![Eskrima](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Eskrima.jpg)
Stick-fighting, stickfighting, or stick fighting is a variety of
martial arts
Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...
which use simple long, slender, blunt, hand-held, generally wooden "sticks" for fighting, such as a
gun staff,
bō,
jō,
walking stick
A walking stick or walking cane is a device used primarily to aid walking, provide postural stability or support, or assist in maintaining a good posture. Some designs also serve as a fashion accessory, or are used for self-defense.
Walking sti ...
,
baston
Baston is a village and parish on the edge of The Fens and in the administrative district of South Kesteven, Lincolnshire, England. The 2011 census reported the parish had 1,469 people in 555 households.
Like most fen-edge parishes, it was l ...
,
arnis
Arnis, also known as Kali or Eskrima/Escrima, is the national martial art of the Philippines. The three are roughly interchangeable umbrella terms for the traditional martial arts of the Philippines (" Filipino Martial Arts", or FMA), which ...
sticks or similar weapons. Some techniques can also be used with a sturdy
umbrella
An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is usually mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is designed to protect a person against rain or sunlight. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally used ...
or even with a
sword
A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...
or
dagger
A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or popular-use de ...
in its
scabbard
A scabbard is a sheath for holding a sword, knife, or other large blade. As well, rifles may be stored in a scabbard by horse riders. Military cavalry and cowboys had scabbards for their saddle ring carbine rifles and Lever action, lever-action ...
.
Thicker and/or heavier blunt weapons such as
clubs
Club may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Club'' (magazine)
* Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character
* Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards
* Club music
* "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea''
Brands and enterprises
...
or the
mace are outside the scope of "stick-fighting" (since they cannot be wielded with such precision, so sheer force of impact is more important), as are more formed weapons such as the ''
taiaha
A taiaha () is a traditional weapon of the Māori of New Zealand; a close-quarters staff weapon made from either wood or whalebone, and used for short, sharp strikes or stabbing thrusts with efficient footwork on the part of the wielder.
Taiaha a ...
'' used by the
Māori people
The Māori (, ) are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand (). Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over several ce ...
of
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, and the ''
macuahuitl
A macuahuitl () is a weapon, a wooden club with several embedded obsidian blades. The name is derived from the Nahuatl language and means "hand-wood". Its sides are embedded with prismatic blades traditionally made from obsidian. Obsidian is ...
'' used by the
Aztec people
The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl l ...
of
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...
in warfare.
Although many systems are defensive combat techniques intended for use if attacked while lightly armed, others such as ''
kendo
is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords (shinai) as well as protective armor (bōgu). Today, it is widely practiced within Japan and has spread ...
'', ''
arnis
Arnis, also known as Kali or Eskrima/Escrima, is the national martial art of the Philippines. The three are roughly interchangeable umbrella terms for the traditional martial arts of the Philippines (" Filipino Martial Arts", or FMA), which ...
'', and ''
gatka
Gatka (; ; hi, गतका; ur, ) is a form of martial art associated primarily with the Sikhs of the Punjab and other related ethnic groups, such as Hindkowans. It is a style of stick-fighting, with wooden sticks intended to simulate ...
'' were developed as safe training methods for dangerous weapons. Whatever their history, many stick-fighting techniques lend themselves to being treated as sports.
In addition to systems specifically devoted to stick-fighting, certain other disciplines include it, either in its own right, as in the
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
martial art ''
silambam
Silambam is an Indian martial art originating in South India in the Indian subcontinent. This style is mentioned in Tamil Sangam literature. The World Silambam Association is the official international body of Silambam.
Origin
References in ...
'', or merely as part of a polyvalent training including other weapons and/or bare handed fighting, as in
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
's ''
kalaripayattu
Kalaripayattu (; also known simply as Kalari) is an Indian martial art that originated in modern-day Kerala, a state on the southwestern coast of India. Kalaripayattu is known for its long-standing history within Indian martial arts, and is ...
'' tradition, where these wooden weapons serve as preliminary training before practice of the more dangerous metal weapons.
Stick-fights between individuals or large gatherings between sub-tribes where men fight duels were an important part of the anthropological heritage of various cultures. On tribes such as the
Surma people
Suri is a collective name for three ethnic groups (Suri Chai, Timaga, and Suri Baale) mainly living in Suri woreda, in southwestern Ethiopia. Suri is the collective name for all three subgroups. They share many similarities politically, territor ...
of
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
, ''donga'' stick-fighting is an important cultural practice and the best means of showing off to look for a bride,
nude or nearly so, and their more warlike neighbors, the
Nyangatom people
The Nyangatom also known as Donyiro and pejoratively as Bumé are Nilotic agro-pastoralists inhabiting the border of southwestern Ethiopia, southeastern South Sudan, and the Ilemi Triangle. They speak the Nyangatom language.
Overview
The Nyangat ...
, who fight duels bare-chested, the aim being to inflict visible stripes on the back of the adversary, using not plain staffs but sticks with a flexible, whipping tail-end.
Styles
![Quarterstaff line drawing - Project Gutenberg eText 14315](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Quarterstaff_line_drawing_-_Project_Gutenberg_eText_14315.jpg)
Traditional European systems of stick-fighting included a wide variety of methods of
quarterstaff
A quarterstaff (plural quarterstaffs or quarterstaves), also short staff or simply staff is a traditional European pole weapon, which was especially prominent in England during the Early Modern period.
The term is generally accepted to refer t ...
combat, which were detailed in numerous manuscripts written by masters-at-arms. Many of these methods became extinct but others adapted and survived as folk-sports and self-defence systems. Examples include Portugal's ''
jogo do pau
() is a Spanish and Portuguese martial art which developed in the regions along the Minho River: Minho, Trás-os-Montes, Pontevedra and Ourense, focusing on the use of a staff of fixed measures and characteristics. The origins of this martial a ...
'', the related ''
juego del palo
''Juego del palo'' or banot (, ''game of the stick'', in Guanche language ''banod'') is a traditional martial art/folk sport of stick-fighting practiced in the Canary Islands. It involves the combative use of a slender stick from long, wielded i ...
'' of the
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...
, France's ''
canne de combat
Canne de combat is a French combat sport. As weapon, it uses a ''canne'' or cane (a kind of walking-stick) designed for fighting. ''Canne de combat'' was standardized in the 1970s for sporting competition by Maurice Sarry. The ''canne'' is very ...
'' or ''la canne'', Poland's ''palcaty'' and Italy's ''scherma di bastone''. Giuseppe Cerri's 1854 manual ''Trattato teorico e pratico della scherma di bastone'' is influenced by masters of the Italian school of swordsmanship,
Achille Marozzo
Achille Marozzo (1484–1553) was an Italian fencing master, one of the most important teachers in the Dardi or Bolognese tradition.Castle, Egerton (1885), ''Schools and Masters of Fenc'', Londra, G. Bell, rist. (2003) ''Schools and Masters of Fen ...
and perhaps
Francesco Alfieri
Francesco Ferdinando Alfieri was a master of fencing of the 17th century. He was a representative of the Venetian school of fencing and “Maestro D’Arme” to the Accademia Delia in Padua in 1640. Alfieri was originally from Padua, which at t ...
.
The French system of ''la canne'' is still practiced as a competitive sport. A self-defense adaptation of ''la canne'' developed by Swiss master-at-arms Pierre Vigny in the early 1900s has been revived as part of the curriculum of
bartitsu.
In the US during the early years of the 1900s, fencer and self-defense specialist A. C. Cunningham developed a unique system of stick-fighting using a walking stick or umbrella, which he recorded in his book ''
The Cane as a Weapon
''The Cane as a Weapon'' is a book by Andrew Chase Cunningham presenting a concise system of self defense making use of a walking stick or umbrella. It was first published in 1912 in the United States.
Cunningham was a civil engineer attached to ...
''.
Singlestick
Singlestick is a martial art that uses a wooden stick as its weapon. It began as a way of training soldiers in the use of backswords (such as the sabre or the cutlass). Canne de combat, a French form of stick fighting, is similar to singlestick p ...
was developed as a method of training in the use of
backsword
A backsword is a type of sword characterised by having a single-edged blade and a hilt with a single-handed grip. It is so called because the triangular cross section gives a flat back edge opposite the cutting edge. Later examples often have a ...
s such as the
cavalry sabre and
naval cutlass. It was a popular pastime in the UK from the 18th to the early 20th century, and was a
fencing event at the 1904 Summer Olympics. Although interest in the art declined, a few fencing coaches continued to train with the stick and competitions in this style of stick-fighting were reintroduced into the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
in the 1980s by commander Locker Madden. The art continues to gain a small following amongst the martial art community in the UK, Australia, Canada and the US.
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
also has its share of martial arts devoted to stick-fighting, including
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
's ''
juego del garrote
Juego del garrote (''stick game'') or juego del garrote ('stick game of Lara')''Juego de garrote larense: el método venezolano de defensa personal'', Eduardo Sanoja, Federación Nacional de la Cultura Popular, 198/ref> is a Venezuelan martial a ...
'',
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
's ''palo do Brasil'' and ''
Maculelê'',
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
's ''
calinda
Calinda (also spelled kalinda or kalenda) is a martial art, as well as kind of folk music and war dance in the Caribbean which arose in the 1720s. It was brought to the Caribbean by Africans In the transatlantic slave trade and is based on nativ ...
'' and the South Americans' ''Eskrima Kombat''.
Sticks and staves of various sizes are common weapons in Asian martial arts, in which they vary in design, size, weight, materials and methodology, and are often used interchangeably and alongside open-hand techniques. For example, ''
eskrima
Arnis, also known as Kali or Eskrima/Escrima, is the national martial art of the Philippines. The three are roughly interchangeable umbrella terms for the traditional martial arts of the Philippines (" Filipino Martial Arts", or FMA), which em ...
'' or arnis of the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
uses sticks traditionally crafted from
rattan
Rattan, also spelled ratan, is the name for roughly 600 species of Old World climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae. The greatest diversity of rattan palm species and genera are in the closed-canopy old-growth tropical forests of ...
or from
butterfruit tree and may be wielded singly or as a pair.
See also
*
Angampora
*
Banshay
*
Bataireacht
In Irish martial arts, (; meaning 'stick-fighting') (also called ''boiscín'' and ''ag imirt na maidí'' ) refers to the various forms of stick-fighting from Ireland.
Definition
''Bataireacht'' is a category of stick-fighting martial arts ...
*
Bōjutsu
, translated from Japanese as "staff technique", is the martial art of stick fighting using a bō, which is the Japanese word for staff. Staffs have been in use for thousands of years in Asian martial arts like Silambam. Some techniques involve s ...
*
Canne de combat
Canne de combat is a French combat sport. As weapon, it uses a ''canne'' or cane (a kind of walking-stick) designed for fighting. ''Canne de combat'' was standardized in the 1970s for sporting competition by Maurice Sarry. The ''canne'' is very ...
*
Gatka
Gatka (; ; hi, गतका; ur, ) is a form of martial art associated primarily with the Sikhs of the Punjab and other related ethnic groups, such as Hindkowans. It is a style of stick-fighting, with wooden sticks intended to simulate ...
*
Juego del palo
''Juego del palo'' or banot (, ''game of the stick'', in Guanche language ''banod'') is a traditional martial art/folk sport of stick-fighting practiced in the Canary Islands. It involves the combative use of a slender stick from long, wielded i ...
*
Jūkendō
*
Jōdō
, meaning "the way of the ''jō''", or is a Japanese martial art using a short staff called ''jō''. The art is similar to ''bōjutsu'', and is strongly focused upon defense against the Japanese sword. The ''jō'' is a short staff, usually a ...
*
Kalaripayattu
Kalaripayattu (; also known simply as Kalari) is an Indian martial art that originated in modern-day Kerala, a state on the southwestern coast of India. Kalaripayattu is known for its long-standing history within Indian martial arts, and is ...
*
Kendo
is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords (shinai) as well as protective armor (bōgu). Today, it is widely practiced within Japan and has spread ...
*
Kenjutsu
is an umbrella term for all ('' ko-budō'') schools of Japanese swordsmanship, in particular those that predate the Meiji Restoration. Some modern styles of kendo and iaido that were established in the 20th century also included modern forms of ...
*
Krabi–krabong
Krabi-Krabong ( th, กระบี่กระบอง, ) is a weapon-based martial art from Thailand. It is closely related to other Southeast Asian fighting styles such as Pencak Silat Indonesia, Burmese banshay and Cambodian kbach kun boran ...
*
Kuttu Varisai
Silambam is an Indian martial art originating in South India in the Indian subcontinent. This style is mentioned in Tamil Sangam literature. The World Silambam Association is the official international body of Silambam.
Origin
References in ...
*
Mardani khel
Mardani khel is an armed Indian martial art from Maharashtra. It is particularly known for its use of the uniquely Indian pata (sword), patta (sword) and ''vita'' (corded lance). The early history of mardani khel as a distinct system is difficult t ...
*
Quarterstaff
A quarterstaff (plural quarterstaffs or quarterstaves), also short staff or simply staff is a traditional European pole weapon, which was especially prominent in England during the Early Modern period.
The term is generally accepted to refer t ...
, British historical stick fighting weapon
*
Shillelagh (club)
A shillelagh ( ; ga, sail éille or , "thonged willow") is a wooden walking stick and club or cudgel, typically made from a stout knotty blackthorn stick with a large knob at the top. It is associated with Ireland and Irish folklore.
Other ...
*
Silambam
Silambam is an Indian martial art originating in South India in the Indian subcontinent. This style is mentioned in Tamil Sangam literature. The World Silambam Association is the official international body of Silambam.
Origin
References in ...
*
Silambam Asia
*
Tahtib
Tahtib ( arz, تحطيب, taḥṭīb) is the term for a traditional stick-fighting martial art originally named ''fan a'nazaha wa-tahtib'' ("the art of being straight and honest through the use of stick"). The original martial version of tahtib ...
*
Thang-ta
Huyen langlon is an Indian martial art from Manipur. In the Meitei language, means war while or can mean net, knowledge or art. consists of two main components: thang-ta (armed combat) and sarit sarak (unarmed fighting). The primary weapons ...
*
Varma kalai
Varma Kalai (Tamil: ''varmakkalai'', Malayalam and Sanskrit: ''marma-vidya'', Sinhala: ''maru kalā'', Telugu: ''marma-vidya kaḷa'') is a Tamil traditional art of vital points. It originated in present-day Kanyakumari,Tamilnadu, the southern ...
*
World Silambam Association
The World Silambam Association (WSA) ( ta, உலக சிலம்பம் சங்கம்) is the official international body of Silambam for Worldwide and a recognized Non-Governmental Organization. On November 22, 1999, the primary name ...
Matrague (Algeria)
References
{{Authority control
br:Bazhata