Loved that you brought the kids in. Hands on history teaches that our past is real, that real people did real things. Makes it so much more interesting for them to learn.
I love this video! I fight as a Greek hoplite in the SCA, mostly with spear. Eventually, I want to get other hoplites to join my war band to form a phalanx at wars 😁
Very informative and nice inside to using the spear, most medival don't have a tip at each end. I have to build one like this (typical Fiore spear) ❤ Love it!
Thanks man! Yeah it’s really cool how the counter balance affects it so much with increasing the reach of the spear. Same length but much longer effective range
I commented on the gladiator video about making. A hopelite video, you delivered, you're awesome! Will watch it before I go to sleep today, leaving a like right now man, thanks!
So I'm subscribed to both you and Sellsword Arts and I gotta say, that'd be an excellent collaboration. I think you guys could learn a lot from each other!
Ah the Greeks. Perfected the Hoplite over millennia and laid the blueprint for the phalanx. Which the Romans later took on board and went further with. Great vid as always mate👊
The greek were actually one of the earliest users of dumbbells that we know of, the ἁλτῆρες were stones shaped with a handle for curling etc. but more likely use similarly to modern kettlebells
Also, I don't know if you've done this before, but have you ever done a Robin Hood? Where you split an arrow with an arrow? I know arrows don't grow on trees but it'd be cool to see. 😂
I have done that before, but never split an arrow. That would be fun to see, but I guarantee that would take me a lot of shots if I was from 20 yards that is. Also, so glad you enjoy them.
Ohhh you son at the end,, He just wanted to keep bashing that stump. What a Great father you are, because it's also teaching respect for anything that is sharp, and i bet he loves this as much as you lol
Yeah, it was a ton of fun, even though it was still really hot. They were super excited to go out there and smash and stuff. Once it cools off, I usually have them around more, but it’s just been too hot for them to be out there.
01:04 People in that passing car must've been confused why there's a shirtless man wearing a helmet and carrying a massive shield talking to a fantasy world ranger.
@@dashrendar5320 All children and weapons-loving nerds in your neighborhood are super blessed to have you there 😂 I wish we had someone similar here, but we don't. Edit: Accidentally put "is" instead of "are."
10:31 That was one heck of a throw! If you got to pick a position, where would want to be in the battle? I think with 45-75 lbs of armour, I'd be happy at the back handing out last rites to the fallen with my Dory. (But then again I'd probably convert to the cloth and become a monk to skip the draft if possible, lol.) Also, whenever little Henry is in one of your videos my algorithm goes bananas like a ADHD puppy and just brings random things into my feed, like a ton of Henry Cavill videos. Not a bad thing as we do love The Witcher around these parts. :)
Ha thanks man! Much appreciated, dude I would love to be a ranged troop haha. The psychological stress of being face to face with someone trying to kill you is an insane thing to try and wrap your head around. Just different mindset 100%
@@dashrendar5320 Oh god, that reminds of that one-on-one fight in Saving Private Ryan with Adam Goldberg's character and that German soldier who survives till the end. That was intense! Different mindset indeed. (Forgot to reply earlier, sorry!)
I'm always surprised that I've never once heard anyone compare the Kopis to the Kukri. I've always said that the Kopis was the ancient or original Kukri. It's the same blade, just larger and with a different hilt. Also holy cow your shield is cool. Didn't realize the size of them in the artwork...
It's also an identical design to the Iberian Falcata. Both designed to do the same job. Presumably there was a lot of exchange between Greeks and Iberians, as Etruscans also used it along the way. There has been some conjecture that the kukri may have somehow made its way to where it is via Alexander, but we don't know for sure. It's unusual.
Good point at the end, the Spartans were a very functional society and so they didn’t leave behind the rich cultural legacy that the Athenians or Corinthians did despite being one of the two superpowers in the region at the time. Their society was also extremely brutal, essentially being an elite class that lived off the slave labour of the helots.
@@dashrendar5320 My dad had four of us, so still need one more to match his pun level. Plus, was an extremely prolific sci-fi/fantasy reader. * gauntlet thrown down *
@@dashrendar5320 My dad passed away 12 years ago and I miss him dearly (he was 82). Seeing you play with your kids, I can tell you that in the decades to come, your sons will look back on the time you play and spent with them with great fondness. Keep on being a great dad, as you will be an inspiration and hero to them, even when you're gone.
Loved this. A couple things. I think it would be really fun to see you talk about historic warriors like Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, etc. Second, which period was Alexander's armies, finally, what is that video game you had up? Looks really fun.
That was the classical period for Alexander. That would be fun to do more character specific videos for sure. And the game was assassins creed odyssey and also Rome total war 2
The world hoplite (οπλίτης) comes from the shield he was armed with, the hoplon (όπλον). First used by the city of Argos, hence its name 'argolic hoplon'. They were the first to use the phalanx formation, utilizing the new shields. Greetings from Greece.
Thank you for that context and additional insight my friend. I alway love to learn stories and additional history from those native to the culture. Greetings to you as well
Hahahaah man, I am not gonna lie. I am having so much fun making these videos and am so grateful people put up with my goofiness. It just brings joy to me.
The Spartans had a great public relations campaign but were pretty mediocre warriors in reality. They really only had great warriors compared to most of the ancient Greek city states that didn't have the money, time, and population to maintain a standing army. They were completely defeated by the Macedonians and turned into a tourist trap by the Romans. Even during their supposed height, they were defeated by the city-state of Thebes. In ancient times, it was said that the Greek city-state of Argives had the best warriors and they defeated Spartans in combat between 300 picked men. After the Greco-Persian Wars, the Spartans had to rely on an alliance with Persia to defeat Athens (and Athens basically blundered their way into losing by randomly invading Sicily).
I do real estate my friend, and while it would be cool to do this full time I am doubtful that is gonna happen anytime soon haha. History and archery can be pretty niche so i do not see myself putting those eggs in my basket
@@dashrendar5320 Makes sense, it will keep it fun without any pressure for longer too. But I bet you would be able to transition fully sooner or later if you wanted to. Even if a bit niche it's quality content and within the long tail of this kind of content
It’s very true. I just need to get a couple videos that actually grab some good traction to show it to my wife to say hey look this can be viable. As of now it’s not quite there yet haha
That would be super cool, but a lot of the ancient armor I have is not really a good representation of what it would be. It’s thinner and wouldn’t really give a good accurate result. The actual appropriate stuff is quite a bit of money haha
Poor Sirgains, he's got the body, but a touch lacking in the old brain matter, "Wikipedia" 😂. But seriously someone get this guy on TV already, he can clearly act, got the aesthetics, and knows the history of hand to hand combat. You really are loosing out on a gem here. I can just see you in a comic version of 300, plzzzz someone make this happen 🙏
Hahaha thanks man! I don’t know about the while TV thing…would he super cool but just that short stint I did in Greece was way too much time away from the family and it was only like 2 weeks
@@dashrendar5320 I understand that. But even doing this you are so entertaining, but yes i totally get the family thing. You just really have what it would take to be good on screen imo.
Fun fact that i heard years ago, so I'll use "apparently" because if i remember rightly this was said at a convention, apparently. George Lucas once said he used alot of aesthetics from the Greeks and romans making Starwars. The shield is excacly like the small robbot attack walkers used, helmets very similar in design. I've looked on Google but i can't find where he mentioned this as it wasn't an excact interview, it was a quick passing comment he made when someone asked about inspiration for the movie. But it does make alot of sense.
When seeing and reading all the things about ancient spartans, you understand how much of a diciplined society they were.. They are all jacked up and healthy including women lol.
Maybe one day, I am trying to continue and get the budget to get better stuff in the inventory. It would be my dream just to have all the historical stuff and then promptly test and break it haha
The Spartans had a great public relations campaign but were pretty mediocre warriors in reality. They really only had great warriors compared to most of the ancient Greek city states that didn't have the money, time, and population to maintain a standing army. They were completely defeated by the Macedonians and turned into a tourist trap by the Romans. Even during their supposed height, they were defeated by the city-state of Thebes. In ancient times, it was said that the Greek city-state of Argives had the best warriors and they defeated Spartans in combat between 300 picked men. After the Greco-Persian Wars, the Spartans had to rely on an alliance with Persia to defeat Athens (and Athens basically blundered their way into losing by randomly invading Sicily).
How did you get your serratus to pop like that? My guess would be from pulling heavy bow weights? Have you noticed any issues on the other side of your back since you primarily draw on the same side? Love the videos man. Appreciate the history.
Just a hypothesis but i feel like if you were in formation with people behind you, it would make sense to hold the spear over your head. Just guessing because if you held underhand you risk interferance from hitting the people behind you with the shaft
You're right, in a phallanx, usually the two first lines hold their lance "over their head" and all the lines after them just hold them vertically because they're useless.
In formation the front row thrusted upwards from the under arm position while the back row thrusted downwards from the upper arm position and the middle straight forward like a Lance. All about biomechanics. And the shield wall moved forward the whoke time in an rolling motion, just like the phalangs of sarissas in Alexander the Great's Army. And the spartan groups of youth huligans was called Agoge.
It makes sense, but no more modern radical view talks about the waves of battle, and how they would have to be disengagement in the front lines to recover, and then the ranged troops would try and engage. Of course we can’t know for certain, but that seems to be the more common academic view now as opposed to the orthodox view.
The orthodox idea of hoplite warfare/holding the spear overarm kinda makes sense if you're in a close shoving match but on a battlefield it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me since you're trading all the advantages of a spear for the disadvantages of the spear, you're sarcrificing the extra reach and you're now burdened by the awkward length of the weapon at such a close range. At that distance it'd make more sense to do what the romans did and just start stabbing with a short sword. Another problem that I have is that if you're in formation and get into that close shoving match, you don't have a whole lot of room to manoeveur that spear, especially behind you since you have all that excess length that might bonk your mates in the head or get caught up in their spears as well, we know that the phalanx was usually an 8 man deep formation so it doesn't make sense for the overarm technique. If anybody has any ideas or theories about this I'd be glad to hear it since it's always good to hear other opinions
There wasn't just one way to hold the spear. I don't really understand why modern historians bashing their heads, arguing on that when we already know. Ancient greek hoplites had different stances depending the situation and captain commands. Some of the commands young hoplites used to learn were: καθές τα δόρατα (spear in low position), δόρυ ανασχέσθαι (spear in upper position) and other useful commands depending the desired speed of the unit, formation and how loose they must be.
Yeah, thinking about it as someone who is a parent it’s a really heavy thought. Nothing I would ever sign up for, I feel like I would probably flee with my kids.
Have you neighbors ever stated what they think of your warrior activities, do some find it interesting rather than strange, hopefully some understand what you are trying to convey to the public.
Where can I get a realistic one of them slings, I can't make it I can't even braid my own damn hair 😂 ,I live in Scotland so we have plenty of space to practice...iv got a good few diff weapons and armour but no realistic sling.
