Fighting Irons

[John Maddox Roberts]

This is spun off from a thread at swordforum. In James Clavell's book "Tai Pan" he describes a weapon called a "fighting iron" used in shipboard combat. It is described as having a short wooden haft thonged to the wrist and four or five linked iron bars terminating in a small ball, sometimes spiked. Since the novel takes place in Chinese waters in the early 19th century, he may have had the Chinese Kau Sin Ke (steel whip) in mind. A form of it is still a martial arts weapon. But I've seen an illustration in a French 18th century fencing manual that illustrated a man with a sword fighting another armed with a "fleaux brisee," ("jointed flail"), which looks identical to the fighting iron described by Clavell, minus the spikes. And the manual doesn't say whether the flail is wooden or metal.

Does anyone know if this weapon has any historical veracity? It's always seemed to me to be a fearsome weapon and I've often thought of making one for myself, If I only knew anything about metalworking.

Any opinions?