War Shillelagh

[colin henshaw]

I've just had a look at the Pitt-Rivers Museum "Arms & Armour Virtual Gallery" website, and it has a picture of a South American club "Macana", that features a counter-weight at the butt end of the club, in the manner you were thinking of.

Perhaps you could experiment with the club you are making by attaching a temporary weight to the handle end ?

Of course, clubs/knobkerries were used in different ways - the Masai threw theirs at the enemy before a massed spear charge, but the Zulus tended to hold on to their clubs for hand to hand combat. Also some clubs would be for purely display/element of costume. The Zulus also had a knobkerrie with an enormous head that was used for the execution of condemned individuals.

There is also a huge range of clubs to be found in the Pacific and Australasia.
Some of the Fiji clubs would require warriors of great strength to wield them.

Best regards
Colin