@Iosyn >> I don’t think weapons were weird, it’s more that there were crude variants and delicate, masterworked pieces. So if western civ had been more obsessed with the lore of the time (Prince Arthur and his sword, more so heraldry and rings) easterners and farmost progressed Chinese were about the vast sea, commencing trade and exploring cultures. There’s a legend about that, but maybe another time… The thing that matters was that their population had many leaders, champions and masters of the crafts - all uninfluenced with the skills of the west. So you could have a special weapon like this Guillotine piece, but only for many, many cows and great many sacks of grain. 
Now I’m gonna defy myself (I’m all that way) - there was an old legend with the Romans, back in the Celtish times, about a troll or an ogre (can’t recall every detail) or a very gruesome individual guarding a bridge pass with a ball and chain… — Don’t show him the gold and you lose the windshield, and the next one is your V8.
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About chakram, look it up on the first page of this topic, it’s there. This is more how Quentin Tarantino saw it, and one of the greatest impressions from Kill Bill for me was actually that weapon.