Spears are better than swords (longer version) 

The spear was so good that even when we got guns, we just turned them into spears again with bayonets.

"The pen is mightier than the sword." True, if you enlarge the pen considerably and sharpen the nib.

I think a 64% win rate with a tremendous disparity in spear skill shows quite a lot in context.

"What a man lacks in style he can make up for with extreme violence" had me cracking XD

People also often forget that spears require a lot less metal to forge, which makes it much easier to mass produce and arm a medieval army.

After thousands of years of weapon development. A pointy stick, the first weapon man created, is still one of the best.

There was a quote from Plutarch about how young men gravitated to the sword seeking personal glory--and how, if they survived long enough, they would inevitably take up the spear.

Keep in mind that most of these guys don't have a lot of experience with a spear, they are experts in swords. And yet the spearmen did better in most situations than the swordsmen.

If only we'd done this instead of football at school

"... He forms a plan... And he's dead." Perhaps a good way to sum up human existence.

The spear is such a simple and effective weapon, no wonder it stood the test of time so well. It's the most intuitive way to make a weapon, just grab a really long stick and put a pointy thing on one end.

2:31 “Huge treatises have been written on using [swords]!” Aye, because a sword’s so useless you need several dissertations to figure out how to make it work. *drops spear-shaped mic, assumes t-pose with spear to elongate arms*

How we think we fight: Pink legs How we actually fight: Yellow socks

“The main problem with this method is that it doesn’t work.”

"A Sword and Spear may be strong, but my Nuclear Arsenal is stronger." -Mahatma Gandhi

“The sword is the Prince of all weapons. But the spear is the King!”

How to win agaisnt a spearman: Ignore hits

“Swords are the weapon of heroes, not a spear” Odin, Leonidas, Romulus, Izanami, Joshua, Cú Chulainn, and practically every character in the Illiad: Are you challenging me?”

Anyone who's played D&D knows the spear is an amazing weapon! Simple weapon, can be thrown, used to stab or used to brace.... and dirt cheap!

Whether you build your character as a two handed or one handed, you'll always end up being a sneak archer

Zero spear classes, 40 sword classes. Safe to say all the spear users were complete novices then and they still out performed practiced amateur sword enthusiasts. Now imagine this test with a skilled and accomplished spearman

"he has shown that what a man may lack in style he can make up for with extreme violence" I think this is one of my favourite quotes

Also add in that the gap grows even more when considering in war you're not running around doing 1 v 1 duels. You're in a formation so you have a whole from row, second row, and possibly a third row all sticking out a porcupine of spears (I think Alexander the Great's army had like 12-14 ft long spears, iirc). You can't swing a sword in a compact formation, but you can jab a spear forward quite well.

For most of history swords were merely a cavalry weapon or officer/nobility weapon (often roles which went hand in hand). They were made for slashing down at enemies in a charge. The vast majority of infantry were armed with spears, a useful defensive weapon. Most pre-modern battles were about maneuver, and whoever could get their cavalry around the other's infantry won.

"The only problem with this technique is that it doesn't work." If Monty Python did medieval combat reenactment.

Looks like expression should really be "live by the sword, die by the spear"

Saxons were named for their seaxes - which were a marker of status, like French for knight (chevalier) just meant horseman, but got associated with rank (knight just meant servant or attendent). Swords & seaxes can be carried about 'just in case', like when drinking, unlike spear and quarterstaffs. It's interesting Hrothgar's clan in Beowulf called themselves spear-Danes.

6:47 “he forms a plan... and he’s dead” that was really funny!!

Spears usually won, with FAR less training. That second part is really important I think and it's not addressed as much as I'd like.

Double bonus points for the overly dramatic deaths.

I think the spear would have had a much more clear victory if they had more experience with the weapon.

This was waaay more entertaining than i expected XD Also, the totally biased commentry is great!

The entire history of weaponry: So we made a pointy stick, then a throwable pointy stick, then a smaller pointy stick that is ejected by a bow, and finally we said *fudge the stick and started cramming sharp things in a barrel full of explosives* - The End

i had no idea bucklers were so small. it's like someone was like "you know what would make a good defense? a dinner plate."

At 27:30 Lindy critiques that the spears were held in the middle rather than the end for maximum distance. When they were 2 handing yes, but that critique continued on to the 1 handing of a spear which is horribly wrong. The weight behind the hand is in essence the counter balance. Without counter weight the spear becomes incredibly unwieldy in the 1 hand. Which makes getting the spear knocked aside so much more punishing, and allowing the opponent to close easily. Even if used for the first jab its incredibly risky. Even if not knocked aside, the repositioning of the hand is an opening for the opponent to charge. As in that moment the spear cannot move to attack or defend.

About 25 years ago I belonged to a group of madlads that took PVC pipes and foam insulation and made weapons from them. There were round about 200 of us. We did this for about a decade before things fell apart. We made shields, armor, used bows (very light draw bows), and made all sorts of weapons. Spears were popular, but a lone spearmen was a risky proposition. Looking at the swordsmen in this video was painful, because they are moving like they are fighting against a sword, when they are facing a spear. Swordsmen are trained to fight swordsmen. Usually using the exact same sword. Being able to advance and retreat at a moments notice is huge. Controlling the spacing is really important and you want to be as flexible as you can with your spacing so you can retreat when things go wrong, and close when you have the advantage. Swordsmen spend a lot of time working on footwork specifically for sword fighting. In a contest between spear and sword, the swordsmen needs to focus on getting past the point of the spear, and then closing until they reach their own effective range and never leave it. Using a big swing in a battle of swords is stupid. Big movements are a waste in sword fighting. But against a spear, you can afford to make big movements because you can't reach your opponent anyways, so who cares if your sword is not threatening your opponent as long as you can use that big stupid parry to physically get close enough your opponent with the spear can't hit you? Ideally a swordsmen wants his sword to push against the spear as you run up to the spearmen so they can't recover the spear and threaten you because you are using your entire body weight to control the spear. The swordsmen should abandon their usual footwork and posture to focus on literally running down the spearmen. A single sword vs a spear is a toss up. Experienced fighters who are use to the match up should be about 50/50. It really comes down to a single thrust. Spear vs Florentine (two weapons) the Florentine has a significant advantage. Not as much as a shield, but its strong. Sword and board versus Spear is really bad for the spear. Spear can take advantage of anything the opponent leaves open, but its easy to move a shield enough to block any gap if the shieldsmen is watching. Spears are best in a mixed melee. When you can stand along side a few allies you can take advantage of opponents that aren't paying attention to you thanks to the extra reach. When you get shield wall on shield wall the spears will rack up more kills than anyone else. Unless you get flanked. Then some guy with a sword/mace/club/beat stick will just decimate your line. And now I do reenactment stuff with a pike. And that is a whole different beast...

“What a man might lack in style he can make up for in extreme violence.” -lindybiege 2018

26:11 "The groin has huge stopping power." - Matt Easton, September 2018

"The main problem with this method, is that it doesn't work." Damn Lindy I was pouring a drink. Now I'm cleaning a mess. It's your fault man. Seriously your deadpan delivery of gold comedy is great.

Video: Obviously snarky, mostly for fun, two adults whinging about how swords are the default weapon in media Comment section: These 8 guys play-fighting in a backyard have recontexualized all of history and now I hate swords

"Pink legs is using his spear overarm. The main problem with this method is that it doesn't work."

"the main problem with this method, is that it doesn't work" HAHAAA

I was always in side with the spear, and then it can go into polearms which just wreck armor and some cleaves/bashing potential can off balance shielded users. BUT i really do appreciate how the shield and sword shows some huge weaknesses of spear users, especially if they MUST hold their ground or are in a formation which I haven't considered much. All in all this is a cool ass video and like how even though there is some bias, they put their mettle where their mouths are.

Range advantage is just massive. Spears are the best, ESPECIALLY against poorly armored opponents. Against proper plate armor of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance however, the anti armor abilities of a mace or war hammer would be preferable.

I like how he runs away after introducing the combatants.

imagine people in the future obsessing about eagles and revolvers, and being all nerdy about it, cuz that what a sword is. a sidearm.

12:42 “Yellow socks, massive haymaker, dead”. The best sports commentary I’ve ever heard!

only a few minutes into the video, but i imagine its as simple as: The spear is objectively better as a weapon but the sword is able to be carried on your person more conveniently and thus is much more likely to be used in any given scenario that isnt on a battlefield. I also would imagine that they are more popular simply because they are much more aestheticly appealing than a pointy stick; plus, it takes more skill yo use a sword, so its kind of a status thing to say "im good with a sword"

What if nobody wrote books about how to use a spear because everybody takes one look at it and instantly knows exactly how to use it?

"The spear, the spear Greatest weapon in the land. Can't put it in your pocket, But can hold it in your hand."

I love how the presenter runs out of the way after each set up

Something I liked to do when I cut some small pine trees down and pretended they were spears when I was a teenager was to do a sort of rapid thrust with one hand, and retract it back quickly, snapping it forward like a punch. That seems like it would be a solid way to fight swordsmen without shields.

Calls out about everyone wearing black. Names the one person in colour "fancy pants".

It's weird how the spear is the best melee weapon and yet is constantly overlooked in fantasy games, most of them don't even allow you to use spears at all and just give you a sword or an axe. EDIT: Holy fuck, the likes.

Having come back to this after a few years... it's even better the second time around. Thanks guys.

This is my absolute favorite cross-over ever

From how I understand it, whatever pointy bit that can extend as far from the user while still being effective will have the advantage. In general, sword < spear < bow < gun < missile < internet insults.

"Taking his time, waiting for a weakness to exploit. He forms a plan! ...and he's dead." Hahaha

I think the big reason we remember swords so much more is because it's the prestige weapon of the warrior aristocrats. While European knights generally all used lances/spears on horseback, when their lances shattered or they dismounted they used their expensive, fancy swords. Thus, we remember the sword as the symbol of medieval combat: the weapon of the individual dismounted elite fighter

The spear! The greatest weapon in the land! You can't put it in your pocket, But you can hold it in your hand!

Obviously I’ll watch the longer version

Imagine the adrenaline of real battles. Meeting an enemy knowing that in less than one minute one of you would be mortally wounded. I would prefer a crossbow and a good pair of running shoes.

Cool stuff! I can definitely see how judo/jiu-jitsu sorts of grappling techniques would be invaluable for spearmen. Lots of awkward clinches that looked well-suited for simple takedowns, especially given that glancing blows might not have done much.

I feel like a different shield shape would go a long way to countering spears. Using a bent or rounder shape could easily deflect any jabs.

Solution: combine the sword and spear to create the legendary "spord"

"What a man may lack in style he can make up for with Extreme Violence"

For all the people saying to cut the spear in half just remember that it’s hard to cut the spear effectively because since it’s being held in hand it’s not locked in position which means it can move along with the energy/momentum instead of being fully struck by it. Also an axe would be more suited for that anyway, though it’d also face the same problems that I’ve listed before.

4:54 good old big knife. This vid is the greatest crossover ever.

1:15 Huge time, money, and effort went into making swords. Matt mentioned all the main problems of a sword. Spears are cheaper, and faster to make in large quantities. You can also train spearmen faster. If you are a lord preparing for battle, you also have to think about your treasury. Keep things simple and cheap. Things may be different in street fighting in narrow alleys. It's about "CONTEXT" of course.

Next week, spearmen vs trebuchet.

That's why your sword is your "sidearm"

my favorite part of this video is the names lloyd gave to the fighters

"Even a farmer could kill a samurai with a long enough spear."

What do we know: 1) Flanking maneuver works.

This was absolutely brilliant and so informative. Thanks for posting it.

Long Sticks are always important tools of human race most of the times in two places, one is in the battlefield and other one is on the "bed".

I like the way he comically runs after announcing the fight

"This swordsman looks serious, until he takes a spear to the face"

I loved the video. Amazing work!

This video was super entertaining. Great content!

It's like a semi serious Monty python 😂😂😂 I died laughing at "he forms a plan...and he's dead"

3:00 - Of course there's something a sword is better at than a spear. It's better at demonstrating how rich its owner is.

The commentary on this is pure GOLD :-D - love the spear - did staff fighting for at few years - it rocks :-D

Great video guys. Wonderful content 😄😄

"He forms a plan oh and he's dead."

Fun Fact: The spear is the one weapon and/or tool that humans instinctual create. A pointy stick with reach.

how dare anyone suggest a phalanx is not the ultimate melee combat formation

That was great!

depicting wars being fought with swords would be like depicting D-Day as thousands of people storming a beach firing pistols at eachother. They were a side-arm, mostly for rich people, as pistols are today. They got depicted more in history because the people who can afford extra weapons are a lot more likely to have paintings commissioned for themselves than someone who makes do with the only weapon he needs, a spear

Spears are best when you have a lusty Argonian polish them!

I learned the very basics of swordfighting and spearfighting for a few weeks. Unfortunately Corona hit when I was still taking lessons so they were cut short. But, in the several sparring sessions I had, spearfighting was just more fun than swordfighting.

I watched this awhile ago to knowledge myself on spears since I was making a character use one, but honestly I’m genuinely interested now!

"YO-HOO MOTHERFUCKER!" Classic flanking manoeuvre 19:02, with commentary.

Lindy sounding like an overbearing Dad at his son's football match at 18:30

Wow I'm watching sports and having so much fun!! The commentary is absolutely hilarious

this looks so fun, i might actually go and learn a spear or a sword when i get older

The announcer yelling faintly from a couple metres away and then running off as the camera zooms out has such Monty Python energy-I love it.

"Now he uses overhand spear. The main drawback to this is that it *doesn't work. *"

Very interesting stuff, combat is an art, done correctly is both beautiful to watch and frightening to behold, and most importantly incredibly effective and dangerous.

This was a great video. Thank you.