Viking-Ax Expert Rates 11 Ax Fights In Movies And TV | How Real Is It? | Insider

Tyr Neilsen: Rollo is using a Viking battle axe. You can spin, you can throw, and if used against an opponent's legs, you can pick them up. There are many tricks. Hello, my name is Tyr Neilsen. I am president of the Norwegian Glima Federation and a senior instructor at the Norwegian Academy of Viking Martial Arts. Today we will see scenes of ax

fights

in

movies

and television. There are different ways to hold a gun with one hand. When you have two weapons, there is a different thought process. In this situation, I would use the ax with my lead hand and perhaps reverse the grip with another weapon.

If I preferred to use the knife, I would hold it in my preferred hand and try to cut as much as I could with the axe. I would continue with the knife, either forward or back grip, dual wielding. The Vikings, according to the sagas, used two weapons. Sometimes they hid the ax behind the shield. So while you grab the shield here, you can hold the ax and shield handle here, so the opponent doesn't see it. And if you drop your shield or it gets destroyed, you'll quickly have another weapon in your hand. This is very

real

istic choreography.

He's using basic punches. No sneaky techniques or small, direct cuts. He is swinging with that intention. One of them might work. He only needs to connect with the guy's arm, wrist, or fingers before you've done serious damage. The way they participate is similar to glima techniques. You try to catch the hand that is used against you. If he has a weapon, you try to catch the weapon or arm and use it to control the opponent's balance. There are many different styles that do similar things and my father-in-law started teaching me glima techniques, which are based on Viking Age battlefield fighting.

These are passed on quite secretly, because Norway has been ruled by other nations and occupied by Germany in World War II, so its means of fighting practical combat was kept pretty close to the chest. He goes into the fight, and the fight was great. It was pretty brutal and I

real

ly enjoyed it. Seven out of 10. It was a very tense and quite realistic ax fight. You want to control your opponent's weapon if possible, and by grabbing your opponent's weapon, especially near the ax head, you can use it against the opponent. This is my favorite Viking axe.

The edge of the toe would have been a couple of centimeters higher and then reached a lethal point, and the heel would have also lowered to a point, which would have also been lethal. And it would have been very, very sharp. This is a typical Viking axe. And then this is what they call the bearded axe, because they call this part of the ax the beard. And he has an elongated beard, and you can grab it here and use it to shave or cut. And it can be deadly when you hold on to this control. When approached correctly, you can use it like a knife in close combat.

There are many decorated Viking axes. Vikings like to decorate almost everything. The handle would be protected with leather, nails or wrapped in metal, and there are some examples from the sagas. This would protect the wooden handle from any attack. Not always, because it is wood. It would be divided. But it helps. It would be great if the producers contacted people who fight in the style that the people on the show would fight, because there is a lot of information and techniques there. You can use it as a platform to make better choreographies. This was very exciting, quite realistic and a great start to the whole show.

Rollo is using a Viking battle axe, which is an incredibly dangerous weapon. The head of the ax pierces the shield. It can be a dangerous move. If the ax head gets stuck in the shield, it can be used against you. I have a Viking battle axe, also called a Danish axe. And if you imagine my arm is a shield, you can hook it over the top of the shield and pull it down, and you can do it very quickly. This is just a small ax head. You can spin, you can throw, and if used against an opponent's legs, you can pick them up.

You can push forward to open the shield. There are many tricks with this. And you can use the ax as a stick. You can use this end or this end, or you can use it as a stick weapon here and then turn. It is made to be maneuvered. If you start here, you can cheat a little and then send him very far away. He uses it with technique, strength. Seven out of 10. I think Rollo and the character on the show wouldn't really want to meet him in a fight. The Viking children, as they grew up, got bored, as children do, and they began to fight, to fight with weapons.

They were all pretty good at throwing axes and knives. When we do seminars, we are not instructing and we are hanging around, people throw their weapons, throw their axes, throw their knives. It's a very natural thing to do. He could throw the ax quite accurately. I don't know if he would cut the ropes the first time, but I imagine that character could and would. And how he did it, 10 out of 10, because he cut the ropes. I don't know anyone who can swing a double-bladed or double-headed ax around his body like this. It would be too easy to cut off his own limb.

He could get caught in the material. It could bounce. It could deviate. There are many things that can happen unexpectedly. I don't know the weight of the weapon, I don't know what kind of material it's made of, but if you live 6,000 years, you've had a lot of practice. You are practically invulnerable. You could do this. If you're showing off, if you're building up energy, determination can happen, but I wouldn't recommend it. And I think this is based on the labrys, which is an ancient weapon from Crete, Greece. It was more of a ceremonial weapon than anything they would use in battle.

There is a lot of talk about the pros and cons of this and what it was used for. In a sacred ceremony, it could have been used to sacrifice an animal, for example. The choreography is interesting. Because he didn't cut off any limbs, he gets a 10 out of 10. Hm. Well, I don't think anyone wants to be put in the position of having to criticize a John Wick movie. It looks like they are using a lumberjack ax or something about this size. It weighs between 1 1/2 and 2 pounds, is very easy to swing, and is very lethal, especially at short ranges and in a compact room like this.

I doubt they are sharp. If the scene is to be believed, this is an incredibly scary situation. He is doing very good techniques, blocking, driving and moving out of the way. I love it. You have to catch him and lock him up. You want to make sure you are not at a distance where you can easily cut yourself. Maybe get into the gun. In glima, there are a large number of techniques that we use to intercept, trap, hold, maneuver the body weight of the opponent in such a way that he does not have the best stability to be able to use the weapon.

I can't really find a fault or say that if you made this it would be better, so 10 out of 10. He's using a long handled axe. You will have to do something to change the disadvantage of your height into an advantage, and this is a very good way to do it. He can reach high because he is using that weapon. I would suggest cutting off more ankles and legs, because it's easier that way. And if your opponent can't walk, then he won't be able to run after you or attack you. The way he uses the ax is an extension of his character and he tries to kill with every hit.

He wants to show that he is powerful with every blow. The problem with swinging too much at a time is that you use up your energy, which is limited. You open up if you bring it back to move it forward. So, this is a normal modern tomahawk axe. And instead of going completely backwards in order to move forward, that would be a movement. And this is quite sharp. The tips are quite sharp. It's quite heavy. It has this at the end, and that would do quite a bit of damage from here. And you really don't need to do much more than that, if you understand what you're attacking.

And when you throw it away... And the way he uses it, seven out of 10. Chris Evans sells this very well. He is a good actor who can sell action. He changes hands, goes from single grip to double grip, has good spins and good angles, changes levels. A good fighter will try to create as much space as possible around him. He tries to use the opponents shields, move around them so that they protect or block you. The hardest thing of all is maintaining balance. And then he does what he has to do, which is attack the legs and try to get out of there as soon as possible.

We didn't play any defensive games on the field. We do not fall; They teach us how to land. And so, no matter what, as you fall, you do so with the intention of landing in a way that allows you to get out of danger as quickly as possible. Nine out of 10. If someone is so confident and moves it in such a way that it doesn't look like he's going to get hurt at all and you don't know where the attack is going to come from, what happens is it's hard to see the angle of attack. Whichever way you start the movement, there are many, many cues, from the neck, shoulder, biceps, triceps, and elbow.

There are many indications. The way they move their feet, the way they move their head. But when that weapon is already moving, you can't just attack or defend against that angle, because it can change suddenly. It's intimidating. When you place your feet, when I look at the technique, you can see what happens just with the footwork. Footwork is an important part of any martial art. It's often neglected because it's not as exciting as turning the gun in your hand, but being able to move at angles, move forward, retreat, move as you change height, is very, very important.

It is the core. Balance is everything. They use their weapon to hook the opponent's weapon and control the opponent's weapon and the opponent's balance. If I can show it here, the opponent's weapon, you step over it, you can pull and move forward or you can just step over it and move forward. You don't need these big movements. So, on the weapon, force it in a direction away from you, and that's all you need. I felt like it was very well done and scary and good technique. Eight out of 10. He leaves himself open because he's full of bravado, but it works very well because even though he opens up, he knows exactly what to do to close it again and attack you.

In this scene, Ajax chops off a nice chunk of metal with his axe. It could happen, maybe. I haven't tried it. These are dangerous weapons and can go through quite a bit. I think this is based on a firefighter's axe. I've never seen one that is completely metal. There are different rhythms in a fight and you can change the rhythm in a fight. Instead of getting carried away by a readable rhythm, you can break the rhythm. And then you change the dynamic of the fight by changing the speed of one weapon against another and putting them in unison or working separately.

A delayed swing changes everything. I would give this nine out of 10. I really enjoyed it. I have seen this with my son many times. We really enjoyed this scene. The way he moves is impressive. If your opponent can move quickly, if he knows how to use a weapon, that changes the rules of the game. The fact that you can use an anonymous object as a weapon or as a counter to these weapons is clever. Maybe going in and choking your opponent and trying to take their weapon away would work. But you also have a second attacker who comes with another axe.

There's no sure way to get out of this alive, but as a scene, it's inventive. We train against multiple attackers and against multiple attackers with weapons. One of the basic principles you need to understand is that you want to be able to control your opponents and use that opponent to control a second opponent. Use them as a shield, use their weapon as a counterweapon or as a shield. I would like to give this a 10 out of 10. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's always fun to see someone move the way she moves in this scene. I think this was a long take.

She is elegant. She is determined. And when you use weapons, they should be an extension of your body, and this scene really shows that part of a fight. I wouldn't recommend anyone fight this way, but if you are a person with these abilities and this is your style, then you can make it work for you. I wouldn't do this. The style that I train and teach is to make the best decisions in the shortest time possible. I think he's using a fantasy weapon. I don't know what it's based on, but the Vikings had a similar type of ax with a long beard, which was used for carving or chopping.

If it has a long tang, meaning the metal of the ax head goes all the way through the handle, then it could be very well balanced, light and sharp. Nine out of 10. Thor's weapon, Stormbreaker, might be based on a Viking battle axe, but it looks more like a poleaxe. It has one bladed head end and a hammer-type impact tool at the opposite end on top of a long stick at its core. It's credible. It's just entered fantasy territory, but it's used the same way. There are many, many strange weapons in the story. Not all axes, handles or handles were straight.

There are a lot of curves, and some of them are really long. Sometimes they used the roots of a wood, the natural curve, so that that curve was strong. Then, the opponent's weapon is used against him. It's really good to understand that, that it's not something you just want to get out of the way of, but that you can activate in your opponent, and they demonstrate that very well here. Maybe closer to the ax head in this case. Use strength, maneuverability, balance, technique, everything you can to try to turn the disadvantage into an advantage. Not much impressive techniquehere, but the basics are there, so five out of 10.

Even in a street fight, people can get caught up in thinking it's a contest of strength, and both push each other. . People can freeze. There are many things that can happen.