Pikeman Archive

J.I.A.S.F.C

that's the point my friend, if everyone hits the speed cap, then everyone should do the same damage as well or balance is completely out the window!

This next bit I just wanted to write I guess, too long for anyone to begin reading it

Again using my previous stick example, just go in your backyard and try it, you'll see the physical facts of the speed. There are these facts to damage as well.

The weapon has no power, YOU do. grab a 20cm stick on one end and hit something wth the other end (not a person ), you'll see you can put great speed in it, but hardly any power. That's because when the stick hits the target, there is a rotation around the edge of the object, which is also about where your hand begins. The two parts (in your hand and on the target) are both about equally long, and so your fingers are the only thing that's stopping the stick from rotating around the target rather then hitting it. That means you're using most of your strength for speed and not power. The rotation is what makes the power flow away, if there is no rotation (such as in a thrusting hit) the strength in the strike is used for power rather then control, and you do more damage to your target.

Now take the 1m stick and use one hand to smash the other end into the object. The momentum is still at the edge of the target, but now the part on the target is 1/10 of the total size. It's10 times easier to keep the object from rotating using your fingers on the other end then it was with the 20cm stick, so all the strength goes into the blow rather then flowing away through the rotation. ergo, concordantly, vis-a-vis, it's far more damaging.

When using two hands, the ease of keeping the stick from rotating is two times higher, therefor all your strength goes into power and damage done.

Now take a 2m pole and perform the experiment again with one hand on the one edge and the target on the other. In theory you do even more damage, however, a weapon this size is too heavy to use with one hand. Your strength will not be sufficient to put all of it into power, some of it goes into simply controlling the weapon in where it goes and how fast. Instead of striking the target, you are throwing it towards the target, controlling it's fall rather then making a blow. This is why you use both hands, and still if you use the edge, it will be heavier then is optimal for you to use, and the damage done in theory is diminished. You can do almost full damage if you use all your strength, but you must also put some of it into speed to be effective. If you don't, you do the most damage, but you will take 5 seconds literaly to make a full strike, in which time your enemy will have killed you already.

That's why you use your hands a small distance apart and in the middle of the staff, striking with either end from the middle outwards. This diminishes your potential damage because you are using one hand for the power and the other for control. You will do more damage then one-handed with a small stick, but less then two-handed with a sword.

Unarmed is where you use all your strength for power, maximum damage. However, the damage done wth weapons is greater (except in the 20cm stick example) because the momentum and hardness of the weapon adds to your natural damage. Your fist is not as hard as a 1kg piece of steel or a bamboo staff, so in the total picture, your damage is less then those two. You will hit harder then someone with a knife does, but since a knife is wounding, the damage done is not equal to the power in the strike. Especially if you also consider clothing and armour.

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Ysh-Hon Eeryuu
General Manager, Intergalactic Society of Megalomaniacs (ISM) Enterprises
ISM Superstore - Tatooine (outside Bestine) -1735, -4917
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