A javelin is a serious weapon

[tlclark]

Just a reminder about the true purpose of track and field events...

Training for war.

Not for the squeamish...

http://news.yahoo.com/photo/060925/483/ ... 06aaa3330b

[FAVENTIANVS]

Ouch! hock:

[stevesarak]

About 15 years ago, I saw a clip of someone throwing a javelin at a tryout. One of the spotters out on the field didn’t think he could throw that far and was looking around when it came down and pierced him in the stomach.

I guess he’ll pay attention next time.

[tlclark]

It's also great because it shows how even a minor wound was near fatal on the battle field. That person isn't getting up and fighting anytime soon.

In the movies you see all these guys with slashes and cuts still fighting. My gut tells me you get one good hit, you were out of the fight. Which shows that the good ones spent a heckuvalota effort not getting hit.

Ugh. It must have been just bloody awful.

[Matt Lukes]

I saw one of those '10 Worst' shows on The Learning Channel a while back about injuries or cases coming to the ER or some such thing and one of them was a highschool student who in PE had gotten a javelin through his face- came out under his jaw and missed his carotid artery by millimeters... he was UNBELIEVABLY lucky and survived with no adverse effects- but it was crazy. Indeed these things are effective weapons to be sure.

[stevesarak]

It's also great because it shows how even a minor wound was near fatal on the battle field. That person isn't getting up and fighting anytime soon.

In the movies you see all these guys with slashes and cuts still fighting. My gut tells me you get one good hit, you were out of the fight. Which shows that the good ones spent a heckuvalota effort not getting hit.

Ugh. It must have been just bloody awful.

Just wonder though, if she were a trained killer in the midst of battle, might she get up and keep fighting to save her life, rather then lay there and wait for help?

I was playing volleyball one time and as I jumped up to spike the ball to the other side, the player on the other side panicked and dropped to the floor rather then get the ball in his face. Once on he ground he rolled to prevent his teammates from stepping on him and accidentally (I like to think) rolled under the net and under my feet. As I came down he knocked my foot out at an angle and my weight came down on my ankle, ripping the tendons (Ouch). Being one that doesn’t like showing pain, I stood up on one leg, with my eyes closed as a plum size bulge (internal bleeding) formed on my ankle. With the help of others I limped off to the side and sat down a few minutes before I went to the hospital.

If necessary I could have fought and defended my life. Not very well though, since I couldn’t maneuver, but could have.

[Johnny Shumate]

I saw a video once of an attendant getting hit right through the bicep. He pulled it out and dropped to the ground in pain.....
Johnny

[Matt Lukes]

Not to mention that adrenaline, endorphins and the other lovely chemicals flowing around under extreme stress do a great job of keeping one's mind off pain- there are lots of examples of soldiers not realizing they'd been seriously wounded while fighting. I'd think it'd take something a little more significant than a javelin through the foot to stop a soldier in the heat of an ancient battle. I wouldn't be at all surprised if there were a whole lot more mortally-wounded men running around than one might think- until the injury actually became incapacitating that is (internal bleeding, etc.).

Actually from the very same show as the javelin in the face was a guy who crashed his motorcycle into a tree and got a huge branch through his face and didn't even realize it until they cut it off (the branch, not his face :lol: ) at the hospital. He was fully conscious and lucid- it was bizarre.

[tlclark]

OK, just for the record.

I would certainly be out of commission. :roll:

Travis

[Matt Lukes]

:lol:

Don't worry Travis- we'll get you some armored footguards for Christmas and you won't have to worry about the nasty javelins any more

[Virilis]

I read a book about Attila in the summer. There were a very graphic description of how to impale a person. It was told by a serbian nobel prize winner of literature if I remember correctly ( I think a couple of east roman embassies shared the same experience):

-First men will spread the legs of the victim with ropes. Then they will take a well greased (with lard) and well sharpened slender pole and slowly thrust it in victims anus. They will slowly push it with carefully trying to avoid vital intestines and causing minimal amount of internal bleeding. They will also carefully avoid the stomach and lungs, going near the spine.
Then the pole would be seen under the skin in a place between the shoulder blade and neck and it is helped out with a knife. When this is done properly the victim could live for a couple of days, voilà!

I can understand cruelty which is done in a second in a blind fury but this kind of craftmanlike cruelty, which in fact requires an admirable amount of skill, patience and deep shared knowledge/tradition in a community in question, it simply won`t stop amazing me time after time :roll: !

[M. Demetrius]

Hey, Virilis, that torture ranks right up there with crucifixion, or slow dipping in boiling oil. Nice image.

[Virilis]

Thanks David!

I think this woman knows now how "Tigris of Gaul" mus have felt :wink: ...

[Tarbicus]

Not to mention that adrenaline, endorphins and the other lovely chemicals flowing around under extreme stress do a great job of keeping one's mind off pain- there are lots of examples of soldiers not realizing they'd been seriously wounded while fighting. I'd think it'd take something a little more significant than a javelin through the foot to stop a soldier in the heat of an ancient battle. I wouldn't be at all surprised if there were a whole lot more mortally-wounded men running around than one might think- until the injury actually became incapacitating that is (internal bleeding, etc.).

There was an excellent documentary on TV the other week where a camera crew followed a US army company in Iraq for a month, warts and all. It was a very open access and moving docu.

In one incident a convoy came under fire on patrol. One humvee gunner was hit, but no way would you think he had been, and he didn't even realise it (a body hit as well). It was clear that not even knowing you've been shot is a great danger when the officer in charge started screaming at his men "Check yourselves for wounds!!!!" over and over again, even making a few take off some of their kit just in case.

[Matt Lukes]

Wow that's nuts- but I guess it shouldn't be surprising; endorphins can be great and indeed hazardous at the same time- great because they keep the pain away when you REALLY need to focus on other things, but bad that they do prevent pain from doing its job, which is to let us know when something's hurt...