ABSTRACT
Clubs, man’s oldest weapons, are found world-wide. In tribal warfare they played a great role. Africans trained in their use from boyhood on, Polynesians were famous for their fearsome clubs, and North American Indians excelled in their use. Clubs also have drawbacks: “many people have used…a war club light enough to be thrown but heavy enough to crush,” yet, says Turney-High,
clubs are really poor weapons. Only a powerful man can throw them far. No one can hurl them with the accuracy of the arrow or even the spear. They are too heavy for any fighter to carry many of them to battle. Their manufacture is expensive in time and skill. Worst of all, their slow movement and large bulk make them easy to see, they are easy to predict, and therefore very easy to dodge. They must rely on the stunning capacity of their weight, for their piercing power is nil.
