DANE AXE vs MONTANTE (Greatsword)

A fun matchup we did on a whim merely because we had these two training weapons to hand and we thought it would be fun. The synthetic montante is by Black Fencer (flamberge model) and is of exact typical weight (2,2kg) and handling for a small greatsword of it's type. The Dane Axe is a rubber head by Arcem (sold through Black Armoury) on an ash shaft. It weighs just over 1kg, putting it right at the bottom end of the 1-2kg typical weight range for this type of weapon, and clearly a little lighter in the head for safety reasons, giving the Axe a little bit of an advantage in agility over what it likely would have had, but not by a huge margin.

Note that the term "Dane axe" can me misleading in some regards, but it is also now in common usage and is even what the product used is named.

This was filmed at the AHF run Spring Open Sparring day, 2023, featuring a mix of different HEMA clubs from across England and Wales.

🎵 Song: 'Miguel Johnson - Good Day To Die' is under a creative commons license license.
🎶 Music promoted by BreakingCopyright:

[MasoTrumoi]

The reach difference and calmer approach the Dane Axe user had seemed to make a big difference. I would say that if I was the Montante user I probably would've focused on and abused its thrust a lot more. It seemed kind of like they were trying to use the Montante similarly to the Axe and it just wasn't cutting it (heeheehohohawhaw).

I also probably would've tried to grab the shaft in those probes that axe user was putting out there.

[SellSwordSinnix-vrxi]

I like the little hit markers. It's good for folks who never seen this before to know what's happening.

[JustGrowingUp]

I absolutely loved this!
I hope we'll get to see more of it in HEMA, now that we have safe-ish simulators - I do appreciate the control you guys had to not hurt each other.

[BaronVonHardcharger]

I love the hit markers on the edit! Thanks all!

[Hrafnhistorical]

These slow mo touch animations are a really good addition! Great show too, good stuff.

[GallowglassAxe]

Great video and this sort of encounter would have been common in 16th century Ireland. The Gallowglass used the sparth (the proper name for the dance axe) since the mid 13th century but during the 16th century we have many transition into greatswords.

I personally prefer the sparth over the greatsword as that over hang is really good at getting around guards and shields. The offset tip also allows you to stab in ways that a sword and spear cannot. I personally call it the hook 'n jab.

[A_Medieval_Shadow]

Always a pleasure to see a fight like this

[BossBattle]

Great match. Thanks for all the work you do in editing to help us see all of the hits.

[gussiebunny]

The change to slo-mo and hit markers was great. The video flowed well, but allowed the uninitiated viewer to understand what was going on. Enjoyed, thank you

[MansMan]

Still feels like he was trying to longsword with a montante.

[thaddeusgigachaddeus]

I'm a simple person, I see big weapon I click video

[tatumergo]

The length of it looks good, thus making it effective!

[jimmydesouza]

I am curious since you got inside of the axe head a lot of times, why didn't you grab the shaft and yank it out of his hands since the axe head acts as a good hand stop?

[tobiasrietveld]

It seems as if in a real fight the initial focus would be fucking up the opponents grip and footwork with shallow cuts before being bold (or desperate) enough for actual killing blows where the force and commitment would leave oneself exposed.

[xact]

Outstanding! What a combination of unseen weapons. Edits are terrific too-doesn’t need the music, though👍. Loved it

[tommeakin]

Bit of a side point, but does anyone happen to know when the term "Dane axe" was roughly first used? I get the impression it's a pretty misleading term. Also, does anyone happen to know if "Broad axe" may have been used to describe the same thing? I've seen references to that term and I'm not quite sure what kind of axe it's referring to

[miketruby]

I have a question, wouldn't the great sword eventually break the shaft of the dane axe? I can't imagine a long axe shaft lasting longer then 10 minutes of repeated blows to it.

[laxpudgie]

serious question for anyone knowledgable- with real sharpened blades, how would the wooden shaft of the dane axe effects things? always wondered with pole type arms in this regard..thnx

[alinvid]

Very nice ! Whay size is that Dane axe's shaft ?

[TheLegend-ecxf]

I need to know where that guy got his sword