Clubs as Improvised Weapons in Ukraine (Photo Gallery).

[arnisador]

Improvised weapons in the Ukraine are mostly club-like:

The protesters who filled Maidan Square to battle the Ukrainian army and topple President Yanukovych often fought with little more than sticks, bats and sledgehammers. Their nasty homemade weapons are the subject of a series of portraits by photographer Tom Jamieson, and show how determined protesters were to either damage or defend against government security forces, depending on your politics.[...]“Every single person without fail had a club or a bat or something like that,” says Jamieson. “You couldn’t help but notice the DIY nature of the whole thing, from the barricades themselves to the totally inadequate body armor that people were wearing, and the weapons as well. It looked like something out of Mad Max, it was crazy.”

As I often remind people: To this day, the club is a common weapon.

Also, I note that people are wearing (limited) body armor:

According to Jamieson, every protester had a helmet, a balaclava, and a club-like implement of some sort.

I often when teaching remind students that some techniques are usually taught as being targeted in ways that reflect traditional concerns about the presence of armor--looking for the joins in the pieces of armor. The concern could still be relevant...well, if you're an eskrimador in Crimea, at least.

 

[David43515]

I think it could be relevent anywhere. Police aren't the only ones to use body armour.