[split] Phalanx warfare: use of the spear

[Paul Bardunias]

weighting the back of the spear means you cannot hold it in the middle, or at front, as for example Thrand is doing with his sliding throws. It means you have to hold it in the rear, and also such weapon is then unsuitable to be thrown at all (so no ankyle on it) as it would have incorrect flight trajectory (but thats besides the point.)

Next thing is the that with weighted spear, and thrusts, you kinda have sauroter at the height of your face, but more importantly a man behind you. if you  try to withdraw the spear, you might hit him in the head, plus, its kinda something you would not have to be worried about in the heat of battle while standing behind somebody. yes, you can rise the arm higher, to get the spearpoint in correct height, but then you will experience faster fatigue due to blood loss.. plus, again, you would have to be constantly aware of what you are doing to not hurt people behind..

Then there is the whole grip notion.  with overarm, your wrist is the most stressed part. Each hit against something would create stress, any attempt to maneuver with spear, would just increase the stress. and if you are holding the spear in the back, your wrist has to hold the whole weight alone during the attacks.

Also, i would like to see some measuring for speed of attack with such thrusts. Yes, Thrand overarm is very fast, but that's not thrust, but throw, and his spear grip is different, his spear is differently weighted. I can imagine this type of attack to be used with a throwing spear/heavy javelin, properly weighted towards front (you get better speed with weight in front with the trajectory of the throw.)

I know what rear weighted means.  But I do not know why you think it is somehow different in overhand or underhand grip.  You can see in the photo I attached that I am using a severely rear weighted dory with no problem overhand.  Underhand only helps is the spear is NOT rear weighted.

As to your second point, this is why we discovered the "J-stroke".  As the arm moves back, the spear is angled down in front and the sauroter is never in a position to hit the man behind you because it is angled up over his head.  Even if it did get pushed back, it would hit him with the side of the shaft, not the point.  When you strike, the spear moves forward and the tip comes up until the final strike is on a flat trajectory, or even angled upwards.  because the sauroter never comes down until the strike has started, the comes down directly over your shoulder and cannot hit the man behind.

The grip is less a problem than you think because most of the force comes from accelerating a heavy spear.  If the shaft loses linkage with your hand and slides it will not matter.  You are not pushing with the spear.  Again it is very much like a throw.

"and if you are holding the spear in the back, your wrist has to hold the whole weight alone during the attacks."  That sentence makes me think you are not understanding what a rear weighted spear feels like.  The part in front of the grip is completely balanced by the part behind.  There is no special stress in holding such a spear near the rear.  It is exactly like holding a regular spear in the middle.

As to the speed of the strike.  All that matters is the strength of the muscles engaged and their mechanical advantage and the amount of time the hand spends in contact with the shaft accelerating it.  The muscle groups used in the overhand strike are far stronger and in fact have evolved in humans specifically to throw- Chimpanzees can't throw like us.  The range of motion is far greater as well, meaning more time to accelerate.  Overhand is far faster.  Again, this has been tested by Connolly and De Groote.