-chest against your enemy makes it harder for them to fight back with the longsword, which at this point has been reduced to just the pommel due to lack of swinging room).
Just in case you'd like to revisit the topic 😊
"Recently been popularized by Bruce Lee"
Buddy... Bruce Lee has been dead for quite some time. Not to mention, if you're going to parry, you can't just counter straight after. It's both at once, or not at all, in any style of dual wielding.
I'm fully aware that he's been dead for quite some time; the term was used in a relative fashion. I'd like to know how it's not possible to do what I just mentioned, which is to parry while moving forward, followed by a dagger attack up close.
***** If two people are dual wielding, hell, even if it were just one, it becomes a game of parry. It looks cool, but you just end up in a giant cycle. It's pointless.
Given that's exactly how arnis works - two people dual wielding - and it is often considered one of the deadliest martial arts in the world (at least from what I've gathered), I find it amusing that you consider it pointless.
***** You don't quite seem to get my point. If you parried, and than attacked, it gives them a huge amount of time to parry back. And than they attack after they parry, and it's just an endless cycle. If you're going to step forward to parry, attack at the same time, as this gives your opponent no time to really defend himself against your second strike. He may parry your blow as you counter, but your weapon tat countered is now free to attack.
Yes, there are many different styles. But this idea of "Parry, than attack with the other blade" is just stupid. Why the hell wouldn't you use your second blade at the same timing anyway?
There is an example of dual wielding 2 swords on foot and on horseback in a comprehensive military manual developed by Korea during the Joseon Dynasty called the Muye Dobo Tongji. This military manual brought together many different martial arts from Korea, China, and Japan for use by Korea's army and included dual wielding. It was a difficult martial art to master and only some of their best soldiers were expected to know it, but apparently it was used in their military examinations. I would like to know what your thoughts are on that.
My own (limited) experience in fencing I wound up using the shorter weapon for attack more often. I personally find it helpful to tangle up my opponents primary weapon and then clsoe within dagger range. I find a lot of opponets used to the opposite strategy get surprised by this and when your in close enough with their main weapon out of the way the dagger is the weapon you want.
Espada y daga is fairly simple extension of the sword'n'board techniques in a duel/arena conditions, where you do not expect a lot of things getting thrown at you. It takes some practice, but not overwhelmingly so. If you care to wield two near equal swords - you want to have near equal skill and strength wielding it with each arm. High skill at that. Took me four years of work to become any good with it, but it does give me a solid advantage switching my attack pattern at will.
This is awesome! Thank you for making this video!
I'm glad you liked it pal!
+Metatron Your videos are great. I was never interested in this kind of things until I stumbled upon your channel. Now you have my curiosity aroused! One question that came to my mind is that, is there any scientific approach to these fights? For instance, has there been any modelling of the forces involved in a real combat? (Sorry to take away it from an art form, I'm an engineer you see)
Golden Eagle 🤣🤣🤣
Actually, the Filippino Kali system of "stick and knife" fighting was adopted from the spanish "Espada y daga" (rapier and dagger), which was very popular during the Spanish colonization period. So, one thing to add, the double wielding was really very popular in Europe, and very often used in battle, when the mellay started
Didn't Miyamoto Musashi start advocating for dual wielding late in life after retiring from duels?
@@kylewilliams8114
It was the opposite, actually.
@@kylewilliams8114 he definitely did not say to use two long blades. specifically the sword and the companion sword in most translations. not sure why you would make stuff up like that?
an example of dual weild with two light weapons is in wing chun using whats commonly called butterfly swords.
your awesome man I'm self taught in kendo iaido and kenjutsu i would love to learn japanese duel wielding keep it up man.
I how brough shame upon my famery, i must comit...sudoku!!!
umm i believe you meant sepaku or harikiri
Darius Durandal its a joke that now that i have to explain it is way less funny. manny say sudoku instead of sepaku, so its a running gag that you say it wrong.
Sorry that's a new one for me
the words arent Seppuku and Harakiri? :/
+Carlo Romano you're the only one that spells them right my friend ;)
The manga "Vagabond" Loosely portrays a lot of Miyamoto Musashi's story. It's obviously a work of fiction, but it contains details and stories that are believed to be true about his journey. It's an excellent read, it's one of the reasons why I got into learning more about the various weapons you can find in this world
Great explanation of an interesting topic. I think it would be interesting for you to watch or join in some sparring of Eskrima, the Philippine duel stick system and then hear your take on two short weapons vs a short and long.
I have trained in it for a number of years (in a "Cacoy" Cañete Kali Arnis Eskrima school) and can say from experience that its super combat effective and I am having trouble picturing a person being successful against it if one hand had a long weapon such as a sword.
In my mind I see the sword being too slow and easy to bypass/unbalance with the much faster strikes from an Eskrimador's stick. One of the big advantages of the two short weapons being that you can step forward as you deflect with one stick and simultaneously strike with the other stick, ending in close quarters and inside the most effective range of swords or spears. I actually used to train against spears in sparing and it was pretty easy to deflect a thrust moving forwards or advance past the spears point as it tries to slash.
I have never trained in any sword styles though so its just speculation on my part as to if two shorter weapons would be more effective than a long and a short.
Just putting this out there as mental exercise to hear peoples thoughts on it, nothing negative about your video which was well presented and historically interesting!
What a great video. Now, I cannot speak at all for western fighting, but I am learning Shin Kagerou style swordsmanship and learning just a bit about the samurai culture, I've learned that samurai carried anywhere between one and three swords based entirely on what their Daimyo decreed, so it is not entirely unrealistic that some samurai were required to carry two katana. I would certainly never want to dual wield katana however. Taking one hand off your katana is a good way to lose power and speed. Awesome analysis, though. Spot on about not dual wielding longswords or katana.
The chinese monks have a lot of paired weapon sets of the same size, the longest of which being the Twin Hooks and scaling down into punching daggers and these crazy little spinning daggers of which I've forgotten the name.
As has also been mentioned, Eskrima is another style that is centered around two weapons of equal length, and Sai's were often weilded in pairs.
The twin hooks are awesome!!! They also dual wielded Dao swords often
Emeici (Emei Piercers), I think.
+ 1
Several Okinawan weapons are commonly wielded in pairs: sai, kama, and tonfa, or tuifa. (Okinawa nunchaku could also be wielded in pairs, as well as a solo weapon.) There are equivalent weapons found in China, Southeast Asia and even South Asia (it is thought the sai may have arisen from the Indian trisula, or trident spear), where some or all may have originated. (This may not be 100 percent true, though, but I recall that the Chinese guǎi is longer than the Okinawan tonfa and usually wielded solo.) I remember reading that an Okinawan sai master was said to carry three sai: one in each hand, with a third sai kept in his obi. He could pin the foot of an opponent to the ground with a fling of one sai, then replace the sai he had thrown in his empty hand with the third sai.
Could you a video on philipno dual short swords? I've found using a sword shorter then the length of your arm much like the ones used in Sinawali can make it really effective. Also you can mount them on your back parallel. (Along the spine)
Well, there are some asian martial arts that use dual weilding as main techniques: various styles of wushu (several blades, some look like hooks, others are round, curved, etc) , kobudo (tonfa, sai, kama, nunchaku, jitte), philipino/malasyan/singaporean martial arts (knifes, daggers, battons).
Can you do a video on the greatest classic warriors, and the qualities that made them the men, or women they were? And how these lessons apply to living in the modern world?
On the subject of "dual wielding" similar length swords I can somewhat confidently say that, yes it did happen historically in China. There are mentions of it in books, manuals, and scholarly treatises, and it is practiced today in several Chinese Martial Arts. There are forms for both the Dāo (Chinese saber) and Jiàn (double edged sword) and these forms are called Shuāng Dāo (雙刀) and Shuāng Jiàn (雙劍) respectively.
In fact there are (modern and historical) Chinese swords designed for the purpose of dual wielding, and are the same length. The design aspect is that they are built to both fit inside of the same scabbard. However, I will admit that some of these weapons conform to the type you mentioned in your video, where one is shorter than the other. And again, as you said, it probably was only used in personal duels rather than on the battlefield, where a sword and shield was preferable.
But I'm no expert on this either. I'm just a martial arts amateur who learned Chinese and dabbles in oriental history a little.
Greatly appreciate your videos by the way. Very honest and very informative.
Who recognized the Medieval 2 Total War battle music from the beginning?
+skierssuck88
It's at the ending too haha
have you heard about Traditional Filipino Martial Arts(Arnis/Eskrima/Kali)? We can use both of equal sized swords/dagger for dual wielding and yeah we do Espada y Daga (sword and dagger) too.
All SEA arts dual wield. Most Asian arts, in fact.
A friend of mine was trying to dual-wield with my Falchion [I'm pretty sure its a falchion, it looks similar to your Orcrist but is almost 4' long with an 18" hilt, full crossguard ans gentle S-curve from the tip of the blade to the end of the pommel] and his nunchaku. He wasn't grasping the concept that both are 2-handed weapons [based on the length and balance of the hilt of the falchion its a 2.5 hand sword as there are 3 different places you can grip it depending on the strike or guard you are trying to perform].
What about the Chinese hooked swords?
Aren’t they dual wield?
an older video perhaps but not bad.
Any newer ones ever made for this and for varied weapons,
if one were to 'do so.' ?
WOAH MEDIEVAL TOTAL WAR 2 MUSIC ON TH EINTRO? OMG
OK NOW I LOVE THIS CHANNEL EVEN MORE HOLY CRAP
can you do a quarter staff video?
Man, you have improved your channel amazingly...I'd say you're a full grown youtuber :) Keep it up
what about dual wielding axes and maces?
+JAEnterprice As far as I know that's just video games, but I'll look into it ;)
+Metatron it is done in some chinese and malaysian martial arts, but if it has wartime use ill leave unsaid.
+Metatron Would it maybe make sense in an assassination situation, like with the fictional Elektra and her two sai?
Dual wielding sai or tekpi/trisula/cebang are often done in martial arts of southeast asia
+JAEnterprice i could see potential use for axes and short cutlass/daggers in naval combat. fighting below decks in boarding actions restricts the use of longer swords and could be very chaotic.
Could you please make a video giving hints of how to use maces and mangols (mace with Chaim) plz???
Leonardo Paula I'll consider it ^^ Thank you for watching and commenting, and for the suggestion :D
Can you demonstrate techniques?
In Japan it was a katana and a wakazashi for parries like a fencer with a dagger. The Chinese martial arts used two short swords that are almost knives, or long ones for performance.
Same length twin blades were used in China and the Philippines primarily. It was used more often in the Philippines, however, in arts such as Kali Salak, where two identical short blades were used in together not as two separate weapons, but together, as two halves of the same whole. The Chinese took this concept even further by quite literally making twin blades that fit together in the same sheath, both for practicality and symbolism (they were also a little easier to handle with dual wielding than other weapons).
Can you make a video about the hook sword?
The case of swords (two rapiers) is described in XVI - XVII century Iberian sources:
- Figueiredo was a Verdadeira Destreza master who in his «Oplosophia», stated (I'm editing heavily because he is wordy):
«And for about all the double weapons [sword and dagger, sword and buckler, etc] I will write in this book, but I won't deal here with the two swords for they are of little use, and I will write about them somewhere else, and how one can effectively defend against them and control them both with one single sword; because they are only admired inasmuch as they are feared by the ignorants, and that fear once admitted it is hard to put to rest. But I will trust what I saw in my experience so that people who carry two swords will find an end to their martyrdom, and those who don't will fear them less.»
So, TLDR: some people did carry twin swords around, and Figueiredo scorned them for that.
- Godinho, on the other hand, was a master belonging into the «Destreza Comum», which basically means all swordfighting not considered «Verdadeira Destreza». He wrote in «Arte de Esgrima» about the case of swords extensively, giving rules for how they should be used in various scenarios, including:
- A narrow street
- A not-so-narrow street
- When you are attacked from both sides
- Against multiple opponents in a wide street
- When you have to defend someone (i.e. bodyguard duty)
- To clear a crowd
...etc
He's very specific, writing about 11folios (recto+verso, so 22 pages) on the matter.
It is no coincidence that the rule titles (not the movements) are similar to the montante rules: they are part of the same pedagogic method, where they taught swordfighting based on scenarios and set sequences of movements.
You can get «Oplosophia» (and also «Arte de Esgrima», when it is back on stock) here:
ageaeditora.com/livros/oplosophia-e-verdadeira-destreza-das-armas/
ageaeditora.com/livros/arte-de-esgrima/
the rapier and dagger combination was specially common in 16-17th centuries in Spain
What about fma? I do Kali (PTK) and we train a lot with two swords (Sticks). A second video about the topic would be very nice =). I realy like your channel btw, thx for the cool stuff ^^
Hey buddy, thanks for the video, I am glad there are people worried about correcting all these misconceptions, most of which I believed in. Anyways, do you have a video on Myiamoto Musashi? Not sure if that's how it's written anymore, but I have read the mangá Vagabond, that tells his tale and it is very interesting (if anything close to reality, he was a real badass). If you don't, hey, I think it would be a nice topic. Peace!
Did the shield hanging to the right just diappear in between jump cuts?
There is some stuff in IIRC one of Fiore's manuscripts about using two rapiers. Although, its a similar situation, just more ambidextrous, one defends and the other strikes. Preferably in one motion haha
SerAlgernop BlitzKrieger Fiore doesn't deal with rapiers as they didn't exist yet, so I suspect that you are thinking of Agrippa or someone later on.
Fiore does , however, show dual wielding with clubs, altho I believe that he tells you to throw the second club, then rush in with the first :p
What about hook swords/twin hooks?
one complaint and I could be wrong in all my studies of the samurai it was said that the Tanto was used to commit hara kiri not the wakazashi as the blade itself is to long
Do they still teach seppuku in some schools?
+Marc Ritz
I heard they do, but not many students make it to graduation.
what do you think about Escrima, Filipino stick fighting? that's an interesting dual wielding technique.
what do think of tomahawk and knife combo or style? or perhaps sword and light axe
As a secondary in dual wielding could you use a hatchet
would it work to dual wield an arming sword and a short sword
I can still see two gladii being wielded in tandem effective, though this would be more suitable in an urban setting like Suburbia, rather than a battlefield... It would take a good bit of effort to train the non-dominant to be as effective and as agile as the dominant hand, but it could be done and to great effect.
I was psyched for Megatron...
What if the archers have storm trooper aim?
It is also possible to use the long sword to parry in a switch up and go into close range with the dagger. One of the big things with duels using longer swords is that they are not exactly effective in close range. Samurai had Wakizashi's for that exact reason as well (They were used while fighting indoors, or pulled when the enemies got close and/or you couldn't use your katana.)
was the twin Dao used commonly
Would a left handed person take the main weapon into the left and stronger hand and the shorter weapon into the right weaker hand?
How many attacks can you make with twin swords?
Also, wonderful videos, I thoroughly enjoy them. What's your opinion on the "Armoured combat league", AKA "Knight fights"?
hey man lovin ur stuff id like to get ur opinion on light sabers and their various and forms keeping in mind force sensitivity also double bladed swords ur thoughts and finally spartans lost against romans im curious and finally can u shed some light on some of the bs from the deadliest warrior show lol
Great video again! Only I'd add that "they mostly use 'seppuku'" means that most of the Japanese won't even understand the word 'harakiri'. Been there, tried it. They just don't know it and it usually sounds very weird to them. Though my experience only applies to the people from Osaka. :)
I've noticed that, too. "Seppuku" is the preferred. Either way, IT HURTS.
how about a sword in right hand and fireball in left hand like in skyrim?
Could you consider using a shield in melee as a form dual wielding, particuly for small shields?
I thought he was gonna say the longer one was for slashing and the smaller was for stabbing
you know what I agree with the history and how its better if you have a shield but you have to admit if done right it can look freaking cool
zephyr swordsman Yes I admit it xD the looks are great :3
and it also has its perks for battle too but I'm kind of self taught in the sword and dual wielding is my favorite style
hey what about the dimachaerus gladiators? they used dual wielding with same length swords
+maximo manzano never on the battlefield, always on the arena
A gladiators job was to entertain the crowd, after all. Most gladiators were not actually slaves, despite popular belief.
KrazyKiwi true, some of them were people who choose to fight
A set of swords carried by a samurai were called a Daisho, and were only carried by samurai as a way to show their social status(samurai were considered to be a sort or ruling class. The Daisho wasn't however considered to simpy be just a katana and wakazashi, a tanto could also be substituted for a wakazashi.
This second sword wasn't just used for seppuku however, as you pointed out it was also used as an auxiliary weapon, should the katana be damaged or lost, but also for indoors combat, as the length of a katana would make it very difficult if not near impossible to fight in tight spaces, so a smaller sword would instead be used.
Another point is that while a katana was limited t the samurai class, a wakazashi could be worn by some one of the chonin(merchants, etc.) class.
I recommend you read Musashi's "The Book of Five Rings" he actually discusses his principles behind Ni-Ten No Ichi Ryu as well as his philosophy on strategy, he has some other books but the names escape me.
Would you want to use one onehanded sword, and have an empty off hand, or have 2 one handed swords in both hands.
would duel gladius be good?
+clarky Only used by gladiators in the arena (dimachaerus is the name of the class), never on the battle field ^^
+Metatron I don't want to sound an idiot. I have leant double knives, also every baton. I just wondered if learning double gladius was a good option over one. for self defensive purpose
+Metatron dual wielding short swords like ginuntings and barongs is done in philipino martial arts.
Björn Rugstad thanks for that :-)
+clarky yes, you can dual wield gladii. you can dual weild most types of swords, even longswords.
7:15 Not correct about the "doesn't make sense" part. Dual wielding katanas can be highly effective and advantageous. Takes some training but do-able. Just like using chopsticks with your left hand, or even using two pairs simultaneously with both hands. Can be trained. Some ppl can do it naturally. Granted some ppl are totally bad at it, so it "doesn't make sense" to them.
Metatron Have you seen Clive Owens's Arthur movie? One of the main charicters weilds dual short swords.
Dual wielding in Duels was actually pretty common. There were even specializedeapons, called "left hand daggers", designed to parry or even catch and break the oponents blade.
Some of them had also several blades (used e.g. in Spain), like this:
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springklingendolch#/media/File:Left_hand_dagger_w-spring.JPG
My question would be theoretical: Would it be possible to modify such a dagger so you could use the 3blade-mechanism to inflict heavier wounds to a (non armored) enemy?
there are many stances but the main one is extending your arms slightly from the waist with both swords pointing at the enemy's abdomen.
I think that the parrying dagger (not just any knife) is optimal for the offhand not only because of its [speed], but because you need a weapon [short] enough to not interfere with your main hand. Parrying is done with the [strong] of the blade so parrying with a katana in the offhand means the main hand (arm) must be already out of the way, as shown in some heavily choreographed videos on youtube. (In a real duel such techniques would get someone killed I believe). But [rapier+dagger] and [backsword+buckler] are not the only dual-wielding systems. There is also the [rapier+rapier] system, in which the focus is the exact opposite; you parry with the main hand and attack with the offhand. The key point here is the [thrust-centric] nature of the offhand weapon and its extraordinary [length] to counteract the offhand's decreased [reach]. That is, you can actually even attack with main hand and offhand at the same time - it is essentially a single-tempo system - provided you keep them far enough from each other to keep the opponent from controlling both your weapons. Oh and I should point out that the shield is the best offhand weapon in a duel too, as it covers more lines of attack, and being heavy and big it can actually push the opponent's weapon out of line quite easily. The only reason one would not use a shield - in any conceivable scenario - is because he already enjoys adequate protection from full-plate armor or he has a pole-arm. Thank you for your time creating this educating and entertaining video.
Nah... Wakizashi were a spare apparently they had to leave the katana outside, but could carry the wakizashi indoors, the tanto was for suicide. They would cut across the bowel, go back half way then downwards so the entrails spilled out (ideally, but most didn't). Then the second (person, usually an ally) would slice their heads off, before they screamed in pain like a bitch, thus embarrassing themselves. The Wakizashi is a bit unweildy for surgically removing your own bowels. I bet you knew that tho, too many bevies the night before or something. Very educational tho. thanks for the video..
+Reuben Stern yes but surely it could be used like a rapier and dagger right?
:/ Dagger... not really. As for a Rapier, I know next to nothing about those. Consider a Wakizashi blade would be around 2 to three foot long. I'm certainly no expert with sword technique.
Excellent work on this video, bud.
how about using two shields? improbable, but still.
historically there have been smaller shields the size of buckles with huge points on them, so if you used that and maybe a kite shield
David Goldberg you use this...when...fighting the Gauls?
"something like this", yeah, but, as you know, the japanese didn't used trust attacks, therefore there would be no reason for the main blade to be pointed forward. So, there were multiple stands using the dual wielding, but for simplification lets use the basic stand: the main attack of samurais was a vertical cut to split the enemy in 2, from the skull to the crotch in a single cut. Therefore, there would always be one blade protecting your head from such attacks, and another ready to slice an enemy that attempts to advance, you would attack by simultaneously lifting your front blade to protect your head and lower the back hand on a cut against the enemy, this way you would stay protected as you attacked, and would always have one hand "cocked" to cut, not needing to "wait" while you recover from one blade's swing to attack again, allowing for a fast barrage of attacks, without lowering one's defence. Of course, this is not the only stance of dual wielding, but it's is the only one we are allowed to tell people that don't train in our dojo, for situations like this. Hope I've helped.
1066, battle of hastings... William the conquerer cleverly feigns retreat before ordering his Norman knights to charge Harold's pursuing Saxon Huscarls while dual weilding swords, utterly smashing the Saxon shield formation :D
i see you use the Italian grip, i was actualy wondering about that.
So in every dojo they have diferent techique or we can learn anything in 1 dojo, i mean i want dual wielding weapon but i littebit nervous about dojo in my town, and what should i aks to them ?
there was something where two blades were dual wielded at same length, but that delves more into the world of daggers rather than swords.
I really respect your cleft chin dude !
I've noticed that in all of the Musashi films I've seen, he always carries two short swords of equal length. Maybe just in the movies?
Yes. In reality, he used the daisho (combination of katana and wakizashi)
What about dual dagger?
If your more interested in dual wielding swords, check out Krabi-krabong. This was the ancient martial arts used in war in thailand.
And how about reverse grip. Is that really fiction or it was actually used?
+xxteareyexx
As proven by Skallagrim it is possible and it does indeed work.
Well, even so I would be glad seeing what Metatron can tell us about it ;)
Skallagrim also said, that there're more disadvantages than advantages...
"icepick grip", as its called, is usually used more with knife that with a sword.
Its taught because you aren't ALWAYS able to pick up a weapon in a normal grip - if you just grab a knife in a hurry out of a knife block, for example, you don't necessarily have time to turn the weapon around.
Biomechanically, it's great for defense. It acts in correlation to our arms so we can absorb heavier impacts and spring them back. Also, skallagrims video was flawed and lacked real experience. He was using reverse grip and still attacking/defending like it was in a normal grip. A different grip requires different attack methods. Reverse grips aren't really *limited* to close range, more like they *excel* , it's more comfortable to weild and a lot more aggressive. I love dual wielding with only my left sword in reverse grip. It's so effective.
I'm way late because I'm doing research for a novel I'm working on, and this popped up in my searches.
Before I ask this, just be warned; I talk about my stories and characters like they're real, and they often have more control over themselves than I do.
People often talk about how using two weapons (sword or otherwise) wouldn't be practical for the battlefield, and as a mainstay tactic, I might agree. If you're talking armies, you would want that shield line.
The problem I'm having in my research is the fact that the character who may be using this style, isn't on the battlefield. He's traveling, and doing a lot of it. He's a swordsman, but more of a finesse fighter even so, and I just don't see him being comfortable with anything but blades in his hands. The twin blades he wants to carry feel right for his character, and provide a host of symbolisms that will enhance the story further.
So I'm curious what your thoughts are on more of a Xena type situation for "dual wielding". Someone spending a lot of time on the road, and in my case, without a horse. He might run into a few soldiers, but mostly, it's bandits and other stray problems that he's fighting. Never a full on war. I understand that bucklers are small and light, but if he prefers dual swords, and is good with them, I question wither he'd bother carrying one. Just more weight and another thing to care for on the road.
He says the word "harikiri" is more popular in the West than "seppuku", maybe it was in 2014 or it is in Europe, but I'd never heard the word "harikiri" until this video.
So would it make sense to use two short swords or would that just be a big disadvantage? Logically it sounds bad unless one fights defensively. What do you guys think?
I would also like to see how to fight with two swords.
Many have the opinion that dual wielding was only done in the context of individual combat and civilian contexts, and that it was an improvisation by people who didn't have access to better armaments.
yes I agree it was done in the context of individual combat, but I don't fully agree with the idea of it being an improvisation, becasue there are many treatises particularly here in Italy which lead us to think it was practiced by sword masters.
Also sword and buckler was rather common in England, and the idea of using a dagger together with the buckler to me sounds very intelligent. Anyhow you could be right and I could be wrong, we never stop learning ;) Thanks for watching anyways :D
At my Katori Shinto Ryu dojo we alsow learn to duel wield "Ryoto" we dual wield the bokken and de kodachi.
in Korea and sometimes in Vietnam, they use this technique in places that have small space and NOT USE THIS VS SHIELD
medieval II total war kingdoms soundtrack. yayy :D
Something I have seen in video games (particularly Dragon Age Origins and Awakening) is the shield used for offense in addition to the standard defense. Like, for example, a shield bash, taking the shield and making a punching or striking motion with it. Is this something that was ever done, or is this strictly "because it looks cool" fiction?
Buckler only. Well, shield shoves were a thing. The Greek Phalanx is known for doing something similar. They would all push each other, whilst the front row occasionally bashes their opponent. But it wasn't too common.
what about the Dimachaerus, historical fiction or really in use ?
Could someone who's ambidextrous effectively use two swords of the same length? For example, two wakizashi rather than a wakizashi and katana combo. I've heard others talk about dual wielding, mainly rapier and dagger, and it seemed like yes the dagger was used for defense, but also for offensive diversion. IE, strike the opponent's sword with the dagger while at the same time thrusting with your own sword. I'm certainly not trying to criticize or discredit historical fighting styles, but I just feel it would make more sense to use two wakizashi, or even a wakizashi/tanto combo, as opposed to a katana/wakizashi combo, mainly because the katana is meant to be used with two hands. I feel like using the katana with only one hand would be awkward and more difficult.
***** thanks dude
some tips for those who are going to duel willed. train each hand to use a sword wen you have got both hands to a good level of doing both atacking and defending then pic the best stance and work on using both swords together this is what i was tort from a Japanese sword master so i trust his advice
I think you are looking at "Case of Swords" (the historical name for duel wielding) in a very narrow way. You wanted both weapons to be the same length so that you could change which swords attacked and which one defended at will, which was the appeal of it that fencing masters discussed. The concept you discuss in this video is that of sword and dagger, which is a different thing entirely. Case of swords refers specifically to the use of two swords of equal length. That is what the two men in the plate from Agrappa's treatise shows, and that Is what Mancelino, Morozzo, and Di Grassi all discuss in their respective treatises featuring case.