Western Weapon Styles: Sticks and Staves

[Zoodles]

Europe has a rich tradition of stick and staff fighting. Unlike the sword techniques, stick and staff fighting styles are still very much alive, though many of them have become obscure. Here is a sampling:

Jogo Do Pau:

This is a portuguese style with roots that stretch back for centuries. Jogo Do Pau was once far better known than it is now, and had unfortunately become somewhat obscure. However, witht he recent revival in interest in western martial arts, it is growing once more and spreading beyond portugal.

Jogo Do Pau includes both single stick and and two handed staff. It has been theorised that the two handed techniques draw extensively from Portuguese Montante, the two handed sword style of the Portuguese peoples. For this reason Jogo Do Pau is of great interest to those looking to reconstruct european two handed sword styles. There are many little details of footwork and body motion that one cannot discern form manuscripts but may be preserved in JDP. JDP training methods are also of interest, because it is a living lineage and may also preserve techniques that could be of value elsewhere.

Bataireacht

Ireland has a long history of warfare and strife, so it is not surprising that they developed a rich array of native martial arts. One of these is Bataireacht, a form of cudgel fighting. Bataireacht was once very common in ireland and was used in inter factional fighting, with some fights turning into small battles with hundreds a side. It has become very obscure in Ireland where it is seen as an embarassing reminder of the past.

However, it is a growing art in North America. In the mid 1800's the Doyle family from Ireland emigrated to Newfoundland and brought Bataireacht with them. The style was taught within the family, from father to son. In 1998 the current grandmaster recieved permission from his father to begin teaching the style to the public, and now it is beginning to grow.This style is not a museum style, where it has been preserved like a fly in amber, but rather an evolving one which has chnaged with time.

Canne De combat:

Canne De Combat is not obscure in France, but not well known out of it. Canne is a very athletic and acrobatic art that shows a great deal of fencing influence. Canne was codified into a sport in the 70's and has grown since then. It is often taught alongside Savate.

[bushido_man96]

There was a book on Jogo Do Pau through Chivalry Bookshelf that I had wanted to pick up, but never did yet. I don't think it was too pricey, either.

I have read in some of the Western style books I have how some weapons systems started with the staff, and many techniques of the staff transferred to the sword styles they went on to work with. I believe the oak staff was also a common weapon kept by priests, too.