Size DOES Matter...

Got a tiny but badass female character you're hoping to kit out with a greatsword? You might want to watch this first. Write better stories faster with Campfire: bit.ly/BearupQ4
With many thanks to Lily Grace (who you can find @craftyactor on Instagram) and Jack Stockdale-Haley who are marvellous.
BUY MY BOOK XD books2read.com...
Additional information:
The small lady with the giant sword is Vin from Mistborn.
Music from epidemicsound.com
Keep Close to the Guide - Philip Ayers

[@JillBearup]

Either I'm going mad or my pinned comment has disappeared. LINK FOR CAMPFIRE: bit.ly/BearupQ4 Hope you enjoyed...three weirdos playing with weapons in my garden!

[@classicslover]

(Grins HUGE) Are you writing now, Jill? be THAT as it may, your Campfire pitch has me curious...might have to take a peek.

[@johanneswerner1140]

The remark about the players ignoring your world building sounded so bitter... been DM'ing a lot? I feel your pain....

[@-Banoffee]

Curious, with enough training (maybe a year or two), do you think a woman of your size could handle a zweihander/montante effectively? I'd imagine it'd be quite awkward for awhile, but looking at its advantages, I'd imagine it'd make up for a woman's disadvantages quite well. In theory, they even handle spears well (if some historical remarks are to be taken at face value).

[@TheRenegadeMonk]

The phillipino double short swords used by escrimadors when they want to get serious, strike me as perfect for shorter women. Also Wing chun butterfly knives.

[@TheRenegadeMonk]

Also along the lines of the spear... trident! More damage plus weapon capture for not much more weight.

[@Vespuchian]

Everyone's chill until the Gnome with a hammer shows up to the bar brawl.

[@Amy_the_Lizard]

Or worse: a dwarf with a hammer...

[@Vespuchian]

​@@Amy_the_Lizard Thinking about it, a Dwarven Phalanx would be neigh-impossible to shift, what with their collective low center of gravity, high strength, and (stereotypically) cultural stubbornness. That and Judo.

[@kenbrown2808]

I once heard of a war where a sub 5 foot sapper with a mallet and chisel laid waste to swathes of opponents, most of whom never saw her coming until the chisel hit their chests.

[@Amy_the_Lizard]

@@Vespuchian Exactly!

[@kokofan50]

@@Vespuchian which make the seen from the Hobbit movie all the dumber.

[@MichaelJenkins910]

I envy Jill's neighbors and the endless hours of free entertainment they must get just by looking out the back window.

[@dougmhd2006]

This may explain why lightsabers were not included in this video: "Oops...there goes the blade into the neighbors' yard again. I hope they weren't too close to the fence." :D

[@paulroberts3639]

They may have no idea what is really going on. I can imagine their curtain twitching with commentary like: ‘Oh look Dennis, the couple over the back are at it again. Well it’s spears and funny large forks this time. Why can’t they just hit each other with plates, vases and frypans like normal people.’

[@liamwarner5749]

@@paulroberts3639 Your comment reminds me of one Anne Bishop dark jewels series where one of the males (one of the greatest warriors) is courting a female (very timid witch with no sense of self worth) and he gets pissed off when she gets pushed (he's trying to rile her up and show her she can stand up for herself) to the point of throwing a saucepan at him becuase its got lousy balance. So he drags her outside and has her practice with a frying pan instead because that's better both for close in work and for throwing. He tells her (she's just started working as his housekeeper) if she can throw it and hit the haystack 3 times he'll take shopping to buy all the stuff for the kitchen she wants but he doesn't have yet.

[@patpierce4854]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@annbrookens945]

Liam Warner: sounds like a great scene! Which book is this?

[@tigdogsbody]

“In a real fight, I have a black belt in running away." My boxing coach, a very scary man, was always saying this trueism.

[@fluuufffffy1514]

Time, distance and cover

[@g.strobl4458]

Wise man.

[@mudcrab3420]

Had a friend who took up kickboxing for a while. Told me more or less the same story from his instructor: Instructor: Students? What do you do if someone comes at you with a knife? Students: Round house kick? Elbow grapple? Sweep their legs? Instructor: NO!!! You RUN!!! From a 'healthy' mind set point of view I feel that playing a lot of full contact sport can help. Once you have spent a few years growing up knowing who you DO need to prove yourself against (aka - the other team) then some random in a pub becomes pretty meaningless. Never feel the need to prove yourself to complete strangers you may never meet again.

[@nvelsen1975]

Our first Krav Maga lesson started with the teacher (bald guy with a facial scar, former competitive cagefighter in freefight) explained that he would start off with the most effective self defense technique of them all, asked everybody to take a fighting stance and mirror him.... .....Then turned around and quickly ran out the door, leaving the class stunned.

[@nvelsen1975]

@@mudcrab3420 Working security with my kickboxing background our answer was ussually: Ikea-Jitsu, the dangerous Swedish martial art. Which means grab a chair that was all around the waiting area we principally guarded and smash it over their head, repeat proces as necessary until you can take them down. Much better for reach and intimidation. This since running away isn't really an option if you're supposed to keep others from getting stabbed. I did once get a knifepuller who threatened someone else while I was coming in from his side, so I had surprise and he had his hand up just above his shoulder to make a downwards stab. This being the perfect position to start an armlock, I went for it, and it worked somehow. Then after was all done and dusted and police took the guy away I had to make sure not to reach for anything and not raise my arms because I was shaking. ^_^

[@pwnmeisterage]

I've worked in a door-and-window manufacturing plant. I can say with certainty that taller people with longer reach have definite advantages when handling large, heavy, tall, wide objects. They can easily flip, balance, and manipulate things which smaller people find awkward to grip, lift, and balance. Important to know if you're ever confronted by an attacker who's armed with a door or window.

[@rexmckey1604]

"Important to know if you're ever confronted by an attacker who's armed with a door or window." Happens to me on a daily basis.

[@DarrenMalin]

the +4 window of DOOOOOM !

[@themanofdoom100]

Aaand now i have my next barbarian, thank you good sir

[@hydrolito]

Midget would more likely shoot broken pieces of window or door at you than try to hit you with a full door or window.

[@Lillith.]

That's why every short person has a tall friend. Weight isn't really the issue most of the time, just the size. If I can get a good grip, I'm usually fine. Getting that grip is difficult because my arms are short.

[@figo3554]

People telling me size doesn't matter always irked me. I mean, have you tried reaching the top shelf in a grocery store with only 5 feet to your name?

[@bradfordreed6175]

I'm 5'9", mathematically average male. Once in a grocery store aisle, I said to someone "Hi, you're tall! Can you help me reach that honey?"

[@lordfluff2394]

My freshman year of college, all of my roommates were 5'9" or shorter. I'm 6ish so when dividing up the kitchen cabinets I only got the top ones that only I could reach while standing on a chair. Yes I had as much as 3 of my roommates, but cooking was annoying.

[@haldorasgirson9463]

To be fair the bottom shelf is pretty much an undiscovered country to me (6'4" tall)

[@LuxisAlukard]

I got a job in grocery store (with 8 women as coworkers) because they needed someone taller, and I'm just under 6 feet.

[@nirfz]

🤔 such statements remind me of the situations where i can't sit comfortably in public transports, or hit my head in old trams when getting out, can't fit in certain cars (like the Alfa 4C or a Mazda MX5)... And i am not even really tall with 1.87m.

[@Vesperitis]

As Sir Terry once said, size does matter when the dwarf's teeth are at the same height as your groin.

[@garethbaus5471]

Ouch.

[@sonorawright]

🤣🤣🤣

[@bramvanduijn8086]

There is an ancient Dwarven fighting technique to compensate for height differences. Step 1: Chop at their knee-height. Repeat step 1 until their head is within reach.

[@sonianevermindultimateprin659]

Im trying to work out which book that quote is from- is it one of the guards books?

[@Vesperitis]

@@sonianevermindultimateprin659 _Feet of Clay_

[@SavageGreywolf]

are spears considered _dishonorable,_ really? I think they're just upstaged by swords in fiction because a sword is a _knight's_ weapon while a spear is an _infantry_ weapon, and fiction seems to love nobles and leader types. A foot soldier isn't generally the focus of most stories, because they're seen as less 'important'. Spears at least definitely show up in the hands of heroes in classical settings because they were the premier tech of the day.

[@andreeacat7071]

Spears are also great for medieval commonfolk; if you hide the point n use it as a staff/walking stick no one will notice.

[@xxxhero7275]

Funny considering most knights and soldiers used spears and not swords. The most popular knights were the ones that used swords but most knights used a spear/lance and a dagger. If anything long ranged weapons would be more dishonorable, but If we’re talking about war, then it’s all fair game. Honor is just about fairness.Thats all.Thats pretty much all honor means.Its kinda like karma.... Back to the subject, if your talking about honorable weaponry, The only way you can be honorable to a opponent is by using the same weapon(or if they have less reach you would use a smaller blade. A duel would be a example of this. You both use the same weapon and everything else is fair game.)

[@xxxhero7275]

Also, as someone who’s favorite weapon is a staff, I just want to let you know they aren’t using the staff how it should be used, and it annoyed me. As you pull one arm in a direction you push the other in the opposite direction, push inwards with your front leg, you inhale(no clue why....)on the swing, and practically fall/lean into a swing(which is what the upper foot is for)if your swing is blocked by another staff, or long weapon, you’d switch which hand pushes or pulls. You’d also want a small knife/dagger/blade on you as you would with pretty much any weapon. Also, as someone who’s been hit by one before I’m just gonna tell you that it hurts more than you’d think to get hit by one, and the only way I found to stop one is by catching it under your arm/ hugging it.

[@xxxhero7275]

I don’t recall ever using a spear(or seeing a real one)in my life tho so I don’t know how you’d use one of those or what you’d do against one(In most media they’re throwable, and I’m not sure if that’s true, but it’s a bit horrifying to think of).

[@kyleellis1825]

@@xxxhero7275 You inhale to contract chest muscles for a bit of extra oomph.

[@toodlescae]

As a 4'10" woman who weighed 100 lbs at the time, I found a reversed pool stick to the kneecaps effective. When the guy went down I cracked him over the head with a heavy glass beer mug. Then I called the cops to come get the guy out of my bar. I also follow the philosophy of being sneaky and fighting dirty because people always underestimate short people, especially women. My dad taught me to get them down however you can and make sure they stay down. However, I'm not sure this would work or be appealing in fiction.

[@noesunyoutuber7680]

Good writing or visual language can overcome almost any disadvantage in terms of visceral impact on the audience. My go-to example is classic Samurai films and their minimalist swordplay; they lack the traditional push and pull of lengthy, blade-clashy sword fights, but the fights are still awesome because the filmmakers focus on the tension between the two fighters looking for their opening and the heart-stopping release when someone seizes it. Scrabbling around on the ground doesn't hit the same beats as a standard fight scene, but it could be utterly brutal written or choreographed/framed well. Fiction is about creativity, after all.

[@PhosphorAlchemist]

I believe that character trait is called "resourcefulness" :) Personally, I'm a big fan of unassuming characters that use a few well-placed moves to "deal with" people who start trouble thinking they're easy targets. I'm already picturing a scene where raiders are strategizing an attack and saying "No the short one cannot have *any* item, none at all, in reach. Last time, they concussed Bran with a tankard when he grabbed them, then lobbed it from 5 paces and took out my eye."

[@toodlescae]

@@PhosphorAlchemist In the only book I wrote back in the 80's I used esp type powers. It was paranormal romantic suspense so my main female character was a descendant of ancient Atlantis...lol.

[@gravitatemortuus1080]

In real life it's not a pool stick it's a beer bottle. I used to sit with an empty beer bottle at my right foot. And never aim for the head it's the knee. And never think you fight dirty as the other person will as well. Reality fights are dirty, brutal for any one with actual experience.

[@toodlescae]

@@BB-dl6zd depends on where you hit and how well crafted the pool stick is. All I can say is it worked.

[@OllyRoger]

I'm happy to see attention being brought to the fact that the spear, arguably the best melee weapon humanity ever conceived, is basically nonexistent in modern fiction.

[@nerdyspinosaurid]

Pole weapons of all types really. Glaives and Halberds aren't as commonldy seen as I'd like either. But yeah, stick with pointy end may be incredibly simple, but it's also incredibly effective.

[@IntoxicusFreeman]

Try carrying one around in a forest as a solo adventurer. You'll go back to a sword quick after 5 minutes of getting caught on every branch. Armies traveled on horse, on roads, and didn't have the snagging issue.

[@liamwarner5749]

@@IntoxicusFreeman My 5'3 female pathfinder adventurer's preferred weapon is magic. Concealable, easily transportable and it gives lots of options for ensuring she doesn't get stabbed or savaged by monsters.

[@mickys8065]

@@IntoxicusFreeman yeah, that is just not true. Shadiversity did an episode on rangers, who are known for being in forests, do you know what gets caught in all the branches? The sword that is either on your back or hip, both places which extend outwards when leaning over, which you have to do a lot in a forest. Do you know what you do want, the big stick that you can use to balance yourself, they are good for beating back plants, if you are with a horse, then you can get at least a dozen spears tied to the side of a horse without taking up all that much room

[@BlindErephon]

@@mickys8065 In addition, there's a reason why a bunch of hunter\gatherer cultures have favored the spear as a general tool. It's not so encumbering that you need to do much more than hold it in your hand, and try hunting anything with a sword. Deer or similar herd creatures wont let you get that close, and there's a reason why a boar spear exists. Plus you can combine with an atlatl or similar device for extra reach and still have a pokey stick.

[@doyouwanttogivemelekiss3097]

Even assuming that Lily has the strength to wield the greatsword: there is obviously a more limited range of angles she can use without hitting the ground.

[@simongeard4824]

...or herself.

[@mycatistypingthis5450]

There is also an optimal spacing of the hands, you can see she's struggling sometimes because of that. Now that spacing is also neccessary to get any speed at the tip, so the sword will need to be shorter and we're back to square one.

[@Hoxeel]

Well, now I imagine her using the greatsword in a "pole vaulting" capacity; sticking it into the ground and dropkicking some guy like some sort of medieval battle gymnast.

[@simongeard4824]

@@Hoxeel You don't pole-vault with a greatsword... that's what pole-arms are for... ;)

[@Ninjaananas]

How about giving her great sword adjusted for her size?

[@weldenbringhurst6517]

The bow is also a very misunderstood weapon. Strength is extremely important in archery since the power of the arrow is directly correlated with how heavy the draw is and how far back you can pull it. Someone who is small and weak wouldn't be able to use heavy warbows successfully.

[@Lurklen]

True, though a fairly weak bow can still kill the average person. Not useful on the battlefield, or fighting anyone in armour, but you don't need a great deal of power to wound someone enough that they are thinking of running instead of fighting. If it takes two, or even three shots to injure someone who is 50-100 feet away, that's still highly effective. There's a top end of who could effectively use a bow and for what, but the middle area where it's still useful as a weapon of self defense may be broader than one would expect, if all they are looking at is war bows.

[@amycox5733]

True! Yet it’s a common weapon for women in fiction (Katniss from The Hunger Games, Merida from Brave, Susan Pevensie from Narnia etc.) my best example of a man/a strong, bulky person using a bow as their primary weapon is Frank from Heroes of Olympus. His bow is his primary weapon, he’s got great aim, and he can hit targets from very far away, because he’s pretty built. Of course, later on in the series, he works out his Polymorphing abilities and after that his first instinct in a fight is to turn into a large animal and fcuk sh!t up, but it takes him the better part of the first book to even realise he can do that.

[@thegardenofeatin5965]

Very small women would be at a tremendous disadvantage with something like an English longbow, because of the draw distance as well as the force. I'd wonder about a modern compound bow with cams that take a lot of the tension off the archers arms when at full draw, if that would allow a smaller, weaker archer to handle a more powerful bow.

[@nonnativenarnian]

@@amycox5733 That's not how you spell Queen Susan's last name... It's Pevensie not Pensieve they're not a filter for permanent writing utensils sry for the "nitpicking" but I am a HUGE fan of those books and I am VERY particular about them. anyway, other than that, excellent comment. 😀

[@jsticks7381]

what do you think about Turkish recurve bows?

[@mildlycornfield]

Lily: 'Stabs' Jack with a spear Also Lily: Skips away after doing so

[@lilygrace4766]

Gotta maintain the "doesn't look threatening" persona 😜

[@jamiepurpleart]

@@lilygrace4766 that reminds me of the "is a cinnamon role, will actually kill you" trend lmao

[@matthewmcneany]

There are reasons that most armies throughout history have been mostly armed with spears and shields.

[@_aullik]

Also requires less training than a sword to be decently effective.

[@matthewmcneany]

@@_aullik I think a lot of people who don't think very hard about combat or war think that the point of a duel, skirmish, battle, encounter, war, etc. is to kill the other guy(s) - and yeah sometime that's good for helping you not die yourself - but at the end of the day, what you're really aiming for on an individual level is to not die yourself, and on the collective level what you need is to be the ones still able to field an army when the other side has run out of soldiers. Logistics ultimately wins (or loses) wars. And, back to the original point, shields and spears are generally the best weapons for not dying in most (pre-gunpowder) martial situations even if they're not always the best weapons for killing people - plus wood has typically been cheaper than metal, on top of the aforementioned training thing - though there are alwasy exceptions, the sarissa phalanx certainly wasn't low skill soldiering for example. It's slightly overstating the point but it's not unreasonable to say that swords have typically been more often status symbols as compared to a spear rather than a significant material upgrade. Back to the videos point about using weapons for storytelling purposes if you're going to use you fiction to make any points at all about class or economics or social stratification in society all this isn't inconsequential when you talk about what types of weapons your characters might use or feel proficent with. A rugged world weary mercenary character (for example) is far better served thematically with a spear, crossbow and polearms than a rapier for example. Bernard Cornwell I think does this quite well in his fiction, to cite one specific example.

[@beardedgeek973]

I was about to say. The Pointed Stick has been the main weapon of war since the Neolithic and all the way until the widespread adaptation of gunpowder. Of course the Shorter Stick With Heavy End has been along at least almost as long. (The hammer, in this case).

[@MrChickennugget360]

Most Armies had Bows.

[@bernhardfriedrich2847]

Yes, there are. Being cost effective aka cheap and easy to use are in the top five of them. Or, as I think Metatron has mentioned: If one can't efford anything better, a long stick with a pointy end and an wooden plank in front of one are essential to have a chance to survive a fight. Next would be a helmet.

[@pdxgearcon]

I'm a 6'2", long-limbed HEMA guy, and shorties like your friend are my least-favorite opponents. I am made of targets that stick out all over, relatively speaking, and they're small enough to get montante-quality defensive coverage out of a longsword.

[@TheeGoatPig]

I'm also a 6'-2" martial artist. But I have only sparred with fists and a bow-stick. I love light sparring with bow-sticks. My opponents get flustered when I make holding their staff a liability, whereas I will drop, or even toss my staff to open my hands up, deliver a few strikes, grab their staff in the confusion, and just have a lot of fun out-classing whoever is standing in front of me. But I can also see how that wouldn't work so well against better, smaller fighters. There have been a lot of occasions where I wished I were 5'-8", and had a more athletic frame.

[@haldorasgirson9463]

I use to hate fighting people using sword and shield one on one with a spear, until I realized I basically have a quarterstaff in my hands. SCA rules preclude grappling or using the spear as a lever against their body, but nothing says I can't use it against their shield to throw them off balance. They always want to swarm in close, what I have found works best is step into their rush (to screw with their timing) and bounce them off sideways. You can often tag a leg on your way out. Once they are legged it is just a matter of time before you can gig them.

[@RedKytten]

Yea, at 4'10", I hate facing people like you. That extra reach is a serious pain to deal with!

[@kokofan50]

@@TheeGoatPig I’m 5’8” with a very muscular build. Getting past distance is a major pain. Although, no one has ever been able to keep a headlock on me.

[@TheeGoatPig]

@@kokofan50 If it makes you feel any better I'm 46, out of shape, as fat as I have ever been, and only have about a minute of fighting stamina at the moment. All you have to do is make me punch myself out and I'm free for a beating ;)

[@harveyman93]

Shields are *especially* advantageous for a short person because of the reach and relative size. Reach advantage of the taller person is reduced with a shield if they can't hit you, so you can rush past their optimal range to get at your optimal range with the smaller weapon. Also, the smaller you are, the more of your body a shield will cover compared to a larger person with the same shield. Famously, relatively small Romans used the giant shield and shortsword combo to dominate much larger "barbarian" peoples from the north.

[@RustyDust101]

Hell, yes, it is always a surprise for my LARP dwarf single opponents when I simply rush at the with my shield between me and them, then smack them in the back of their legs with my hammer. Yeah, they may have the reach, but once a shield is between you and their reach advantage, that advantage suddenly becomes a massive disadvantage, at least as long as there aren't many other opponents around who cover each other's backs. In that case a shield again becomes a disadvantage, because it also hides your opponents' actions from your view, not only hides you from your opponents. Keeping multiple opponents at bay is already difficult as it is; keeping multiple opponents at bay when they have a reach advantage, and you are carrying around a fairly heavy tower or Roman shield gives you a fairly bad disadvantage.

[@Alias_Anybody]

If no formation could be formed due to terrain the heavy gear could be a death trap though as you'd constantly be temporarily outnumbered.

[@ashholiday123]

Shields are always useful.

[@caiolucas8257]

To me a short person would have to rely on being fast and dodgy with a shield and some sort of short weapon.

[@vast634]

Those "barbarians" also used shields. Armies back then fought very similarly in shieldwalls. Romans stood out for using swords, and not spears in their shield formations.

[@asitallfallsdown5914]

Really love the confrontation with the physical reality instead of pretending it's no big deal or doesn't exist. I love recognizing that a disadvantage exists, and exploring how it can be overcome and accounted for in a story instead of swept under the rug. Personally as a fan of magic to begin with, I make my characters favor magic, crossbows, or subterfuge & poison. Hollywood likes to give bows to women, but someone that loved archery growing up... I can say that I struggled with 50lb bows let alone the 85+ lb proper war bows. Somewhat ironically, melee weapons are preferable since they aren't as heavy as some might think and are designed to be well balanced, and spears can account for height disadvantages. Where we really even the playing field is with firearms. There isn't as much of a difference there. Anyone can pull a trigger. It becomes a question of how well you can handle the recoil and kickback of the weapon, such as the bruising a shotgun can give your shoulder, and arm fatigue in holding up a rifle for long. But all negligible compared to the advantages and most other weapons. So the cowgirl archetype is actually a pretty good one I'm a fan of for non-magic settings where guns exist. Like steampunk fiction or urban fantasy.

[@verybarebones]

The biggest issue with hollywood here is that it picks the most slender delicate girls to play warriors because of course they gotta be sexy. Even though your average female office workers could wipe the floor with them, and more so any male evil Empire soldier or whatever. No weapon you can give a supermodel is going to be realistic besides, yeah, a gun. A small one.

[@RubyBoopedTheSnoot]

Also, small people with firearms have much less surface area to hit when taking fire, and there is less body needed to cover when hunkering down and such. Cover and concealment is much easier when you're small.

[@wilhelmscream6919]

I still almost can't believe that someone dared to make a video like this :P

[@darkstarr984]

I do like giving smaller and female characters short swords, rapiers, and pole arms for this reason, possibly with poisoned darts or guns as well. Those take more distance to use. I’m a huge fan of concealed weapons as well.

[@reaganharder1480]

Firearms really are the great equalizer in that sense. Taking recoil and holding up the gun is an important thing, but especially now most guns used in combat are relatively small caliber (and therefore not a whole lot of recoil) and light/balanced enough that it's entirely believable that a woman with decent training could fight just as long and effectively as a much larger but equally skilled man. And the skill floor for effectively using a firearm is not high at all. The biggest difference between a top soldier and a casual sport shooter is tactics, awareness, and the ability to perform under extreme pressure.

[@englandcalling9721]

My weapon of choice is humour. If I can catch my opponent off guard with a bad pun or joke, I make my escape before they've stopped groaning or giggling. It's especially effective if you lack height, skill 'and' strength.

[@haldorasgirson9463]

Being really hot doesn't hurt either. Sadly that has never been in my skill set.

[@scylla1772]

You run the risk of totally exhausting what little mercy the opponent holds for you if your puns are truly on point, however :v

[@beccag2758]

You can also pull the old “Hey kid, do you like proving yourself?” card. The average hero cannot say no to proving themself with an epic quest, buying yourself time to hire someone to kill them while they’re off questing

[@onepurpleostrich]

Are you a bard?

[@hoi-polloi1863]

Bad guy: Stop, yer killin me!

[@nitzeart]

Shields are like the big hats in period dramas. They’re s hard to put in a visual medium but they’re also essential to immersion haha but there are ways to put them, clever costumers and good directos have done so

[@NoirRaven]

I think nowadays a solution would be to stick micro cameras behind the shield so we can get that perspective from what it's like behind the shield but to not sacrifice the authenticity by using the wrong shields or shorter shields than what was historically accurate. Frankly, I don't really care if I can see the actor behind the damn thing, I just want realism in my combat.

[@InterdictorCompellor]

I love the shields in Troy.

[@littlekong7685]

A trick i have seen in a lot of clever sci-fi, is to characterize the equipment. Helmets are decorated, ships painted so we KNOW what character is inside and we can find them on the battlefield without them having to take helmets off. With shields, and distinct helmets, they are a big giant THIS IS THE MAIN CHARACTER HERE sign they could use to show the character in wide sweeping action scenes without necessarily using the expensive actor. Then DUB/ADR the stunt performer scenes over or get separate closeup shots of the actor with the helmet+shield later for talking scenes in the fight.

[@redartt]

@@InterdictorCompellor Yeah, i think Troy (2004) is the only movie I've seen where they use shields in 1 on 1 combat

[@samuelmellars7855]

@@littlekong7685 And even better is that having individual shield designs for important people is 100% historically accurate! Heraldry, coats of arms and all that come from the need to tell people apart on the battlefield (and the desire to look unique and beautiful/intimidating/fancy)

[@Kurse_of_Kall]

I love Jack, his humor and his hair. Lily is delightful, and as a fellow short lady, I appreciate her as a stand-in for educational purposes :D The three of you together are very enjoyable, would love to see more!

[@GuyNamedSean]

Man looks like the stage version of Legolas. He's an elf, I'm convinced.

[@Shlonzs]

Aaw that’s wholesome 😊

[@WolfbloodJakeWilliams]

When I saw him I started humming “toss a coin to your Witcher”

[@theanicolesallustio4377]

@@GuyNamedSean or either a Targaryen

[@l0stndamned]

The "female healer with staff" is most certainly a thing in a lot of jrpgs and fantasy anime. I think it's partly an attempt to give the healer something a bit less "weapony" and vicious to wield, particularly if the writer has issues with putting a lady in battle. Staffs could also be used to examine diseased folk at a distance so as less likely to infect the healer. Nice video. This vids make me feel pleasantly validated in my choice of gear for my characters. I suspect part of the reason spears are "dishonourable" is because the are such a peasant weapon in some periods. Swords used more metal and were therefore more commonly wielded by folks with cash. I love the way "skips off merrily" appears in the subtitles.

[@l0stndamned]

@Nefarious Bredd Giving a healer two shields to hide behind while casting was actually doable on some of the Phantasy Star games. I suspect the usual gear healers are given is more about writers/artists trying too hard to make them look holy/innocent/less warlike than anything practical.

[@johnduquette7023]

Don't forget the relation to the staff of Aesclepius. The relation between tree and serpent, as represented in the form of a staff, also appears in the talisman of the brass serpent that God ordered Moses construct, which was later destroyed by king Hezekiah. Through the serpent you have the imagery of regeneration, and in the tree you have the bridge of worlds (branches in heaven, roots in the underworld).

[@Orynae]

Well in my experience a "healer" generally heals with magic, and their staff is usually not a melee weapon but rather a magic focus (that can potentially be used as a melee weapon in a pinch since they're already holding it). But maybe my brain is just blanking, do you have any examples of healer ladies using a martial-arts quarterstaff weapon? Edit to add: offensive magic users of any gender _also_ generally just wield a magic-focus staff (think final fantasy black mage, or merlin for example)

[@StrokeMahEgo]

Staff disadvantages are less of an issue when the staff is magic.

[@HH-hd7nd]

@Nefarious Bredd There's usually a reason why mages don't wear armor, like needing both hands for spellcasting (which makes carrying large weapons or shields around completely pointless) or metal interfering with the spellcasting, probably even causing your spells to not work at all (which makes wearing heavy armor not only pointless but actually extremely dangerous to yourself). Besides - in most fantasy settings you can protect yourself with magical barriers as effectively as you can with armor, sometimes even more so. This makes wearing armor unneccessary even if the world logic of the setting allows mages to wear armor. This is the case for example in the Wheel of Time setting - in the later parts of the story the Dragon Reborn has little trouble to kill tens of thousands of enemies simultaneously while at the same time defending himself against them (including defending himself against arrows). And he didn't use a weapon and was not wearing armor. In other settings there can be additional disadvantages. Have you read the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson? You REALLY don't want to have any metal on you when trying to fight against a mistborn because they can use it against you. On top of that weapons and armor are only usefull if you are trained in their use. Healers and mages might not have the time to study martial arts because learning how to use magic or how to treat wounds, diseases etc consumes all their time. And that doesn't even start to cover other reasons like cultural reasons - maybe the healer belongs to a monastic order that simply doesn't allow him/her to wear armor or wield weapons (Shaolin monks as well as western, christian monks are examples of this). All in all it completely depends on the setting in question if unarmored spellcasters of any kind make sense or not.

[@starsgears9200]

We always tell people at my HEMA school that there's an inverse relationship between height and viciousness. Tall people can fight like gentlefolk. Short people... meh, manners.

[@liamwarner5749]

Yep as one stories main character put it (he was a shorter person) the best way to defeat in an opponent is to stab them, preferably in the back while they're asleep.

[@raw_bin]

@@liamwarner5749 What's the story? this feels familiar

[@liamwarner5749]

@@raw_bin Sadly I can't remember the title. He was I think an assasins spy and I vaguely recall he used a tripod camera either as a hobby or cover for his actions. Its annoyingly the only thing I can really recall.

[@PetrolJunkie]

@@liamwarner5749 It's used a lot in fiction. It's usually used when the author wants an outside character to indicate how skilled or how much of a threat a possible opponent might be, far from original in any modern works.

[@liamwarner5749]

@@PetrolJunkie To clarify this was more than 30 years ago I read it and he was being taught to use the approach on anyone regardless of how big a threat they may or may not be. As in don't challenge them to a fight kill them in their sleep.

[@willhonorless2195]

Spears in history hold the same position as swords in fiction. They're easy to make, simple to train an army to use, and as shown in the video, they have a lot of advantages over swords on the battlefield. They keep you at a distance from shorter weapons and are invaluable against calvary (you can stop a charge without spears, but it's easier to pull off with them).

[@bigmekboy175]

Yup, historically spears were the primary weapons system and swords were backup weapons. I've seen videos of skilled swordsmen being defeated by near amateurs with spears.

[@willhonorless2195]

@@bigmekboy175 if you can strike your enemy, but they can't hit you back, it's less about skill and more about how long they can dodge your stabs

[@Specter_1125]

@@TheTutch once full armor is being used, your best bet is going to be a weapon about your height, such as a pollaxe or great sword.

[@magmat0585]

All the yep. Plus any peasant farm boys who've been bailing hay all their lives already have a good solid base on how to use a spear, just skip the part where you fling the stabee over your shoulder

[@bigmekboy175]

@@TheTutch swords struggled with halfway decent armor just as much as spears. Not disputing the fact that switching to a sword once the fight gets close is a good idea. It's just that I've watched way too many movies where everyone appears to be wearing tinfoil given how much protection it gives you and swords seem magically capable of penetrating full plate with slashing attacks.

[@haysmcgee801]

As a smaller man (5’5” 170lbs) being involved in various martial arts (Japanese, SE Asian, Polynesian and European) for 30+ years this topic has been one I have been concerned with my entire life. If I could recommend the weapons I have had the most success with from the “western” or “European” arsenal as it seems to be the focus of this video in order of distance (discounting ranged weapons): Weighted Chain, Estoc (preferably 16th century German variant with a triangular cross section, its basically a two handed rapier meant for the battlefield), Crow’s Beak, cutlass, hand axe or tomahawk paired with a seax, boot knife or bayonet, a nice sized rock, then grappling…. All in all if i could suggest just two, the Estoc and the paired tomahawk and dagger. Try it out I guarantee you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Cheers.

[@Zinfandelthered1979]

There is probably a reason why dagger and spear are the most enduring weapons. They have both survived into modern times, seeing use even in modern military today(spear in form of bayonets). Both are also versatile enough to be utilized by both tall and short fighters. The spear is probably one of the best, as despite it's size, it can be use quite quickly. Also, the vast majority of the spears power and use comes from leg work, so lower center of gravity is a benifit. Spear is also excellent on horseback, both thrown or on a charge. Unless you are fighting a large group or giants, horse and spear is fantastic. This is presumed that the character has had time/access to learn riding and weapon use while mounted. Great video and a lot to consider for realism in fiction. I agree, sheilds are underrated and as overlooked as helmets are in cinema.

[@johnmorrell3187]

Add to all the above that a spear or a dagger requires only a little metal and only a small edge, without the need for very experienced smithing. Not a huge deal now, but I'd wager even with modern technology it's significantly cheaper to buy a spear than a sword.

[@FoxDren]

sorry but saying you borrowed them makes it sould like you went to your local library, walked over to the "people who can use weapons" shelf and picked up a short and tall person, went to the checking desk, pulled out your library card, scanned the tall and short person, scanned your library card, jumped on the bus and are now fretting because you forgot the due date and it's such a hasle to haul them back to the library and no one wants to deal with the librarian when you're returning your overdue short and tall person who are good with weapons and I really think I need some sleep.

[@jamesmeade9501]

I have now decided that this is exactly what Jill did, and nothing will be able to convince me otherwise.

[@classicslover]

You are a born writer! Much applause!

[@3countylaugh]

I really want your short story about the library of people... would be very excited to read :)

[@classicslover]

@@3countylaugh Me too! I second that suggestion!

[@stevenlabrousse2275]

As an introvert, I think you've just solved the problem of making friends. Go to the library, check out an extrovert, and return them when they get to be too much.

[@bobbyed5383]

I am a 5'1 fencer in a historical rapier fencing class. I've tried lots of different sized weapons there, including the longest blade in the school for a little while. I wasn't too bad at it and was able to take advantage of people having trouble guessing my distance, but after a couple of bouts the advantage was always lost. Now, I wield the shortest blade in the school which is basically a small sword, and I am getting pretty dangerous with it! Doubling down on my lack of reach to instead take advantage of the speed and control of a shorter blade has really been my recipe for success as a short fencer.

[@Taeerom]

What you really have at your advantage is that you are able to fight from within their preferred distance. Optimal distance is not just reach, it is also how close you can fight and still use your weapon effectively. If you are able to close past their effective range, and the speed, agility and intention you can get behind a shorter blade will help you achieve that. You are likely kinda let down by having relatively short legs though. Basically, you have clear situations where you have a clear advantage against someone taller with a longer weapon. It just requires quite a bit of work to get there. Both in the individual fight, and in plyometric training (getting mad fast and long lunges, despite short legs)

[@trikepilot101]

The solution to short legs is to use the tall guy's. If you omit the usual retreat on a parry, they will come to you. You have to be sure of that parry, though.

[@bobbyed5383]

@@trikepilot101 indeed. There’s also the fact that it is typically easier to move forward than backward. So when I do need to burst forward, I’m often faster than the person I’m attacking. In fact, I often combine these 2 things and move forward while partying.

[@ClanMcDuck]

Also an sca rapier fighter. I love getting inside their range and letting my dagger do the work. I think my rapier is 42, which is longish, but there are longer ones out there. Doesn’t bother me to be up against longer blades, I feel I have more control, especially since my blade is a bit lighter.

[@ArcaneAvian19]

Honestly, I love playing the distance game in fencing. I'm apparently quite annoying because I always end up just an inch or two farther than expected.

[@ameliaedwards5817]

The "spear on a community theater stage" bit gives me this vision of a person standing in the middle of the stage, fighting just a spear coming from the wings such that you never see their opponent and that it hilarious to me.

[@isapu1948]

Could be great in a "one man fighting many" scene Or like traps in a temple

[@tinad8561]

Ahhh, darn it, I missed this when it came out, so my story is likely irrelevant, but I’ll tell it any way. I met my husband on a fencing strip. I’m a medium-size woman; he is half a foot taller. While I agree with absolutely everything you say from a pure physics standpoint-leverage, mass, pounds-per-square-inch-if you are choreographing or writing a fight, you also have the benefit of applied psychology. Big men are used to facing off against big men…they don’t always think to get low…which means if you are smaller and quicker you have a chance to get within their reach and, when you get there, you are better aligned with their squishy bits. (I can’t do a proper uppercut because the people who taught me to punch were too big, the punches didn’t connect; I got very good at body blows, though.) If you are small, or female, or otherwise an unexpected opponent, you can use biases to your advantage. My husband is powerful, ego driven, and doesn’t like to be bested by a woman (or anyone); if I pinked him on the strip and got him angry, he’d lean too far into his lunges, focus too hard and compromise his balance. Once open, I could sometimes get inside his reach and then score off him all day... or I could miscalculate, get the full force of the lunge on a bony bit and go ass-over-teakettle off the strip. So, long story long, physics is a lot, but not everything.

[@lizfowle4165]

Reminds me of doing a Krav class with huge, muscly fit 6ft+ blokes - me 5' 6", female and don't look particularly strong/fit. Apparently my solar plexus punches are very effective as are my groin punches/knee strikes 🤣 you could always tell the new guys in class, they always underestimated me; not for long though 😁

[@HalflingSeamstress]

As a 5'0" hobbit who bought Aragorn's ranger sword and went 'meep' when it arrived and was nearly as tall as me, I feel Lily's pain with the greatsword, and loved the suggestions for weapons for shorter people.

[@Ailieorz]

Also surprised handaxes didn't make a showing, or is that my inner dwarf speaking

[@lunarose9]

I love how I am not the only person this has happened to, I am also currently knitting myself a hobbit vest. Yes, it will have pocketses.

[@samuelleask1132]

😂

[@drendraleigh4722]

Hobbits are notoriously meep in surprise

[@gabriel-de8yv]

Meep

[@juliegolick]

I'm 5'0" and have about ten years of karate experience. What I've learned is that in an unarmed fair fight, a person with a significant height / weight advantage on me is almost always going to win. Yes, I may be faster and have a lower centre of gravity, but if they get me properly pinned, there's not much I can do to get out. So what you want to do as a short person in an unarmed fight is to get in FAST and fight dirty. Go for places that aren't protected with muscle (eyes, nose, ears, throat, knee, foot) and be vicious about it. Solar plexus can work if you're precise, but most of us aren't that precise, especially not when we're panicking. Groins *can* work, but a lot of men do an instinctive "protect the groin" thing where they shove their knees together, so you're not gonna have much luck with a kick or knee strike. (If you can get in with your hand and YANK, that might be more effective.) But you definitely don't want to find yourself in any sort of fight where you're pitting your strength-and-skill against the strength-and-skill of someone much bigger than you, because you're almost certainly going to lose.

[@kuroinokitsune]

You just invoked flashbacks in me. So true. Being pinned is game over.

[@Duiker36]

Kinda curious about what kind of karate involves pins. AFAIK, karate goes for sweeps and falls at most, but otherwise prefers to keep both combatants standing and doesn't really have techniques for ground-fighting. I won't say that I learned real karate, but I didn't get the impression that there was an additional layer I was unaware of. (When I looked into judo and aikido, there was a lot more going-down-to-the-mat, naturally.)

[@juliegolick]

@@Duiker36 My style had a self-defence component that involved a few pins. But also my husband (who is significantly bigger than me) used to be a wrestler in high school and we'd sometimes spar together, and it was abundantly clear to me that none of my karate training would get me out of a proper pin from someone twice my weight.

[@ennisskalski719]

I've never been in the position but I've always assumed if someone stronger (most people) got a hold on me, if I can't wriggle out my first instinct would be to bite down as hard as I could on whatever's in range. I don't know if that's normal or I'm just a bit feral lol.

[@kuroinokitsune]

@@ennisskalski719 that's the point with most pinning - you can't bite anything. Either your face down in the mud or in pain.

[@daviderwin4705]

Surprised the axes didn't come out. Anyone who has ever split wood knows you use the weight of the head to conserve strength and build momentum in the swing. There's a reason those are a preferred weapon of dwarves in DnD. As for spears, I have read a few novels where a protagonist showcased technique with great effect. Hong Kong historical cinema uses them a lot, too. Not to mention GOT.

[@pohjanakka4992]

The same goes with hammers. I have used a long-handled geologist's hammer and taken a hell of a lot of rock samples in my youth. Now what is used in my country is not the type you find when you search for a "rock hammer" or a "geologist's hammer" online, they look more like certain types of forging hammers, with a long shaft, and you swing them holding onto the shaft with both hands (the bedrock here is mostly pretty hard intrusive igneous rocks like granite). And I learned early on that even I, a short woman with not particularly good upper body strength, could do things like break a head-sized ball of granite into pieces once I just used the right technique. Which is pretty much just that. You get momentum in the swing, kind of push in the last second before hitting, and bang! That big piece of granite is now two pieces. (That particular example happened on a field excursion when, first, four of the male students tried to break that same ball but failed. I think the problem for them was that they had simply gotten used to relying on their physical strength, while I had been forced to learn the right technique, mostly through trial and error, to be able to take any samples at all... fun memory. And yes, it probably was at least somewhat weakened by their efforts already, but I have also done similar things when alone, and broken the sample off on the first try). I presume to hit like that with a long-handled war hammer, using the same technique, could do quite a lot of damage to a human body - or armor, or through armor - even when it was done by a small woman.

[@reaganharder1480]

@@pohjanakka4992 The thing with hammers wielded by weaker bodies, you can get lots of energy into the heavy hammerhead, but doing so without a lot of strength is slow. This is of course no problem when your opponent is a literal rock, but when your opponent has trained in combat, a slow strike means time to block or just move out of the way.

[@Lurklen]

​@@reaganharder1480 War hammers aren't very heavy at all though, usually no more than 2-3 pounds total (around the same weight as most swords), so it wouldn't be much of a problem. But I think they're within the bounds of most women or smaller people. The other side of this whole argument is if you are using weapons like this, you are probably a fighter. Meaning this isn't a weapon of desperation, it's something you know how to use which likely means you have done the physical upkeep to be fit for fighting. . The warhammers I've looked at (reproductions of course) have felt more like your average carpentry hammer, but with a longer stouter handle (and a more intimidating head). They tend to weigh about twice to three times as much as the hammer you might have in your tool shed, but also tend to have that longer handle so its not just the head increasing the weight. I think someone fit enough to consider the violent work of fighting would have little trouble wielding something like that, unless they were very small indeed.

[@reaganharder1480]

@@Lurklen certainly they'd still be usable, but even myself as a relatively weak for my size man, the time it would take me to swing a construction hammer to cause serious injury versus the time it would take me to deliver a sword strike to cause serious injury... unless I am against an armoured opponent, i'm taking the sword. If I want to do more than a small bruise, I need a swing big enough that any trained fighter ought to easily see it coming and parry. Granted, my technique may be terrible, but to me, against unarmoured opponents sword is superior to hammer.

[@Lurklen]

@@reaganharder1480 From everything I've seen, and my personal experiences swinging both, you would experience less difference than you might think. Unless it is something like the small sword, which is extremely light, you might even find the sword felt heavier in the hand, just because of the way they tend to be balanced and how the weight is over all distributed. (there's more hilt on the sword, and the blade usually feels light, but the weight is more hand focused, which can feel...whippier but can also means the object has more "hand presence" if you take my meaning. This makes the two objects, often similarly weighted, feel quite different) I would even hazard (having just literally got up and tried swinging both a sword and a work hammer) that it is far easier to use the sword incorrectly and over compensate, because the sword doesn't really require the motions most people think it does. Though in both situations I think over swinging is a possibility (you really don't need to pull back very much to execute a powerful blow with either of them, these multipliers are good at their job). All that said, I'm a big dude, and my experience might be different because of that. I'm working with certain bio mechanics as a baseline, which might be causing bias. I also don't have a war hammer on hand (much to my disappointment lol) but from what I've observed, if you have the strength to execute the use of one of these weapons, then you can execute the use of the other, with a sleight alteration in technique. Their basic principals are quite similar, and the difference in balance shouldn't require more or less strength, just a slight adjustment in usage. (Though, I will concede you will hit a point of diminishing returns when it comes to lighter hammers versus lighter blades, with one becoming less effective sooner than the other. But at that point you're not really dealing with a sword anymore.) To your last point, depends what you consider armour. Textile armour, even something as simple as a thick jacket and a sweater underneath, can defeat slashing pretty well (though it will struggle to defeat the point). A hammer is good against that. Though, unless its a head wound, or a lucky strike on the collar bone or elbow, if you do manage to wound with the sword it's entirely possible you will deliver a more traumatic injury with the sword. Bleeding very suddenly sucks. And honestly in both scenarios your point that the context of who you are fighting and what they have is going to be a big deciding factor stands. Now I want to see some experimentation with different users and swords versus axes/hammers.

[@masonwheeler6536]

15:19: "There are advantages to being more skilled, and skill can overcome strength, and in fiction skill usually *does* overcome strength, but that isn't always the way it works in real life." At the dojo I used to train at before COVID screwed everything up, there was a woman around Lily's height, but more slender of build. Meanwhile, I stand 6"1' and am about average in strength for a man. I was pretty new; she was a black belt. I had strength and reach; she had speed and skill. When it came to sparring, we made surprisingly equal partners, each of us able to beat the other about 50% of the time.

[@AFnord]

Height advantage was something that kind of came as a shock to me when I did Jujutsu. Before doing martial arts I did not realize just what a difference it made. I'm tall, at 190cm, but otherwise not particularly fit, and I realized that I could best opponents who had trained for years by just more or less just flailing my arms around. Basically make it hard for anyone to come close to me and I'll win.

[@GoodAvatar]

That was my experience back when I boxed in the Army, too. I *was* much fitter back then, but I was kinda surprised by how much of an advantage I had over better and more skilled boxers, simply because I could thwack them harder than they could return fire, and I could bully them with my weight and reach. I thought these dudes would clean my clock, and they did, but.... Being bigger, heavier and a longer reach goes a long, *LONG* way. It's an advantage, it's a straight-out advantage. I have to stress that these guys absolutely knocked me around a lot. They knew more than I did and I respected that. There was this leaner German dude, about 170 or 180 or so....*MAN*, that dude knocked me around.

[@bienemaja9058]

From my experience, there is one area though where being small is of advantage: it's very difficult to hip or shoulder throw someone that is significantly smaller than yourself because their center of gravity is just too low. 😁

[@GoodAvatar]

@@bienemaja9058 In the SCA, shorter people had a huge advantage in that they could snap shots at your face from a short-range angle that longer limbed people couldn't begin to replicate.

[@legrandliseurtri7495]

Reminds me of two characters from the lightbringer serie by Brent Weeks. So, it's a girl named Teia and a boy named Kip, who start the training to hopefully join a group of elite bodyguards at around the same time, and the commander decides to put them in the same team for training. She's short, thin and has received training for several years before that. He's overweight and his only fighting experience are fights with his bully back home, but he's also tall, has broad shoulders and generally everything about him is massive. The first part of training is mostly hand-to-hand combat. Teia, using the fact that she doesn't look very intimidating, deliberately loses some duels to be put lower on the ranking list of guards students than she really deserves, and then on the final day she reveals her full ability. She is in fact extremely fast and cunning in combat, which compensates for her natural disadvantages. Meanwhile, Kip is the complete opposite. His tactic is basically to just throw himself at his opponents and make full use of his weight, because he lacks the practice to really make effective use of punches or kicks or anything else. Surprisingly enought, it kind of works(what also helps is that he's got lucky genetics when it comes to magic in this universe, plus he's great at out-of-the-box thinking, but anyway).

[@grayfox1748]

I just love how choosing the right weapon for your character can be extremely complex until you get to the spear. Can't go wrong with the good old pointy stick

[@FabriSlv]

I mean, Alexander conquered the biggest empire in ancient history with that pointy end...

[@Ulfbhert9000]

been around since the beginning of humanity the only things that has been improved on it is just the head turning from hardened wood to metal tips

[@Scarletraven87]

A teenage girl with a spear can kill you from across the room. A giant with a spear can kill you from across the field. Can argue with that?

[@somedude7633]

Less arm length=shorter range (less distance to apply force) ( Work=Force*displacement ) (You have to be stronger and faster if you’re shorter)

[@soddof7972]

"And pointed sticks" any python fans out there?

[@PersonWMA]

Came for the live testing of weaponry concerning physiological differences, stayed for the three doofuses messing around in the backyard for fun.

[@Ajehy]

Fun fact: during the Japanese Warring States Era, women of the samurai caste often trained with the naginata. It’s a long pole with a curved blade at the end-basically a sword/spear hybrid. It’s quite a versatile weapon, and excellent for evening the playing field against taller, stronger opponents.

[@MichaelBerthelsen]

Will never forget my taichi teacher (also taught kung fu) when I was studying in Beijing. The Russian student asked frequently how this and this movement would have been used defensively in the past, and she'd happily explain and then use me to demonstrate. Now, she's about 160cm tall, slightly chubby, and I'm broad-shouldered and 193cm tall. I played along for demonstration purposes, but sometimes she'd ask me to NOT play along, and she could barely move me, at twice her size. She did that, and made the point to the Russian guy that 'NO matter how good your technique is, if your opponent is bigger than you, just kick them in the balls or poke them in the eyes, then RUN. Technique helps you beat otherwise equal opponents, NOT opponents BIGGER than you.' She was a BIG fan of 'disable and escape', rather than taking on someone way bigger than yourself, as that would basically be suicide.

[@AbenZin1]

As the dwarven saying goes: "When their hands are above your head, your teeth are level with their groin."

[@garethbaus5471]

Ouch.

[@kalamir93]

Okay, Lily is without a doubt REALLY adorable. Aaaand potentially very deadly. Which makes it even better. And her fun, quirky personality not to mention. I'd really like to see more collabs with her.

[@macmay3042]

MISTBORN! Vin was 100% what I thought of when you started talking about this. Granted, the author goes to great lengths to explain how magic makes up the difference of her height and reach disadvantage, and the few times she fights without magic, she's generally immediately overpowered.

[@Valiguss]

Another thing that gives her an advantage I think is that she has a general disregard for her own safety that takes opponents off guard, though yeah he actual blade work is fairly consistently poor and without magic she wins maybe 1 fight against like a random mook in a training bout.

[@stevescuba1978]

Also, Sanderson takes into account how her weight (or lack of) limited her ability to push or pull. What a great book series!

[@sheleavitt06]

My favorite spear welder is Balsa from “Moribito: the guardian of the spirit”. She is a bad ass woman warrior who’s use of a spear is superior to all the guys who come at her with every weapon in the book. Great anime 10/10 would recommend 👍🏻 Also it’s a plus for representation of a woman as a leading character who is not a child/teenager/barley not a teenager since she is actually 29-30 in the storyline proper. Just let that sink in how rare a find that is to have a true grown woman as the lead. She also isn’t anyone’s romantic partner which is also a rarity for any story. Although it is implied that maybe had circumstances been different her and best mate could have been a couple and I totally ship that but it isn’t a major part of the story which again is rare for any story that involves women as main characters.

[@gyrrakavian]

Seconded.

[@Pluto137]

Moribito AWESOME also Balsa and her almost maybe lover reminded me of your character's parents in the 1st fable

[@Zergonapal]

honestly been poked with a staff that's been used to examine plague victims sounds like a war crime in the making.

[@rycroftphilostratem3536]

Just finished that anime 😭😭😭😭

[@Whitt23]

One thing not covered by this video that might have been a great "weapon" to consider. Friends. While all of the above is true in single combat, it would be interesting to see the impact of size when you're fighting in formation or a duo. Suddenly those wide flourishes and long lunges may be tangling with your allies or exposing a flank (yours or someone else's). Meanwhile all the shorties with spears are just jab-jab-jabbing away.

[@haldorasgirson9463]

Exactly right. Two mediocre fighters who know how to work together can usually bring down a superior fighter. 3 on one makes this almost a certainty. If you are the one, your only hope is mobility. Circle and isolate is how you deal with multiple opponents. Better be good at running in armor.

[@RedKytten]

You have actually just described how unit fights in the SCA group I belong to go actually! Typically we go with 2 sword and board and 1 spear working as a team. Sometimes I have a heck of a time seeing over people or getting around or over them to hit at the enemy, but I am also able to attack from unexpected angles. People are used too seeing a spear poke out over a shield, but never expect a spear strike to their legs or lower abdomen in those kinds of formations.

[@P0nyl0ve]

That's what I was thinking!

[@ShadeSlayer1911]

The real weapons were the friends we made along the way.

[@merijn4440]

Let's just say that spear is almost always the most optimal choice haha. "Have you heard of stick? Now there is: *stick with point!* "

[@2sudonim]

I've read treatises from many different writers, from all over the world, and spanning thousands of years of time. They all have generally the same advice for fighting an opponent who is larger and stronger than you: Don't. But if you have to, cheat. (Poison them. Sneak up behind them and stab them in the back. Burn their house down when they sleep. That sort of thing. All's fair in love and war.) If you can't cheat, bring friends. If you can't avoid fighting someone who's larger than you, can't cheat, and have no friends, use ranged weapons and terrain to your advantage and hope for the best. If you can't manage any of that, say your prayers, kiss your wife, and try to die with honor.

[@JillBearup]

“If one side occupies a high-impregnable fortress… Endeavour to be the ones inside” 😂

[@johanneswerner1140]

Tacticus? (from "Jingo"? Need to read that one again)

[@robertnett9793]

See - ranged weapons. And the good old tradition of Hall Burning :D never gets old.

[@simongeard4824]

@@johanneswerner1140 Not from Jingo, since the advice that book offered was "if your enemy has an impregnable fortress, see that he stays there".

[@Amaritudine]

There's a sword-and-buckler training manuscript from the 14th century, known by various names but catalogued as Royal Armouries ms i.33. It teaches a range of wards, strikes and grapples using the sword and buckler together as essentially a single weapon. It also includes additional wards expressly for female fighters, taking advantage of differences in posture and biomechanics.

[@charliemallonee2792]

9:56 I’ll have you know, the staff is not the scary part about Devoted Druid. It’s the easily infinite mana in her other hand that scares me.

[@khajiitimanus7432]

So... Short person has low force modifier, and therefore, needs a better absolute base force, such as a stab to vital areas - daggers, spears, shortswords. Poison requires no force. Crossbows could be great too. Reach is beneficial, but weight is exponentially more detrimental. Spears very good.

[@nondescriptcat5620]

naginata (basically light glaives) became popular in the early Tokugawa Period as a weapon for the wives and daughters of samurai to train in for self-defense and to protect their homes when their husbands were at war, for basically the same reasons spears work well. in addition to reach, pole-arms let you use your entire body for torque while retaining a good amount of fine control. competitive naginata is very cool to watch, they're surprisingly nimble.

[@patrickhickey4047]

The other neat thing that the naginata can remind us of is how much context matters. You can be the biggest, strongest, toughest man in the world fighting a small woman with weak arms, but, if you're not wearing armor and she's eight feet away wielding a foot long fish deboning knife on the end of a very light stick, there's a really, really good chance that goes into your abdomen or deeply lacerates a limb, and then even if you "win" you die later of blood loss or infection. So maybe you don't pick the fight at all.

[@davidm.4670]

yep reputation for taking legs off cavalry horses too.

[@maryhughes1087]

the naginata was the primary weapon of Keladry of Mindelan in the protector of the small series by Tamora Pierce

[@kennethfharkin]

Back in the distant past, 20 years and much weight ago, when I was actively fencing my coach was 6'6" or 6'8". I was/am 5'4". My preferred weapon was epee which made the bouts... interesting. My prime targets were the leading knee, weapon hand, leading foot, and... armpit. Armpit was because when the action would get close and confused I could sometimes pass under his arm and while passing point my weapon directly up and catch him in the armpit. All those touches though were very very far and few between, mostly remembered for their rarity. Most touches ended with him nailing my forearm over and over and over again. While the distance hand to hand was the same, a benefit for epee over foil, his lunge distance was insane. Funny thing about his lunges; he was asked to be on Fox and Friends in the morning back in 2000 when Gladiator came out (gladiators & swords were interesting at the time). In addition to his getting to do a quick demo as well as getting to stab Richard Branson who was a guest he also shot a little bit for when they cut to commercial. They placed a fencing mask over the camera and had him in uniform lunge at it hitting the mask in the center. Watching it on TV it was the same horrific view I had experienced countless times as he seemed to launch from a time zone away only to make contact. We recorded it on VHS (this was the dark ages) and played it for him that night. Watching the inside the mask view he honestly seemed surprised, never having seen what it must look like for six and a half foot of gorilla with an epee to launch itself at you.

[@jadiscardelli3487]

This is useful for me for two reasons the first being I'm a 4"4 woman with ok-ish strength and the second being I have a character who I wrote as my height who is an extremely petite girl that also needs to know how to use weapons

[@arcana8012]

I was hoping they might discuss duel wielding weapons for short people, as a 5 ft tall woman who's obsessed with swords, loves to write fiction, and play d&d I have always wanted to know what's realistic in terms of wielding two swords for both tall people and short people alike.

[@KierenAmero]

Jill, I just wanted to say I've really appreciated these types of videos, as they've helped make the stories I've written feel more "realistic" when it comes to the fighting choreography I've written. Thank you for everything you've done!

[@Vinemaple]

Same here.

[@doughudgens9275]

My thoughts are with Indiana Jones in the first film, when the bad guy shows off his sword skills. So Indy just shoots him. Or the “ Colt made all men (and women) equal” saying.

[@garethbaus5471]

Apparently they did that because Harrison Ford and much of the film crew were sick when that scene was filmed and weren't in good enough shape for more complex choreography.

[@remmieesta4447]

@@garethbaus5471 I believe it was just Ford who was sick, the original fight was three pages of sword vs whip choreography but at the time he had a nasty case of dysentery and requested to try something different. Interestingly I'd love to see how some nonbladed weapons like the whip would be in the short v tall arena, but it would be difficult to find someone of both the correct height and suitably proficient.

[@olesams]

"God created men equal. Colonel Colt made them equal." And women. Your strength almost does not matter when the bullet gets its energy from the explosion. The ultimate equalizer.

[@ebmage8793]

Im 5'2" and even though I love swords, Im not a very athletic person. My fiancee practices swordsmanship but he is a foot taller and 100lbs heavier. This video is amazing because I would love to spar with him more competently and its nice to hear your advice about this whole thing :) Im excited to put your advice to the test!

[@robertdeelen6685]

The reason why the "healery/female" types are often portrait with sticks comes from the fact that they are often sorcerers/witches/priests and they often wield a staff for magical purposes (yes, even historic mages had wizards staffs, there are a lot of rites and cultures that use them). The point that it is not "obviously" a weapon comes sometimes into play, for example the character Gabriella from the Xena TV show explicitly states that thats the reason for her using it. A little addendum: The Naginata (japanese helbard/spear/glaive weapon) is traditionally a womans weapon. PS: calling the sai a non lethal weapon is quite wrong, thats like calling a club a non lethal weapon. Yeah, you might have more control over whether or not to kill your opponent, but it is NOT a non lethal weapon.

[@haldorasgirson9463]

Spear and shield has been the classic war winning weapon throughout history. Overhead stabby, stabby for the win. You can use a spear very effectively one handed with a shield although combat game rules make this combination less effective. Fighting in groups make pretty much everything but straight line thrusts and overhead cuts unusable. When fighting in a shield wall you are essentially fighting surrounded by saplings which make most flashy moves completely impractical. At 6'4" tall and 220 lb weight, I can fight effectively with a great sword, but I much prefer a 6' to 7' glaive for a 2 handed weapon. Basically a quarterstaff with a big cut and thrust knife on the end of it. 25 years total experience in SCA and HEMA fighting.

[@nondescriptcat5620]

even moreso than spears, pikes, which are that but 15-20 feet long. get like 6 rows of soldiers just pointing them out to stop cavalry, put the archers behind the pikes, bada-bing bada-boom you got yourself some tactics. until the horse-archers show up, that is. Glaive Gang Rise Up! one of my favorite weapons, and it gets no love.

[@robertnett9793]

But Spear and Shield is more of a unit-weapon. In a one on one - unless you are reasonable strong / trained, it seems to be pretty hard to coordinate the long stick and the bulky piece of metal / wood. I say, as long as you don't stay against a shield-wall, you should be at least equally good, forgoing the shield for better handling of the spear. my 'expertise' on this, however is just watching a few Shadiversity / Lindibeige - videos. So take it with a pound of salt or so. But intuitively speaking I feel I would be better off with just a spear.

[@InterdictorCompellor]

@@robertnett9793 Same 'expertise' here - It seems kind of doable one on one against an opponent that's not fast enough to get around your shield, but shield and spear really magnifies the disadvantage against multiple opponents. Not a good combo in a chaotic melee. I think it's partly because with one-handed spear you need to keep it under your armpit or you lose most of your leverage and control.

[@Taeerom]

@@InterdictorCompellor You don't need to couch your spear unless it is hilariously overweight or you are way too tired to fight effectively any more. You need lower arm/wrist strength for rapier, that's also true for spears. I fight western style/Moesgaard style reenactment fighting, and one-handed spears are really the way to go almost always. But you really need to work on strength to not tire immediately. It's not really an endurance thing, it's just specific muscles (you usually are very weak at) you need "strong enough", and then you're good. The disadvantage with one handed spears is that you kinda need to drop it when the line breaks, and chaos ensues. The advantage is that you can drop it and draw a sword when the line breaks - and you are still in a very good situation with sword+shield.

[@InterdictorCompellor]

​@@Taeerom What exactly is the reason 1h spear is ineffective in the chaos of a broken line? It's easy to see that there's a problem, but I'm not sure what it is.

[@CBG232x5]

As someone who occasionally writes combat senses and enjoys visual aids with commentary… yoink As someone who writes their own campaign settings… sponsored yoink

[@steveholmes11]

I really enjoy these, and try to comment with something historic(al) - through usually from mass battles. Regarding women in mass hand to hand combat, I'm inclined to hide behind "Insufficient data". We do have decent examples of shorter warriors defeating larger ones, and there are three weapon systems that function as the equaliser (I'll stretch it to a fourth - last and funnest in tribute to the video). Shields, or parry in the left hand, neutralize the reach weapon: Romans defeating the physically imposing Gauls and Germans. Gurkhas deterring all invaders. Reservation: Romans had a tough training regime to build stamina, and Gurkhas have that "grew up at altitude" superhuman endurance. Shields are tiring to use. Note: Once equipped for left hand parry, you can get away with a fairly short blade in the right hand Distraction at the point of contact: Chuck something just before you get to grips, and break the big guy's concentration. Romans (again), also various asian weapons like quoits, chackra, shuriken. Outreach the opponent: As illustrated in your video, the answer is a spear wielded in two hands. Spear and shield is the most popular weapon combo for ancient warfare, but use one handed, you can only really poke with the spear. Two hands and the spear becomes a log fast fencing weapon. Examples: North Welsh of the early middle ages, Japanese age of war close fighters. Drawback: No shield, so hope your opponent doesn't have many shooters. Bang goes that Theory: Welsh and Japanese armies also had a lot of archers. Finally the fun one: Fight from the back of a large beast. South and Southeast Asian armies has the elephant, a great piece of one upmanship. If you can't get an Elephant, Camels are pretty big, but bad tempered. The 95% of humanity who can't get elephants or camels have a horse as their best bet. Ride around shooting arrows at grunts who won't catch you with their metre long reach. Or for added attitude, get a long spear, and use your mount's momentum to fatally puncture the big showoff with the sword. Apologies for long comment, and I realise that none of these are much good for theatre.

[@khaxjc1]

I adore this! I feel like this is the kind of thing every melee writing author should be forced to study.

[@grantbaugh2773]

I've been doing martial arts for a while and the impact size/weight makes has been even larger than I initially thought. I was doing a takedown drill with a woman who was a foot shorter than me and about half my weight. We were at basically the same level in the class, or she was even ahead of me. During this drill, she had to perform it perfectly (not realistic in an actual fight as things get messy) or else I could easily resist. Meanwhile I could be very haphazard about it and still knock her down. Doing drills with some of the women that are much further along in their training than I am I have also seen where enough skill can overcome the size advantage, but I think fiction has caused people to underestimate the advantage size gives. I mean, that's why most combat sports have weight classes. If you have two people of similar skill levels but one is bigger, that bigger person is more likely to win.

[@RalinaPerene]

I’m now wondering at the takedowns you are practicing. Her lower center of gravity should be giving her a vast advantage in performing the takedown.

[@vetrean]

@@RalinaPerene it helps with some aspects of some takedowns, but it's still harder to move someone who's larger, heavier, and stronger than you. kids don't have much of an advantage at taking down adults.

[@DarkAshenfall]

@@RalinaPerene While he did state it was practice, it still needs to be considered that in a real fight, an opponent isn't going to just let you take them down. Unless performed by surprise/quick enough not to give reaction time, a resisting opponent will make a take down considerably harder. Especially the bigger the opponent. Speaking of my own experience, I was very easily able to resist a larger friend attempting to trip me. He wasn't being overly aggressive, sure, but he was definitely trying to trip me and failed. I had widened my stance and was pushing against him, preventing him from gaining the optimal position/force needed to get me on the ground. You can also look at many of those video's of police officers trying to restrain criminals, where it takes multiple cops to restrain one guy who is just so strong, it takes minutes to finally subdue the guy. Even when they did manage to get the person on the ground. I think the reality of take downs, like any combat related martial arts, has been blurred by Hollywood. They make it look effortless, when its really not.

[@PetrolJunkie]

The problem with this comparison is that practice does not include many aspects of real fight. Most takes downs are much more effective against someone that is trying to attack you because they are designed to make the person's momentum work against them. For example, a shoulder throw is a lot harder if the two people are just standing on a mat, but if the person is swinging a fist and you grab that arm and step into them, over the go and they have no chance at stopping the throw. Practice is just that, practice. It is not an effective analog for an actual fight. That is what a lot of people don't take into account, much of self defense relys as much on what the other person is doing as what you do to make a move work. That isn't as easy to simulate as most people think.

[@grantbaugh2773]

@@PetrolJunkie I agree that a real fight is going to be very different from drills, but that doesn't mean that a size and strength advantage is going to suddenly disappear once the fight becomes real.

[@joshdaniels2363]

Size is probably one reason why Black Widow's choreography so often involves a running jump culminating in her grabbing her opponent's neck with her thighs before taking him to the ground. How else is she supposed to get that kind of leverage?

[@Ailieorz]

Precisely. Personally I think Marvel did fairly well with Widow and the fighting difference, but it was a little over the top at times.

[@EileenNestman]

I love that you had someone who is actually short for this video. I'm slightly shorter than Lilly, and I get so tired of 5'2-5'5 girls complaining about being short.

[@HalSchirmer]

On wrist & forearm strength VS training. I worked for an arborist in my 20s; holding a ~7lbs chainsaw at full arm extension all day. After 1 year I went to a Ren-Fair with a friend. Me, conditioned-to-wielding-a-chainsaw vs Ren-Fair huckster-wielding-a-sword was like "The Matrix" (NEO vs agent Smith with one arm behind the back) If you EVER need extras for sword play, get people who swing hammers or hold chain saws...

[@kenshidinyas]

Shields and bucklers can be amazing. If going up against someone with superior reach, if you have a shield and a shorter weapon, you can negate their reach advantage and, unless they have trained to fight shields, often negate a fair degree of their experience advantage. Shields make it much easier for you to close with an opponent especially one who doesn't have a shield.

[@haldorasgirson9463]

And I hate you. You have made my life miserable more times than I can count. 😆

[@PetrolJunkie]

It doesn't even need to be the giant shields most people think of, either. A smaller shield is lighter and doesn't hinder movement as much while still giving you the ability to redirect an attack, block, or even control their weapon depending on the shield design.

[@mirandak7242]

Absolutely! shields are awesome

[@Grymbaldknight]

In Shadiversity's video on the "best weapons for dwarves", he said that halberds maximised range whilst allowing the dwarves to make the best use of their strength and stamina. In his similar video on halflings... he said that they should just use crossbows.

[@nikmenn2751]

Because Dwarves have maximized strength/stamina, while gnomes and halflings have them reduced.

[@pheenix42]

If you find yourself in a fair fight, you're doing it wrong.

[@zealot777]

Agree with a lot of this video. I'm 5'-4" and the Naginata has been my go to weapon. I favor the reach and I can slash and stab (not just stab with a spear) and it's not quite as long. Keep in mind you can sweep the feet as the enemy tries to close in. My 2 cents.

[@jeffreypierson2064]

Many spears, not just the naginata, had tips that were blades good for slashing. They frequently also had metal butts, to help when receiving cavalry charges. Since Jill was referencing fiction, there is a good scene in one of the "Black Company" books where the series of events is beat the tip of the opposing spear out of the way, allowing the butt of the spear to come around for a stomach strike, followed by a leg sweep. 'If I was the enemy, you'd be dead...'

[@mckayleepugmire9947]

The point about getting any advantage you can to compensate for weakness in a fight made me think of a couple things: My dad used to do SCA, and there was another guy on his level as a fighter who was blind in one eye. Obviously that's a serious strategic disadvantage, but he made up for it by making his helmet with only one eye hole which both protected most of his face and turned out to be a bit of a psychological attack. I also got the mental image of a halfling or gnome barbarian or fighter with a foil specializing in kidney and Achilles tendon attacks.

[@thatchapthere]

The deathstroke method

[@mckayleepugmire9947]

​@@thatchapthere Worked in fiction, works in real life.

[@davidm.4670]

> McKaylee Pugmire Been awhile now - I used to play in SCA (non combatant) don't think I ever heard of the one-eyed fighter - what kingdom / time? (me = Atenveldt)

[@RedKytten]

At 4'10" and 95 lbs... it has been a challenge for me. I have always been interested in SCA and various martial things, but I am very restricted on what I can use even somewhat competently. I agree with Jack though... I love spears! Great equalizers! Oh, by the way, thank you! I had a friend who insisted I try their zweihander, and I finally get too see what I looked like with it! :D

[@LilyGrace95]

Like I said in the video, finding the smaller/lighter weapons are the Under 5ft Club's best bet. Buuuut in fairness, there ARE some weapons we can use if you get the right size - we did an exam in two-handed broadsword last year, and I was given a one-handed sword with a different pommel to fit both hands on the handle: worked perfectly. 😊

[@Korina42]

It makes me want to watch Arya with Needle and the dancing master again. Also, short isn't just good for ducking; it's good for dodging, as there's much less mass to move.

[@sarahpsuedonym714]

loved how when you said that women probably couldn't handle a rapier, you backed it up with evidence!! obsessed with facts

[@lkriticos7619]

This was fun. There is a flip side to bringing out realism in fictional fights though because sometimes people get lucky. I've definitely read a lot of stuff that happened in warzones in the real world that would be deemed too 'unrealistic' for fiction.

[@Mortablunt]

Real life example: Battle of Foy. Captain Ronald Spiers needs to contact American forces on the other side of a German town in a hurry. How does he do this? He runs right through the town and all the Germans. And then he led their attack, again, running back through the same towns and the same Germans. He died, 63 years later. Of being an old man.

[@classicslover]

True. Martial artists, HEMA people, even so called pro fighters have no idea what is possible in actual life v death encounters. Too bad the peasants who could not write but were conscripted for the bulk of the battles weren't able to write any books about battles It would be a far different story than that of the privileged nobles.

[@RedKytten]

@@Mortablunt Another great example, Leo Majors! I mean, Leo Majors was the single player character in a call of duty game, doing silly things like capturing almost a hundred people on his own, liberating a town (Zwolle) by him self, and recapturing a hill and holding off divisions trying to dislodge him and a small unit for days.

[@isabelleblanchet3694]

@@RedKytten Léo Major is our Rambo québécois. He actually make Rambo look like a noob. Vive le Québec! He died about 5-10 min from my house.

[@lkriticos7619]

@@classicslover It would certainly be interesting. I think we're seeing a bit more of those kinds of accounts surviving in the modern period.

[@ottersarah8812]

HI JILL!! I am unreasonably excited that this is the earliest I've ever been to one of your videos. Also SQUEE! This whole thing was SO GOOD and just, tons of fun! As a 5'6" female with a 5'0" female friend (who also watches your videos), I am sure there will be much discussion to come.

[@yellowprime8491]

While it referred to knives as ambush weapons, I always loved the quote: "1/6th of an inch [of blade] reduces any man to your height, weight, and strength"

[@PDelta41]

There is going to be an absolute ceiling on the amount of strength you can achieve, regardless of who you are. I found this out the hard way, and had to do physical therapy for tennis elbow.

[@f0rth3l0v30fchr15t]

1:44 "If there is one thing I despise, it is a fair fight. But if I must, then I must" *proceeds to cheat* Fighting fair is for people whose life doesn't depend on the outcome tbh.

[@Quinntus79]

Gotta love a Spaceballs and quote. “Evil will always triumph because good is dumb.”

[@mollytaylor2122]

...so what I'm getting for this is that disparaging certain weapons as "dishonorable" is low-key a way for men to disparage women (and short men)?

[@boosterh1113]

No. No-one in the real world though that spears were dishonourable. A bit common, perhaps, but not dishonourable. (Modern) fiction doesn't like spears because they are associated with the masses. Spears are generally cheap, easy to make, and easy to use (in a mass battle, if not in a duel). So spears in fiction are associated with the endless hordes of common soldiers, whose job it is to die in the background to establish the scale of the drama and the power of the characters who actually matter. Hero(ine)s are given weapons with more specific identities, that make them stand out from the "extras" and better explain what kind of a character they are.

[@3countylaugh]

And non-royals too, so let's classist BS to the list ;)

[@mollytaylor2122]

@@boosterh1113 Interesting, thanks. I was a bit confused by the idea of spears as dishonorable (I'd never heard that before) but I'm willing to take Jill at her word on almost anything, so I just went with it.

[@JillBearup]

@@mollytaylor2122 'Common' would be a more historically accurate take on spears, but there's a certain variety of sword and sorcery fiction that disregards spears. Which is sad because they're great. :D Then again I knew basically nothing about spears until recently so I must assume that authors have similar problems.

[@erminos8628]

@@JillBearup Great to hear you're sparked an interest on spears. I warmly recommend Matt Easton's expertise on the topic: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mmmZpIdpmKtke9E I agree on the S&S disregarding and downplaying spears and I hate it. I wish you were more clear in the video, though. I spesifically came to the comments to see what this about spears being dishonourable was about.

[@SummerSong1366]

Being almost 2m tall, I must say this is quite a massive advantage at any type of melee situation, 1 on 1 or group vs group. People consistently underestimate my punch/kick/lunge reach, so I can have first strike when they think they are safe. Also, my head is quite hard to reach with a punch or short weapon. In a situation like chaotic combat or mass melee no one even wants to fight me if they have a choice. The downside is that being the tallest guy you become the preferred target of anything shooty. Your head is over the crowd, easy to target, shield wall or any low wall type obstacle between you and shooter does not protect you, so give your giant warriors a helmet still - even though the head is hard to reach in melee, it will be the arrow/bullet magnet.

[@sensam6155]

I've faced exactly what you're talking about quite a few times at my kickboxing gym. Fighting guy that's 195cm is very different than a guy who's 185cm. Their jab is like Reed Richards, it just keeps cooooooming. Luckily, after 3 or 4 times you learn how to deal with it. At least in kickboxing and MMA, I can't speak for weapons combat.

[@AvatarRiku]

Reminds me of, even in fiction, how Darth Bane used brute strength at over 2M while he trained Darth Zannah to redirect attacks as she was much smaller

[@CanadaMMA]

I've always thought the best weapon for a shorter, less physically intimidating person was a polearm like a naganta or spear.

[@Mortablunt]

As a short person, my favorite weapon is the gun. A 38 caliber semiautomatic pistol for personal business, a 40 caliber semiautomatic pistol for working occasions, and a 30 caliber rifle for occasions where I am informed in advance to expect social use. My short arms don't matter when the thing i'm using is rated out to 900 yards.

[@haldorasgirson9463]

Traditionally naginata was what women used to defend the home. These weapons work best when there is something to slow your opponent down while they are trying to close the range. I find having a squire brother or two with a sword and shield working with me to be the very best combination. The pole arm is like a crew served weapon. Incredible effective when properly supported. I have been in large melees (at the Pennsic War) where I got 40+ kills in a single battle. By the same token if caught alone, I am lucky to win half my fights. You learn to fight as a unit. And fighting left handed with a long spear is almost like cheating.

[@hoi-polloi1863]

I want a 20 foot long pike or sarissa, and a few thousand like-minded friends standing in line with me!

[@itsnotimportant2338]

As far as I know naginata used mostly by women to defend is not a bad weapon for someone weaker but probably not too short. It also is followed with the flaw of this type weapon which is that it can be slow. It helps to equal the phisical power but on the price of movement Now i wonder if it's officially considered more of a slash weapon. If you got some type of distraction for them it's good but it's not a weapon to improvise that much with.

[@CanadaMMA]

​@@Mortablunt With respect, no one uses a rifle for "self defense". They are far too big to use for that purpose. You can't practically carry something that big and do your daily activities. Rifles are for hunting, and warfare. Handguns can be at least practically holstered,

[@stephengibbons4771]

4:06 Jack says "maybe 3 fingers worth of penetration". Jill's little nod, I'm dying lol. On a serious note, another insightful and informative video!

[@HouseholdDog]

Love the "literally shot this in the backyard" aesthetic.

[@jumpingspiderjesusfreak6219]

I was going to make a flippant remark about how guns level this playing field if you are someone living in an American state with concealed carry or somewhere similar, but it occurs to me 1. This still applies because some/most shorter people are not going to be able to effectively use certain types of carry guns because of recoil and weight being hard on wrists and 2. If you are facing enough opponents, you run a risk of them trying to overpower you regardless if you have a gun. In which case a bodice dagger as a backup (along with some fast tennis shoes) would be ideal. As Jill says though, the best self-defense is to not be there in the first place.

[@valiroime]

I reside in Texas, where you are legally able to open carry both guns and swords. ‘Murica! Fook yeah! /s

[@Duiker36]

The kind of cover available changes as your build does, too. A pillar is much more effective as cover if you can actually hide your entire body behind it, and it's much easier to pop up and shoot over something if you're tall enough to surmount it. Also, mobility counts: a smaller person is a harder target, but a larger person can move between cover much faster. This is hilariously irrelevant on a medieval battlefield where everyone stands in clear sight of everyone, but modern gunfights take place in an urban setting where moving between locations is basically 90% of the combat.

[@davydatwood3158]

Also worth remembering that - according to the FBI - if both parties are starting with their weapon holsetered/sheathed on their hip, a 6' tall man with a knife can draw and stab a person with a pistol before that pistol is ready to use at any distance less than 20'. Obviously the real world will change the exact numbers, but the point is that in close a knife is faster and thus more dangerous than a pistol.

[@garethbaus5471]

Guns usually give a significant advantage to whoever starts the confrontation (although concealed carry can reduce this advantage)

[@PumkpinSpiceAvery]

The good (or bad) news about some guns being too large and having too much recoil is that people tend to be equally dead when shot with the little ones.

[@natalialyon6628]

Great episode! I really loved this as a short person. Fun fact! Some martial arts favor artists who are smaller than their opponents! For example, judo. This is one of those examples where an author should do research on stuff

[@marcogenovesi8570]

Judo in its modern form is mostly a sport, similar to olympic fencing. Grappling martial arts really are one of the worst places to be smaller (and usually weaker) than the opponent). If you get in a bear hug you are done, regardless of your technique. The more dynamic martial arts like thai kick boxing and such where you rely on fast movements and evasion (crucial to avoid lethal grapples) are the ones where you can put your small characters.

[@natalialyon6628]

@@TheTutch It minimizes the disadvantage.

[@haldorasgirson9463]

Judo is a martial art that was developed by short people, but there is nothing about it that requires the practitioner be small. It works just fine for big people. A lot of the moves work better if your opponent is wearing the right kinds of clothes which makes it a bit less useful in modern life. You are going to have difficulty grabbing my shirt and tossing me about without my shirt shredding first. Since I do not have a Fabio physique, neither of us are going to be happy with the experience.

[@melvinburton5554]

I found my little 5'7 and 1/2 (hey everything counts) stature played to my advantage when grappling with taller people, also taller doesn't also mean stronger, I'm stocky always have been so is my father, who at 5'5 happened to be the regimental boxer (it meant he could pack more muscle without the height in his weight bracket). Also when it goes to ground, well we are all mostly the same height lying down. The difficulty I've found is always closing the distance.

[@gigabyte2248]

I did aikido for a couple of years. There's a whole branch of technique variants for the defending party sitting in seiza (kneeling) and the attacking party standing. I imagine these could be easily adapted into short vs. tall. Aikido, in general, is based on joint manipulations and leverage, to enable weaker/smaller practitioners to overcome a strength/size disadvantage.

[@mariethedicedragon5977]

My favourite D&D character that I played: a 4 foot 2 Bardbarians who dressed in lolitta, used her great axe as a step stool, always was on a flying broom, would fight with whatever was within her reach (including said broom), had a group of kobold who thought she was the prophet of Bahamut, and booped Tiamat in the snoot twice and lived to tell the tale 😂 my GM very much had fun because he did use the "why is a kid here" thing a few time and everyone always underestimated her until she was all up in someone's face

[@redblarin8030]

If weapons are a force multiplier than the most powerful person I know is the baker at the SCA. If you upset her you fight EVERYONE. Her weapons are pies. Honestly though, I love your videos Jill. Always great fun

[@gryphonosiris2577]

Most interesting fencing bout I ever saw was a 6'3" guy and a 5'1" kid. The guy had the reach, but the kid could get in under his arm and strike. It became a game of the kid trying to close for distance, but at the same time not wanting to get within the guy's long arm reach. Lots of blade activity, and movement, but not a lot of touches.

[@trikepilot101]

Tip from a runty (mostly former) rapierist: we can take advantage of our slender fingers by putting two fingers in the ricasso. It really helps to move the weight back from the point.

[@masonwheeler6536]

WRT the greatsword, strength is important, but so is *weight.* You're visibly getting pulled off-balance when you swing it around, and that's not because you're too weak to swing it effectively. It's because the mass of the sword is enough to noticeably shift your center of balance. IIRC when Shad Brooks talked about this, he said you'll start feeling this effect, no matter how strong you are, if the sword weighs more than about 2% of your body weight, and if it's over 10% it will be completely unmanageable.

[@jonathanwessner3456]

My favorite "stop hit" was a "stop thrust" someone used in a book. He had dual weapons, one longer than the other. He intentionally overextends with the short blade, and as you come in to take advantage, he thrusts forward with the longer

[@CCNorse]

The big problem with stop thrusts, though, is that they seldom actually stop anyone. Lots of dead men will fight with no understanding of the severity of their wounds. It's not like a good cleaver blow where even if the wound is survivable, it can be immediately physically debilitating.

[@waddlesquad8199]

If there's anything I learned from this video, it's that in an active combat scenario, *sais* matters!

[@danguillou713]

Shorter reach = you need to close distance. Best tool for closing? A shield! Shields don’t get enough love.

[@TheMonarchofGold]

I am a (beginner) martial artist. The martial art I practice is one that focuses on self-defense. Our *first* priority in combat is to *Get Offline.* That is, get out of our attacker's midline (which is their strongest point) and then attack from their sides or back (usually unprotected in street fights) with some sort of distraction -- stomp their toes, wind them, etc. And then use a technique to disable them from attacking further -- break a knee or nose, send a knee up to their sternum (ouch), break their foot, knock them unconscious with a chop, etc. Once they're disabled, run away. Run *far, far away.*

[@MrSJPowell]

Thank you for approaching this realistically and with no agenda beyond honesty. Basic biomechanics matter. And why yes, the staff chick is very often the healer, the shaman/druid, or the necromancer. Sometimes all three.

[@sephestra.]

I feel seen.

[@3countylaugh]

@@sephestra. That's because you're standing there... with a very good staff :).

[@mattdeblassmusic]

I'm 6'3" and definitely relied pretty heavily on the reach and strength advantage when I used to fence, but every now and then I ran into a short fencer who knew just how to get under my guard and those folks could be deadly.

[@bemusedalligator]

The amount and quality of hair in this video is excellent. Gorgeous brain toppers all around.

[@LaineyBug2020]

It would be cool to watch you analyze the fighting styles from Dune. The imperial shield fighting vs the Fremen, the evolution Paul has to go through from one style to the other and what that implies for each society... just would be fun to have your thoughts on it!

[@chrisslashmann5044]

I hope you've recovered well after your concussion and you feel all right these days. You've been missed

[@YayaIsSilly]

Love this! Please have your friends on more often. You all balance each other so well 😁

[@LilyGrace95]

Unfortunately, we're about 2-4hrs away depending, and all busy actors/fencing masters, so finding time to all be in one spot is tricky (this was three months in the planning)! I'll go poke Jill with a size-appropriate stick to make sure it happens again though 😜

[@dontgiveff]

Cat looks over assembled weapons on floor: "I have no need, I have speed, agility and come fully armed.". Walks away plotting next conquest.

[@kh628]

In the re-enactment group I'm in (SCA) there's a noted pattern longer arms ( = reach) being common amongst the top levels of combat success. Especially when it's disproportionate! Total armspan is roughly equal to a person's height, and is how most people will estimate their opponents range when sizing them up. An average-heighted person with arms that are several inches longer than expected translates to several inches of unexpected extra range, and that's quite valuable.

[@MatthewMe]

I'm glad you gave a lot of love to the spear. Its success through history at requiring less training (than most other bladed weapons) while minimizing potential damage to the wielder is often forgotten for flashier and prettier weapons. But you were right on - it can minimize so many disadvantages for the wielder. Then, of course, we have the whole family of pole arm weapons that came from it over the centuries.