DEADLIEST War Clubs Explained In 4 Minutes

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]The Marray is one of the smallest clubs and at the same time one of the most lethal. Carved from Nefright jade or hardwood, it fit entirely in one hand and measured no longer than 30 cmters.

[00:00:10]The wide flat striking end worked like a hammerhead, transferring the full energy of a stroke directly into the target, usually targeting the skull or jaw. Maui warriors considered it a prestige weapon with some merry passing through generations as treasured possessions.

[00:00:23]The material made it nearly indestructible. Jade is harder than steel, meaning a well-made marray could outlast many weapons on the battlefield.

[00:00:31]The Gada is one of the oldest weapons in recorded history. It consisted of a heavy spherical or flanged head mounted on a long handle designed to deliver crushing force. Indian warriors and rulers carried it as both a practical weapon and a symbol of power with gods like Vishnu depicted wielding it. It was also used as a training tool with warriors swinging heavy goddas to build the shoulder and arm strength. A heavy weight on the end of a lever arm delivers more force than almost any other handheld weapon of equivalent size. The bar mace is exactly what it looks like, a single steel bar with a cross-section running the full length of the weapon. It saw use mostly across Europe from around the 14th century onward. It was one of the cheaper and faster mace designs to produce, which made it accessible to common soldiers who could not afford more elaborate weapons. No finesse was needed to use it effectively. A warrior strong enough to wield it could crush helmets and break swords with the force it delivered. And unlike bladed weapons, it never needed sharpening or complex repairs. The flanged mace was a direct response to improving armor. As metal protection became more sophisticated, weapons that relied purely on blunt impact became less effective because the force spread too widely across the surface. The flanged mace solved this by adding metal ridges running along the head, concentrating the same force into a much narrower striking edge. Medieval knights carried it as a primary sidearm precisely because it worked against the same armor their opponents were wearing.

[00:01:49]It was not the most elegant weapon of the medieval period, but surely one of the most practical. The morning star was a heavy metal ball covered with spikes mounted on a rigid handle. It appeared across medieval Europe and was used by both knights and common infantry. Unlike swords or spears, which required years of training to use effectively, the morning star had almost no learning curve, which is why it was adopted across such a wide range of fighting roles. European armies fielded it well into the 16th century, long after more sophisticated weapons existed. Its simplicity and effectiveness never became outdated. The Kabo was designed for one specific purpose, defeating samurai armor. Japanese lamelar armor was highly effective against cutting weapons with overlapping plates that deflected blades efficiently. A solid iron or ironstudded wooden club transferred force directly through the armor into the body underneath, crushing bones and causing internal injuries without needing to find a gap or weak point. It was so heavy that only the strongest warriors could wield it effectively, which in Japanese warrior culture made it a symbol of raw physical dominance. Oni demons in Japanese folklore are almost always depicted carrying one. The Gunstock War Club has one of the most unusual origin stories.

[00:02:57]Its distinctive shape, wide at one end and narrowing to a handle, was directly modeled on the European musketss that arrived with colonial contact. Native American warriors recognized the musketto stock as an effective striking shape and adapted it into a melee weapon, adding a metal spike or blade at the striking end for additional lethality. It spread rapidly across plains tribes and became one of the most recognizable weapons of Native American warfare. Aztec warriors took a flat wooden club and embedded razor-sharp obsidian blades along both edges.

[00:03:25]obsidian fractures to a molecular edge that even surgical steel struggles to match. Meaning the macquidal could sever limbs cleanly despite being made entirely from wood and volcanic glass.

[00:03:36]Spanish concistadors who encountered it noted that a single strike could decapitate a horse. It had one significant weakness. Obsidian is brittle and the blades shattered on contact with hard metal armor. Against unarmored or lightly armored opponents, it was one of the most destructive handheld weapons ever made.