Offhand, the shaft _could_ be of solid metal, if you've got the strength and fatigue to handle it. Or you just rely on deflections rather than blocks, which should damage the haft less. Or slap a bunch of armoring enchantments on your B&C.
Don't know about a light flail or light ball and chain, but if the chain's heavy enough, and you've got a weight on the end, I'd think you could try to entangle the enemy weapon and then "pull" it off course. I've seen a similar trick to parrying with a manrikigusari which worked fine -- in one-on-one martial arts sparring. Not sure if this is quite as practical in full-contact melee combat, since you're entangling your own weapon -- probably only useful if you've lost your shield. Might be problematic trying to get this trick off in time, too.
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