Mace: Lessons From an Ancient Club

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Mace: What is it anyway?


A mace is a dangerous ancient weapon that has a strong and heavy wooden shaft with a head made of stone, copper, bronze, iron or steel.

Some maces were flanged, meaning that it had small knobs on it to make it more powerful and able to penetrate armour.

Maces vary is size and weight, basically depending on their potential use. Foot soldiers used short and lightweight maces that were only 2-3 feet long. Soldiers on horseback often had longer maces because they needed a longer reach and did not have to support the entire weapon.

As recently as World War I, mace-like weapons were used in trench warfare. They were powerful but very basic weapons used in hand-to-hand combat.

Maces have long since been retired as a means of actual combat, but they still stand as a symbol or power and authority. Even the U.S. Congress uses it as a symbol.

It has been so long since a mace was a weapon used in combat that they are now even fodder for children's play. In Australia, for example, children use a type of mace called a "Bomby Knocker" at fairs. The kids have fun with these soft toys that resemble an old fashioned mace.

The point is, however, that a mace cannot be reasonably used for self-protection these days, so the rest of this site is dedicated to more practical means of self defense.



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