[4] In addition, there was a spike or spear head projecting from the end of the haft which was often square in cross section, sometimes referred to as the "dague dessous".
Also of note is that the butt end of the staff, opposite the weapon's head, bore a spike or shoe.
While they may have both been designed for hacking and piercing through armor plates, the axe blade on a poleaxe seems to have been consistently smaller than that of a halberd.
[7] It was a close range weapon that required ones full body strength and both hands to wield effectively.
Poleaxe fighting techniques have been rediscovered with the increasing interest in historical European martial arts.