An interesting post I found online.
Although the writer focuses on criminal activities and civilian violence, he does have a point.
I mean if drunkards in a bar are able to work together in such coordination that one angry customer pins you down while his drinking buddies are stomping on you.......
It makes me doubt the notion the cultures emphasizing individual fighting EG barbarian tribes who lost to Roman Legions such as the Celts lacked any notion of team work. I can understand the military cultures like the Romans being far superior in their coordination and team-based tactics.
But after reading the link's statements about lower class civilians able to work together in riots-despite typically being individual brawlers in most fights they participated in and lacking ANY TRAINING what so ever- it makes doubt that warrior cultures fought completely as individuals who only knew how to battles as one-on-one duelists.
If civilians like prisoners, angry farmers in a riot, and even some people drinking at a bar could work together to surround you and hit you from blind angles or stomp you on the ground while you try to pin down one of them in a BJJ style move, I find it ridiculous warriors who have the "individual one-on-one fighter" mentality wouldn't think of something as simple as "my friends take on those Spanish conquistadors in a melee to distract them while I sneak behind them and behead them".
I mean not just many movie but even many history books even describe warrior cultures such as the Mamelukes lacking the common sense to do something as basic as dogphiling a French soldier who was knocked to the ground and stab said French soldier to death.
Which is sounds utter BS to me because guys at bar do such teamwork all the time. Hell even high school jocks (who tend to be egotistic enough to prefer one-on-one fights) can call their friends to surround you should you prove too tough to take on!
So I seriously doubt warriors who fight for a living couldn't think of something as simple as "Mahican throws stones and spears at colonists to distract them while some other Mahican with tomahawks charge in and hack the distracted demoralized colonist with axes".
I have no doubt Warrior Cultures and societies emphasizing individual toughness tend to train more as dueling and other individualist style fighting and military based cultures like the Mongols and Germans are far better organized in their teamwork. But to claim warriors only knew to fight as individuals and lack any sense of teamwork is a slap in the face against human nature because even untrained civilians who never been in a fight before could work together to overwhelm a much tougher opponent using basic "common sense" teamwork tricks like one guy rearchokes the person while I beat him up.
It's often overstated how much of a "warrior culture" any historical society actually was. After all, a warrior mentality is only useful on the battlefield, and a hindrance to cooperation and social interaction everywhere else. Therefore, even societies that put a very high premium on the martial prowess of its prominent men would also prize excellence in other forms of competitive display, like singing and dancing, public speaking, writing poetry, trading and so on. It's difficult to picture a pure "warrior culture" functioning as a society, let alone thriving in a community of nations.
The world of Homer makes an interesting example. All the heroes are primarily focused on looking brave and skilled on the battlefield; their entire system of values seems built around glorious combat. Their society has often been considered a particularly extreme form of warrior culture. However, the heroes are also able to win glory by being good councillors, good hosts, good stewards to their dependants, good athletes, good musicians, etcetera.
In battle, while every hero is encouraged to 'go for his man' and win glory with conspicuous displays of bravery and martial skill, there are also constant references to massed combat, with packs of warriors protecting each other and the fallen with their shields, working together to push back the enemy or cover their own retreat. The heroes all rely on a charioteer to stand by them in combat. A famous theme in the Iliad and on vase paintings is a team of heavy infantryman and archer working together in the midst of the fighting. Much as they might want to, the heroes know they can't win the battle all by themselves without their retainers and the armed mass of their followers to support them.