Since I finished the first 'anime' in my life- Avatar- and saw some warriors fighting with fans, I though I should check out some other unusual weapons people used throughout history. These are what I found...
The Kusarigama
This Japanese weapon has two parts - the kama (the Japanese version of sickle), and a heavy iron stick attached to it with a metal chain. It was used my Japan warriors by swinging the heavy chain around, while attempting to immobilize the target with it- or at lest to try and get their weapon. Once they managed to get the chain around their arms or legs it was pretty easy to use the sickle on them. Some people could also use the weapon by striking the enemy with the weight at the end of the chain. This was usually a deadly blow - and they could also stay out of the way of swords.
The Gun Shield
This is pretty simple to understand. Basically, it's a shield that has a gun in the center of it. It wasn't used for long (gee, I wonder why) - in fact, it was used only for a couple of years by the bodyguards of Henry VIII.
Hook Swords
These swords are one of the most elegant, but most deadly weapons in Chinese history. It was wielded by the Shaolin monks -who were usually passive. It has a double sided dagger part, and a recurved hook blade at the other end- also double sided. People used it mostly by hooking them together and swinging them around- thus getting an elongated version of it. They were also very useful in grabbing the enemy's weapons or limbs. The hand guards were used to stop sword attacks. On the down-side, though, the weapon is pretty hard to handle. Because of all the pointy stuff in it, it is quite hard to sheath it and carry it around, and even harder to unsheathe it. While their handlers did this they were prone of injuring themselves too.
Macuahuitl
This weapon was used by the Aztecs. It's basically a wooden club embedded with razor sharp obsidian or volcanic glass stones. It was a lot harder to use than a sword- it was first of all harder to lift it up, and required a lot more space to fling it. Warriors who used them couldn't stand in close formation because of this, so they mostly just ran around as they could. This weapon was sharp enough to decapitate even horses, though - so I guess the Aztecs knew what they were doing.
And the last one for today: Zhua.
This strange weapon was used in China again. It was really heavy - so heavy, in fact that it could clobber a person to death if swung in just the right way. It was mostly used for grabbing shield though, or occasionally pulling down people from their horses. The sharp nails on its end could impale almost anything- including flesh, of course- and cause some real pain by tearing it to shreds.
