Fighting with a spade | Infantry melee weapon fighting

The shovel (short + long) is an excellent environmental weapon that can be found in an everyday household (gardening).

This tool has proven its effectiveness during the world wars already.
The spade had many uses back in the day, especially during the trench warfare of WWI and in close-quarters combat between German and Soviet forces, notably in the brutal hand-to-hand fighting during the Battle of Stalingrad.

The thick edges are strong and sharp enough to cut through flesh and bone. The small shovel is suitable for using it with one hand, almost similar to an axe/machete. It’s also a great tool for thrusting/stabbing in various ways. Bottom line = you don’t want to get hit with a shovel!

In this video, some basic techniques with a short shovel. A few names are specifically used by our organization because of missing elements in existent historical sources.
1- Rhino stab
2- Howitzer from all weird angles
3- Master strikes in all main directions
4- Curved stabs
5- Scythe strikes
6- Bridge strikes
7- Shield blocks
8- Several efficient ripostes (1-fire)

A little context: one thing we do = study various HEMA sources for today’s self-defense purposes. Also, we use concrete historical weapons techniques and modified these for all kinds of weapons of opportunities.