''Juego del palo'' or banot (, ''game of the stick'', in

Guanche language Guanche is an extinct language that was spoken by the Guanches of the Canary Islands until the 16th or 17th century. It died out after the conquest of the Canary Islands as the Guanche ethnic group was assimilated into the dominant Spanish cul ...

''banod'') is a traditional

martial art Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preserv ...

/folk sport of

stick-fighting Stick-fighting, stickfighting, or stick fighting is a variety of martial arts which use simple long, slender, blunt, hand-held, generally wooden "sticks" for fighting, such as a gun staff, bō, jō, walking stick, baston, arnis sticks or simila ...

practiced in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, :es:Canarias, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to ...

. It involves the combative use of a slender stick from long, wielded in both hands, and characterised by fluid motion in attacks and defences.

History

Though similar stick fighting techniques are present in the Iberian peninsula (e.g. Portuguese and Galician '' jogo do pau''), the origins of ''juego del palo'' may be traced back to the

Guanches The Guanches were the indigenous inhabitants of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean some west of Africa. It is believed that they may have arrived on the archipelago some time in the first millennium BCE. The Guanches were the only nativ ...

, the

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

of the

Canary Islands in pre-colonial times The Canary Islands have been known since antiquity. Until the Spanish colonization between 1402 and 1496, the Canaries were populated by an indigenous population, whose origin was Amazigh from North Africa. The islands were visited by the Phoe ...

during the early 15th century. A Spanish engineer named

Leonardo Torriani Leonardo is a masculine given name, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese equivalent of the English, German, and Dutch name, Leonard. People Notable people with the name include: * Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), Italian Renaissance scienti ...

wrote a history of the Canary Islands in 1590 and included a record of early ''juego del palo'', accompanied by an illustration of two Guanche warriors performing a type of ritual combat with short staves in a small arena. Torriani wrote;

"When two Canarians went to duel, they met at a special place established for this purpose. It was a small enclosure with a level, raised stone platform at each end. To begin, they each stood upon a platform, armed with three of the smooth throwing stones they call ''tahuas'', and also with the stick called ''magodo'' or ''amodeghe''. Then they dodged the stones as they were thrown, skillfully twisting their bodies without moving their feet. Next, they stepped down and fenced with the staves, each one trying to gain advantage over the other, as is our custom also."

The art has been maintained through to the present day, undergoing a particular renaissance during the 1970s as part of a general effort to maintain native Canarian folk traditions. It bears resemblance to the Portuguese martial art ''jogo do pau'' and the Venezuelan form ''

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 ...

''. ''Juego del palo'' is now a popular sports activity in the Canaries and has been the subject of considerable academic interest as well, with a number of professional conferences having been held at local universities to investigate the history, culture, and technique of the art.

Description

This may be described as a form of stick fencing between two players that is characterized by the spontaneous interplay of attacking techniques and defense techniques. No

protective equipment Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, ele ...

is worn in traditional ''juego del palo''; safety is maintained through the skilled control of attacks, which are restrained rather than being made with full force upon the opponent's body.

Styles

Juego del palo is divided into a number of specific styles or local traditions that have been developed on particular islands within the archipelago, and/or by particular families. The nine primary styles practiced in modern ''juego del palo'' include (mostly named after founders of the styles): Deniz, Morales, Verga, Acosta, Quintero, Vidal, Confiero, ''juego del garrote'' ('game of the club') and ''juego de la lata'' ('game of the tin') . Each style is distinguished from the others by specific fighting techniques and strategies, and also by the rules under which it is played as a competitive game.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Juego Del Palo Stick-fighting Sport in the Canary Islands Sports originating in Spain European martial arts

History

Description

Styles

Further reading

See also

References