Polearm

A pole weapon or polearm is a close combat weapon in which the main fighting part of the weapon is placed on the end of a long shaft, typically of wood, thereby extending the user's effective range. Spears, glaives, poleaxes, halberds, and bardiches are all varieties of polearms. The idea of attaching a weapon onto a long shaft is an old one, as the first spears date back to the Stone Age. The purpose of using pole weapons is either to extend reach or to increase angular momentum—and thus striking power—when the weapon is swung.

Strengths and Weaknesses
Several characters have been seen using polearm based weapons. They offer a much more massive reach then most weapons and serve a varity of uses both offensively and defensively. The advantage they offer is a superior range in close combat to other weapons such as the Sword.

However, the main offensive apsect of the weapon is on the furthest end of the pole where usually a blade is held for striking. The main offensive sance of a Pole arm user is therefore usually focus forward on the bladed end, the idea is to strike down the foe before they come anyway near the user and it is often difficult to change fighting stance should they loose. Pole Arm users were most effective in a army based unit, as they created a wall of spikes that reached out and moved forward closing in on a foe. The sheer number of pole arms also effectively outweighed the defensive weakness of the pole arm, as the most problematic issue with a pole arm is its lesser effective nature when a foe has broken through the reach of the poles end and a single pole arm user was often not as effective as a massed army.

In One Piece, pole arm users have been seen mostly seen used by guards and few have been seen wielding one in battle.