Fighting Irons?

[John Maddox Roberts]

In James Clavell's 1960s novel of the Opium Wars, "Tai Pan," he mentions sailors using "fighting irons" in deck combat. They are described as jointed iron flails and seem to resemble the kau sin ke, the Chinese steel whip that is still preserved as a rather obscure martial arts weapon. The only similar weapon I have seen pictured is from an old French fencing manual where it is called a "fleaux brisee" (picture an accent over the first e in the second word), where it looks like an agricultural implement and may well be made of wood. Has anyone heard of such a weapon used in Asian waters duing the early 19th century, or is this pure imagination on Clavell's part? He could be pretty inaccurate in matters of weaponry.

[Hawkyns]

Can't speak to specific use in that time period, but it's a pretty common peasant weapon dating way back. Fleaux brisee translates as broken flail and an agricultural weapon is exactly what it is, a grain flail. They were a preferred weapon of the Hussite armies of the 15th C and showed up in various countries and times both before and after that. Frequently shown in movies as being used by the 'angry peasant mob'.

Don't know about Chinese weapons but I've seen flails in Japanese martial arts, both 2 section and 3 section.

Hawkyns