[quote=“Muaddib, post:29, topic:8441”]Pretty much.
Works for greatswords too.[/quote]
So uhm, on this point I have to agree with Kevin. Here’s the deal with spears and holding them as far from the spearhead as possible to maximize range. It makes them a lot harder to use effectively especially as stabbing weapons. A spear essentially is a rod some with a spearhead some just a sharpened end. The ones with just a sharpened end will suffer less than the ones with a spearhead, but they all suffer from some negative effects. First of all, the further your arms are from the business end the worse the transfer of energy from your arms motion to the end of the spear. This is partially due to the spear warping as it impacts it’s target, almost any weapon that isn’t basically a rock or a ball of steel suffers from this to some degree, but the longer the distance between the application of force and the spot where there is a resisting force the more energy you’ll lose to this warping(this is very visible when watching a fencing match, though those ‘rapiers’ are very flimsy on purpose, or generally with swords that have been used a lot for stabbing attacks, and as a result have a crooked blade). Even a mighty claymore can suffer from this, though if you are trying to stab with a claymore I think you are missing the point of the weapon. In any case this warp will make your attacks a lot less effective against anything with some armor and just generally less effective even against flesh. A wooden spear might even break after a few times, depending on your strength.
Secondly, your precision will suffer a lot. The further from the business end you apply the force to keep your weapon aimed at the right spot the more every tiny motion will influence your aim. Of course this isn’t too much of a problem, but not having a proper aim at where your spear is gonna hit can be a big factor if said target is armored.
Thirds, we have angular force to deal with. If you hold a spear near the middle it’d be fairly easy to balance it and even with a fairly heavy spearhead it wouldn’t be hard to balance it with the length of the shaft behind your arms(Ie keeping the center of mass between the position of your hands, like normal with spears). Ensuring you keep your spear aimed properly. Now you hold that spear at max range, the center of mass is quite a distance away from you and you’ll have to put a lot more effort into fighting gravity to keep that spear pointed in the right direction. Which in turn also aggravates the problem mentioned in the previous point.
Try it out for yourself find a broom(Or even better something with a more modest business end) pick it up and hold it like a spear, hands close and balanced around the center of gravity, and now grab the broom in a similar fashion as close to the top as you can.
All in all it would make things a lot harder to wield and use the spear effectively. Also did anyone notice how the naginata, the only ‘spear’ that is commonly wielded with most of the length in front of the arms, is used and designed more as a slashing weapon than a stabbing weapon. That might be on purpose, given how stabbing weapons react when you try the same.
