Why is the spear called the king of weapons?

[parkerlineage]

It doesn't make sense to me!! I mean, I like the spear, and it's cool, and very effective, but I don't see how it's way better than, say, a broadsword (marshall of weapons, I believe), or butterfly knives (garbage man of weapons), etc.

Does this have some sort of traditional reasoning behind it?

[Anbu Alex]

i think because it was the weapon of chioce in wars before the modern age and it was a very effective long range weapon cause it keeps your opponent at bay and was a easy weapon to train a person in

[alsey]

i've never heard it called the king of weapons. i don't really know anything about these names, but it got me thinking.

a king has a lot of power, but isn't necessarily that well trained. a marshall is a military man and has advanced combat training, but overall he isn't as powerful as the king. analogously, a line of spearmen can have a lot of power on the battlefield but the spearmen probably aren't that skilled individually. swordsmen are probably more highly trained, but a group of swordsmen aren't as daunting or powerful as a group of spearmen.

just a thought, as i said i've never even heard these weapons given those names before. and a spearman can be just as well trained as a swordsman of course.

[parkerlineage]

Wow. I'm very impressed. That makes a lot of sense to me...

I only know of three nicknamed weapons:

Spear - King

Broadsword - Marshall

Bo - Father or Grandfather

The last one I understand. And your idea sheds quite a bit of light from an oblique angle on the other two....thanks!

[bushido_man96]

i've never heard it called the king of weapons. i don't really know anything about these names, but it got me thinking.

a king has a lot of power, but isn't necessarily that well trained. a marshall is a military man and has advanced combat training, but overall he isn't as powerful as the king. analogously, a line of spearmen can have a lot of power on the battlefield but the spearmen probably aren't that skilled individually. swordsmen are probably more highly trained, but a group of swordsmen aren't as daunting or powerful as a group of spearmen.

just a thought, as i said i've never even heard these weapons given those names before. and a spearman can be just as well trained as a swordsman of course.

This is a cool explanation. Incidentally, I will probably fight against a spear wielder today, and I dislike it very much.

[parkerlineage]

In my limited dao vs spear engagements - none of which were freestyle, but some of which were me just making stuff up as the spear user threw random attacks - I found that if I could just get far enough past the point to check the wood away or grab it, it was over. But you have to be lighting fast, and stay higher than their arm (not in the air - I mean your weapon. Duh). It was almost easy, using two dao.

[lordtariel]

i've never heard it called the king of weapons. i don't really know anything about these names, but it got me thinking.

I believe it's called that in chinese martial arts

[parkerlineage]

Yeah. Wushu and Hung gar, in my experience.

[bushido_man96]

Well, in my melees on Friday, I did have to face a spear, and a halberd. And, well, it pretty much stunk. I despise those long range weapons. And my brother, who is rather large, can swing the things with good leverage from one hand! He is a monster, and he pretty much crushed my leg twice. I learned to block quicker that way, though!

[parkerlineage]

One handed?!?! That's ridiculous! I don't think I'm strong enough to do that...but I can see how that would make things very hard to fight.