A man armed with a hammer and kitchen knife chased a van down a busy road in the middle of the afternoon.
The incident took place in front of shoppers maintaining coronavirus social distancing rules and queuing outside a corner shop.
Swansea Crown Court heard David Harris has a history of violence both within relationships and in public, and "struggles to manage his anger" day-to-day.
Hannah George, prosecuting, said Harris was on Woodford Road in the Blaenymaes area of Swansea on the afternoon of April 29 this year when he saw a man he knew sat in a parked van. The motorist was waiting for a friend who was queuing to get into the Premier Store.
The court heard there had been a "dispute" between the men in the past over a debt, a debt believed to be some £25.
Words were exchanged between the men then Harris retreated to his nearby flat, only to emerge moments later armed with a hammer and kitchen knife with a 10inch blade.
Miss George said Harris began hitting the windscreen of the van at which point it drove off, chased by the defendant who brandished the weapons as he pursued the vehicle down the middle of the road.
Police were called, and firearms officers deployed to the scene. The 39-year-old defendant was found a short distance away, and arrested. The hammer and knife were recovered from his house.
In his subsequent interview, Harris said he had gone to talk to the van driver about a £25 debt, but the motorist then started "mouthing off" at him.
Harris, of Woodford Road, Blaenymaes, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to affray, and to two counts of possessing an offensive weapon when he appeared in the dock via videolink for sentencing.
The court heard he has 13 previous convictions for 18 offences including making threats to kill, battery, assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH), sending malicious communications, being drunk and disorderly, public order matters, and breaching a restraining order. The assaults involve both strangers and partners and members of his family - the ABH had seen him punching and biting a family member at a party.
Hywel Davies, for Harris, said it was clear from a pre-sentence report that the defendant, who is from the Portmead area, had a history of being bullied, and these experiences "may have formed his his default reactions" of anger and aggression.
The barrister added: "This man struggles to manage his anger on a day-to-day basis both in relationships and in the community."
Judge Keith Thomas described the events of April 29 as an "unpleasant incident of violence in the street" at a time when people were trying to practice coronavirus social distancing.
He said Harris had a history of violence, antisocial behaviour, and failing to comply with court orders, and the Probation Service had concluded there was no realistic prospect of his rehabilitaiton.
Giving the defendant a one-third discount for his guilty pleas, the judge sentenced him to eight months in prison.
Harris will serve up to a half of that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
