Mine Axe... "cuts it"

I'm into LARP...guilty.

*well I was years ago...but still good memories,

 

To be fair it's 'stage' but yes it's a real axe. I am trained to fight in range and on target with real weapons and real armor. Only reason we keep from getting hurt is cause we know to telegraph the moves so our 'opponent' can see it coming and to either block or get the hell out of the way.. You take an axe you swing that thing like any mace or hammer. You're not stopping to think whether it's a cutting weapon or a bludgeon. Only that you're holding it properly.

 

Ditto on the commentary not-for-LARPing. All of my commentary is geared towards actual, IRL, self defence and melee combat.

In fact, in my former school's introductory level weapons classes, the first and easiest lessons involve clubs and axes. There are several subsequent levels, in order of sophistication of the weapon. Sword is the highest level, as it is vastly more elegant and complex of a technology than an axe, which is just a club with an edge. When someone assumes the role of attacker/opponent in simulated self defence scenarios, the club and axe are the simplest, most rudimentary roles to learn. Axes are regarded as clubs, or club-like weapons, amongst anyone I know in the greater NYC martial arts community. Its a pretty big community too. I highly doubt our local community is alone in this designation of "where an axe belongs," though I would gamble that most fighters throughout the world, and throughout history, would regard an axe in the style of use of bludgeoning weapons.

Novice trainees have a very similar internalization regarding knives, mostly from what they see in movies. When a trainee gets to the level of knifework (which, by the way, is more advanced than bludgeoning weapons, such as axes), they often start using piercing over slashing, and often also "stab" like its an upside-down club, mainly due to internalizing "Friday the 13th" and "Halloween" style horror movies. A knife is primarily a slashing weapon, and will do the most damage, while leaving the wielder the most safe, when slashing at its target. Piercing is a viable option, though not the primary function, and I wont digress into that. Using a knife upside down and slashing downwards from over the top the wielder's head is the dumbest way to use a knife, though ~7/10 novices will likely try that until shown why not to. People have not internalized the concept of a knife as a slashing weapon, so rarely attempt slashing with it the first time they receive training. So a knife is a slashing weapon that people often see as a piercing weapon.

Let the internalization of past game systems go. SoTA has it right - axes are used like bludgeoning weapons, and one's skill with an axe is determined by their skill with bludgeoning weapons, not at all with one's skill with a slashing weapon.

*disclaimer: none of this states an axe is a poor choice of weapon. One's skill with a weapon, and investment in training with it, ultimately determines how good or bad of a choice the weapon is. At its highest level of mastery, any weapon is as good as any other weapon.

**double disclaimer: I use axes in SoTA, regardless of my weapon preference IRL.

 

I'm afraid SotA doesn't play well with my preferences. IRL I usually dual wield sword & axe. I never really took to shields. Plus my use of the axe is a little unorthodox but it's been interesting.

 

Also, dont take my bludgeoning away! :-D

 

Sweet! So I'm guessing your pretty good with a bo staff.

 

Wow, this is a discussion. Really. OK.
Yes, the description should be weight forward or the equivalent. Maces, axes, polearms are all weight forward skill sets. Swords and spears are balanced weapons. But as Bowen said several times, the skill to use is much different from the type of damage received. But since Sota does not differentiate, the skill to use is what we have.
Look at that Danish Axe and realize that all that metal at the front of a shaft is vastly different from a sword with all the weight balanced just forward of the hilt. Sure I use rattan swords and blunt axe heads when I fight non-choreographed skirmishes, but I can tell you right away that the delivery is very different, and the guy on the other end can tell you the receiving is very different. Sota only defines the delivery. Until it defines the receiving there is no need to be in a different category.

BTW, does the common person associate SCA with Larping? I consider SCA a martial art, not a live action role play. I am not role playing my skills of combat, it takes years of training to learn to fight with these weapons.

<-- that picture of me there was on the day of my knighting. And I think I am vastly inferior to a lot of the fighters out there who train from the medieval manuals. I just have good instincts and long arms.

 

Just for the record.. I'm not SCA either. Just saying.