Short medieval flails - some observations

Talking about short medieval flails - their form and function.
Previous video: • Medieval flails! An in...
Flail: southernswords.co.uk/one-ball...

[@McShaggswell]

"We all love a long shaft" -Matt Easton, 2017

[@hjorturerlend]

"Your appendage, at the end, which is flopping around there" - Matt Easton, 2017

[@aanler]

"Even if you swing it around and it hits your shaft, it's not going to hit your hand" Matt Easton, 2017

[@musicalaviator]

"This is quite a heavy ball I have to say!" Matt Easton, 2017

[@Primalintent]

Thirty seconds in, there's no way he did that unintentionally.

[@dominicshelkey8741]

He does advise against having a shaft with two or three balls. Whilst you may want a heavy weapon, it also needs to be sufficiently fast. o.O

[@dominicshelkey8741]

Matt confirmed it! His plumbing problem was dragons in the drains!

[@NamelessBody]

His lost footage of practicing with the flail was actually him fighting the dragons.

[@DoktorWeasel]

So dragons don't live in drains... anymore. Because he killed them with a flail.

[@crwydryny]

nah all the dragons are in wales new4.fjcdn.com/pictures/Welsh+tourism+poster+tidy+like_c25498_5033052.jpg

[@ilikewasabe]

its all about context! he may have excreted a continuous amount of fecal mater by which (as his wife would describe it) has considerable amount of girth. A high intake of leguminous crops like corn and peanuts may have contributed to the overall look of ridges like found on a dragon..

[@Shrapnel82]

I love the judicial duel rules. A man in a pit versus a woman with a rock in a sock. I get the feeling it'd be fun to be one of those judges. "Well, the challenger is taller, so the defendant gets a pointy stick, and the plaintiff has to hop on one leg, but gets to use a comically oversized mallet."

[@Ramiiam]

Is that a rock in your sock, are are you just glad to see me?

[@benjibase]

I thought Matt was a sword instructor, but this guy is just flailing around!

[@afathoo]

Hey Matt, I've studied a fair bit of physics so here's my quick assessment. When you begin swinging the flail, your elbow is roughly where the pivot point is. You exert torque about this point and give both your forearm as well as the flail handle and ball a certain amount of angular momentum. When you slow your arm near the end of the swing, you reduce the momentum in your arm drastically, which is okay since you want to avoid shock, but since the flail is not rigid, you do not take away from the angular momentum that is in the ball of the flail. The angular momentum in the ball is equal to "p * r", where "p" is the momentum of the ball and "r" is the distance to the pivot. during the majority of the swing, r is the distance from the ball to your elbow. towards the end of the swing, r is given by the distance from the ball to the tip of the shaft of the flail, so the value of r decreases. however the angular momentum of the ball segment is conserved since there is negligible torque acting on it when you slow your arm down near the end of the swing, so "p * r" must still have the same value, but r is now decreased, so "p" must increase. This means the momentum of the ball will increase when you decelerate your arm at the end of the swing. this also means if your opponent blocks your swing, the energy of their block goes into accelerating the ball of your flail, a cute side-observation about the dynamics.

[@boxfox1239]

Gay, stfu and stop justifying your shit degree nigga.

[@Dinoenthusiastguy]

@@boxfox1239 Someone's jelly they don't know shit about physics

[@DJMarcO138]

@@Dinoenthusiastguy or English, lol

[@James-id7ok]

Nice mate but does it hit harder

[@lokuzt]

We need to make a video compilation of all the glorious innuendos Matt delivers

[@Thrand11]

The flail is banned in the SCA due to the cord or chain. The chain or cord can get tangled on armor and wrap around arms and necks either crush or damage the throat or dislocating limbs like wrist, elbows and shoulders when tangled or wrapped tight and yanked hard on to retrieve it. The impact is not the issue. The secondary reason is that the flail may fly free and hit by standards in tourneys.

[@martinbeagle6448]

ThegnThrand And here I thought it was because the old schoolers were using croquet balls.

[@xIronPigx]

Martin Beagle before the flail was banned in the SCA a favorite analog used in its construction was a small tether ball half filled with fix-a-flat.

[@AlekseiGriffin]

everything is banned in SCA. Its just glorified larping with retarted scene. I am so happy it did not get root most parts in europe even with anglos pushing it.

[@JimFinley11]

I was at the SCA tournament when it was used for what may have been the last time - it was at the USAF base in Colorado Springs in 1974 or 1975. The fighter with the flail brought it down just as his opponent stepped forward - the chain (it had padded links) straddled the top of the target's head and the ball wrapped down and hit him in the back of the neck where his gorget didn't cover. It knocked him out cold and he was taken away by ambulance - don't know whether he suffered any permanent injury but it scared the crap out of people. I believe this led to both the banning of flails and an expansion to the coverage requirements for gorgets.

[@forge20]

Right: it's actually not effective but can be hazardous in unintended ways. That's the morning star in a nutshell.

[@baconinapan]

"You've got a completely parallel shaft here that your hand can just slide down; there's no swelling, there's no shape, there's nothing to help you keep your hand on there." -Matt Easton, 2017

[@Dalibor567]

This discussion about flails being fake makes me utterly flabbergasted. I am living in Czechia (The Czech Republic, Czechoslovakia, whathever name you prefer) and ever since I was born (which was almost 40 years ago) I knew about flails. Flails are something of a sacred weapon here. They were supposed to be used by Husites and were supposed to be one of the reasons Husites kicked some serious ass for couple of years (in 15th century). I am not historical expert, but I have trouble throwing this all away just because Lindybeige said so in one of his videos. I guess, they were never popular in what is now western Europe, but that does not mean they did not exist.

[@mermeoth7178]

Agreed. We have learnt about them when learning about Žižka and Husites. Also you can see them in museum's focused on this time period (15th century) in Czech republic.

[@Mailed-Knight]

Yeah I'm with you I've read about the Hussite victories and I've heard they used double handed flails.

[@Gew219]

Dalibor Posta It's the same for the Polish, when they hear from Lindybeige that war scythes didn't exist and are completely bonkers anyway. BTW he said pretty much the same thing about flails anyway.

[@AlekseiGriffin]

Lindybeige is hack so dont worry. According to him Pikemen never fought in melee against each other, cavarly charges did not happen against formed infantry, flail or warscythes did not exist. He just ignores real historical sources and takes stuff what fits his head canon. Also shows his total ignorance of anything outside anglo history. East europe is basicly blackhole for him.

[@shaunaqpaul3078]

@@AlekseiGriffin you need to understand that the purpose of his videos are for expressing his views on topics that interest him, he never fully claims to know everything about anything he talks about and he has cited multiple times that he is always open to debate. Calling him a 'hack' helps nothing and nobody, instead I recommend personally contacting him about this and prove him wrong.

[@EisenKreutzer]

Ah, the age old Morporkian favourite: The half-brick in a sock. Weapon of choice of the footpads and rogues of Ankh-Morpork.

[@RyanRyzzo]

Fabricati Diem, Pvnc

[@James-ep2bx]

EisenKreutzer ah pratchet gold

[@themastermason1]

I learned it as the brick in the glove "handshake" from Bugs Bunny.

[@iainclark8695]

the snooker ball in a sock from scum. :)

[@robinburt5735]

or bar of soap in a sock for those in prison.

[@charlesstonebridge525]

I often wish my shaft was longer and my appendage was further away from my hands.

[@robinbennett5994]

I think the physics advantage of a flail is that it gives you some gearing that changes through the stroke. At it's simplest, you have a short lever when you start to swing and a long one when it's going fastest. The chain allows you to get it started easily, and it also allows you to keep adding energy longer because later in the stoke the ball is traveling faster. It's similar to the sling on a trebuchet.

[@thewaterbear]

It's all about energy transfer, Matt. All of the force from the flail is "dumped" into the target, whereas some of the energy in a mace is sent into the shaft (potentially breaking or bending it, as you may be familiar with). Technically, flails hit more EFFICIENTLY, but practically speaking, yes they hit harder.

[@mortoopz]

Yes!, This! first good description I've seen.. There's also some dynamic trigonometry involved where the angular momentum of the ball following the shaft during acceleration is transferred to linear momentum as the user 'flicks' the ball in line with the shaft at the apex of the swing (assuming correct execution) AND the reverse effect where the shaft continues to accelerate past the target, forcing the ball to revert back to an angular mode..... however this second effect is minimal (or even none as the ball will have often bounced clear of the target)... but yeah, basically what waterbear said.

[@TheMasturCheef]

Maybe the difference in efficiency is not that big. But as you pointed out, there is little or no energy transfered to the shaft because of the flexible chain. That means that you can make a very long mace which would be impractical with a rigid shaft, because it would very quickly break. I'm just speculating though :) But it does seem like a reasonable theory to me. Other speculations (magically getting more speed, hitting around shields, wrapping it around things) seem somewhat plausible to me, but not really like enough "motivation" to develop such a thing. Trying to construct a mace with a lot of reach on the other hand is straight forward. It's an obvious advantage, but the longer the shaft gets the more likely it breaks. The chain is quite an obvious solution to that problem.

[@justinriley8651]

the force has a lot to do with the length. the length increases the speed of the ball the faster that spiked ball moves the more energy it will have. all you gotta do is test it . get a made with no chain the same length as one with a chain and hit shit with it . in my experience the solid one will have more power. don't know the scientific reason why just know that's my results.

[@thewaterbear]

Also, I just realized that the additional distance covered by the rotation of the flail is like a BUILT IN moulinette!

[@revermen3580]

That's the opposing force pushing back into the mace handle which is continually forced into the target by the wielder. While the opposing force in the flail makes it bounce off the target. So force per strike is higher on the mace.

[@JoshEastham]

"your appendage at the end flopping around there."-Matt Easton

[@immikeurnot]

It's like a whip. Bullwhips crack because the end of the whip reaches the speed of sound. A whip-like motion is the proper way to throw anything really hard - baseball, knife, whatever - because you get much better velocity and therefore power. I noticed when I started throwing knives that I can plant a knife quite a bit deeper in the target with a throw than by planting my feet and stabbing it as hard as I can, and I'm definitely not throwing as hard as possible (because I'll either miss or fail to stick). Anyway, what you basically get with this is a compound lever. Something like a sword is a simple lever. You can generate good power with it, but by adding a flexible point in the weapon, you create another lever. When you swing, you're levering a lever with a lever. And you're using your arm as (usually) a complex lever itself to achieve all that. Short answer: It generates more power for the same reason you achieve more power swinging a tool by using your elbow than locking your elbow and only using your shoulder. Make sense?

[@dvidrey]

Some people say out of all the channels dealing with similar subject matter, your videos are a bit on the boring side. To those people I say, you must not be paying attention. Mr. Easton, sir, you truly are a genius with the innuendo. Not a raised eyebrow, not a pause for laughter, just BAM. There is is, all shafts and appendages and whatnot. Bravo.

[@InternetSupervillain]

"Someone could tell you dragons live in the drains". Great channel for history, martial analysis, and casual humour.

[@petev.6598]

"a long shaft is advantageous to a short shaft" - Matt Easton, 2017

[@CagetheOnion]

Hey Matt, mechatronic engineering student here. Flails can in fact strike with a much greater speed than a straight weapon of similar length. It works exactly as you describe it, the ball lags behind a bit and then catches up with the rest of the shaft. The shaft actually has to stop accelerating for the ball to catch up, but if constant force is applied to rotating the arm, then most all of the energy that would be moving the arm goes straight into the ball and accelerates it much faster. The prime timing here is when the whole mechanism is "in line", which is when the ball will be moving fastest. This is very similar to how a trebuchet hurls projectiles with a long sling on the end of an arm.

[@inthefade]

TWICE the weight of a long sword pommel?! Surely that will end him rightly.

[@gwem1979]

Personally, any weapon involving a chain scares me. Bad memories of messing around with nunchucks when i was young

[@metalema6]

Long shafts have more leverage, you can reach further, you can hit someone further away. Thanks matt for teaching me things

[@crwydryny]

we all love a long shaft, floppy appendage heavy ball the innuendo is strong with this one

[@_halloeen_856]

when i was younger i was obsessed with maces,ball and chain,flails, etc

[@jakekillify]

The innuendo is strong with this one

[@alexanerose4820]

Mace confirmed ultimate pommel thrower. Twice the weight, twice the fun, and you can keep smashing the other guys with it thanks to the chain.

[@Bearded_Tattooed_Guy]

What!? There's dragons in the drains? Who would have guessed...? Actual dragons.

[@KevinSterns]

Watching Matt's movements with the flail, I've become convinced that it was never intended to be a nimble weapon. Instead it's a very efficient slow weapon designed for an environment where armor defeats most other weapons, and the flail wielder is himself well protected. Lightning attacks toward armor joints can be one approach, but a flail works against ANY surface. Aim for center of mass. Hit them anywhere and it hurts. This is not a carpenter's hammer, it's a wrecking ball. Nice easy swing and nobody wants to be in it's way. Start the swing all the way back, storing energy throughout. Who cares if the strike is telegraphed. Where are they going to go? Backwards out of their place in line? Use methodical progressive acceleration like a trebuchet arm, letting the ball go where it wants, and your arm won't tire. It's like the Strikeforce match with Cung Le vs Frank Shamrock. Shamrock successfully blocked every kick with his arm... until his arm finally broke.

[@acvarthered]

This type of weapon is a cavalry weapon. When I am riding past you on a horse I get one swing no matter how fast my weapon is.

[@ihategoogle9597]

"Dragons live in drains" Matt Easton, 2017.

[@manlyadvice1789]

That was the most phallic introduction I've seen in a long time. Kudos.

[@patricklinnett1819]

It is true that having the chain increases the velocity of the appendage at some point during its trajectory. It's the same reason that we put that sack thing on the end of trebuchet arms, rather than attaching a cup directly to the end of the arm.

[@Sammie_Sorrelly]

I didn't know whether to expect innuendos in this but you really are loving this, aren't you?

[@mathiasstielzchen2227]

To the acceleration question: yes, that is absolutely correct. It's the same dynamics as on a trebuchet for instance.

[@bluetea1400]

As someone who fights with the flail (in full armor with a shield) a few notes from my experience with the weapon. First off, I love the flail! It's my favorite of our "heavy" weapons, which also include masses, axes and war hammers. Your right that it is an almost purely offensive weapon, so I always pair it wth a shield or buckler. It has a massive advantage, against other shield combinations, in that it forces an opponent to block bigger. Take the shield and sword for example, normally you can stick a good sized shield in front of you and block most direct attacks from a sword with little effort. But if you try to block a flail the same way, I put the tip of the shaft on the top of your shield, the ball swings around and clocks you in the head. To counter this you have to move your shield further, either away from your body or upwards to insure that that nasty little ball can't reach you. This can create openings and can wear down an opponent. You complained about the amount of energy to get the ball accelerated, and rightly so, so my suggestion is to always keep the ball in motion. Even just swaying the ball back and forth off to your side. Now you might say "but won't my opponent simply wait to attack when the ball swings away?" One thats what your shield is for, and two since its already moving you can actually accelerate the ball backwards and bring it around in a full circle, in the same amount of time it would take to accelerate it forwards from a dead stop. As to the F=m v^2, whiles it's true you can spin up the ball of the flail to dizzying speeds, I find that it really needs its mass to create enough impact for armored opponents. This is because you can't apply any of your own strength to the impact of the ball. With a sword or other ridged weapon you can put some of your own mass into the strike (take a two handed thrust as the extreme example) but with a flail the chain prevents this connection. You could argue that with a smaller lighter ball you can get it up to speed faster, but if you take a spin or to to get the ball really moving as you close distance, you can reach the same speeds without sacrificing the mass. Also, if you continue your follow through into another strike you can conserve some of the momentum into the next strike. So long as it's not I direct hit. As far as the relationship of shaft length to chain and ball length, I always want the shaft to be equal to or greater then the length of the ball and chai combined. With this combination, so long as the shaft is at a right angle to me, the ball cant hit me. So if the ball does ever come off my opponent at a strange angle all I need to do is point the stick away and I am safe from being struck by my own weapon. I do wonder what it would be like to wield a flail on horse back. What kind of power you could generate at a gallop, timing your swings to the stride of the horse! I've only ever fought with it on foot. Finally lets face it, the flail is a really intimidating weapon! No one, not even your allies want to be any were near you while your swinging this thing around. I could continue for pages, as I said the flail is one of my favorite weapons. I hope these invites help, keep making great videos! :)

[@poliestotico]

Love the time you take for accurately defining a palet haha

[@FakeSugarVillain]

I remember that in one of those old natgeo specials they tested nunchucks and three section staffs and compared them to Bo staffs and quarter staffs, and the result was that even if they had more acceleration the chained weapons hitted the objective with less strength than a regular staff, and it had a lot of to do with how much force your body puts in the weapon, the chain makes that the force of your movement over the handle dissipates in the flexible chain so youa re only using the acceleration as a hitting force, with something like a mace or a stick you are hitting with the entire weight of the weapon and focusing all of that in the hitting point. Now, that was a natgeo special of nine years ago and I watched when I was a teenager so it wouldn't hurt to fact check all of this.

[@krileym]

I too see the advantages in a long shaft as opposed to a short shaft - with the long shaft, when your appendage is flopping around, it's further away from your hands, which can help to diminish the unexpected occurrence of eventual messy accidents

[@whirving]

When I was a kid my friends and I had large battles with wooden swords, shields, spears, padded arrows from bows and crossbows, and one guy had a flail. The big guy. If he landed a shot, there was no doubt you were gone as it was always a solid hit. Usually the blow came from the top and over the shield to the back of the head/neck or shoulder and gave a solid WHOP. I think it was a tennis ball (painted black for realism) with a rope through it on a 2' shaft. It took a while before he was competent with the flail but with a large shield he was trouble. Good fun.

[@Metazone101]

To me, the most effective use of a single-handed flail would be while mounted against ground troops. Adding the momentum of the horse and that most impacts would be at or near the bottom of the swing you would maximize the force (gravity) while reducing the need to decelerate the ball (again gravity). Thoughts Matt?

[@Soorma_9]

matt loves a long shaft

[@s071john2]

By the way, love the videos, very glad you make these.

[@kristofb5013]

Someone needs to make a supercut of all the suspect things Matt says. Whether he's talking about long shafts, flopping appendages or heavy balls.

[@gmchris3752]

About 2 minutes in, I had to check if this was posted on April 1st. So many potential double entendres!

[@Slarti]

The very basic physics of a flail accelerating towards the end of its trajectory is to do with pulling back on the shaft at the end of its trajectory. The simplest analogue is an ice skater spinning, if they put their arms out they slow down and if they pull their arms in the spin accelerates. So by pulling back on the flail at the last moment one is in effect reducing the length of the chain and this in turn accelerates the end of the flail.

[@aanler]

So it's basically a pommel on a chain?

[@Jmat-tc8zs]

Very good for ending foes rightly.

[@cdgonepotatoes4219]

he said it's twice the weight of a pommel, it's two pommels fused together

[@CJ_F0x]

@@cdgonepotatoes4219 For those who need to be ended in the most rightly of ways.

[@Katzenkotze85]

....unscrew...unscrew...unscrew... ;))

[@sprucebruce3819]

im just listening to this right now and holly fuck the way he describes things are hilarious

[@chriswarren1618]

A couple of extra questions come to mind in using this flail. Say you targeted the opponent forearm and effectively hit long. The weight on a flexible chain, could still impact after wrapping round the limb. But then the aggressor cannot withdraw the flail quickly and the inertia of the ball slowing down rapidly at an acute angle might transfer to the flail handle being pulled out of the users grip. Also, the victim might at that moment, withdraw his forearm with the ball wrapped round it, to pull the shaft out of the users grip.

[@Greg_Chock]

I've played a fair amount with an Indian-made replica that was fairly well constructed. I did use some hokey tape to improve the grip. I ended up settling on a nunchaku type grip very close to the chain. This gave me the greatest control in terms of generating speed in the striking part of the arc and aim. I could swing very hard and still decelerate easily enough on the backswing to never strike my back or arms. I could execute looping type strikes like you show in the saber solo drills, though without the guard positions of course. The spikes on the ball actually help a lot with negating rebounds when striking wooden targets. I'll agree that you'd need some type of armor as you can force people to keep their distance by keeping the ball in motion, but you'd soon tire yourself out if you kept it up for long. Using it this way, the handle functioned mostly as a counterweight and it never took any hits from the ball. My main worry is that the chain will get caught up in the opponents weapon or shield and then you've lost all of your momentum and then you're left with a short wooden handle encumbered on one end with a chain.

[@alexisjuillard4816]

i'm currently studying engineering and don't want to go though all the physics but you're basically right when you say a flail would have more impact then a mace (with equivalent mass). It has to do with the fact that with the same arm mouvement the weight in the flail has a more circular mouvement while the mace has a more strait mouvement. the weight on the flail therefore covers more distance in the same time so is going faster when it strikes

[@extrasmack]

Great video with great points raised. Looking forward to the demo. Regarding handle modifications, the ring of furniture tacks is an excellent idea. As to texturing, crosshatch may be a bit too rough on the ungloved hand given the inertia and handling. Some modern nunchaku have very shallow (about .5 mm to 1mm) ring groves spaced roughly 1/4 inch appart along the grip area, providing just enough friction for a good purchase whilst not abrading your palm and fingers ala a cheese grater. Might want to have a look at those for inspiration as you come up with a viable solution. Cheers!

[@peterpwn9558]

Flailarmy is my favorite source for all kinds of flail videos.

[@spyrofrost9158]

The flail I own has a wrist chain, as well as a fabric grip around the end of the handle. The ball could certainly afford to be 1 link slower, but after manually closing the links a bit better with a vice, It's a weapon I truly love. Additionally, because I'm not a very strong guy, I find the flail much easier to handle than my sword, but it could be because my Flail is relatively light compared to some.

[@lorenzogiancristofaro9721]

About your point around minute 6:00 . Catapults that have a rope attached to the end of the shaft (trebushet) are proven to have a much longer range and force compared to their rigid counterparts. A flail works in the same way, so yeah it does generate more force during the swing, but it is impossible to follow up the impact. With a mace, your whole body can increase the fore you apply to the target AFTER the impact, whereas with a flail the ball would just skid off or stick to the armour

[@jeffreysouthgate9834]

There is a reference to flails being the standard weapon of infantry in the principality of Kiev in 13-14th century. In reenactment as a small group,we use them, but ONLY in demonstration , not in actual combat, for the " might hit the crowd" reason given. Personal theory - I am of the opinion that cavalry may ( only MAY) have used them as a 'one shot weapon'. Similar to a lance, after one hit, just let it go and take out the side arm.

[@andrewdimartino7426]

Its been a while since physics class, but my impression is that they hit harder because the chain acts as a pivot point that can convert centrifugal forces from your swing into centripetal ones. The pivot point offers a path of lower resistance for the momentum to travel so more energy is transferred to the target than without a pivot point, would be my best guess.

[@Strang94179]

Centrifugal force is not a force. Centrifugal force is, and i quote:"Tendency of an object following a curved path to fly away from the center of curvature. Might be described as lack of centripetal force." www.diffen.com/difference/Centrifugal_Force_vs_Centripetal_Force If the object travels in circular trajectory enters circular trajectory with less radius (for example the flail swings, then gets blocked and only the chain and ball swing around) the speed of the object does not increase, what increases is the speed of rotation, but the speed of the object stays the same.

[@andrewdimartino7426]

I know what the word means and how the two relate, perhaps my initial comment didnt do a good job conveying that, my apologies if so. I agree with your second point too, but wouldnt the increase in rotation be an increase in angular velocity that would create more angular momentum?

[@nipuniperera9918]

Actually the angular momentum wouldn't increase - it can't increase without an external torque acting on it. angular velocity (and as a result, tangential velocity) can increase if momentum of inertia is decreased. The ball flying after the shaft has stopped would just follow a parabolic trajectory like a cannonball until the chain is under tension again (when the chain is stretched to its maximum length, or if it wraps around an obstacle, reducing the chain's length significantly). The trajectory will depend on the velocity at the moment the chain loses its tension.

[@kevinjameswhite]

I think it hits harder because "its a longer lever than a mace or a war axe". If the shaft was the same length as the shaft and chain, with a similar weight distribution then I think a similar weight would produce a similar force impact. However if you missed and kept spinning it, (or pre spun it) then if you could get the weight to move faster than with a single strike, the force it imparted at impact would be greater.

[@christopherneelyakagoattmo6078]

Centripetal force is the answer. That is the radial force of the chain pulling the weight toward the center of the circle as the inertia of the object tends its moment in a straight line. The momentum of inertia is increased when the length of this radius is decreased: like when the chain wraps over the top of a shield. Instead of a constant acceleration of an object continuing in a fixed orbit around a given point at a given distance, speed, and direction: you stop the chain at each point of contact along the curved surface of someone's body and each link of chain becomes the new center of rotation for the remaining momentum of inertia. So there is a change happening on the system. It is the same sort of cam effect as used in the compound bow.

[@ianalexander6977]

It's interesting you make the link with nunchaku earlier in the video. I remember that my kobudo instructor used to recommend using stripper on the handles of your nunchaku when you first get them, because the varnish makes them so prone to slipping from the hand. Just taking the varnish off made for a much more secure grip. I'm not sure that would cut the mustard for a flail given the extra weight, but might be worth a go.

[@adomalyon1]

Can confirm the physics. The angular and centrifugal forces added to the head of the flail head make it more powerful as opposed to the plain mace. Also, some of these forces can be applied with a simple rotation of the ball as opposed to a full swing. Caveat: the chain must be perfectly taught upon impact to properly apply that force. Another caveat: considering the level of effort needed to apply control to the pivot point (chain-ring) handle-alignment, or cross-alignment, with the ring is probably fairly handy.

[@qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqw]

I'm not a physicist but the flail having more force than a mace does make sense as the pivot point is further away. Also, the force used to stop the flail will transfer into the swing of the head, because of centripetal force.

[@gregpartridge7554]

I could make a quick guess as to why the flail can hit harder based on conservation of energy. Figuring that the wielder can apply a roughly constant torque to the handle, then the amount of energy that can be put into each weapon is the same through any arc of the same size - but since the flail head trails behind the handle on its chain, by the time it hits the target the wielder's had more time to put energy into it. That it can start the swing already spinning with quite a bit of momentum would also help.

[@markkelly6259]

Matt, a suggestion for when you reach a quarter million subscribers you might do a cutting video using the carcass of a sheep, pig or beef. You could compare the cutting effectiveness of various 19th century military sabers with the 1796 light cavalry saber as well as comparing cutlasses, tulwars, back swords, dha and possibly pole weapons. At the end of the video, you could show your family sitting down to a meal made from the meat that had been sliced up during the video because the Eastons eat what they kill.

[@skorpikh]

Great vid Matt - what might be interesting to think about - from my perspective and that I know little about Hussite wars (Even tho Im born Bohemian) - I saw much more two handed kind of flails in art. When I put it together in context with one of your latest vids about fighting against unexperienced / desperate man who go all in - these flails seem to be great choice. Later these one handed flails were probably more of a symbol.

[@jeremyknop5378]

When I was 24 years old I welded steel spikes to a 6" hollow steel ball. I welded it to a 12" section of tow chain (which weighs roughly about 5 times more than the steel ball). I put it on a shaft that was too short. When I went to test it on a dead tree in the yard at welding school the ball bounced off the tree and the 3" spike impaled my hand. Almost a decade later I go back to visit and I'm still known as that medieval guy that impaled himself on his own flail lol so the morale of this story is, longer shaft, light chain, solid head and get one of the rookies to play test dummy lol

[@edi9892]

Yes it works. It has a whip effect (AFAIK if you suddenly shorten the radius the momentum carries on but at a higher speed). Moreover, you can accelerate it like a sling.

[@00Trademark00]

As for the physics, I am not completely sure, but my argument would be this - I think it works essentially like a sling or an atlatl in that it allows you to store energy into the ball the way a fixed weapon doesn't. In fact, the flail is sort of like a staff sling with the projectile attached to the staff.

[@bradleykoperski7198]

You got some balls to swinng that thing around without hand or head protection

[@jeffwebb727]

I've engaged in hours of exercises with a flail (single-handed and two-handed shaft flails) over the past 6 years or so. To be sure, there is little in the sources (at least as far as I know of) for this type of flail. So, I put to use my knowledge/experience with Nunchaku (from my Karate days), and also Longsword, poleaxe, and single sword techniques, and the movements, like Mr. Easton stated are very similar. Anyone with experience in those weapons can adapt to using a flail pretty quickly I believe. I constructed my own since most of what I've been able to find for purchase are junk. The two-handed shaft version (my favorite) is one in which I've been able to land more strikes on target at the fastest speeds, and what I've found ( and this may or may not be a key bit of info ) is that glancing blows can keep the ball of the flail in motion, while the blows still have what I believe to be an effective amount of force transferred to the target. Naturally the softer the target, the better of course. I've used single targets, and multiple targets to allow for more footwork and movement from one target to another with the flail. I use Century BOB targets, and wooden pells. Yes, you can definitely land solid blows on a target for greatest force/energy transfer, but it does tend to bring the ball to a stop or very near a stop, and the user has to get it going again. Also, the two-handed shaft can be used for defense. I would add that the user would certainly be wise to carry a dagger as a back-up for close work. Definitely for a user of the single-handed shaft flail, I agree with Mr. Easton that such person would need to have a shield or be in plate harness. I usually do not make comments, but I love this channel, Historical European Martial Arts, and I tend to find some really great people involved in H.E.M.A. So, I though in the event anyone found my info helpful or interesting on this topic, that I'd chime in...sorry it's rather novel-length. Thank you for a fabulous channel, Mr. Easton.

[@callumsymons7991]

physics checks out, the same principle is the reason trebuchets replaced catapults

[@whynottalklikeapirat]

Epic Flail Compilation

[@lostwanderer1144]

Having played around with a boffer flail (however accurate I really made it), I found it handled pretty damn well, and served as quite a menace to shield users. Just hitting the end of the weapon before the chain against the edge of someone's shield sent the head over it with a good amount of force. Additionally, its length seemed rather deceptive, and I found it effective in goading my opponent into coming within range without realizing it while trying to snipe me. I think some sort of offhand defense is pretty much necessary with a mace, because you fear your opponent's parry. Even with a shorter chain, it still tends to wrap around weapons quite a bit, and that usually serves to your disadvantage.

[@ShivaX51]

Drain dragons confirmed.

[@thefastandthedead1769]

If you consider standing shoulder to shoulder in a tight formation for example then this weapon is a danger as much to your side as to the other. As far as the physics go yes you can generate more inertia but only at a portion of the arc of the swing. This is why a trebuchet is as effective as you’re able to tune this in the design. The impact energy is defined by the kinetic energy equals half the mass of the ball multiplied by its velocity squared. It is this reason that the speed of impact is so important and so having a non-linear speed is advantageous. You are quite right in your finding that this would be a tiring weapon to use and for this reason I suspect it would only really be of interest in a controlled fight such as a duel. Having said that the Hussites did employ a modified harvest flail as a two handed weapon although I suspect this was used in a vertical swinging motion from their fortress wagons. I could be wrong of course as I was not there to see.

[@bozox22]

Matt, the tip acceleration advantage works on the same principle of the trebuchets. I don't recall the exact math of it, but if i'm not mistaken it can easily double the force of the same mass in a stiff weapon.

[@carlmillinder2704]

I thought that it was cool how you asked about the physics of the weight and then later said about making the handle more grippy and lightening the head. I had immediately thought whip to describe the physics and then your improvements describe a whip

[@masonponton3077]

Add a spiked pommel for when they get to close. Shad just made a video about this by the way and I think this helps the discussion alot.

[@phillycheesetake]

Mechanical engineer here, chained flails can achieve higher speeds in human hands for MOST ranges of movement. Inertia, or 2nd moment of mass, is measured in kg x m^2. Reduce the distance, the inertia will lessen, as will resistance to angular acceleration. For two flails of equal length, one solid-shafted, one chained, the distal component of the inertia equation will be less in the chained flail, since the angular force (torque) in both cases acts upon the end of the shaft. That's the reason they're easier to swing in many circumstances, the reason why they achieve higher speeds is a bit more complicated, and has more to do with human physiology. In engineering we call it mechanical advantage, or the force amplification of a given system. Since humans don't have an unlimited well of torque to draw from, the introduction of any angular motion in a swing will advantage (in human hands) the weapon with the lower moment of mass. To the extent that you are able to reduce the angular component, you will close the gap in mechanical advantage, but that would involve limiting your range of motion.

[@pompadour_gagarin1723]

One other example of a japanese-y flail-ish weapon is the kusarigama which was definitely around the late 16th c. The main difference with the typical looking european flails of course is that the chain of it is typically very long (10ft or so) and there's a short sickle end as well to allow for close combat. As an addendum, some styles of it actually had a knuckle bow to protect the hand and prevent slipping I'd reckon.

[@reltihfloda7210]

Every time I hear the flail mentioned on KZbin people say it's bad because it's slow and you can't defend well with it and therefore think it to be the reason it was more uncommon or even didn't exist at all. I think flails were never meant to defend with in one on one fighting. The short ones I believe would be a backup / sometimes disposable weapon for cavalry to use at times like when the enemy retreats. The two handed ones I can imagine being good for those supporting class people who protects the knight. Like while the heavily armored enemy is fully focused on dealing with your heavy armored knights some peasants in gambesons runs up from behind and knocks them out. A man catcher would be good for tactics like that too. I would also recommend to put a lanyard on the flail in a loop to have around your wrist. From horseback I feel holding the flail with the thumb pressed against the back of the shaft so the lanyard loop pulls tightly on the inside of your wrist while swinging it from over your shoulder downward hits very hard. You can imagine riding after someone who is fleeing and hitting like that. Speed of horse + the fact that they will be basically running into the spiked ball face first that's swinging from above with gravity aiding it.

[@adamh.4933]

I'm sure the idea of it pseudo wrapping around things has been tested, But it makes sense when the chain is long enough to wrap around a wrist or an ankle but not so long that it binds up. The quick swing and pulling motion on someone's arm or ankle has a ton of energy where chain is which would be enough to alter their balance. That's just how I've always looked at them, a weapon that would unbalance an opponent and be ready to strike again after that one motion.

[@Ackbar223]

The flail is often compared to maces and morning stars but the physics of a flail is has more in common with ranged weapons like the sling, the Native American atlatl, or the iconic trebuchet; There are three main reasons these types of weapons deal heavier impact blows than their counterparts; a thrown stone, javelin, or catapult; you actually touched on all three of them. The first I'll address is the follow through it doesn't affect the sling or atlatl as much because you can throw a stone or javelin with a follow through which helps deliver a greater percentage of the momentum generated with your swing into the projectile, second the added length adds momentum to your swing by increasing your lever arm, finally the loose flexible bit at the end of a flail, trebuchet, or sling stops shock from recoiling down the handle or lever arm which is wasted force that not only doesn't impact your target but can wear out inflexible weapons faster and wears out the user faster. An Atlatl to those who don't know is a spear thrower, specifically designed to penetrate the hide and have been proven to deliver enough force to penetrate the skull of a Bison, no small feat.

[@alanhembra2565]

I was under the impression these were only used on horse back. Thank you for this video.

[@atic7910]

"We all love a long shaft"

[@DirtyAtreyu]

If you watch this very video frame by frame you can indeed see the greater acceleration caused by the flail's hinge. Just count how many frames the swing of the stick takes to get from point A to point B, and then count how many frames it took the flail to travel that distance.

[@MrZnarffy]

I can see potential use from horseback against footsoldiers, with decent reach and the forgiving nature of how you hit.

[@romanlegionhare2262]

Makes sense about the head coming around. That is one of the reasons a trebuchet had so much power, essentially a giant sling. Also, that is how boys typically end up throwing baseballs faster than girls, as they get older girls tend to swing their hips keeping their body rigid, while the boys tend to swing the hips with the arm and ball trailing, whipping around with more force. My major was electrical engineering, not mechanical, so I don't have as much knowledge of the physics involved as an ME would have. A solid body would essentially involve torque alone, the flail would add the acceleration and centripetal force to the impact, not to mention the added circular distance allowing it to gather more momentum.

[@SurmaSampo]

In the early SCA flails were allowed but they were banned pretty quickly. The problem is the lack of control over striking power. If an object stops the motion or imparts opposing motion to any part of the articulation, that force effectively gets transferred to the head in motion. Also the effective shortening of the chain in motion in that event causes the head to accelerate multiplying the impact force. Funnily enough this is why the SCA "wrap" is so highly efficient as a technique for delivering impact force even though it sacrifices body mass push. It uses the wrist as the articulation causing the weapon to accelerate to take advantage of the V in F=MV^2. It is also a completely modern sport technique and really hard to learn to do effectively with a sword like object. Much easier with a mace as edge alignment doesn't matter.

[@arbhall7572]

I think for me, Id like a wide ring. Something wide enough to stop my hand, but small enough in the grip to not block the natural movement of the wrist like big round pommel would. But thats just me, Im sure there are merits to a pommel, or just a swell in the grip with a lot of texturing. I have a weird grip and range of motion in my right hand. I broke that wrist skateboarding as a kid and it wasnt set right, so I lost a little range of motion in that wrist. No big deal. Great Video Matt, thank you.

[@dimitristripakis7364]

The thing is that in the middle of the brawl battle, there was no room to swing this thing. The long ones they might have used as a phalanx to strike the incoming phalanx above and behind their heads, thus bypassing the shields. But the short ones had little use in the commotion of the battle.

[@dlwatib]

The longer the shaft, the more powerful the flail. Elementary physics. Also, familiarity with the velocity of helicopter blade tips. A bonus charm of a flail is that it can also be used for agricultural purposes. No one need ever suspect that that poor peasant surf over there is a martial arts expert. "No, officer, I only beat my corn with it to separate it from the chaff."

[@Drod196]

I couldn't help laughing till I cried. So many sexual innuendos you couldn't have planned them.

[@vivalafiaga]

Your videos are just packed with euphemisms...that deliberate or just you being awesome?

[@JanetStarChild]

Awesome like a hotdog?

[@hjorturerlend]

Both ;)

[@blairbuskirk5460]

One inch wide strip of leather across your grip area affixed in an arrangement like a D guard/ lanyard loop.

[@mdk2066]

Nice video. A suggestion - how about a nice, iron knob as a skull crusher on your end of the handle. Solves two problems - hand not likely to slide off, and offsets the heavy, striking end for more speed.

[@wholesomevideoguy5336]

The longer the distance an item travels the more potential for acceleration. The more acceleration the more force. The way you swing a flail uses a larger swing covering more distance generating more force. It has increased force because the weight is at the tip and requires a big swing.

[@DamnedEyez]

The first minute of this felt like it was going to be an April Fool's joke...I had to double check the date. There was a company that sold a pommel flail numerous years ago...which seems an interesting concept.

[@andrewthuras2126]

A one handed flail seems like a great cavalry weapon. The fact that the shock does not travel up the shaft would make it good for hitting someone while riding past on a horse. This is probably why flails are more common in eastern europe and the Rus region. Also, examples of one handed flails Ive seen from eastern europe often have a small head and a leather strap instead of a chain. This would make sense because of the awkwaness of a heavier flail.

[@NeatStuff86]

This is a very interesting weapon

[@artiefufkin88]

That kind of flail was probably most used by cavalry, who preferred having a weapon that was less likely to get stuck in the opponent and possibly throw him off his horse. You get a lot of power from that the thing, too. The inertia it creates propels more energy into the opponent (and thus more damage) than most weapons of the time can compete with. There is clearly a role for flails to play during the Middle Ages.

[@davidjordan2446]

At Higgins Armory i saw a presentation that suggested they may be an evolution of a cattle wip some one put a chain and a ball at the end of and the short ones where cheep weapons. but maybe it was a thrown weapon as well because the people testing it doing the speaking said it was more effective thrown and entangling weapons than it was at wielding

[@Jazzman-bj9fq]

That's probably the point of flexible weapons like nunchaku, the chain whip and the flail... You strike with the weapon and rather than some of the force of the blow traveling through the handle into the user's hand, the force is stored in the swinging object so it can dump all that energy into the target. I would think that the flail in operation would work similarly as does a trebuchet... From what I saw on a documentary, a trebuchet accelerates a projectile faster than the straight arm of a catapult, so it can then deliver more energy with the same weighted stone.

[@Regolith86]

I'd say put a leather lanyard on it. Drill a hole maybe a half inch up from the base, then tie on a loop of leather cord (I used simple leather bootlaces) with an opening just large enough to get your hand through it. The cord goes around your wrist while your laying about, with the leather going into the opening acting as a stop against the "blade" of your hand. Worked wonders for some of my machetes that had slippery handles.