. Dual wielding has not been used or mentioned much in military history, though it appears in
weapon-based martial arts and
fencing practices. The
dimachaerus was a type of Roman
gladiator that fought with two
swords. Thus, an inscription from Lyon, France, mentions such a type of gladiator, here spelled
dymacherus. The dimachaeri were equipped for close-combat fighting. A dimachaerus used a pair of
siccae (curved scimitar) or
gladius and used a fighting style adapted to both attack and defend with his weapons rather than a shield, as he was not equipped with one. The use of weapon combinations in each hand has been mentioned for close combat in western Europe during the
Byzantine,
Medieval, and
Renaissance era. The use of a
parrying dagger such as a main gauche along with a
rapier is common in historical European martial arts. North American Indian tribes of the Atlantic northeast used a form involving a
tomahawk in the primary hand and a
knife in the secondary. It is practiced today as part of the modern Cree martial art Okichitaw. All the above-mentioned examples involve either one long and one short weapon, or two short weapons. An example of a dual wield of two sabres is the Ukrainian cossack dance
hopak.
Asia During the campaign
Muslim conquest in 6th to 7th century AD,
Rashidun caliphate general
Khalid ibn Walid was reported to favor wielding two broad swords, with one in each hand, during combat. Traditional schools of
Japanese martial arts include dual wield techniques, particularly a style conceived by
Miyamoto Musashi involving the
katana and
wakizashi, two-sword
kenjutsu techniques he called
Niten Ichi-ryū.
Eskrima, the traditional martial arts of the Philippines teaches
Doble Baston techniques involving the basic use of a pair of
rattan sticks and also Espada y daga or Sword/Stick and Dagger.
Okinawan martial arts have a method that uses a pair of
sai.
Chinese martial arts involve the use of a pair of
butterfly swords or
hook swords. Famed for his enormous strength,
Dian Wei, a military general serving under the warlord
Cao Cao in the late
Eastern Han dynasty of China, excelled at wielding a pair of
ji (a
halberd-like weapon), each of which was said to weigh 40
jin.
Chen An, a warlord who lived during the
Jin dynasty (266–420) and
Sixteen Kingdoms period, wielded a sword in one hand and a serpent spear in the other, supposedly measuring at 7
chi and 1
zhang 8
chi respectively. During
Ran Wei–Later Zhao war,
Ran Min, emperor of the short-lived Ran Wei empire of China, wielded two weapons, one in each hand, and fought fiercely, inflicting many casualties on the Xianbei soldiers while mounted on the famous horse Zhu Long ("Red Dragon").
Gatka, a weapon-based martial art from the
Punjab region, is known to use two sticks at a time. The Thailand weapon-based martial art
Krabi Krabong involves the use of a separate
Krabi in each hand.
Kalaripayattu teaches advanced students to use either two sticks (of various sizes) or two daggers or two swords, simultaneously.
Modern The use of a gun in each hand is often associated with the
American Old West, mainly due to media portrayals. It was common for people in the era to carry two guns, but not to use them at the same time. The second gun served as a backup weapon, to be used only if the main one suffered a malfunction or was lost or emptied. However, there were several examples of gunmen in the West who used two pistols at the same time in their gunfights: •
John Wesley Hardin killed a gunman named Benjamin Bradley who shot at him, by drawing both of his pistols and firing back. • The Mexican vaquero
Augustine Chacon had several gunfights in which he was outnumbered by more than one gunman and prevailed by equipping himself with a revolver in each hand. •
King Fisher once managed to kill three bandits in a shootout by pulling both of his pistols. • During the
Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight, lawman
Dallas Stoudenmire pulled both of his pistols as he ran out onto the street and killed one bystander and two other gunmen. •
Jonathan R. Davis, a prospector during the
California Gold Rush, was ambushed by thirteen outlaws while together with two of his comrades. One of his friends was killed and the other was mortally wounded during the ambush. Davis drew both of his revolvers and fired, killing seven of the bandits, and killing four more with his bowie knife, causing the final two to flee. dual wielding pistols Dual wielding two handguns has been popularized by film and television. In Russian-language usage, firing two pistols simultaneously is referred to as "Macedonian-style shooting" (Russian: Стрельба по-македонски), a practice involving the use of two pistols, one in each hand. ==Effectiveness==