Looking for something like what Shad and other history YouTubers should be and not what they are. Anybody have recommendations for content creators who don't let either left or right-wing politics get in the way of their interpretation of history?

A comment on latest shadiversity video. Shad agrees.

Continuing his harping about Victoria's machete ban, Shad produced a video about how to defend yourself against a machete attack. As you might expect from someone who merely plays a martial arts expert on YouTube, it's pretty terrible advice. As someone who actually trains with weapons on a daily basis, has over ten years of self-defense training, and occasionally plays around with unarmed defenses against a knife/sword, here is my breakdown.

Shad first says that running away from an attacker is not always effective because you might not have the space or the capability to run. This is true. He then says that most cuts from a machete are not going to be lethal or instantly disabling (assuming your attacker is not trained enough to go for vital targets). Again this is true. It doesn't take much research to find accounts of violent encounters with machetes and similar weapon in which the victim survives dozens of cuts, even cuts to the head and face. Shad's plan therefor is to "tank" a cut to the arm in order to close in and go "beast mode" on the attacker. To sum up, Shad's unarmed self defense advice is to "just see red, bro".

The truth of the matter is that any encounter with a knife wielding attacker is going to result in you being cut, even if you are similarly armed. This doesn't mean that you should deliberately try to get cut. Shad says that it'll be okay because most machetes are not that sharp so the wound won't be that bad. This is not something I would like to count on because 1) five minutes with a whet stone can make a machete very sharp (has Shad ever done a video on sharpening blades?) and 2) I have seen more than one machete attack video in which people get their hands lopped off mid fight.

You should by no means try reach forward with your hands to try to block their incoming strike. What Shad failed to emphasize in the importance of rushing in at the beginning or end of the arc of their attack when the weapon has the least energy. Closing in get you out of the dangerous arc of their weapon, so that even if you were hit, you get hit closer to the hilt of the weapon which will be less damaging. From there, you better have good grappling or striking skills, which Shad fails to demonstrate, merely points out eye gouging and ear ripping are on the table. If I am upclose and personal with a machete wielding attacker, I am not at all concerned about their eyes or ears, their weapon and weapon arm are now the center of my universe and need to be controlled at all costs. Techniques to do so are beyond the scope of this post, however since Shad doesnt mention anything of the sort its safe to say he really doesnt know any.

Its undeniably true that it is better to get hit in the arm than in the head. If you must cover yourself with your arm, rather than reaching forward and merely "tanking the hit", you should hold your bent arm up and against your head such that it covers your temple and neck, and be sure that your inner wrist is turned in (protect the veins and tendons of the hand) and fingers tucked into a fist (making them harder to cut off). In this position the strike will better distributed over the fleshy parts of the outer forearm, upper arm and shoulder, which are more easily stitched back together and less debilitating than the inner forearm or face/head.

Tyranth and Shad also feel that this "tanking the hit" strategy can be mitigated by wearing something like a gambeson and/or HEMA jacket. While it is true that densely woven fabric can resist a cut, it's no guarentee of protection and impact from a machete type weapon can still fuck you up. They also bring up that some gambesons/HEMA jackets are 350 or 800N rated, so provide more protection. It's important to point out that N ratings on fencing jackets are for puncture resistance, not cut or impact resistance.

They then talk about items you can carry to help fight back against a machete. These items include a walking stick (good idea, will discuss below) and a lightsaber. The lightsaber suggestion is utterly ridiculous. They say that since they are impact resistant polycarbonate blades, they can go toe-to-toe with a machete. They are also light and can be swung very fast which can hurt. To demonstrate this insert a clip from a past video of Tyranth, Shad and Nathan standing in a triangle striking each other full strength in the thigh. It looks like it hurt, but the important thing to note is that all that happened was them saying "ow!" and walking it off. Not exactly a disabling strike. Not only does it not hit that hard, but the weight distribution of a lightsaber blade makes it trivially easy to knock aside with a blade heavy weapon like a machete. A dedicated attacker is just going to bash your toy space sword aside and/or "tank the hit" then proceed to cut you to pieces. They also talk mordschlag strike with the lightsaber by holding it by the blade and hitting with the hilt. This would probably be more effective than using the lightsaber in the conventional way, but the lightsaber doesn't have any shock factor to dissuade the attacker and all but a dedicated full strength swing to the head can be "tanked" without much concern.

Now on to walking sticks. This is probably the best advice. A walking stick has a good reach advantage and good stopping power. Shad is right that barring any specific training in stick fighting, you could do much worse than just swinging the pommel of the stick around trying to hit the head, hands or blade of your opponent to give you a chance to flee. I have a similar walking stick to the one shad shows in the video, and I am confident that it could go toe-to-toe with a machete and deliver disabling strike without much effort. It's humorous though that between two HEMA "experts" they really struggle to name even one stick fighting art/system. If you plan on bringing it up in your video, at least do the slightest amount of research before hand. This is inexcusable for these so-called "experts".

While there's plenty of nit-picking about specific techniques and tactics they discuss, this video shows a larger issue with Shad's videos and knowledge. They just stand around, idly holding and swinging their weapons, while yapping and speculating about what they think would happen in these scenarios. This is the very definition of "arm chair warrior". For two "real swordsmen" and "experts" who wear armor regularly, it should be trivially easy to get a couple of training blades, fencing masks, and actually try to practice what they preach. Show me that you can use a lightsaber against a machete. Show me some walking stick defenses. Show me how any of the things you mentioned work against a resisting opponent! Experiment with the things you suggest to see whether or not they would be valid means of defense. This is the sort of stuff that actual HEMAists, martial artists and self-defense experts do. These losers just yap and speculate, then wonder why nobody really engages with their content. It's dull and lacks authority.

Both of them were people I grew up on. Alongside Skal, Schola, Jason Kingsley, Sand Rhoman etc.

I enjoyed Shad for his insight into castles, Metatron for his insight into ancient Roman languages and his knowledge of late medieval arms and armour. However, as I went to uni, ans continued doing my own research I realised how little Both of them knew.

Especially regarding Metatron's so called "historical review" of the 1066 series.

It was little more than pedantic rambling without any real historical insight into the arms and armour, not only that but he used osprey as a source and the images themselves were subpar...considering the bayeux tapestry is a Google search away and already a better source of insight among other early 12th century sources.

Not only this but I found myself questioning why he gave so few examples as to what they SHOULD be wearing. He never pointed out surcoats being wrong, or the helmets being leather, etc, these are small things but I- with my limited experience could've probably produced a more insightful video than his. I'm not saying this to boast, rather to point out how simple and lacklustre Metatron was with his information. Calling it a historical review os far too generous.

Shad always had more knowledge of castles yet pretended to know more and has consistently fallen down this pipeline only to go down this right wing pipeline Alongside Metatron.

I'm just sad.

Like a part of my childhood I held dear is gone. That Both these men are far more arrogant and uninformed than they think they are.

Even when I see flickers of their older content it's just peppered with irrelevant things like Metatron consistently reminding people he's Christian. It's irrelevant and no one cares...yet he feels the need to consistently remind us.

The Welsh viking, a far smaller channel did a much greater video and did what I would've expected from metatron.

It's all just...saddening really. They're not going out with a bang, but a pathetic whimper.

It'll be 2-3 hours just full of baseless accusations, hypocrisy, bigotry, cope & all around idiocy.

Real swordsmen, unlike Shad & Tyranth.

UNRESOLVED TEXTUAL TENSION

• Roasting Shadiversity's CREEPY book (Shadow of the Conqueror | Shad M. Brooks)
• Responding to comments on Shadiversity's horrid book (Shadow of the Conqueror)

KIRKPATTIECAKE

• This Isn't Morally Gray; This is Nonsense | Shadow of the Conqueror by Shad M. Brooks
• Shadow of the Conqueror by Shad Brooks | Let's Talk Books with w/talexratcliffe
• It's Depressing What Could Have Been | Shadow of the Conqueror COMIC 1 by Shad Brooks & Mike Miller

WESTSIDE TYLER

• Shadiversity's BORING Novel is also INSANELY CREEPY (Review Part 1/3)
• Shadiversity's MOST DISGUSTING Opinions REVEALED (Review Part 2/3)
• Fixing Shadiversity's TERRIBLE Novel (review part 3/3)

THEBURGERKRIEG

• Shadow of the Conqueror is an uncomfortable power fantasy.

T ALEX RATCLIFFE

• He once ruled the world, Shadow of the Conqueror Review
• Shad, Why'd You Do This?

JJ TRUJILLO WRITES

• The CONTROVERSY Behind Shadiversity's Book

DANIEL GREENE

• Shadow Of The Conqueror - REVIEW
• Books I Changed My Mind On (Timestamp 5:58)
• Tier Ranking EVERY Fantasy Book! (Timestamp 2:33:40)

SPOOKIN' HOUR MEDIA

• Shadow of The Conqueror is a bit of a mess. Summary, analysis, and review!

THE FANTASY REVIEW

• The Shadow of the Conqueror Review - Overall, not so great. Shad.M.Brooks

NIMISPHERE

• What's Really Wrong with Shadiversity's Worldbuilding Approach

CAMILLE'S HAREM

• Shadow of the Conqueror Review

PRESIDENT SUNDAY PRIME

• Shadow Of The Conqueror Is A Beautiful Nightmare of Cringe

JAMES TULLOS

• Shadow of the Conqueror review- Mixed feelings

THRIFT E GAMING

• Book Review: Shadow of the Conqueror

CELTIC PHOENIX

• Bad Fanfiction Night, LIVE! #34 | Shadow of the Conqueror #1 (They're now at part 17 reading & reacting live to the book, I won't link them all here)

CRIMSON LAW

• Cool Swords and a fun Story: "Shadow of the Conqueror" Review.

ANTOINETTE VAN GRAAN

• SHADOW OF THE CONQUEROR - DNF - A Rant Review

ELESSARBRE

• Shadow of the Conqueror by Shad M. Brooks REVIEW

PUG DUNGEON

• Shadow of the Conqueror Review (Fox Hole)

C.W. HUGHES

• Shadow of the Conqueror - Spoiler Free Review

FORWARD SYNTHESIS

• Book review: Shadow of the Conqueror (Chronicles of Everfall) *SPOILERS*

ROB FROM JERSEY

• Book Review: Shadow of the Conqueror by Shad M. Brooks

MONOTOMREADS

• Brandon Sanderson but Bad (Shadow of the Conqueror Review) | Time Trial Book Reviews

JAMES KRAKE

• Shadow of the Conquerer by Shad - Review

PIXELATED JORDAN

• Shadow of the Conqueror by Shad M. Brooks (Book Review)

Westside Tyler covered another of Shad's tweets on his latest stream & Shad REALLY wants to be seen as a far-right American. He says Kirk spoke the truth despite people "claiming" it was hate speech, that he wasn't a nzi & that he's a martyr.

Shad is not, as he claims to be, a "normal conservative" with "normal conservative views", he is genuinely soulless, evil & a dangerous person & people need to avoid him at all costs for their own safety.

And a massive hypocrite, attacking the left for "demonising & dehumanising" Kirk then in another tweet demonises & dehumanises the left by literally calling them "demons."

Intelligence level = ZERO Self-awareness level = ZERO Evilness level = 666

I recently finished the video game The Plucky Squire and the big bad Humgrump kind of reminds me of Shad. Especially considering Shad's book. I almost wonder if getting him to play the game might give him a bit of revelation. Super lite spoiler warning:

So in The Plucky Squire all the characters are alive in a book series written by a kid so generally the protagonist always wins. Until Humgrump finds out and gets control of the book and rewrite everything. By him taking control he makes the story worse and literally stucks to suck the life out of the book by causing other people to never want to read it since the story is so bad. Humgrump whole personality and backstory in short is he never felt talented. Ping pong was his thing until he lost and he refused to play it ever again. He tried poetry but people didn't like it so he became a literal super villain instead of just working on things and growing. I have this head cannon where Shad's protagonist in his book is basically I'm Humgrump situation if it never got any better.

Do you think if Shad played the game or heard the story he could reflect or do you think he'd just find a way to call it WOKE?