Flail ( weapon ) The term flail refers to two different weapons : one a two - handed infantry weapon derived from an agricultural tool , and the other a one - handed weapon . The defining characteristic of both is that they involve a separate striking head attached to a handle by a flexible rope , strap , or chain . The two - handed variant saw use in a limited number of conflicts during the European Middle Ages . The two - handed flail is a hand weapon derived from the agricultural tool of the same name , commonly used in threshing . Only a limited amount of historical evidence exists for their employment in Europe during this era . These were deployed in Germany and Central Europe in the later Middle Ages . This weapon consists of a hinged bar connected to a longer shaft . In Korea the flail as an agricultural tool is called " dorikke " but as a weapon , it is called " pyeongon " . The Japanese term for their equivalent of the ball - on - a - chain bludgeon is " rentsuru " , while the Chinese version ' s name translates vividly into English as meteor hammer . The two - handed flail . Throughout the Middle - Ages , two - handed agricultural flails were sometimes employed as an improvised weapon by peasant armies conscripted into military service or engaged in popular uprisings . For example , in the 1420 - 1497 period , the Hussites fielded large numbers of peasant foot soldiers armed with flails . However , these weapons often featured anti - personnel studs or spikes embedded in the striking end , so they were not always simple agricultural tools snatched up in a hurry by rural insurrectionists : turning these implements into weapons required some effort and skill . The modified flail was also used in the German Peasants ' War in the early 16th century . At a later date , the long - handled flail is found in use in India , possibly more as a symbol of status than a weapon . An example held in the Pitt Rivers Museum has a wooden ball - shaped head studded with iron spikes . Another in the Royal Armouries collection has two spiked iron balls attached by separate chains . The chief tactical virtue of the two - handed flail was its capacity to defeat a defender ' s shield or avoid it entirely . Its chief liability was a lack of precision and the difficulty of using it in close combat , or closely ranked formations . The one - handed flail . The one - handed variant is generally depicted as a short wooden handle connected to one or many metal heads by way of a chain . At least four examples of this type are housed in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York . One of these is a Swiss " morning star mace " dated to approximately 1530 , consisting of a relatively long handle compared to the others , a long chain almost as long as the handle , ending in a large spiked ball . A second is 16th - century German , having a medium - length metal handle , a short chain , and a small iron ball with large spikes . A third is 15th - century French , having an unusually short handle , a chain nearly as long as the handle , and an iron head lacking spikes but having several angular points . The fourth is also 15th - century , but German , and equally short , but ending in three short chains each ending in a small , angular , iron head . All of these except the 16th - century German example have chains long enough to require care not to allow the head to strike the user ' s hand . Variations . The agricultural flail was not just used as an improvised weapon in Europe . In southeast Asia , short agricultural flails originally employed in threshing rice were adapted into weapons such as the nunchaku or sansetsukon . In modern history , related weapons were also said to been used by members of organized crime during the Depression - era period of the United States and other Western countries . Known as a cosh , or blackjack , they are described as being made of a sock filled with sand , or a sock containing a bar of hard soap in the toe end , that were swung against the head of the victim with great but usually non - lethal force .