I really appreciate how he takes the context of the stories, the level of fantasy, etc. into account. It's cool that he's not just an expert but is actually someone who watches and enjoys these films.
@@matthewreese7710 bzzt wrong. You missed the point. The things that happen in fiction may look unrealistic since context of those doesn't exist. BUT. if Context of those things WOULD exist in real world, those things would be pretty realistic . That is the point he was making. Rating those things from fiction if their context would be reality, not rating things forgetting about context.
@Dr. sludge they land in a way that they can take advantage, either by sweeping their opponents feet or by making space between them so they can recover.
It's similar to horseback riding. There's also ways to land to try and minimize harm. Sometimes it's better to let yourself fall than to try and stay hanging on with a death grip no matter what 🤦
This guy is awesome. He just loves cool shit, he knows his stuff, and he understands that movies are movies and not meant to be real. Too many "experts" forget about fun... this guy doesn't. He loves what he does, and his enthusiasm is infectious and makes us more excited too. 10/10. Great Expert.
The whole premise of the series is to ask experts about how realistic various scenes in films are, obviously that's what they're going to focus on. If they were asked how fun the scenes are, they might focus on that instead.
@@hypoaktivnaovca He isn't an expert though he is a sports guy and has no education on historic facts. Glima is just a wannabe Viking martial arts sport.
@@Supayone I mean, he's a Glima expert. Whether you consider it historical or not doesn't affect that. 🤔 The series in general (and my point here) is about realism though, things can be realistic without being historical.
It's funny that sometimes these experts just shit on movies because there is always varying degrees of realism but he just really likes ax combat and techniques so pretty much everyone gets high scores
He also understood the story they were in. Like with the old gaurd, he summoned up that high score by mentioning the fact she can’t die so it doesn’t matter if she hits herself. While with beadpool and Ajax their both superhumans who are really hard to kill, so he did not need to worry about a basic hit or opening just their proficiency towards getting that killing blow that would win the fight.
Axes never went out of style though, we still have them today and most people have at least seen someone swing one (to chop wood or fell a tree). So most would have a basic idea of how they work and can imagine how they would work in a fight. When it's sword fencing however, it's been so long since most people have seen them used so sword combat in movies have become less based in reality as most people wouldn't know good fencing from bad fencing.
Honestly it’s one of those awesome/terrifying thing, you say funny for the demo. I say he has the weapon type, and he trains, he knows how to use that design. I’d rather have him as a ally as opposed to an enemy. His high marks on his reviews are great as well as he would very rarely underestimate an opponent.
Difference is, with Jason Momoa, he actually does axe/tomahawk throwing regularly and has his own setup at his home. So if you see him handling an axe, we can at least expect he knows what hes doing.
Yeah, that's the big difference here compared to a lot of other breakdown videos. They base it all on their abilities, without taking into account that there might be someone who could, under the right circumstances.
"He's trying to kill with every blow" Yes, absolutely. Unlike normal choreographed fight scenes where actors just make it look like they're making hard contact, John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) legitimately actually attacked the stuntmen full on with no choreography, beating the crap out of them with his axe.
I maybe be biased in favor of dwarves, but I also give John Rhys-Davies/Gimli a pass. Dwarves are a sturdy lot and stronger than humans (remember when Gimli was bench-pressing the worgs to get them off of him?), so he has that _ability_ to go full kill blow each swing without tiring as easily as a human. :)
I'm always used to hearing in these types of videos that twirling = bad. Which yeah sure, not the most efficient, but it's refreshing to hear a new take on it where it could be used to intimidate, confuse and surprise the opponent so they don't know where the attack is coming from. Interesting!
i did some phillipino stick/machete fighting and the movements of the expert in the short clips reminded me of it instantly. Like, its pretty much the same. Crazy that two cultures so far from each other developed similar short weapon fighting styles. It also seems that the techniques are legit when they both came up with them
I would think that twirling during the fight = you're gonna get killed, twirling before the fight for the purpose to intimidate your opponent = definitely a factor there
@@HiopX Well, there are only a couple of actors in the series who are actually Scandinavian - Alex Hogh Andersen (Ivar), Gustaf Skarsgard (Floki), Peter Franzen (King Harald), Marco Ilso (Hvitserk), and a couple of other supporting actors.
I like how in the Gimli clip he goes in on one of the most important reasons why dwarfs often use axes. 2 handed axes help them get around their problem of reach while 1 handed axes are more suited to close combat (like in a mineshaft/dwarfen hold) than swords as they require less space. That is what good story telling through is. A fantasy race has a certain advantage/disadvantage and this is how they found a way around it.
Love the part where he notes that Andy has lived for 6000 years, so her choice of weapons, despite being unrealistic for a normal human being, is quite understandable when wielded by Andy.
And those are the best experts. Some like to just shit on lur techniques and not take the story into consideration. Like yes an immortal would probably be reckless by our mortal standard, but they are literally fighting based on their traita
Just like a Call of Duty player running and gunning with little to no regard to getting shot. In real life I would prefer to be behind something strong enough to stop a bullet 🤣
Yeah, and since it was early in the vid, it was nice b/c than it to me, it was like, "okay, this guys actually watched all these" not like some of these vids where you know "this guys nvr seen this vid until the producer said, "hey, watch this clip, whatcha think?"
The choice of weapon actually isn't that far fetched tbh. Some (Indo-)Persian axes actually had a very similiar shape. The choice of her fighting style was what he said no normal human being would do. But as he and you already noted, she had a lot of time practicing everything and when you're invulnerable/immortal, you just don't care that much about cutting yourself.
@@RinoGato It's super far fetched when guns and combat knives exist. but that scene is just dumb like most movies, why isn't the 4th, 5th , 6th or 7th guy she kills shooting them all dead again. It's like they are all just stand around waiting to be killed for over a minute when it takes 3 seconds to reload and even less to pull out a side arm.
Viking axe expert is such a niche job and I love that it exists. He seems like he just turned his favourite activity into a job, which is damn cool and I wish more people could do that. Also, does he do seminars? Can he teach me how to wield an axe?
Ajax has a full metal axe because him not feeling pain means he wouldn't feel the vibrations coming from the handle. It's a neat attention to character detail
@@Gnossiene369 It's weird, but it's also kinda cool. I like fan theories because they're made with passion. In this case it's a nice explanation, but then again vibrations are not the same thing as pain. If someone shakes your arm, it affects your arm, no matter how painless you are.
@@kurington.blogspot7876 While true, he doesn't *feel* the vibrations, he literally lacks any sensations at all, so unless the vibration actually disrupts friction, he won't notice it.
"When we're doing seminars and we're not instructing, we're hanging around, people throw their weapons, they throw their axes, they throw their knives. It's a very natural thing to do." Out of context, this school sounds terrifying and awesome. Like Hogwarts for Vikings.
I really like how he seems to focus on the good parts of the scenes rather then the inaccuracies and taking into account the fictional characters abilities.
The Ancient Warfare expert was much better, he gave realistic scores based on what's actually possible vs fantasy. This guy gave everyone 9 and 10's for no reason.
I love the way he explains the choreography of the fighting techniques he trains in. It makes the portrayal of the axe seem so much more graceful than just going berserk and using mindless rage
Berserk swinging isnt how any weapon is properly used wild swinging does happen but it’s normally to create space but swinging wide leaves you open to get hit and even a quick little poke could kill you so 90% of the time it needs to stay close and controlled
This guy is very generous with his scores. Maybe he saw more than the clips they showed us, but I could barely see what was happening half the time because of the excessive shaky-cam
@@thebatonmaster Yeah sometimes it can add to the experience when its done well, but more often than not its either just a trick to hide bad stunt-work, or a transparent gimmick to seem more "gritty"
@@Fabianwew He mentioned his father in law got him into it, so my guess would be he married a Norwegian. He couldn't sound less Norwegian if he tried lol.
this is the best one so far. most of the experts talk shit on your favorite movies and it would actually make them seem arrogant. this guy takes into context the character and story before shitting on the scene. makes you want to watch more
Yh I remember one expert saying nobody would do that as it makes you a target to get shot at and I couldn't help but think does this dude not know there isnt any guns in that series
I LOVE that this guy acknowledges the fictional world and its rules for alot of these scenarios and doesn't just outright dismiss them. Need more experts like that doing these reviews.
Also do a break down in which a Bomber pilot breaks down bomber plane scenes in movies like Flight of the Intruder, Pearl Harbor,Battle of Britan,Midway, Memphis Belle,Unbroken, etc.
it would again have to be a WW2 military historian, doubtful you'd find veterans who could engage the audience in this level in their 80/90's. As for Pearl Harbor (Micheal Bay) it's flashy but better avoided if you enjoy historical accuracy. Tora Tora Tora is a superior movie and the World War 2 channel on youtube has a minute by minute breakdown of the attack over 10 episodes which is incredibly well made.
Those of us who have trained in the 'real' martial arts (in my case I am a third dan grade with the katana in MJER Iai) can sometimes get tangled up in things not being 'historically' (or style) accurate. Let's be honest; it's not sometimes it's darn near ALWAYS :D. I have been guilty of this myself ... for there are many, many, films in which katana are not used 'correctly' :lol: So I was impressed that the reviewer here was able to re-calibrate his analysis based upon the parameters set out in the fiction involved. Well done, sir.
I particularly like the Serenity scene, because there is no superfluous movement. There's a lot of flair, but every single move, every step, every swing, every turn is for the purpose of attack or defend. This is how people would fight in a real-life scenario. Well, not like THAT, but with that mindset. She's not trying to show off, she's trying to get out of there alive while leaving nobody behind to follow her. And that's the goal of any battleground scenario.
He is wrong about critiquing John Wick movies though. At the end of the day, it's a movie and has flaws that can be pointed out. It's a ridiculous notion to be under the impression that you can't critique a movie.
@@mechanomics2649He wasn't saying that you can't critique it you goober. He was implying that it is hard to critique, because it is just that good. I actually don't think I've seen a single time, where one of these experts have had anything but praise for John Wick scenes.
Ooh, Glima! I attended a workshop on Icelandic Glíma once (can't remember what the guy was called). Was very interesting and I really remembered that he said that trapping the hands is very important. While I've never fought with axes in this way, all of these things were reminiscent to me, as I've trained with similar weapons and styles, both historical wrestling (Germanic) and polearms (mostly spear, but to some extent halberd). Hooking your opponents weapon is something that happens all the time. Very interesting!
I've always felt that axes were great weapon's that are sometimes highly underrated, they are in my opinion a very versatile weapon that can be used for many things including powerful brute force attacks, fast attacks and disarming attacks
They don't really, tbh, and there's far less written down compared to the vast array of later manuscripts and treaties written. Much like HEMA it's derived from historical sources, not it's own martial art but rather an attempt faithfully reconstruct how they fought. Since a few sagas do talk about how weapons were made and how fights went. But it is a lot of speculation and it's based on sources from long after the viking era.
9:20 I love the way Tyr explains how a typical attack move could be done with the axe, instead of extended and cumbersome swings or something too visually fancy.
What I love about your video is that you take into the characters attributes and explain why they can do this, and then explain why you as a Normal person shouldn't.. 10/10
Wow I really love that Frontier was included. An underestimated show tbh (to be known, Duncan (Jason Momoa's character) had just recovered from several bad wounds before this fight lol)
In the LotR fight, the only thing I can think of is that the orcs at least sometimes have armour, and that would stop the short thrust with an axe from being useful. The orc elite troops are also very sturdy, and inclined to try and kill even as they are dying. We saw one deliberately impaling himself to get to an opponent. You can say the orcish armour is crude, but I still think it would stop the axe thrusts described at 10:00 unless you are hitting weakpoints. I found a video called "Return of the King ~ Extended Edition ~ Orc Inspection HD" . You can see the armor is inferior to what the humans have, but it's not to be ignored either. One counter to that is that dwarves probably fought orcs in less than that most of the time, with The Hobbit movies showing very basic stuff like bone and hide. So maybe he's used to fighting humans. Not to mention they did sometimes fight elves, and the elves were supposedly masters of arms and armor, so maybe that influences his training.
This guy is so nice. Usually these experts freaking shred movies--- and honestly I feel give bias opinions but this guy is great because he put the films stories into account which is just great!
Mr. Neilsen, thank you for being so nice to the movies. If we believe the characters, scenes and their setups, those (for me: mostly) were quite enjoyable fighting scenes with axes. Your further input was relaxed and informative, your joy about seeing good fighting scenes obvious. Really great video!
In some parts this obviously wasnt so much about how real it was but how well it was performed regardless of realism. Sure, why not? I certainly learned more about axing people properly anyway. 😬
To be fair, except Old Guard, Deadpool and Serenity which took some liberties with their fights (but as was already said it is due to most of those characters being nearly invulnerable or straight up immortal, it is still realistic because you can literally do stuff like this with an axe, you just wouldn't do it because hell nah, I'm not immortal so I keep to more defensive tactics instead of full blown offensive), those fights were all "realistic". And the scenes were still entertaining. That's something really nice about axes, you don't need all this fancy swinging to make it look intense and dangerous like you need to do with swords, you just straight up hack the hell at your opponent and it is still realistic and entertaining.
I thoroughly enjoyed this review! A very skilled expert, who took a wide variety of movies and gave them fair consideration. Old Guard and Serenity are two of my favorites!
Agreed. A love how fluid Summer was in Serenity. But, she was a ballerina so I guess that why her fight was so beautiful. In Old Guard again the movements were fluid, the changes of direction and constant movement caught your attention. But I the Vikings show did axes best. Just brutal.
I liked the way he did it, he took the character and storyline into account most of the time and he was familiar with almost all the combat. European martial arts tend to be more concepts than specifics. So if the ethos, character and weapon all match up, he gives it a high score. You have listen to what he says though as far as accuracy is concerned in the fights. Vikings weren't karate experts, but they could swing an axe and throw people to the ground, just using very different techniques. One is locked rigidly in culture and history, the other is more free form. Not when you fall you must make your body do exactly this move, but when you fall, take into account where you are and plan how to get back to your feet as soon as possible, using any method that works. So there is no incorrect as long as it's working and you're not leaving yourself open. There's plenty of times he said he wouldn't do it that way, but he explained why. He didn't say the character couldn't do it that way. So it doesn't ruin the rating. If it works, and it's entertaining 9/10 ;D
Much as I enjoy these Insider videos, this for me is my favourite so far. Very informative and its good to see how versatile a weapon an axe is in its different formats. Nice to see it get some love over the sword.
At 7:55, the casual way he's just like, "Something about this size" and has the right axe just right there in his living room close at hand cracks me up.
This is the kindest, most generous critic on any of these kinds of video. Is it a Scandi thing? Just been watching various experts utterly panning nearly everything. Nice contrast.
Uff, the “woodsman’s axe” you showed sends shivers down my spine. I was chopping small kindling for a mini pizza oven with a Swedish hatchet that had been recently stropped on an old barbers strop. I accidentally missed a swing and embedded it into my index knuckle. I will never forget the squeak sounds it made when I pulled it out of my knuckle bone but because it was so sharp it didn’t hurt that bad even after the adrenaline wore off.
I really appreciate how he takes the context of the stories, the level of fantasy, etc. into account. It's cool that he's not just an expert but is actually someone who watches and enjoys these films.
Agreed,sadly a lot of poser asswipes miss the point and forget that they watch fictional movie
I think I would’ve liked it more if he was more critical, he seemed to rate it based of how well they fought but not the realism of the technique.
@@matthewreese7710 he rated realism while taking context and circumstances into an account
@@MsKeylas yes and most of the context was nothing like real life making it very unrealistic
@@matthewreese7710 bzzt wrong. You missed the point. The things that happen in fiction may look unrealistic since context of those doesn't exist. BUT. if Context of those things WOULD exist in real world, those things would be pretty realistic . That is the point he was making. Rating those things from fiction if their context would be reality, not rating things forgetting about context.
He has a good point with Gimli’s axe fighting, especially since dwarves are natural sprinters. Very dangerous over short distances!
Also take care of your ankles, knees and family jewels when fighting with dwarfs.
@@foreverpinkf.7603 so true
What about Squats? I hear you inquisitors have alot of squats...
Typical Inquisitor nonsense
Dwarves are wasted on cross country, indeed.
"Looks like they're using one of these" - Reaches just out of frame where he has every type of axe in existence.
For real though
He's using the bifrost to grab them at different points in time.
Imagine having the video been SCRIPTED, and the SCRIPT demanding that. Couldn't be logical
Lemme just pull out my Stormbreaker here real fast.
Yea it's crazy, it's almost like he knew he was doing a segment about axes and put his own axes at reach in case he wanted to show an example.
I like this guy he understands entertainment but also very humble and generous when looking at other styles other than his own
"We don't fall, we are taught to land." Loved that.
@Dr. sludge when you fall, you learn to pick yourself up
@@SingaporeLyfe or try to use it as an opportunity
@Dr. sludge they land in a way that they can take advantage, either by sweeping their opponents feet or by making space between them so they can recover.
It's similar to horseback riding. There's also ways to land to try and minimize harm. Sometimes it's better to let yourself fall than to try and stay hanging on with a death grip no matter what 🤦
Cool to see James May has other interests
I was thinking the same thing..looks like james may
Clarkson, you Muppet
Seems his English accent is fake too ;)
Oh cock
Hey Bim, guess what?
This guy is awesome. He just loves cool shit, he knows his stuff, and he understands that movies are movies and not meant to be real. Too many "experts" forget about fun... this guy doesn't.
He loves what he does, and his enthusiasm is infectious and makes us more excited too.
10/10. Great Expert.
Tbf experts don't forget, but they're there to be experts. I do like this guy tho
The whole premise of the series is to ask experts about how realistic various scenes in films are, obviously that's what they're going to focus on. If they were asked how fun the scenes are, they might focus on that instead.
Dude, get off his nuts
@@hypoaktivnaovca He isn't an expert though he is a sports guy and has no education on historic facts. Glima is just a wannabe Viking martial arts sport.
@@Supayone I mean, he's a Glima expert. Whether you consider it historical or not doesn't affect that. 🤔
The series in general (and my point here) is about realism though, things can be realistic without being historical.
It's funny that sometimes these experts just shit on movies because there is always varying degrees of realism but he just really likes ax combat and techniques so pretty much everyone gets high scores
He also understood the story they were in. Like with the old gaurd, he summoned up that high score by mentioning the fact she can’t die so it doesn’t matter if she hits herself. While with beadpool and Ajax their both superhumans who are really hard to kill, so he did not need to worry about a basic hit or opening just their proficiency towards getting that killing blow that would win the fight.
hes also Norwegian and they're just damn awesome people. I like him lol I hope he does more vids.
@@nomdeplume2213 It is true. We are pretty awesome. Thank you :)
@@nomdeplume2213 he is british
Axes never went out of style though, we still have them today and most people have at least seen someone swing one (to chop wood or fell a tree). So most would have a basic idea of how they work and can imagine how they would work in a fight.
When it's sword fencing however, it's been so long since most people have seen them used so sword combat in movies have become less based in reality as most people wouldn't know good fencing from bad fencing.
I find the fact that he randomly pulls out different axes funny.
I own that black SOG axe, both versions. I got all excited when he pulled that one out lol
His skill level is so high, that he has already unlocked all inventory slots
Honestly it’s one of those awesome/terrifying thing, you say funny for the demo. I say he has the weapon type, and he trains, he knows how to use that design. I’d rather have him as a ally as opposed to an enemy. His high marks on his reviews are great as well as he would very rarely underestimate an opponent.
@Ninja101011 well that seems to be a non-factor like...do you also live on Norway? If not then dw bro you are safe from his axes
Nothing random about it.
Difference is, with Jason Momoa, he actually does axe/tomahawk throwing regularly and has his own setup at his home. So if you see him handling an axe, we can at least expect he knows what hes doing.
What is the coolest job in history:
Viking axe expert
Being an expert in something isn't a job, but it opens many job opportunities
Over actual viking warrior?
@@toujisuzuhara01 I suppose your right😄
@@toujisuzuhara01 yeah that's true lol
@@toujisuzuhara01 it's not all its cracked up to be tons of STDs and sleeping on the ground/rowing boats
I like how he takes into account how much skill the person would have so even if he wouldn't be able to do something the person who is fighting could
Yeah, that's the big difference here compared to a lot of other breakdown videos. They base it all on their abilities, without taking into account that there might be someone who could, under the right circumstances.
Exactly! Especially in Firefly!
Why would the title not be "Viking AX-PERT"? Missed opportunity.
Haha I thought of the same
Literally what I was gonna comment about
I'm really disappointed in this comment.
Mainly because I didn't think of that.
@Theodoric MacCambell Puns are always funny. Facts.
@Theodoric MacCambell sometimes they are man
"He's trying to kill with every blow"
Yes, absolutely. Unlike normal choreographed fight scenes where actors just make it look like they're making hard contact, John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) legitimately actually attacked the stuntmen full on with no choreography, beating the crap out of them with his axe.
And he did that on his knees.
Most famously known but most under appreciated and under respected character ever played in history of motion pictures.
@@JM-fj1dy Every true dwarf loves Gimli.
@@nokta7373 He is Elf-friend too
I speak for Nifears
I maybe be biased in favor of dwarves, but I also give John Rhys-Davies/Gimli a pass. Dwarves are a sturdy lot and stronger than humans (remember when Gimli was bench-pressing the worgs to get them off of him?), so he has that _ability_ to go full kill blow each swing without tiring as easily as a human. :)
I'm always used to hearing in these types of videos that twirling = bad. Which yeah sure, not the most efficient, but it's refreshing to hear a new take on it where it could be used to intimidate, confuse and surprise the opponent so they don't know where the attack is coming from. Interesting!
i did some phillipino stick/machete fighting and the movements of the expert in the short clips reminded me of it instantly. Like, its pretty much the same. Crazy that two cultures so far from each other developed similar short weapon fighting styles. It also seems that the techniques are legit when they both came up with them
I would think that twirling during the fight = you're gonna get killed, twirling before the fight for the purpose to intimidate your opponent = definitely a factor there
"I really want to meet him in a fight". Badassery.
"Footwork is a major part of any martial art... It's core." I really like this guy.
Bring him back.
He said he wouldn't want to meet rollo in a fight if that's what you were referencing lol
"It was quite brutal and I enjoyed it" Are you sure you weren't a character in Vikings lol
He's closer to a real Viking, than the characters in the show
I know, I laughed aloud when he said that.
@@HiopX Well, there are only a couple of actors in the series who are actually Scandinavian - Alex Hogh Andersen (Ivar), Gustaf Skarsgard (Floki), Peter Franzen (King Harald), Marco Ilso (Hvitserk), and a couple of other supporting actors.
@@jowolf2187 Oh I wasn't talking actors. I meant characters
@@jowolf2187 wait, Ragnar isn't acted by an Scandinavian?
I like how in the Gimli clip he goes in on one of the most important reasons why dwarfs often use axes. 2 handed axes help them get around their problem of reach while 1 handed axes are more suited to close combat (like in a mineshaft/dwarfen hold) than swords as they require less space.
That is what good story telling through is. A fantasy race has a certain advantage/disadvantage and this is how they found a way around it.
I love it when the expert takes the context of the movie into account. Yeah that would be hard but obviously this character could do it. A+ Expert.
Momoa is a axe fanatic and it shows when he uses one.
The dude’s Instagram is just full of him using weapons. And in almost every role he plays he uses an axe.
@@herkyj knowing him he probably is the one who choreographed the fights
Yeah too bad the actual tv show was so terrible.
Oh yeah? That makes sense now in the last in bullet to the head.
@@two-face1041 He didn't choreograph any of the fights from what I can find. What's more is that he had a stunt double in multiple episodes.
Love the part where he notes that Andy has lived for 6000 years, so her choice of weapons, despite being unrealistic for a normal human being, is quite understandable when wielded by Andy.
And those are the best experts. Some like to just shit on lur techniques and not take the story into consideration. Like yes an immortal would probably be reckless by our mortal standard, but they are literally fighting based on their traita
Just like a Call of Duty player running and gunning with little to no regard to getting shot. In real life I would prefer to be behind something strong enough to stop a bullet 🤣
Yeah, and since it was early in the vid, it was nice b/c than it to me, it was like, "okay, this guys actually watched all these" not like some of these vids where you know "this guys nvr seen this vid until the producer said, "hey, watch this clip, whatcha think?"
The choice of weapon actually isn't that far fetched tbh. Some (Indo-)Persian axes actually had a very similiar shape. The choice of her fighting style was what he said no normal human being would do. But as he and you already noted, she had a lot of time practicing everything and when you're invulnerable/immortal, you just don't care that much about cutting yourself.
@@RinoGato It's super far fetched when guns and combat knives exist. but that scene is just dumb like most movies, why isn't the 4th, 5th , 6th or 7th guy she kills shooting them all dead again. It's like they are all just stand around waiting to be killed for over a minute when it takes 3 seconds to reload and even less to pull out a side arm.
can we get this guy back on as soon as possible?
Viking axe expert is such a niche job and I love that it exists. He seems like he just turned his favourite activity into a job, which is damn cool and I wish more people could do that. Also, does he do seminars? Can he teach me how to wield an axe?
Yes he can ,he is a glima expert and glima founder in Norway.
He used to be my trainer to im proud to say
Ajax has a full metal axe because him not feeling pain means he wouldn't feel the vibrations coming from the handle. It's a neat attention to character detail
Good call 👌
Also unintended. Always weird when fans just finds stuff and think it’s intentional.
@@Gnossiene369 It's weird, but it's also kinda cool. I like fan theories because they're made with passion. In this case it's a nice explanation, but then again vibrations are not the same thing as pain. If someone shakes your arm, it affects your arm, no matter how painless you are.
@@kurington.blogspot7876 While true, he doesn't *feel* the vibrations, he literally lacks any sensations at all, so unless the vibration actually disrupts friction, he won't notice it.
"When we're doing seminars and we're not instructing, we're hanging around, people throw their weapons, they throw their axes, they throw their knives. It's a very natural thing to do."
Out of context, this school sounds terrifying and awesome. Like Hogwarts for Vikings.
So anyway, after lunch, i get REALLY bored,
pulled out my axe
started throwing it
accidentaly cut off my friends arm
happens every once in a while
Yeah I need to know where this is and how much it costs. Sign me up.
This would be such a great movie or series theme
@@fredhasopinions Run of the mill bullshido school
Nah mate, that's just Scandinavia. They believe in letting children do dangerous stuff because it educates caution.
I like this guy. Give him a sequel video.
Y'all got the literal Norse God of War to review this. Noice.
Tyr or Tiw, from whom Tuesday is named.
@@jamesestrella5911 Probably from Anglo-Saxon Gods though. Tiw = Tyr (Old English), Woden (for Wednesday) is essentially Odin but Anglo-Saxon too.
*Kratos appears before the Norse pantheon*
Baldr: Whoa! He's the god of war!
Odin: You idiots! We're ALL gods of war!
But he's one handed, this one has two. What sorcery is this? Movie magic?
@@MorderElg he probably has the right of mind not to put his hand in wolf's mouth.
You had me at 'Academy of Viking Martial Arts'
I'm stoked I live in a world where something like this exists.
Exactly 💯
Styles of fighting are also part of menkind's historical heritage, and as so they should be preserved
The instant glee when he saw the John Wick clip come up, I felt that. Haha
"Because she didn't cut off any (of her) limbs, 10 out of 10." I love how he said that.
Alright viking wrestling sounds like a badass thing to learn.
I really like how he seems to focus on the good parts of the scenes rather then the inaccuracies and taking into account the fictional characters abilities.
In that case, every axe fight in movies deserves a 10/10 score.
@@mitasrb to bad that didn't happen so continue crying someplace else
"I don't think I would ever do this... 9/10"
The Ancient Warfare expert was much better, he gave realistic scores based on what's actually possible vs fantasy. This guy gave everyone 9 and 10's for no reason.
@@UnsaltedCashew38 I was also surprised there were so many high scores
I think he rated them more on skill of the fighter than on realism... Which is okay since he still explains what's realistic and what's not.
Just listen to what he says - disregard the ratings :)
"I just care about the ratings because I'm a critic." - Valten
"Well, I dont think anybody ever wants to be put in a situation where they have to critize a John Wick movie" made me lol :p
I love the way he explains the choreography of the fighting techniques he trains in. It makes the portrayal of the axe seem so much more graceful than just going berserk and using mindless rage
Berserk swinging isnt how any weapon is properly used wild swinging does happen but it’s normally to create space but swinging wide leaves you open to get hit and even a quick little poke could kill you so 90% of the time it needs to stay close and controlled
This guy is very generous with his scores. Maybe he saw more than the clips they showed us, but I could barely see what was happening half the time because of the excessive shaky-cam
they did slow it down a few times as he explained
Yeah, shaky cam and too many cuts is something filmmakers need to tone down a bit sometimes.
@@thebatonmaster Yeah sometimes it can add to the experience when its done well, but more often than not its either just a trick to hide bad stunt-work, or a transparent gimmick to seem more "gritty"
@@Eralen00 Exactly! Well put.
The less skill an actor has for the scene at hand the shakier.
This is the most Norwegian man I've ever seen.
He's not Norwegian, he's English
@@Fabianwew come one dude just read the description of the video and look the guy up smh.
@@SanFranFan30 being president of a Norwegian association does not make you Norwegian. He moved to Norway years ago and changed his name.
Nah, Apetor is the most Norwegian man ever.
@@Fabianwew He mentioned his father in law got him into it, so my guess would be he married a Norwegian. He couldn't sound less Norwegian if he tried lol.
That's the most wholesome video about weapons I have ever seen.
this is the best one so far. most of the experts talk shit on your favorite movies and it would actually make them seem arrogant. this guy takes into context the character and story before shitting on the scene. makes you want to watch more
Yh I remember one expert saying nobody would do that as it makes you a target to get shot at and I couldn't help but think does this dude not know there isnt any guns in that series
He seems like such a nice axe wielding viking grandpa
I LOVE that this guy acknowledges the fictional world and its rules for alot of these scenarios and doesn't just outright dismiss them. Need more experts like that doing these reviews.
The question is "How Real Is It?" So....
This man freaking loves axes and ax scenes! Very generous ratings lol.
Also do a break down in which a Bomber pilot breaks down bomber plane scenes in movies like Flight of the Intruder, Pearl Harbor,Battle of Britan,Midway, Memphis Belle,Unbroken, etc.
You might wanna check out C. W Lemoine her eon youtube. Not a bomber pilot, but fighter jet pilot :)
not trolling, but *Memphis belle, is one of my fave war movies
it would again have to be a WW2 military historian, doubtful you'd find veterans who could engage the audience in this level in their 80/90's. As for Pearl Harbor (Micheal Bay) it's flashy but better avoided if you enjoy historical accuracy. Tora Tora Tora is a superior movie and the World War 2 channel on youtube has a minute by minute breakdown of the attack over 10 episodes which is incredibly well made.
"Oh he dropped a bomb on the target by pressing the appropriate button, this is how we do it in real life!"
The fact that he is an expert in viking axes and viking fighting techniques and his name is Tyr makes all of it even more amazing
Those of us who have trained in the 'real' martial arts (in my case I am a third dan grade with the katana in MJER Iai) can sometimes get tangled up in things not being 'historically' (or style) accurate. Let's be honest; it's not sometimes it's darn near ALWAYS :D.
I have been guilty of this myself ... for there are many, many, films in which katana are not used 'correctly' :lol:
So I was impressed that the reviewer here was able to re-calibrate his analysis based upon the parameters set out in the fiction involved. Well done, sir.
Easily the best expert commentator on YT ever.
The fact that you can see the fear in his eyes when he imagines these battles irl, and his understanding of the brutality of those fights
I didn't know Viking Axe expert was a job, but I want it.
A calm demeanor plus an analytical approach = deadly fighter!
I particularly like the Serenity scene, because there is no superfluous movement. There's a lot of flair, but every single move, every step, every swing, every turn is for the purpose of attack or defend.
This is how people would fight in a real-life scenario. Well, not like THAT, but with that mindset. She's not trying to show off, she's trying to get out of there alive while leaving nobody behind to follow her. And that's the goal of any battleground scenario.
I am from Ireland and the Vikings are a big part of our history. I could listen to this man all day. Very informative.
Does this viking have anymore videos like this? Very cool and he's not wrong about being put into a position critiquing Mr Wick
There is a lot of swinging to miss in that fight scene. I mean it's done for safety but it still looks a bit shit if it's filmed from the wrong angle.
@@adamtennant4936 Totally agree. Love the long shots though and especially with knife/sword fights.
@@randomrangoon5476 Yeah, overall the films are done really well. It's interesting to see videos of Keanu training on a gun range. He's legit.
He is wrong about critiquing John Wick movies though. At the end of the day, it's a movie and has flaws that can be pointed out.
It's a ridiculous notion to be under the impression that you can't critique a movie.
@@mechanomics2649He wasn't saying that you can't critique it you goober. He was implying that it is hard to critique, because it is just that good.
I actually don't think I've seen a single time, where one of these experts have had anything but praise for John Wick scenes.
It’s nice that he’s taking context into account while also teaching and showing expert knowledge. It’s more fun that way.
"It's always enjoyable to see somebody move the way she moves" - Yes, she always did love to dance...
Ooh, Glima! I attended a workshop on Icelandic Glíma once (can't remember what the guy was called). Was very interesting and I really remembered that he said that trapping the hands is very important. While I've never fought with axes in this way, all of these things were reminiscent to me, as I've trained with similar weapons and styles, both historical wrestling (Germanic) and polearms (mostly spear, but to some extent halberd). Hooking your opponents weapon is something that happens all the time. Very interesting!
" *The grapling was great, It was very brutal and I like it.* " that was a viking like statement ,i've gotta say
It's great and refreshing to hear a Master speak with that good will and in such a humble and respectful way. Thanks.
I've always felt that axes were great weapon's that are sometimes highly underrated, they are in my opinion a very versatile weapon that can be used for many things including powerful brute force attacks, fast attacks and disarming attacks
Plus chopping wood to build a shelter and fire...
Thank you James May for teaching us about axes.
15:40 "River does love to dance"
Also Summer is a trained ballerina if I remember correctly 😅
I was not aware that Vikings had their own martial art... makes a lot of sense, but it never crossed my mind. Simply amazing.
They don't really, tbh, and there's far less written down compared to the vast array of later manuscripts and treaties written.
Much like HEMA it's derived from historical sources, not it's own martial art but rather an attempt faithfully reconstruct how they fought. Since a few sagas do talk about how weapons were made and how fights went. But it is a lot of speculation and it's based on sources from long after the viking era.
Whole new meaning to axe “body spray”
Put your Axe in the enemy's Head & Shoulders.
When the axe connects with a major artery, that's when you get the axe body spray.
Viking 1: You wanna go raid the Brits? I'm getting some more axe body spray.
Viking 2: Sure, I actually need some myself
This guy looks like king Theoden from LOTR 😂
9:20 I love the way Tyr explains how a typical attack move could be done with the axe, instead of extended and cumbersome swings or something too visually fancy.
What I love about your video is that you take into the characters attributes and explain why they can do this, and then explain why you as a Normal person shouldn't.. 10/10
I love how this guy rates fights because he likes them
Wow I really love that Frontier was included. An underestimated show tbh (to be known, Duncan (Jason Momoa's character) had just recovered from several bad wounds before this fight lol)
I love the sincerity and levity of this reaction - he’s waaaaaaay better than any obnoxious expert who just goes critiquing things too seriously
"Viking" evokes images of hulking, bearded Berserkers, but this wise, yet humble master is impressive.
I love that he's just like, listen it's a fun fight. 10/10
Not realistic but it's cool to look at, 10/10
In the LotR fight, the only thing I can think of is that the orcs at least sometimes have armour, and that would stop the short thrust with an axe from being useful. The orc elite troops are also very sturdy, and inclined to try and kill even as they are dying. We saw one deliberately impaling himself to get to an opponent.
You can say the orcish armour is crude, but I still think it would stop the axe thrusts described at 10:00 unless you are hitting weakpoints.
I found a video called "Return of the King ~ Extended Edition ~ Orc Inspection HD" . You can see the armor is inferior to what the humans have, but it's not to be ignored either.
One counter to that is that dwarves probably fought orcs in less than that most of the time, with The Hobbit movies showing very basic stuff like bone and hide. So maybe he's used to fighting humans. Not to mention they did sometimes fight elves, and the elves were supposedly masters of arms and armor, so maybe that influences his training.
Axe Jesus has come to bless us.
We thank you, Axe Jesus.
This guy is so nice. Usually these experts freaking shred movies--- and honestly I feel give bias opinions but this guy is great because he put the films stories into account which is just great!
That big smile when Deadpool came up tells you all you need to know on how good that movie is :)
Would watch that movie 10/10 again :)
i think this guy is the most generous expert i have seen on any of the insider expert rates vids
"I don't know anyone who would use an ax like that... It's not very realistic... 10/10"
I still wouldn't want to tell him that tho, man could throw an axe from norway and probably still hit me here in ireland 😂
Very happy to see he actually took into account the context of the film
Could you ask him do the final fight of last of the Mohican’s. Axe and knife vs war club.
I was waiting for this as well
Mr. Neilsen, thank you for being so nice to the movies. If we believe the characters, scenes and their setups, those (for me: mostly) were quite enjoyable fighting scenes with axes. Your further input was relaxed and informative, your joy about seeing good fighting scenes obvious. Really great video!
This guy is the definition of lowkey metal.
I love this guy, amazing perspective and almost poetic ideas. Proud Scandinavian here, Heja Tyr!
In some parts this obviously wasnt so much about how real it was but how well it was performed regardless of realism. Sure, why not? I certainly learned more about axing people properly anyway. 😬
To be fair, except Old Guard, Deadpool and Serenity which took some liberties with their fights (but as was already said it is due to most of those characters being nearly invulnerable or straight up immortal, it is still realistic because you can literally do stuff like this with an axe, you just wouldn't do it because hell nah, I'm not immortal so I keep to more defensive tactics instead of full blown offensive), those fights were all "realistic". And the scenes were still entertaining. That's something really nice about axes, you don't need all this fancy swinging to make it look intense and dangerous like you need to do with swords, you just straight up hack the hell at your opponent and it is still realistic and entertaining.
I thoroughly enjoyed this review! A very skilled expert, who took a wide variety of movies and gave them fair consideration. Old Guard and Serenity are two of my favorites!
Agreed. A love how fluid Summer was in Serenity. But, she was a ballerina so I guess that why her fight was so beautiful.
In Old Guard again the movements were fluid, the changes of direction and constant movement caught your attention.
But I the Vikings show did axes best. Just brutal.
"No-one wants to be in a position they have to criticize a John Wicke movie" 😂
The fact that he demonstrated a quick strike, and I could BARELY even see it was awesome.
I think Insider forgot to tell him he's supposed to rate how real/accurate these scenes are. He was just rating how entertaining he found them XD
He used the characters backstories to measure their skills not what he would do if he was the one fighting nothing wrong with that
I liked the way he did it, he took the character and storyline into account most of the time and he was familiar with almost all the combat.
European martial arts tend to be more concepts than specifics. So if the ethos, character and weapon all match up, he gives it a high score. You have listen to what he says though as far as accuracy is concerned in the fights. Vikings weren't karate experts, but they could swing an axe and throw people to the ground, just using very different techniques. One is locked rigidly in culture and history, the other is more free form. Not when you fall you must make your body do exactly this move, but when you fall, take into account where you are and plan how to get back to your feet as soon as possible, using any method that works. So there is no incorrect as long as it's working and you're not leaving yourself open. There's plenty of times he said he wouldn't do it that way, but he explained why. He didn't say the character couldn't do it that way. So it doesn't ruin the rating.
If it works, and it's entertaining 9/10 ;D
Much as I enjoy these Insider videos, this for me is my favourite so far. Very informative and its good to see how versatile a weapon an axe is in its different formats. Nice to see it get some love over the sword.
Great video! Really enjoyed this.
Man, I can't get enough of these videos. This is my favorite one so far.
I could watch him rate fight scenes for hours!
"...senior instructor at viking martial arts..." has got to be one of the coolest combinations of words I've ever heard
Jason is always playing a Viking
What movie is that
well viking is just ppl that travel to invade land to steal... like pirate but with land involved lol land pirates...
At 7:55, the casual way he's just like, "Something about this size" and has the right axe just right there in his living room close at hand cracks me up.
I keep waiting for him to scream CLARKSOOON and call someone a pillock
This is the kindest, most generous critic on any of these kinds of video. Is it a Scandi thing?
Just been watching various experts utterly panning nearly everything.
Nice contrast.
Insider is the real Infotainment ❤️
The advice of small jabs with the axe makes sense . Going out and taking full swings would also open up your top half for attack .
i like to imagine tyr was an esteemed viking warrior in a past life :)
Uff, the “woodsman’s axe” you showed sends shivers down my spine. I was chopping small kindling for a mini pizza oven with a Swedish hatchet that had been recently stropped on an old barbers strop. I accidentally missed a swing and embedded it into my index knuckle. I will never forget the squeak sounds it made when I pulled it out of my knuckle bone but because it was so sharp it didn’t hurt that bad even after the adrenaline wore off.
Need him to react to for honour vikings