# Most Incredible Ancient Weapons

An episode of [Be Amazed](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1687637469), 6 Apr 2026, 28 min.

Audio: https://audio4.redcircle.com/episodes/110e44a9-713a-4f4e-a22e-77feeef12fc2/stream.mp3

What’s the most powerful weapon you can think of? Probably some sort of big ol’ gun or bomb, right? But what about weapons that existed hundreds, if not thousands of years ago? What reigned supreme then? Was it truck-sized trebuchets? Ancient flamethrowers? Or what about a giant iron hand capable of capsizing entire ships? Well, put on your helmets, your body armor, and your water wings if that big hand is anything to go by, because we’re about to explore the most incredible ancient weapons to have ever existed! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

## Transcript

[0:00] \[SPEAKER_00\]: What's the most powerful weapon you can think of?
[0:04] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Probably some sort of big ol' gun or bomb, right?
[0:08] \[SPEAKER_00\]: But what about weapons that existed hundreds if not thousands of years ago?
[0:14] \[SPEAKER_00\]: What rain-subreme back then?
[0:17] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Was it truck-sized travel jays, ancient flamethrowers?
[0:26] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Well, but on your helmet, your body armor and your water wings, if that big hand is anything to go by, because we're about to explore the most incredible ancient weapons to have ever existed.
[0:51] \[SPEAKER_00\]: When most people think of rocket launchers, they picture high-tech weapons that launch an innovative range of projectiles.
[0:58] \[SPEAKER_00\]: However, as advanced as they appear, they aren't a recent invention.
[1:02] \[SPEAKER_00\]: In fact, the first recorded rocket launchers can be traced all the way back to 11th-century China.
[1:09] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Their neighbors soon caught on and in 1409 CE, a Korean model known as the Huachah, was launched, literally.
[1:18] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Now you may not be expecting much from a 600-year-old weapon, but this thing packed up much.
[1:24] \[SPEAKER_00\]: At first glance, the watchout doesn't seem too deadly, it's a wooden cart with sticks poking through a box on its top, except those are not sticks.
[1:34] \[SPEAKER_00\]: They're 100 explosive powered arrows.
[1:38] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And the box is not actually a box either, it's a launch pad.
[1:43] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Each gunpowder filled paper tube had a fuse attached to it, like fireworks, all of which were linked together to form one long fuse.
[1:52] \[SPEAKER_00\]: So instead of lighting the fuse for each arrow individually, when the main fuse was lit all 100 of the arrows would fire at roughly the same time.
[2:02] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Just imagine being on the battlefield when all of a sudden a wave of explosive propelled arrows starts raining down all around you.
[2:09] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Not pretty.
[2:11] \[SPEAKER_00\]: No, and don't think about running away either, because it's believed that the range of these explosive launchers was close to 1,650 feet.
[2:20] \[SPEAKER_00\]: For some context, that's about 38% further than the range of medieval archers who would have used bows and arrows around the same time.
[2:29] \[SPEAKER_00\]: I guess you could say the enemy soldiers needed to watch out.
[2:33] \[SPEAKER_00\]: If they saw this thing on the battlefield, eh, sorry I couldn't resist.
[2:39] \[SPEAKER_00\]: If you had to guess, when would you say firearms were first created?
[2:43] \[SPEAKER_00\]: They feel pretty modern, so maybe 18th century, 17th that a push?
[2:49] \[SPEAKER_00\]: While surprisingly, the first ever gunpowder powered weapon actually dates back all the way to the 10th century, 950 CE to be specific.
[3:01] \[SPEAKER_00\]: The fire lance, as it was called back then, was created in China during the historic Jinsong wars.
[3:08] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It was a prolonged spear-like weapon, strapped to the front was a bamboo tube filled with gunpowder and a slow-match.
[3:15] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Once the fuse was ignited, the gunpowder 2 would pump out a stream of flames towards the enemy.
[3:21] \[SPEAKER_00\]: A.K.A.
[3:22] \[SPEAKER_00\]: an ancient flamethrower.
[3:24] \[SPEAKER_00\]: As gunpowder was modified and improved through the centuries so did the power of the firelands.
[3:31] \[SPEAKER_00\]: In one version pellets were stuffed into the bamboo tube and fired out light bullets.
[3:36] \[SPEAKER_00\]: A.K.A.
[3:37] \[SPEAKER_00\]: an ancient flamethrower shotgun.
[3:40] \[SPEAKER_00\]: By the 13th century Firelands has discarded the lands point in favor of relying solely on the gunpowder blast.
[3:48] \[SPEAKER_00\]: The weapon became so powerful that the projectiles they fired on their own had enough force to fatally injure people.
[3:55] \[SPEAKER_00\]: But as badass as this sounds, they were some serious drawbacks.
[4:00] \[SPEAKER_00\]: The weapons were designed to only blast one or two shots max, plus the effective range of the weapon was only 10 feet, meaning you had to give a real close to your enemy if you wanted to take them down.
[4:12] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Despite these limitations, it didn't take long for word to spread about the new weapon on the block.
[4:17] \[SPEAKER_00\]: By the end of the 14th century, these male-levelant mortars weren't just causing havoc in Eastern Asia, but it spread to the Middle East and Europe.
[4:26] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Looks like people all over the world were having a blast.
[4:30] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Next up, just the name War Wolf is enough to strike fear into the heart of the toughest man.
[4:37] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It sounds impossibly badass, but what sort of weapon could such a name belong to?
[4:47] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Well, sadly no.
[4:49] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It's actually a kind of Trebu Shea, a medieval siege machine used to her large stones or other missiles at an enemy stronghold.
[4:57] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Oh, but an anchor granddaddy's treble shape, it's a truly giant treble shape.
[5:04] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Standing at a dizzying 60 feet this beast has believed to be the largest treble shade design ever brought to life.
[5:12] \[SPEAKER_00\]: These mega machines work by using a massive counterweight that's raised in hell then positioned by a trigger mechanism.
[5:20] \[SPEAKER_00\]: When the trigger is released, the counterweight falls and the sling whips upwards, flinging boulders or fiery projectiles hundreds of feet through the air.
[5:30] \[SPEAKER_00\]: The war wolf was created in the 14th century when England was battling with Scotland.
[5:35] \[SPEAKER_00\]: In 1304 Sterling Castle, thanks to its huge walls and high vantage point, was the final Scottish stronghold to resist English rule.
[5:44] \[SPEAKER_00\]: For four months the English laid siege to Sterling Castle constantly bombarding the fortification with lead balls yet and wouldn't fall.
[5:53] \[SPEAKER_00\]: So Edward I, the king of England brought in the war wolf.
[5:58] \[SPEAKER_00\]: The towering treble shade took five carpenters and 49 workers over three months to complete.
[6:05] \[SPEAKER_00\]: But it was worth it, when the war wolf was finished, the side of it alone was apparently enough to convince the Scottish resistors to surrender.
[6:13] \[SPEAKER_00\]: But Edward didn't listen.
[6:15] \[SPEAKER_00\]: After all, what's the point of building a toy if you're not going to play with it?
[6:19] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And boy did he play with it?
[6:21] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Modern estimates claim that the towering Trebuchet heard 300 pound rocks over 650 feet at a speed of 120 miles per hour.
[6:31] \[SPEAKER_00\]: No prizes for guessing what the war wolf did to Sterling Castle.
[6:37] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Yep, the curtain wall of the fortification was completely demolished.
[6:42] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Happy now Edward?
[6:43] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Well, you know what I'll make me happy and put a smile on my face?
[6:51] \[SPEAKER_00\]: All done?
[6:52] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Great.
[6:53] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Now let's get back to it.
[6:55] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Anyone who's seen Wolverine knows just how lethal having metal claws on your hands can be.
[7:02] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Okay, technically there are made up metal called Adamantium, but incredibly something like this actually exists in real life.
[7:10] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Okay, no one's ever made steel claws that protract from human knuckles, but this next weapon comes pretty close.
[7:17] \[SPEAKER_00\]: The bog knock, otherwise known as tire claw, is a small 2-inch long slashing device, hailing from 17th century India.
[7:27] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It's basically a crossbar with two rings that sit across the palm with four sharpened curved blades.
[7:34] \[SPEAKER_00\]: The two rings in either side of the sharp scratcher enabled the weapon to be inserted onto the user's fingers, so it looked just like a claw.
[7:44] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And if you're not a fan of the long blade, smaller versions of the Bognoc could also be discreetly concealed in your palm, until it was time to strike down and unsuspecting enemy.
[7:55] \[SPEAKER_00\]: If shredding your opponent like a tiger wasn't metal enough, some fearsome folk even poison their claws, so not only would their foby left with deep wounds but also poison running through their bloodstream.
[8:07] \[SPEAKER_00\]: A modified version of the Bognock even came with a blade built into the side.
[8:12] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Just in case, scratching your enemies' dead-athwares and enough.
[8:15] \[SPEAKER_00\]: All of a sudden, Wolverine doesn't seem all that bad ass.
[8:20] \[SPEAKER_00\]: From Small Clos to Big Clos, let's talk about the Iron Club Archimedes.
[8:26] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Legend has it that this ancient weapon wasn't due to claw, MMMF swords.
[8:31] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Despite the name, it wasn't used for taking a super sized scratch at enemies.
[8:37] \[SPEAKER_00\]: In 2014, BCE, during the siege of Syracuse, fleets of Roman ships were attacking the city that now makes up modern day Sicily.
[8:46] \[SPEAKER_00\]: So what was the resolution?
[8:48] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Well, to create a colossal clothal machine, of course.
[8:53] \[SPEAKER_00\]: This arcade-like weapon devised by Greek inventor Arkamides was used as a defense against ships
[9:02] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Historical accounts describe the club Archimedes acting like a crane over the wall, equipped with some sort of grappling hook at the end.
[9:10] \[SPEAKER_00\]: the chain to which the hook was attached was controlled by a pulley and beam system.
[9:15] \[SPEAKER_00\]: So when an enemy ship came towards the sea wall of Syracuse, the claw would be lowered down onto the attacking ship.
[9:22] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Once it had a grip on the ship, men or oxen would use the pulley system to raise the hook, lifting the ship with it.
[9:30] \[SPEAKER_00\]: With the ship raised it would then suddenly be released, crashing back into the water and smashing the vessel.
[9:37] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Even if the ship wasn't obliterated, there were written accounts detailing how the hook would capsize ships and cause mass confusion.
[9:46] \[SPEAKER_00\]: While no dimensions were left, giant versions of the claw based on its limited descriptions have been created to test its plausibility, many versions of which succeeded in lifting up a ship from the sea.
[9:58] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It may not prove that such a mighty claw ever really did exist, but it's certainly good of.
[10:04] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Now that I know it could have existed, is it wrong that I won't want one?
[10:09] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Now I couldn't mention ships without talking about Hellburners.
[10:13] \[SPEAKER_00\]: They may sound like the latest punk rock band, but Hellburnerships were actually one of history's most brutal weapons.
[10:21] \[SPEAKER_00\]: As their names suggest these weren't regular ships, these were fire ships, vessels filled with explosives purposely set on fire and steered into an enemy fleet.
[10:34] \[SPEAKER_00\]: The result of a big boom, a lot of exploding and many decimated enemy ships.
[10:40] \[SPEAKER_00\]: In 1585, Spanish ships were circling the then Dutch city of Antwerp.
[10:46] \[SPEAKER_00\]: To save the city, the Dutch tasked the Thai and combat engineer, Federico Giombelli, to create the 16th century's answer to a nuclear explosion.
[10:57] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Inside two ships, Jim Belly constructed Chambers, with an each chamber he packs 7,000 pounds of gunpowder.
[11:05] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And then the Chambers were surrounded with rocks, hooks, and metal to make the impact of the blast just that a little bit more destructive.
[11:13] \[SPEAKER_00\]: On the first ship named Fortune, the explosion was meant to be sent off by a slow burning fuse, but unfortunately, the fortune drifted away from the Spanish ships with its explosion doing little damage.
[11:26] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Although it was not lost though, because the second ship atly called Hope was still to come.
[11:33] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Instead of a delayed fuse, the Hope used a time bomb, an advanced mixture of clock work and gunpowder, which would automatically light the fuse at a preset time.
[11:43] \[SPEAKER_00\]: On this occasion, the vessel drifted straight into the path of the Spanish ships before successfully going boom.
[11:50] \[SPEAKER_00\]: The explosion was so loud that it was said it could be hurt 50 miles away.
[11:56] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Unsurprisingly, the blast of the bomb and the reigning debris was pretty destructive, costing the lives of someone thousand Spanish troops.
[12:06] \[SPEAKER_00\]: In fact, the detonation was so large that historians believe it was the largest man-made explosion at that point in history.
[12:14] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Well, who needs nukes when you've got hell burners.
[12:17] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Nearly 1,000 years before the Hellburner said sale, there was another ancient weapon wreaking havoc on the high seas.
[12:26] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Except this time it wasn't a ship itself, but an ingenious weapon carried on board.
[12:31] \[SPEAKER_00\]: From 674 to 678 CE, constant an opal, the ancient capital of the Byzantine Empire was under siege.
[12:41] \[SPEAKER_00\]: An air of fleet of ships secured bases along the coast and blockaded the city while attacking constant an Opel's fortifications.
[12:50] \[SPEAKER_00\]: With his city under threat, the great inventor, Kalennikus of Heliopolis, created a weapon so powerful that it changed the course of the war.
[13:01] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Named Greek fire, this ancient flamethrower worked by launching a flammable mixture from tubes on the prowess of Byzantine ships onto the air vessels.
[13:12] \[SPEAKER_00\]: The flames were shot out of pressurized siphons giving them better range and accuracy to ensure the deadly mixture made it aboard the enemy ships.
[13:21] \[SPEAKER_00\]: The fire would then gush onto the air fleet destroying the vessels and forcing them into escape the wreck, or be burned alive.
[13:30] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Sounds hot.
[13:33] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Although there's one problem with having what's essentially a flamethrower at sea, the water.
[13:39] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Not a problem for this stuff though, Greek fire was so flammable that apparently it could even burn on water.
[13:45] \[SPEAKER_00\]: The weapon was so effective that it wiped out the Arab Navy and ended the four-year-long siege.
[13:54] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Here probably wondering what could create such a dangerous liquid?
[13:58] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Well, that spicy secret recipe has been long lost at time, and the ingredients can only be hypothesized today.
[14:06] \[SPEAKER_00\]: NAFTA, a flammable liquid, is thought to be the main component.
[14:11] \[SPEAKER_00\]: This was likely mixed with potassium nitrate, and finally a sprinkling of sulfur which, when added, produced up booming noise and cloud of smoke, and voila, Greek fire.
[14:23] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Please, don't attempt to make this at home.
[14:26] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Next up, according to Spanish text from the 16th century, the Aztec people engaged in some
[14:37] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Like offering up their still-beating hearts before throwing the remains down the hundreds of steps of the towering Temple of Myor.
[14:47] \[SPEAKER_00\]: But if you thought that was brutal, then strap in because there's one weapon from Aztec history that's even more spine-chilling.
[14:55] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Let's talk about the Makuhutul, which is basically a heavy wooden paddle with sharp grooves around its edges.
[15:03] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It's not known exactly when this wooden paddle first emerged, but by the time Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico in the 16th century, it was widely distributed amongst Aztec soldiers.
[15:16] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Okay, sure, swinging at three-foot-long paddle at your enemy would probably have been enough to knock them out, but what exactly makes this an incredible-age-and-weapon?
[15:26] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Well, the Makuo Hurtul doesn't get its ruthless reputation from the paddle, but the obsidian blades which align the edges.
[15:35] \[SPEAKER_00\]: This naturally forming volcanic glass is a razor sharp and has a cutting edge 500 times greater than even the sharpest steel blade.
[15:45] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It's so sharp and precise that it's even used in a variety of scalpel blades, but the Aztecs weren't using obsidian to make precise incisions.
[15:55] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Nope, they were more looking to chat their enemies heads off.
[15:59] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And, unsurprisingly, the Mokura Hutal was pretty good at that.
[16:04] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Spanish accounts talk about their effectiveness of not only removing the heads of men, but even horses.
[16:10] \[SPEAKER_00\]: An instances when shopping their foes heads off wasn't necessary, Aztec warriors would inflict many shallow cuts on their victim with the obsidian blades before clubbing them unconscious with the paddle and guarding them back for sacrifice.
[16:25] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Hmm?
[16:26] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Man, there was nothing lighthearted about this weapon.
[16:30] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Seems like the Aztecs had a thing for suffering because their well-weaponry didn't stop at the Makuo Hotel.
[16:37] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Back in 1999, archaeologists made a shocking discovery into a lot of the local Mexico City.
[16:44] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It was a skeleton, clutching wood looked like little toy whistles.
[16:49] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Though these weren't toys, but something far
[16:54] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Later studies revealed that the victim was holding death whistles.
[16:58] \[SPEAKER_00\]: The teeny tiny instruments were an important part of Aztec rituals supposedly helping guide the spirits of the dead through the afterlife.
[17:07] \[SPEAKER_00\]: But historians believe there may have been an even more fearsome use for these instruments.
[17:12] \[SPEAKER_00\]: When blown into Aztec Death Whistles emit a horrible scream, it's theorized that the Aztecs use these whistles as a form of psychological warfare.
[17:23] \[SPEAKER_00\]: When the Spanish conquist at Ours Clash with Aztecs in the 16th century, they describe the Aztec Wars using drum shells and other instruments during battle.
[17:33] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Supposedly, the collective sound of hundreds of psychotic screams would have been a tactic to confuse and bewilder any enemies that the Aztecs were facing.
[17:44] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Jeez, and I thought horse-link clubs were as bad as it could get.
[17:48] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Now, here's a question for you, what is a sword?
[17:52] \[SPEAKER_00\]: A sharp, rigid, bladed weapon, right?
[17:55] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Well, it turns out that not all ancient swords follow those rules.
[17:59] \[SPEAKER_00\]: There's one ancient wacky invention that looks more like a dog leash than a sword.
[18:05] \[SPEAKER_00\]: But strange as it is, it's actually a pretty formidable blade.
[18:09] \[SPEAKER_00\]: The Orumi, as it's known, first appeared in India.
[18:14] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It's not known exactly when this sword came into use, but some experts believe it dates back to the Songung Period around 1,800 years ago.
[18:22] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Instead of stabbing the flexible edge steel blade of the Orumi enables wielders to use this weapon like a whip.
[18:31] \[SPEAKER_00\]: But it's not always just a single whipping blade doing the damage, far from it.
[18:36] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Sri Lankan Orumis can have up to 32 blades with each one reaching lengths of up to 5 feet.
[18:44] \[SPEAKER_00\]: The sharp edges of this weapon are capable of cutting or tripping an enemy up.
[18:48] \[SPEAKER_00\]: On top of that, the bendy blades enable the Orumido whip around an enemy shield, so no one's safe from this thing, not even the user.
[18:57] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Without good whipping skills and untrained fighters just as likely to injure themselves as they are to strike down an enemy.
[19:03] \[SPEAKER_00\]: But brutal as this weapon sounds, there's something even more badass about it.
[19:09] \[SPEAKER_00\]: After finishing swinging and slashing, some of Rumi designs can even be wrapped around the wares-waste, like a belt.
[19:17] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Gucci, who?
[19:19] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Now that I've mentioned detail in fashion, the Italian Renaissance's famous for being an age of discovery, would designs from Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo revolutionizing Western Europe.
[19:31] \[SPEAKER_00\]: But there's one piece of ingenuity that it clips is even the work of these grades.
[19:39] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And yet, as the name suggests, it's a shield with a lantern, because why not?
[19:45] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It's not known who exactly invented this wacky weapon, but it's not to originate from 15th century Italy.
[19:52] \[SPEAKER_00\]: A shield wasn't that big with a diameter of just under one foot, but what it lacked in size had more than made up for in style.
[20:01] \[SPEAKER_00\]: A touch to the shield was an armored glove with two spikes protruding from it.
[20:05] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And if that wasn't thorny enough, a long straight sword blade was treated below the armored glove.
[20:11] \[SPEAKER_00\]: But the craziest thing about this shield wasn't the elaborate design or its spiky features.
[20:16] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It was that soldiers placed a lantern behind the shield and could pull down on an attached lever to open a little port hole to shine its light out while still having their shield raised.
[20:28] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Now a flame fueled lantern at the top of your shield doesn't sound like the brightest idea.
[20:32] \[SPEAKER_00\]: No pun intended.
[20:34] \[SPEAKER_00\]: However, this weird weapon wasn't used in normal combat situations.
[20:39] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Instead, the lantern shields was used in nightdools, a tie in authorities patrol the city streets at night, looking for criminals with their super shield.
[20:49] \[SPEAKER_00\]: At verse, it may seem unhelpful to have a light beaming out of your shield after a halt that kind of gives away your location to the enemies, but they're in line with the beauty of this weapon.
[20:58] \[SPEAKER_00\]: As someone gets closer to the shield, the brightness of the lantern increases, and the harder it is for them to see.
[21:09] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Da Vinci, eat your herd out.
[21:11] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Not too long after the Italians began blinding one another with their lantern shields and another incredible weapon emerged in Europe.
[21:18] \[SPEAKER_00\]: The creatively named Mancatcher, shown in the cover image of this episode.
[21:23] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It looks like the unholy love child of a litter picker in a pinball machine, and it's thought to have been used in Europe in the late 1700s.
[21:32] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Oh, but instead of picking up banana peels, this thing was made to pick up humans.
[21:37] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It consisted of a pole mounted with a two-pronged head.
[21:40] \[SPEAKER_00\]: The prongs could be pushed open, allowing them to fit around most targets next before locking back into a closed position.
[21:47] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And just for extra nastiness, some versions of this weapon were even fitted with inward facing spikes, meaning if you got caught struggling was not an option.
[21:58] \[SPEAKER_00\]: In times of war, this wicked weapon was used to pull men from horseback and drag them to the ground.
[22:04] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It may not seem like the most efficient way of slaying your enemy, but that wasn't always the goal.
[22:09] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Opposing knights that were caught alive could be used for ransom making the man catcher the perfect weapon for plucking out a porasy person.
[22:17] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Most people would assume that this quirky contraption is now confined to the history books, but the man catcher is still popular today.
[22:25] \[SPEAKER_00\]: In the 21st century, Japanese police use a modified version of the man catcher, but luckily they ditched the metal spikes for padding and blunt endpoints.
[22:35] \[SPEAKER_00\]: You know that old saying, if it ain't broke, slightly modified, so you don't stab people in the neck.
[22:40] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Now anyone who's watched Sino War, your princess will recognize steel discs as one of the main weapons in her arsenal.
[22:48] \[SPEAKER_00\]: But this fearsome Frisbee wasn't just made up for a fictional TV show.
[22:52] \[SPEAKER_00\]: This next weapon called a shockrum may not always done the split-blade design of the weapon scene on TV, but don't discount the damage these disks can do.
[23:02] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Although its exact origin isn't known, we do know that from the 16th century, this bladed circular weapon was used by the Seek Army.
[23:10] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Typically, each one had a diameter between 5 to 10 inches and a flat aerodynamic design which allowed them to be thrown some 200 feet.
[23:20] \[SPEAKER_00\]: To help launch these rings, many users adopt a throwing style note as a tejani.
[23:25] \[SPEAKER_00\]: To start with, the weapon is twirled on the index finger and then thrown up with a flick of the wrist.
[23:31] \[SPEAKER_00\]: The spinning and quick flick generates both power and distance to the throw.
[23:36] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Plus, by spending their finger along the blunter inner ring of the weapon, uses avoid cutting themselves.
[23:43] \[SPEAKER_00\]: That's probably a wise thing considering historical text claims that when used right, these discs have the ability to slice up entire limbs.
[23:52] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Due to the incredibly sharp circular blade of the chakra, along with the speed it travels at, the weapon keeps rotating even as it penetrates whatever it's launched into.
[24:03] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Ouch!
[24:04] \[SPEAKER_00\]: I'm never going to be able to look at a frisbee the same way ever again.
[24:07] \[SPEAKER_00\]: In 1343 the Mongols besieged the city of Kava and the seas dragged on for three long years.
[24:16] \[SPEAKER_00\]: But by 1346 the desperate Mongol army were struggling to break through.
[24:20] \[SPEAKER_00\]: To make matters worse they were facing a deadly outbreak of the bubonic plague, better known as the Black Death.
[24:28] \[SPEAKER_00\]: The bubonic plague was a fatal infection caused by the bite-of-infected fleas traveling on rodents.
[24:35] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And once bit victims suffered from high fever's muscle cramps and bubos.
[24:40] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Large circular boils around their armpits and groins.
[24:44] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Nasty!
[24:46] \[SPEAKER_00\]: The only blessing is that the suffering didn't last long with most of the infected passing away less than eight days after initial infection.
[24:54] \[SPEAKER_00\]: despite the horrors of the Black Death Mongol ruler Johnny Begg refused to abandon the siege.
[25:01] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Instead, he came up with a horrific plan.
[25:05] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Rather than discard the infected bodies, the Mongols attached them to cannonballs and catapulted them over cough as walls.
[25:13] \[SPEAKER_00\]: This is 14th century biological warfare at its finest.
[25:18] \[SPEAKER_00\]: So not only did the citizens of Kofa have to deal with having their city surrounded, but now infected corpses were also raining down on them.
[25:27] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Despite the efforts of the people of Kofa to dispose of the bodies the city quickly became infected.
[25:33] \[SPEAKER_00\]: While Johnny Beck's plan of sending Kava into meltout worked, there was also one unintended consequence of this wicked weapon.
[25:41] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Those who survived the Ordeal sailed to Western Europe and had certainly bring the plague with them.
[25:48] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And with that, the Black Death ravaged across Europe with a death toll somewhere around the 50 million mark.
[25:56] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Thanks a bunch, Jenny Big.
[25:58] \[SPEAKER_00\]: For centuries, swords have been one of mankind's most popular weapons.
[26:03] \[SPEAKER_00\]: They're variable shapes and weights make them the perfect weapon to carry around and quickly whip out of treble arises.
[26:10] \[SPEAKER_00\]: However, there's one ancient blade that doesn't adhere to these rules, and 14th century Japan, one type of sword reign supreme.
[26:18] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Theo.che.
[26:20] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Your Average Odaichi measured in at 3 Shaku, which was roughly 36 inches.
[26:27] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Considering long swords of the time were about the same length, these were pretty long blades.
[26:32] \[SPEAKER_00\]: But Odaichi didn't stop at 3 Shaku, a 5 Shaku blade when it was roughly 60 inches long was twice the length of your average sword.
[26:42] \[SPEAKER_00\]: In fact, it was so long that it was impossible to draw from a sheath on the waist.
[26:46] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Either the wielder carried it on their back or they had a servant carry it for them.
[26:51] \[SPEAKER_00\]: lucky for some.
[26:53] \[SPEAKER_00\]: The difficulty in drawing the sword is heavy weight and the shift of fighting with guns led to the Odachi falling out of favor.
[27:00] \[SPEAKER_00\]: That's not to say it disappeared completely however, and the 15th century the Odachi Norimitsu was created.
[27:07] \[SPEAKER_00\]: This was a 12-shock who sword, yet double digits, which meant it was 148 inches long, more than 12 feet in total.
[27:17] \[SPEAKER_00\]: but as bad as it sounds, it's likely that this sword was created for ornamental purposes rather than for Japanese giants.
[27:24] \[SPEAKER_00\]: And if you think that's a big blade, it ain't the half of it.
[27:27] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Introducing the Hajino on Tachi.
[27:30] \[SPEAKER_00\]: This Otaji sword believed to have been forged around the 18th century as a frankly ridiculous linked, stretching over a whopping 15 feet long.
[27:40] \[SPEAKER_00\]: For some context, if you were to hold the Hudgeon on Tachi upright, it would reach around the same height as a female giraffe.
[27:48] \[SPEAKER_00\]: On top of that, the weapon weighs over 165 pounds.
[27:51] \[SPEAKER_00\]: It's no surprise this beast done the nickname Great Evil Crushing Blade.
[27:57] \[SPEAKER_00\]: To be honest, I'm not sure there's much it couldn't crush.
[28:01] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Fortunately, the Hudgeon on Tachi was
[28:08] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Well, whatever religion it's for, I'm on end.
[28:11] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Which of these ancient weapons did you think was the most incredible?
[28:15] \[SPEAKER_00\]: Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time you'll want to be amazed.

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