Strands of Strife and Life Vol. II - The Book of the Stick (Part 1)

The IMMERSION Foundation Presents Strands of Strife and Life Vol. II

THE BOOK OF THE

STICK

part 1

A Comprehensive Survey of the World's Stick Arts

Edited by Mahipal Lunia / Juha A, Vuori, Ph.D / Mika Harju-Seppänen

THE BOOK OF THE

STIC K

THE BOOK OF THE

STICK A Comprehensive Survey of the World's Stick Arts

part 1

Contributors CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Mahipal Lunia Explorer-in-Residence, The Immersion Foundation Executive Editor, The Immersion Review @theimmersionfoundation

@immersion.foundation

http://www.therenaissancepath.com http://www.theimmersion.foundation

Juha A. Vuori, Ph.D Professor of International Politics, Faculty of Management and Business Tampere University, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1487-2961

Mika Harju-Seppänen mika.harjuseppanen@gmail.com

PEER REVIEWERS Juha A. Vuori, Ph.D Mika Harju-Seppänen 2 Anonymous Reviewers

PRODUCTION Hana Shin Editor & Production Director Cover image by Jdcollins13 on Wikipedia.com (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silambam#/media/File:Silambam_vector.svg).

Cropped from original image. Permission given by Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode).

The Immersion Review, founded by The Immersion Foundation, is a conduit for penetrating insights in combat and combative behavior. It is a space for the dedicated martial artist, who dares to seek ideas from diverse fighting systems.

The Immersion Review is a peer-reviewed journal for the martial arts comprehensivist.

FOR EDITORIAL AND ADVERTISING INQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACT: thereview@theimmersion.foundation

Copyright © 2023 by The Immersion Foundation. All Rights Reserved.

First Edition published in 2023 by The Immersion Foundation. http://theimmersion.foundation No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews.

Acknowledgments

We would like to expresss our heartfelt graditutde to all the auhtors who contributed to this book, the anonymous reviewers who offered their time and critical review through the process, and the students of the Mountain View Aiki school who spent countless hours doing the unseen work behind the scenes. We would also like to offer special thanks to Michael Belzer for being thie guiding light on this journey and a bridge connecting The Immersion Foundation to Donn F. Draeger's work and legacy, and Michael J. Ryan, Ph.D for his contributions to the first two issues of the Immersion Review Vol. 1 - Stick Arts.

Left: Sir Richard Francis Burton [Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Francis_Burton / public domain] Right: Donn F. Draeger [Photo courtesy of Michael Belzer]

Dedication

This work is dedicated to the two pioneers and leaders of hoplology: Sir Richard Francis Burton, who founded the field in the 19th century; and Donn F. Draeger, who revived it in the 20th century.

Foreword

Michael Belzer When Mahipal Lunia of The Immersion Foundation asked me to write the foreword for this 2000-page magnum opus, I was both honored and humbled. Mahipal originally contacted me to learn more about my experiences with Donn F. Draeger, the martial historian who was the founder of modern hoplology, which is the study of human combative behavior. From our very first zoom meeting I could tell that I was talking with a sincere and passionate researcher of worldwide martial culture. As I learned more about The Immersion Foundation and the different research expeditions they had already made into India, the Caribbean, Portugal, and Southeast Asia to document the various combative traditions found in each of those regions, I was reminded of listening to Donn Draeger discuss the 3-month research trips he made annually for his own hoplological fieldwork back in the 60s and 70s.

FOREWORD

· Michael Belzer | xi

The next generation of hoplologists were born and grew up reading the books of Donn Draeger as he opened the martial arts of the east to the world of western practitioners. I could tell that Mahipal was inspired by Draeger to continue in his footsteps and advance the study of hoplology through his research expeditions, publications, and his three-day Immersion Labs. Through the efforts of Mahipal Lunia and The Immersion Foundation I am seeing that many of the visions which Donn Draeger had for the development of modern hoplology are finally becoming a reality some forty years after his passing in 1982. I am so very pleased to be involved with The Immersion Foundation and Mahipal Lunia as they continue to carry on the work of Donn F. Draeger and the study of human combative behavior.

I offered to share the private notes and audio tapes that had been given to me by Richard Hayes, who was to be Draeger’s co-author of the first textbook on hoplology. To do this, we met weekly via zoom and worked our way through the many letters and audio tapes that Draeger and Hayes made each other as they finetuned their concepts around the study of warriors, weapons, and their fighting system. This whole process took about a year to complete. We both thought it was important to do it in this way so we could talk about various items as they came up in our reading and listening.

My own journey with the stick and hoplology began with my meeting Donn Draeger in Japan at the age of 18. By what I can only call “fantastic luck,” I had been invited to start training in a 450-year old classical martial tradition called Shindo muso ryu jojutsu. The dojo happened to be the dojo of Donn Draeger and my teacher was the 25th headmaster of the style, Shimizu Taka-

xii | The Book of the Stick

ji, who was also the sensei of Donn Draeger since the early 60s.

The jo is a four-foot staff made out of white oak and in the nine months I was in Japan at that time, I learned the twelve basic movements known as kihon and the twelve kata (forms) of the beginning set known as the omote.

I only had a chance to meet and train with Draeger Sensei a few times when he would come into Tokyo from his base in Narita.

When it came time for me to return to the U.S. to pursue my college and university studies, Draeger Sensei was at the dojo and said to me, “We are modernizing an old discipline known as hoplology, which is the study of warriors, their weapons, and their fighting systems. If you would like to be involved with this, let us stay in touch by letter.”

We did maintain contact by letters and four years later, in 1979, more fantastic luck landed in my lap as I was invited to participate in the First International SMR Jojutsu Intensive Training Camp which was held in Penang, Malaysia, and taught by Donn Draeger Sensei. I attended the five-day camp, and afterwards I was invited to accompany Draeger Sensei as he traveled around Malaysia to interview a variety of master teachers in fighting arts as diverse as pentjak silat, combat tai chi, Indian silambam, and Shaolin kung fu. As we traveled together, Draeger Sensei was able to help me deepen my understanding of hoplology, research methods, and interviewing techniques along with other conceptual tools that comprise the study of human combative behavior.

When I was ready to return to Los Angeles from Malaysia, I asked Draeger Sensei what I should be doing in Los Angeles since there was no licensed teacher of Shindo muso ryu jojutsu that I could

FOREWORD | xiii

continue my training with. He told me, “You must find a weapons-based system as training with weapons will teach you things that an empty-handed system cannot.”

I was aware that Dan Inosanto was teaching Filipino stick fighting in Los Angeles, and when I returned from Malaysia in 1979, I found my way to the Kali Academy in Carson, CA and was accepted as a student. It was here that I was introduced to several different styles of Filipino stick fighting which utilized different lengths of the rattan stick and had different training methods, and Guro Dan was able to provide the historical and cultural context for each of the styles that was being represented at the academy. The training at the academy was intense and I felt like I was in a martial arts “graduate school.”

After five years of training under Guro Dan Inosanto, I decided that it was time to follow some more advice from Donn Draeger, which was to “go to the country of origin if you really want to learn about the cultural context of the art that you are studying.”

I made plans to go to the Philippines for a three-month expedition to locate as many teachers of the Filipino arts as I could, interview them, and document their styles as closely as possible as I had learned from Donn Draeger. This was in 1985 and I was 28 years old.

“Fantastic luck” was with me again when I landed in the Philippines and, on my first day in Manila, happened to meet a young man named Roberto Morales who said he could “. . . bring me to his escrima teacher, Antonio ‘Tatang’ Ilustrisimo.” Little did I know at that time, but Ilustrisimo was a grandmaster of his art and was well-known throughout the Philippines as a full-contact

xiv | The Book of the Stick

fighter with a fearsome reputation even at the age I met him, which was 82 years old. GM Ilustrisimo was very gracious to me and invited me to start training with his small group of students in Luneta Park early in the mornings. After about a month of this, Roberto came to me and told me that he knew I wanted to travel around the islands and meet different teachers and document their styles. He told me that GM Ilustrisimo was aware of what I wanted to do and offered to accompany me as my “interpreter and bodyguard—as he will need both.” Roberto also came with us, and we traveled to the islands of Mindoro, Negros, Cebu and far down into the southern Philippines to the small island of Jolo. We spent a month on this trip and then it was time for me to return to Los Angeles again. It is amazing to me how one person such as Donn Draeger could have inspired my own life as much as he did, and it was all from his responding to my letter when I was a 18-year-old kid just out of high school.

Donn Draeger’s inspiration to modernize hoplology came when he read The Book of the Sword by Sir Richard Burton, which was published in 1884. It was the most comprehensive cross-cultural presentation of the sword that had yet been published. Burton was an accomplished swordsman himself who had seen battle with it and came with the scars to prove it. He was an adventurer who traveled the world and sought out masters of the sword in each country he visited. He documented the training methods and connected the weapon with its particular system of use, which was quite a departure from the way weapons were being featured at that time, which was to view it in a museum, removed from its cultural context with little or no explanation of its system of use.

FOREWORD | xv

The Immersion Foundation as led by Mahipal Lunia took its inspiration from the work of Donn Draeger and represents the next generation of hoplologists who will “stand on the shoulders of giants” like Sir Richard Burton and Donn F. Draeger.

Before the sword, there was a simple stick. Sharpen one end and you have both a staff and a spear, which were among the earliest weapons devised by our prehistoric ancestors. The Book of the Stick will reveal the stick fighting systems of the world from the Filipino styles that have become so popular in the last two decades, to stick fighting systems from North Africa, Russia, India, Cambodia, Burma, Germany, Ireland, the U.S., Japan, China, Hawaii, New Zealand, and others, many of which have not been seen by the general public. Some of the training methods have been considered “secret” and through the efforts of Mahipal Lunia along with the support of The Immersion Foundation are being revealed for the first time.

Presented in four parts, it contains 79 different articles authored by master-teachers of their individual arts, many of which will be presented to the public for the first time. Beautifully illustrated with over 1000 photographs, the reader will be able to see the various weapons and how they are used in each fighting style.

Each article has been peer-reviewed by six different professors from a variety of academic fields, including anthropology, archeology, psychology, and hoplology. Mahipal has dedicated five years of his life and thousands of hours of work to see The Book of the Stick to its completion.

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The Book of the Stick will be an invaluable resource guide for anyone interested in widening their understanding of the versatile stick fighting arts of the world.

- Michael Belzer Shindo Muso Ryu Jojutsu, Gomokuroku September, 2023

FOREWORD | xvii

Ireland United Kingdom France United States

Italy Canary Islands

Trinadad and Tobago Nigeria

Argentina

at a gla nce TH E B OOK OF THE STICK part 1 Scandanavia

Japan

Hong Kong The Philippines

South Africa

Cont ents Foreword

xi

Michael Belzer Introduction: Modern Hoplology and The Immersion Foundation

21

Interview with Michael Belzer Editorial

55

Mahipal Lunia, Juha A. Vuori &

Mika Harju-Seppänen Arnis and Barangay Tanod

76

Joel D. Anajao My Path to Menkyo

106

Michael Belzer Kalinda: An Introduction to the Trinidadian Stickfighting Art

154

Rondel Benjamin Life and Strife: An Ongoing Conversation

164

Rondel Benjamin & Mahipal Lunia The Long Pole: A Western Perspective

198

Michael Blackgrave Bonafont Cane Fighting System

218

Arturo Bonafont Documentary Analysis and Interpretation of the Juego de Palo Canario Alejandro Rodriguez Buenafuente

304

African Stick Fighting in Maguzawa/ Hausa and Zulu Cultures

328

Jigaba Bwaira The Pure Art of Angel Cabales Serrada ng Escrima

338

JC Cabiero Sticks and Chivalry

358

Bryan Cannata Stick Fencing and Canne Italiana

378

Guido Caporizzi Bataireacht: A Once-Famous Irish Martial Art Coming Back to Life

398

Maxime Chouinard & Nathan Featherstone Essential Kabaroan

430

Darrin Cook Sticks: Branching Out

480

Toby Cowern The Stick: Man’s Oldest Tool and Weapon, and Its Use by the UK Special Forces

490

Mark Davies Dog Brothers Martial Arts' Seven Ranges and Stick Grappling

508

Marc Denny Dog Brothers Martial Arts Marc Denny

524

Introduction: Modern Hoplology and The Immersion Foundation

Michael Belzer Interviewed by Juha A. Vuori and Mika Harju-Seppänen

Michael “Mike” Belzer is a lifelong martial artist trained to the highest levels in several martial arts traditions. He started his journey at the age of nine in Danzan ryu jujutsu receiving his Shodan in 1971 at age 16. Six decades of involvement in the art has earned him 9th degree black belt and the title of Professor in the art. In the mid-1970s, Mike traveled to Japan for nine months of training at the international headquarters for aikido and jodo. While in Japan, he began his training in Shindo muso ryu jojutsu, the practice of which he continues even today at the level of Menkyo.

In 1979, Mike accompanied the noted hoplologist Donn F. Draeger to Malaysia, to the first international Shindo muso ruy training camp. During this trip he received firsthand introduction to hoplology fieldwork from the founder of the field himself. Working also with

INTRODUCTION: HOPLOLOGY & TIF

· Michael Belzer | 23

Richard Hayes, he has developed into one of the foremost experts on hoplology, being responsible for training such notables as Professor Dave Hall, Hunter “Chip” Armstrong, and—more recently—Mahipal Lunia in the field.

In addition to the aforementioned arts, Mike has studied, for example, Kodokan judo, taekwondo, Shotokan karate, hapkido, Tai Mantis kung fu, savate, and pentjak silat. He also studied Filipino kali/escrima and Jeet Kune Do for over 14 years with Dan Inosanto, receiving Advanced Instructor level in serrada escrima. In 1988, he assisted Professor Wally Jay in producing his famous book, Small Circle Jujitsu, and he is featured in the illustrations of the book.

Mike has received the «Instructor of the Year» award from Jujitsu America and is in the World Martial Arts Hall of Fame.

As if this was not enough, and being a true hoplologist at heart, Mike has been active in applying the knowledge and understanding gained through traditional arts to the modern day environments, be it in the contexts of use of force or self-defense. He has, for example, served as a consultant to the Los Angeles Police Department’s Arrest and Control Unit, as part of their Civilian Martial Arts Advisory Panel (CMAAP) in developing their use of force protocols. In the civilian field, he is one of the pioneers of Adrenal Stress Scenario Training, working with several projects such as Impact Personal Safety, Blind Ambition, Esteem, and, most recently, with his wife Meredith Gold, running a program called “R-A-W (Ready, Aware, Willing) Power.”

Despite all of his achievements and adventures, Mike is an easily approachable, warm, and open person—a true gentleman. He has a wealth of accumulated knowledge of all things martial and he is more than willing to share it with like-minded practitioners, no

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matter their level. He also has the courage to take, again and again, the role of a novice, constantly trying to deepen his understanding of human combative behavior. You just would not know any of this by observing his unassuming demeanor. He truly is an embodiment of the best qualities of a warrior.

The following interview is left largely unedited in order to give the reader a window to Mike›s unique personality. Without further ado, here is “Michael Belzer Speaks from Glendale, California.”

INTRODUCTION: HOPLOLOGY & TIF

· Michael Belzer | 25

Donn F. Draeger and Modern Hoplology Donn Drager made annual research trips that were usually about three months long. He called them expeditions. Other people called them safaris, weapon safaris. He would usually take three to five people with him that were part of his, what I call “the inner circle.” Most of them were in Japan with him training various classical martial arts and doing hoplology with him. For myself, I was always interested in going on one of those long trips.

Instead, I was able to travel with him to the first international Shindo muso ryu stick fighting intensive training camp that he taught. That was in 1979, when I was 22. After that, he had about a week before the group would come and then they went out on what turned out to be their last expedition.

I had a chance to meet several of the master teachers that he was interviewing. I met Master Raman of Silat Seni Gayong and several others from combat tai chi, Shaolin kung fu, and silambam (Indian stick fighting). I was able to talk with and interview them.

I was also able to experience how Draeger was gathering his information. Along the way, he gave me his personal introduction to hoplology, the study of human combative behavior. At the end of that three-week trip he said, “Next time you will come on the big one.”

That was the plan, but that never happened because everybody in that particular event ended up getting poisoned by one of the members of the Aceh tribe somewhere in Indonesia. Everybody got very sick and they ended up in the hospital with amoebic dysentery. They eventually recovered, but it was kind of the beginning of a downward spiral for Draeger. He ended up having cancer of the liver and by October 1982, he was gone.

26 | The Book of the Stick

The way he worked, he had his inner group—the core people that were with him in Japan—and then he had a bunch of people all over the world that were interested in what he was doing and in hoplology. He would give them assignments like: “Look for this book” or “Investigate this particular art that happens to be in your country.” I was one of those satellite guys.

Draeger had a solid plan: he was going to be relocating to the Big Island of Hawaii. They had, if not already purchased, at least access to 10 acres—which means somebody that was involved with them had the acreage and was willing to donate it. They would build some kind of hostel-type facility where people could come and stay for a few weeks. The plan was to bring in qualified teachers from different arts to teach the arts authentically.

People would pay to come there and train, just like at an Olympic training camp. They had their own board of directors; there was going to be a nonprofit section, and a for-profit section. My name was on the list of people that would be staffing the original center for hoplology.

But then, Donn Draeger’s health started to deteriorate and everything, of course, spiraled down. There were two main people that took the ball after this. They were Hunter Armstrong and Dr. David Hall. They continued Draeger’s work by producing Hoplos—which was the newsletter—which later became the Hoplite journal. Over a period of about 10 years, they really tried to keep what Draeger had done going: they led a couple of expeditions into India, and they kept on doing their own writing and research. But at the end of the day, everybody›s got to make a living, and people had to start to get real jobs. They got families and they have to pay for the house, and so on.

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· Michael Belzer | 27

Hunter Armstrong got involved with training the United States Marine Corps. One of the students that came to him happened to be a Marine officer who was very interested in Donn Draeger and saw the type of training that Hunter was doing. It was really classical Japanese martial arts, but instead of a sword, you had a rifle and a bayonet. He modeled the training after the classical martial art paradigm. Armstrong started that, and so he created his own training program for it. He is still running the International Hoplology Society. I have not been involved with it for many, many years, and I do not know what level it is at now.

I had my own experience after Draeger died. I was concurrently having a pen pal relationship with the co-author of the first textbook of hoplology. That was the goal that Donn Draeger and Richard Hayes were working on. I started pen-palling with Richard Hayes probably in 1977-78 after he wrote to Donn Draeger.

Hayes asked a question about Wally Jay›s small circle jujitsu and wanted to know some specific answers to some questions. Donn Draeger said to him in a letter, “Why don’t you write to my good friend Mike Belzer, who is an instructor of that style, the Danzan style. Maybe he can answer the questions for you.” So, he wrote to me and asked me questions about stepping, stances, and shifting, and if you change one part of a system then it affects other parts of the system, and on and on and on. I really had no idea what he was talking about.

When I wrote him back, I was maybe 20-21 at the time, Sandan in Hawaiian jujitsu, and I said that I really do not know what you are talking about. Could you start from the beginning? He wrote back, and said, “Dear Mike, thanks for your letter of blah, blah, blah. First there was the Big Bang. And then the universe

28 | The Book of the Stick

was formed.” Then he continued on to the Stone Age, the tribal groups, the Bronze Age, the rise of the city-state, and on and on.

This became a multi-letter thing per week, handwritten letters.

Hayes had his own physical challenges. He was what is called a universal reactor. He thinks that in the Korean War he got affected by some sort of gas attack and became very reactive to all sorts of irritants. He had to eat very bland food, and he could hardly wear any clothes at all because he would start to asphyxiate. He was married to a Japanese woman, who lived in a unit next to his in Seattle. Her mother also lived with her and they took care of him. All he was really able to do was read, so he read everything.

He read seven newspapers a day, a book a day, and all the magazines and journals.

If he had a question, he would write the author. Sometimes they would write him back. Donn Draeger was one of the guys that would write you back. One thing led to another and they started a pen-pal-type of relationship, which is not easy with Donn Draeger. That was just because of all the things that he was doing and all the different people that would write to him. When I wrote to him, age 18, on my way to Japan, he wrote me back. That gives you a little window into his kind of personality and how open he was to helping people that were sincerely interested in learning about martial arts the way that they were really taught authentically in whatever country you were interested in.

While I was on my trajectory to go to Malaysia and travel with Donn Draeger, I was corresponding with Richard Hayes multiple times during the week. He sent me books with highlights, dog ears, and arrows: very important, must read, follow up on this,

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· Michael Belzer | 29

write to this person, look up Science News. “We are trying to find this particular hormone that has been identified that affects the fear and stress response.” “Go to the cemetery, and walk and look at all the headstones on the veterans’ cemetery—come back and tell me your impressions.” Stuff like that. He gave me specific questions to ask Donn Draeger, but when I would ask questions, he would say, sorry, I cannot go into that, that is for the textbook. I got a lot of those things.

I got the invitation to go to the stick fighting thing. There were specific things you had to do: you are going to arrive on this date, you are going to go to this location, and then you are going to take this bus, and go to this other school, and then you are going to check in. So I said, Yeah, I will do all that. I wrote to Donn Draeger, and I said, here is the plan, here is what I am going to do.

That is when he said, “Awesome, sounds great. I know this was a big sacrifice. By the way, I do not want to mess up your plans, but if you are interested in going the cheap way like me, why don›t you just meet me in Japan, and then we will go to Thailand. We will take the train. It is a 25-hour train ride into Malaysia. That way we can do a little introduction to hoplology as we are doing that.”

That is how that happened. I kind of thought that there was going to be a bunch of other guys that were going to meet there, like five or six guys, and we were all going to go together. It turned out that there was one other guy, but he got sick. So, it was just Donn Draeger and me. That is how I got to travel with him one on one. I did interview him on the train ride. That was an amazing experience and I learned about some of the goals and the vision that he had for the center. I made it to Malaysia, did the five-day

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camp where you trained three times a day. Sometimes he would have different instructors of different styles come in the evening and give demonstrations. Other times we would go out into the areas of Penang to see demonstrations of different styles.

After that, he said he had about a week before the rest of the guys come. If I was interested, we could go visit the various teachers he was interviewing for current books, like Shantung Black Tiger and Phoenix Eye Fist. He was also working on a book on silambam, and on another one on combat tai chi. We did that and I got a chance to meet the masters. I asked them, okay, if I gave you the punch, what would you do? If I gave you the push, what would you do? If I give you a headlock, what would you do? There are various pictures; there is no video, because this was 1979. All the pictures that were taken of me with these various guys were taken by Donn Draeger, which was cool. Then it was time to go.

At the airport, he said that next time you will go on the big trip with us. After I got back, the plan was still to do the center. We were going to create a way for people to start practicing the authentic arts, in an authentic way, under qualified instruction.

Then you flash forward 10, 20, 30, 40 years. During that time, various people were contacting me about my experience with Donn Draeger, because I wrote a couple of articles. I tried to share some of my experiences with people. One of the things that happened with Dick Hayes is he wrote to me after Draeger died and said, “I have got my own health problems and I don›t know how long I am going to live. So, I think I should transmit everything that I was working on with Donn Draeger on to you.” So, he started doing that. How could he do it? The only way was to handwrite it all over again.

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· Michael Belzer | 31

Once again, I am getting multiple letters a week under different categories like biomechanics, fear, and the place-time matrix. It was about eight different categories. From those letters I had to highlight the different sections in different colors, take it to a secretarial service that was using a word processor to type out these different sections. Then I mailed those sections back to Dick Hayes. He added, deleted, crossed out, made arrows, made charts, and sent it back to me. We do this, to the typist, back to me, up to him, back and forth, probably for nine months or so, until we finally create an inch-thick spiral notebook called The Theoretics of Hoplology.

That is where the eight combative traits were listed, along with several other topics, but the eight combative traits were what can be considered the guts of hoplology. That is how Donn Draeger explained it. From there you could do a lot of different things; you could explain many things that you might not be able to really describe to somebody without having an understanding of how these traits work. Something like taking the initiative would be sen; force or yielding the force, we would start from goju; blending with an attack would be synchronicity or aiki. These traits apply not only to Japanese arts in which they were originally identified, but in other arts, too. Hoplology strove to take it out of its ethnocentric bias and to make it so that it could be universally described and universally applied across cultures and arts.

Dick Hayes also gave me seven different audio tapes. He and Draeger exchanged audio tapes back and forth, and the tapes that Hayes received from him were sent to me. They were about kicking around terms, ideas, and plans, talking about what the goals were and projects they were currently working on. From

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those eight tapes, I edited together something that I called Donn Draeger Speaks from Narita, Japan, because that is how he would usually start the tapes: “Donn Draeger speaking from Narita, Japan,” and then he would go into it.

I edited it together with the idea that, if somebody was interested, I could send it to them. I could say that they should just imagine that Donn Draeger is speaking to them, and then you would listen to what he had to say. I thought that was a very cool thing, and the people that received it really seemed to enjoy it.

Decades later, I used that when I turned 60 as my touchpoint to begin my PowerPoint presentation on the life of Donn Draeger and his effect on the martial arts. In that, you would listen to a little bit of that CD, and then you would see maybe some pictures or a video.1 Then I would talk a little bit about his learning judo and jujitsu as a little kid, joining the Marine Corps as a young guy, age 15, moving to Japan to study martial arts, becoming the author, going out on the expeditions, and so on.

At some point, I got an inquiry from Mahipal Lunia. The name was first given to me by my serrada teacher, Khalid Khan. He said that Mahipal was one of his students too, he was also an aiki jujutsu man, and someday you guys should get together. But of course, life happens, and that connection never happened until he contacted me about Donn Draeger and hoplology. We had the same type of talk you and I are having right now—I just gave him the story. He asked me whether those notes were available and I 1 You can see some of this material in the Immersion Talk, “‘Hoplology 101: An Introduction to Donn Draeger’ with Michael Belzer Pt.3” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWM-YJbvbwQ).

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· Michael Belzer | 33

said, yeah, here they are. Mahipal asked if I would mind having him read them, as he was archiving those types of things. I said, well, yeah, you could and it is not like, “Oh, I cannot understand this,” but because it is Dick Hayes writing about these different things, it is going to be better for me to actually do it the way I was told to share this information with Hunter Armstrong and David Hall.

Remember, they were carrying the ball right after Draeger died.

They were also having their own pen pal relationship with Dick Hayes, but Hayes was not giving them everything that he was giving me. I do not know why I got tasked for it, but I was. So, when we were all done, he said, “Now Mike, you need to get with Hunter Armstrong and Dave Hall.” I had never met them before; this was to be my first time meeting them. Dave Hall was up at UC Berkeley and I was down in L.A. I met them up in Berkeley, Dave Hall got us a room in the library, and my assignment was to sit them down and read every word to them.

I know I did that, but I have no memory at all of actually reading it to them. I know I did, because we were there Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It was torture, but that is what we did. It was because it really was an extension of Donn Draeger. Donn Draeger and Dick Hayes were writing it, and Draeger said this is what we are doing, so that was what we were doing.

I said to Mahipal that that is what I did with them, and if you want, we can do the same thing. I said we would meet, let us pick a day, Thursday mornings work for me. He said okay, so we started doing it. I remember it was like going back in time, because how long had it been for me since I had been looking at all

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this stuff? 30 years? Yeah, 30 years! It was amazing to talk about it again, to see it again. Sure enough, one little sentence brought up the context of what was happening when we were writing it.

It really worked quite well to do that.

We worked our way all the way through it. It took two years of weekly meetings to go over the whole thing. But we made our way through that. Along the way, I was learning about the Immersion Foundation, its projects, the Immersion Labs, and all that. When I heard about the Lab, Holy Blood, Holy Blade (Lab #4, 2023) that we went to, I said to Mahipal, this type of thing is really a manifestation of one of the big dreams that Donn Draeger had: bringing authentic teachers into one location, having students come in one location, having authentic training methods given out the way they are supposed to be. He agreed, he said yeah. As I was just going over the different visions and goals that Draeger had, he was kind of smiling and saying we are doing this right now.

I said, yeah, you really are. That really is what motivated me to stay involved. Go to that Immersion Lab; just the venue was so awesome. I felt like Donn Draeger was there, I could really feel his spirit.

The expeditions that have been led by Mahipal are of that the high caliber that Draeger was really looking for. By that I mean, we are talking about people that are academics, masters, Ph.Ds, but also martial artists. Draeger was working with the people that were interested. He was raising them up,2 but somebody like 2 Draeger held a series of guest lectures at the East-West Center and the University of Hawaii. The International Hoplology Society made transcripts of the lectures.

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me, what was I, a 21- or 22-year-old kid still at UCLA working on my B.A. in sociology. But now, the Immersion Foundation is able to bring together anthropologists, archaeologists, psychologists, sociologists, all trained in various martial disciplines, and is able to record on high-def video that could be shown on a regular movie screen or TV special. Now everything is computerized and we can talk worldwide. We can scan this and send that. It is a completely different world. The fact that Donn Draeger was able to do what he could do was amazing.

Why Do We Need Hoplology in Today’s World?

Wide access to the martial art content in today’s world of YouTube is a two-edged sword, to use a hoplology example. Draeger talked a lot about the emic, or the inside view, and the etic, the outside view. The emic is the trained practitioner who is able to maybe discern things that an outsider would never look for, or had no idea existed. But the emic hoplologist has to be able to present their insight in an etic way. We can call it “user friendly”—it does have to become relevant.

How do you make the study of, let us call it “killing people,” creating pain, or injuring people, relevant and user-friendly to people, so that there might be some understanding, so that it makes sense to look at this? One of the people that wrote about that in his book, The Buddhist Goddess Marishiten, was Dr. David Hall.3 He specifically wrote a chapter about how some of these rituals were used to treat the soldier coming back from the battlefield 3 David A. Hall, The Buddhist Goddess Marishiten: A Study of the Evolution and Impact of her Cult on the Japanese Warrior (Boston, MA: Brill, 2014).

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to reintegrate with society. He has taught that direct application to veterans today. You have to look at it as expanding rings. One of them is the way many of the military people that have been at war for over 20 years are able to come out and create different training programs for civilians and business people, people that are dealing with traumatic stress. They are taking the lessons that they learned from war, from dealing with fear, and coming up short, or performing amazing feats of courage and bravery that no one thought was possible.

How are you able to apply that to starting your own business, to dealing with your own personal fears and anxieties, or beginning to work through trauma that you have already experienced growing up, but is still affecting you today? Is there a way to learn dealing with fear under a life threatening situation, as learned by the warriors of India or Japan, or in any particular country or discipline? They dealt with it like this, this, and this; they did their breathing exercises, they had their mudras, their hand-symbols. That might be a self-hypnotic anchoring method, it might be something that, by recreating a training scenario, you can put yourself into a similar situation that you went into as a kid, and got traumatized. You can work your way through, and have a feeling of, “I made it; I survived; now I have skills—there is something I can do now. I am not helpless. I am not a victim.”

Never giving up, always getting up, creating an attitude of “I will survive, I will succeed, I am unstoppable.” Why is it that I feel like, “God, I do not know if I can handle that”? Well, there is a method for handling that.

For example, how can you go into a Delta Force shoot house with live fire and have one of your teammates sitting in the chair with

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other people firing live rounds and going full speed? How do you do that and be successful? One way to do it is to do it slow-motion first; we walk it slow-mo. We figure out exactly what the plan is and how we are going to go left, how we are going to go right, who is going to get this sector, and how we are going to cover this particular angle. Then you speed it up, you speed it up some more, then you videotape it, and then you troubleshoot it.

There are ways to do these dangerous things. They just have to be broken down.

That is what I saw in the Immersion Lab (Holy Blood, Holy Blade).

There were ways to break it down. Remember all the shoulder-touching stuff that was taught in La Verdadera Destreza? I thought that was so awesome, so amazing. I know that we did that as an exercise at the Inosanto Academy as part of the savate training camps. The national savate team from France was brought in twice, two years in a row. This was one of the exercises in the end. Back then I thought, oh, it is cool to touch the shoulder. When we did it now, I thought, okay, that is what we are going to do this time. But it went on for two hours. Two hours of touch the shoulder, touch both shoulders, do this, do that, do this, and do that. By the time you are done, hey, I could move. I thought I could move before, but I could really move now.

How did that happen? It was broken down step by step. Same thing with the bowie knife fighting—where are you going to get that? Sure, you can see a YouTube video, you can get a DVD and all that, but to have it presented with experts› instruction taught in a way that gives you a chance to fail and be okay. Everybody in there was pretty high level. It is not easy when you are instructor level to go back to being a student. Not really. You do not want

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to look like you do not know what you are doing and you do not want to look lame. It is kind of a problem. When you are instructor level, you are in your comfort zone; who is really going to challenge you? Probably not many, because you are in your environment. But you go into another art, you go into another program, and now you are just a beginner. You get to have that beginning experience all over again. It is always a great experience.

If you can just let loose and know it is going to be okay—that is exactly how I felt with the bullwhip. I knew Tony De Longis from way back in the 1980s at the Inosanto Academy. I knew he did bullwhip back then, but I never got into it. It was interesting, it was cool, but 30 or 40 years later, wow, here is Tony again. When you see the demo, and you see how fluid it is: you can hit every number on the clock. It is so amazing. And what is my problem, what is my excuse? Well, I got a hurt shoulder. My shoulder does not work anymore. I cannot do it right. So, I talked to him about that. He goes: it is okay, we just go slow; a lot of it really is not in the shoulder, a lot of it is in the wrist. I will break it down for you. And boom, there you go. It was just great to be able to do that and watch different people experience it. Wow, we got the crack. Do not chase that, do not try to chase the sound. But everybody wants that crack of the whip. That will come; you want to get the motion. Let us work on the motion.

I saw with everybody how they broke down their art. All the footwork drills for the Jeet Kune Do, amazing. It felt like I was a beginner all over again. Coming up through the Inosanto Academy from 1979 through the early 90s, I went through all that JKD stuff. It did not feel like it was completely new, but remember when Joaquin Marcelo just put his head in his hand and almost

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started to cry: these are all basically experts that are in the room, and we cannot even do a step-and-slide, shuffle, step-through; everybody is just falling all over themselves. But they are having a great time. He was not laughing at us, he was laughing with us.

It was all just awesome.

I definitely think that emic hoplology is relevant. It is like with so many things: until somebody is interested enough to say, hey, tell me more about that, we will not have a chance to become user-friendly. But the term hoplology is interesting enough to pique someone’s interest: “What was that, what you say? Hopology?”

“No, hopology is the study of bunnies. I am talking about hoplology.” “What is that?” “I will give you five minutes on that.” People start to get interested in that because I think it rings a little bell with them. There is a little warrior in everybody. Where does that come from? It comes from a survival instinct. If we start to drown, watch out, because, if you are in my way, I might be crawling on top of you. That is where I think there is a little hook: even if they do not admit it, people are interested in becoming more self-sufficient. Some of that starts with the question of, “Could I defend myself?”

Even if I am a big guy, six-foot-five, but I grew up with a dad that told me I was nothing, that I was a loser, just a disappointment as a son. Maybe I was not so coordinated. Maybe I am a little overweight. But you know what? There is something inside of me that says, I want more. You meet that one teacher. I met a P.E. teacher when I was in eighth grade who called me champ. The other P.E. coaches all through elementary school always called me by my last name: “Hey, Belzer, get over here!” But I never felt like they really liked me very much. I was not the first person chosen for

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the team, if you know what I mean. But summer school happens.

I am at a different school with a different guy. I just happened to ask him a question, and he goes, how you doing champ? Whoa, he called me champ. That just totally changed my attitude; I was now more excited about physical education and going to his class and interested in, what are we going to learn this time, what are we going to do. We have that ability, doing martial arts, sharing about hoplology, talking about the history of hoplology, about the people that inspired us, people like Donn Draeger. It is amazing that somebody like that is inspiring a generation of people that never met him. That is awesome.

Hoplology and Societal Spheres of Martial Arts One of the things that Donn Draeger mentions in one of the tapes is that of course we study military science, military history, and the military, but in the whole scheme of human combativeness, the military actually makes up a very small slice. He said that it is combativeness on the civilian level, the non-military level, the tribal level, the level of the everyday citizen, that really comprises the majority of human combativeness. Draeger thought that hoplology covered combativeness at all levels of social complexity. This could even include species other than humans. One of the researchers that he felt really could contribute to hoplology was Dr. E. O. Wilson, out of Harvard, who was into sociobiology.

They were corresponding back and forth about various aspects of the research he was doing, which had a lot to do with ants.

I thought this breadth of social complexity and combativeness was a really important point.

I think there is a feeling sometimes that, if I am not a military person with actual battlefield experience, I cannot really be a

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qualified hoplologist. Donn Draeger would not agree with that.

He never encouraged any of his guys to join the military. He never said that if you want to get to where he is, you got to join the military. In fact, when I said I was interested in joining the Marine Corps, he did his best to talk me out of it. He said, look, you know, you are never going to be able to go all the way because you did not go to Annapolis or you did not go to one of the Ivy League military schools. You will always be passed over for promotion, and if you cannot go all the way, you are limiting yourself. He said that that was why he got out, because he could not go all the way. It is just a roll of the dice and how the cards are dealt, and it is what it is.

I have been very interested in the police application of force and been quite involved with different groups. I was part of a group that looked at the entire use-of-force program of the LAPD for, really, several years and helped create a whole new training program for them. They were specifically required by the federal Christopher Commission to work with outside experts, martial arts experts, to look at what they were doing as police officers: how they get use-of-force training and troubleshoot it, and ask ourselves, if we had to do that, what would we do, and how would we do it? Over a period of time, we created different aspects, techniques, and ways to do it. They created their own program based on that. They came back to us, and showed it to us. We gave them some ideas and some tips. It went back and forth, back and forth.

They created a 40-hour program that they eventually put all of their existing officers through in a five-day period, eight hours a day, and then they required recruits to go through it, too.

I have always felt like being connected to groups that actually

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have to do that type of thing, whether it is the police, bouncers, or military people. They are something that can keep you on Planet Earth when it comes to the martial arts, which can easily deteriorate into what I call “ingenious solutions to non-existent problems.” It is very helpful, and hoplology helps us do this, because even though it is a slice, it is an important slice, and it is where we can get some very good information. People that have been there and done that can look and see, yeah, you know what, we did the same thing, or I had that same experience, or I do not think so, no, I would not do that, that would have a low probability of success.

The Book of the Stick and Taking Hoplology beyond Asian Martial Arts The Book of the Stick is a great expression, again, of one of the goals of Donn Draeger and the hoplology research that he was doing.

He was just one guy, a prolific author and somebody that could produce much content, but still just one guy. He was working on a three-volume series all about pentjak silat. That was going to be his, what he called his “magnum opus.” He did the Classical Bujutsu,4 Classical Budo,5 and Modern Bujutsu and Budo books.6

4 Donn F. Draeger, Classical Bujutsu: The Martial Arts and Ways of Japan, vol. 1 (Weatherhill, 1973).

5 Donn F. Draeger, Classical Budo: The Martial Arts and Ways of Japan, vol. 2 (Weatherhill, 1973).

6 Donn F. Draeger, Modern Bujutsu & Budo: Martial Arts And Ways Of Japan, vol. 3 (Weatherhill, 1974).

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He did the Pentjak-Silat: The Indonesian Fighting Art,7 and then he was working on these three volumes of pentjak silat, and that would have been it. He died at age 60. He would have produced that and then he would have been into the hoplology center for the last 20 years of his life, still doing some expeditions, but not many, and producing whatever content he was going to do.

Would he ever have gotten around to The Book of the Stick? I do not know. I kind of do not think so. I see this as another realization of a dream of his that he would have liked to have done: the idea of going all over the world to bring out these different traditions, and to describe their training methods, interview the master teachers. That is the epitome of what he was all about and what he wanted his generation to do. All the big boys say the same thing: this is just an introduction, and I hope that you will be inspired to go on and do more research, because more research is needed in this aspect, this aspect, and that aspect. They are telling the truth, this really is an overview. Maybe you do not get that feeling when you read it, because it is so in-depth, but it is true, and that is what is happening with this next generation.

It is great that the Immersion Foundation is doing what it is doing, because now there is a home for people that are martial arts nerds. A martial nerd is kind of an amateur hoplologist: “We do not know it, but we are interested.” If we are in Mexico, and there is a Mexican knife fighting guy that we heard about, we are probably going to go find that guy. We are going to be respectful, and see if we can get some information. Maybe he will let us take 7 Howard W. Alexander, Quintin Chambers, and Donn F. Draeger, Pentjak-Silat: The Indonesian Fighting Art (Kodansha International, 1970).

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some pictures or do some video. That is hoplology fieldwork 101.

The Foundation is giving martial arts nerds a home and a place to go, oh, I did not even know there was a name for this kind of thing. I am really looking forward to The Book of the Stick. I think it will be awesome.

Archiving Martial Arts Donn Draeger envisioned collecting and archiving martial arts knowledge in his time. In the tapes from Narita, Japan, he specifically talks about projects that were ongoing as well as plans for the future. One of them was creating the world›s largest library that would have everything related to weapons fighting, martial arts, and combative systems that there was. To create a library for researchers was one of the goals. This is back in the late 70s and the idea of having things “in the cloud” had not come into reality yet. A project that he would have was more of the sort where he would ask you to see if you can go to this library, find this book, have them Xerox this chapter, and then send it to me.

It was that level of stuff.

Another goal was creating a warehouse where he could have representative weapons from all around the world. But how are you going to do that? What kind of facility are you going to have?

Some of these were dreams, some of them were visions. When you flash forward again to the Holy Blood Holy Blade Immersion Lab, the venue for the school resembled that. The collection of antique and replica weapons was just awesome the way it was.

What a great place to have an event like that at the center. On the Big Island, it would have been something like that, it would have been some awesome experience. Not like a YMCA camp-out. It

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would have to be some amazing thing like, oh my God, I cannot even believe that I am here. That was the experience that I had when I came in just to the venue of the Lab. The logistics of it all: getting people from the airport, to the hotel, and getting people from the hotel over to the actual location, where we are going to have the event. Just doing that successfully is a huge undertaking: making sure there are enough snacks, making sure there is enough water, and making sure people are okay. All that would have to happen, if you are Donn Draeger running your Hoplology Center for International Training. How are you going to pay for that? We are going to get the money.

You can write a grant for that. Oh, okay, that is awesome. That is great. Let me know how that goes. It is not easy. But the Immersion Foundation is doing it. It is manifesting. But the events, the Labs, need to get to the next level where they are not losing money. I know that is the goal for the next one, and that that will be huge. Somehow there has to be a mechanism so that that will happen. That was the goal for Donn Draeger: people would pay for the experience; people want this, they will pay for it just like they paid to go to an Olympic training thing, pay for a personal trainer. If people are interested, they will pay for it.

How to Keep Hoplology Going One thing that I think is important in keeping hoplology going is reaching out to all original core members, and seeing if you can get them engaged. That is number one. Do not lose the connection. Mahipal and I had a Zoom meeting with Dave Hall last week, and invited him to come to the Shock and Awe speed Lab (Lab #5, 2023), and he is considering it. He is 77 now, he has got his own

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health issues. But he is still teaching and has a lot to offer: his connection with Donn Draeger, connection with hoplology, and teaching of more than one classical discipline of Japanese martial arts. There are other people like Larry Bieri, who went on several expeditions, Meik Skoss, who also went on several expeditions, and Hunter Armstrong.

Unfortunately, with some of them, I think there might be a feeling of rivalry: Who are you guys? You cannot be doing that. If you run into that, you just have to let it go. Unfortunately, when somebody as charismatic as Donn Draeger dies, people start feeling possessive about their experiences and whatever they got, and maybe are not so open in sharing them. I do not know why.

Donn Draeger was not like that. If you wrote to him, he wrote you back. I know, because I was one of those guys. Who am I? I am nobody. I am a kid from high school that wrote him a letter and he wrote me back. I wrote him back and he wrote me again.

Just before I came to Japan, he gave me a way to contact him, even though he would not be in Japan when I got there. He gave me a guy to contact, and that guy invited me to train at the dojo of Donn Draeger, even though I did not know that at the time.

Five years later, I am traveling with Donn Draeger getting a personal introduction into hoplology.

How does this happen? It happens because of the personality of Donn Draeger: Are you interested? Come on over, let me show you around. That is what it was. When I arrived at the HEMA school an hour early on Friday, I arrived in the parking lot. There was a guy rummaging around in his trunk. He saw me get out of the car and walk through the door. He comes over, oh, hi, how are you? I go, hey, I am here looking for Mahipal. He is not going

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to be here for a couple hours. Are you here for the event? Oh, come on in, I own this school. Let me show you around.

He took me on the complete tour. I thought: Donn Draeger 101.

He could have just said, yeah, he will be back; you can hang out downstairs here if you want. He could have done that. But he did not. He took the extra step, went the extra mile. Dave Hall is certainly like that, and there are others that are like that, too.

There are others that might not respond quite as warmly, and the question is why. It is their own particular “They are my marbles and I am the only one that is going to play with my marbles.”

That is how I look at it.

Reaching out to the core group I think is important. Mahipal and I have talked about that and made a list of people to contact.

Dave Hall is definitely one of them. It is something as simple as what we are doing right now: hey, let us get together, just love to hear your experience. Here is what we are doing. We are inspired

by Donn Draeger and his approach to hoplology, and would very much like to have you involved if you are interested.

That would be part one, and then part two would be doing little public service announcements on Facebook, or Instagram or Twitter, or whatever the social media thing is—I am not that involved in that. But just: this is what we are doing here at the Immersion Foundation and here at the Immersion Labs. We are following in the steps of Donn Draeger, we are interested in studying the fighting disciplines and the combative traditions of the world. Wherever you are in the world, if you are connected to any of these types of disciplines and are interested in martial arts in general, we would like to talk to you, we would like to find out

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if we can connect with you and perhaps collaborate with you in any way that makes sense. Start building up a contact list there because we have got worldwide capability now.

Look at how Gracie jiu-jitsu changed the face of modern martial arts. It changed the face of modern martial arts and then it became mixed martial arts. It is no longer style versus style, now it is “MMA.” Who knows MMA? Everybody knows about MMA. You have got to watch it now, because people know how to choke you out. People know the mount, and people know how to get behind. It used to be that people did not know. They had the street punch, the haymaker, and they would rush you and try to tackle you. They would push you and kind of stab you. But you got to watch it now. Just by osmosis of looking at these UFC fights, I will get you from behind, choke you, drag it down to the ground, and wrap my legs around you. What are you going to do? In five seconds, you are not doing anything. There is an interest in this.

Where to Go with Hoplology One interesting topic for research is the evolution of modern martial arts turning into the combative sport idea. There is a book by Rickson Gracie called Breathe.8 I think it is an excellent book. I really highly recommend it, because it is specifically talking about not only his life, his experience, the history of the Gracie family, all the fights that the Gracie family got into, the evolution of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and all the politics and the infighting of the Gracie family and the other connected families like the Machados, but also what he calls the de-evolution of 8 Rickson Gracie and Peter Maguire, Breathe: A Life in Flow (Dey Street Books, 2021).

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Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which is now sport versus self-defense. It was always for self-defense, unarmed self-defense.

That is another big factor to talk about, because hoplology really has to do with the armed warrior. Yet warriors are never unarmed. They are always armed. Even if they are and they find themselves without weapons, then they can use their body as weapons, and pretty quickly, they are going to find some improvised weapon. But now, people can start training in these combat sports. They are imprinted with a sport mentality. When the real deal happens, sorry, you are going to do what you have trained to do. It may be effective, but maybe it is not such a great idea to be down on the ground in that figure four leg-lock choke when the other two guys are coming up from behind. It might not be the greatest move. If you are not aware that the knife might be there, then it might come as a shocking surprise after you have been punched two or three times in the gut, and all of a sudden there is all this wet stuff.

Trying to understand that in combative sport versus self-defense—not that one is better than the other—skills may not be as transferable as you would think. There was a Thai kickboxing guy in San Francisco. I cannot remember his name, but he was working out in the gym on the Thai-pads in the Thai-shorts, with the gloves on and with the knee and shin protectors, and all that. Some dude breaks into his car, is stealing it, and drives away with his car. This guy rushes out of the gym and runs after the car. The car thief does not know this guy is running after him and stops at a stoplight. The Thai boxer comes up, faces the guy in the window, is like, get the f*** out of my car, in his boxing gloves and everything. The guy goes: no problem, pulls out a gun, blasts away through the window, kills the boxer.

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I am not saying I would do anything different. Somebody is stealing my car, I am sorry to say, I would probably go run after that and try to stop that situation. But there is not one self-defense expert that is going to say that is probably the first thing to do.

Likely not: they are probably going to say if you can video it, video it, and call the cops. You do not know if he has got a gun. You do not know how this is going to turn out. So no, I would not recommend intervening in the theft. That is probably the advice from the professionals that have been there, done that. That is the advice, but this guy did not do that. Why not? Because: “I am a Thai boxer, and I cannot let this happen.” That is how I took it.

These traits were imprinted. When you have no context, no frame of reference, and your teacher tells you: put your hands in the stance of a tee, have your feet like a fencer, and have your weight 70/30, your upper hand can block everything that is above that and your lower hand can block everything low. . . Well, guess what? That is what we are going to do. Why? Because, that is what my teacher told me to do. The first thing that happens is that if you are going to do that, because that is how you are trained, maybe that will work for you in the situation you get into, maybe it will not, I do not know. But you have to be careful about how you are being imprinted.

There is only so far you can go in going for realistic training, because there are always safety issues and stuff like that. People are trying to get as realistic as possible. Let us take a look at the Real Contact Stick Fighting of the Dog Brothers.9 When I was coming up through the Inosanto Academy, Marc Denny was part of the 9

See the articles by Marc Denny in the present volume.

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group that I was with. I saw the whole evolution of it. Originally, of course, everybody thought they were completely crazy. Dan Inosanto thought the same thing: you guys are just like on another Planet Crazy. There is a hardcore group of people that are interested in that because they want to really know. They want that experience of what it is really like: can I handle it, can I do it?

When you see the pictures of all the bruises, the broken fingers, and the broken bones, you go: no thank you. But then you start looking at it and go: well, I know that you have got to have the head gear. That already changes everything. Sorry, it does, and you also have to have gloves on to protect your hands. Without them, that kind of also changes everything. Are you going to benefit from going through that kind of training? Yeah, if you can handle it. Do you need that to become somebody that feels like, I can defend myself? I do not know. Out of a hundred people, how many are really going to feel that is what I am going to be doing Saturday afternoon? I do not know: one, two?

My wife teaches full-contact women›s self-defense scenario training. I am one of the “muggers.” I am in full protective gear, which is a football helmet, two and a half inches of foam around it, football shoulder pads, knee, shin, thigh protection, super triple groin protection. I kind of look like a combo of if you morph together the Pillsbury Doughboy and Robocop. Even with this type of gear, we are pretty mobile: I can take a full throw, a full fall all the way through, I can still do a high kick to the head if I need to. I can be pretty mobile. You cannot choke me, because there is no ability to get your arm around my neck. But you can chop me in the throat, you can heel-palm me, you can elbow me, you can knee me in the groin repeatedly, as hard as you want. It will not do anything to me.

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I have to react to that, though, because, if I do not react to it, it is not realistic. If you kick me in the nuts, I am going to be at least dropping to one knee, probably both, maybe in a fetal position, and probably moaning if not screaming. If you kick me hard enough, I might even be going to the hospital. In this gear, I have to recreate that. So, bam, you knee me in the groin, I am doubling over, and I am verbalizing something that is exposing my head, and now the students are trained to do a hard knee to the head, as hard as they can. I will fly back a little bit. Students are having an experience of being able to defend themselves in various situations, full force, and full speed, just like you would have to have it. They also have a degree of freedom, because now they are not worried about hurting the guy in the suit. If you and I are working out together, and I smack you in the head: oh, sorry, you alright, sorry about that. If I backhand you in the groin: oh man, I am sorry. Look at the UFC where you get a thumb in the eye: my eye, hang on, hold on. They get kicked in the groin, while they are wearing a steel cup: whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on.

They get up to five minutes to recover. They do not take it, but they get it. There are lots of different paradigms and formats to try to give people this feeling of reality, but it can only go so far.

Then you go back to all these classical disciplines like what you will see as a demonstration in the Shock and Awe speed Lab. Katori shinto ryu will be there and show how they do their kata, which is very flexible and very fast. It is kind of an amazing thing to see. There are lots of different ways to try to do this type of thing. But they can only be approached and recreated on different levels of safety.

- Michael Belzer

INTRODUCTION: HOPLOLOGY & TIF

· Michael Belzer | 53

From the Editors

THE BOOK OF THE

ST ICK THE ORIGINATOR OF hoplology, Sir Richard Francis Burton, stated that “The history of the sword is the history of humanity. The ‘White Arm’ means something more than the ‘oldest, the most universal, the most varied of weapons, the only one that has lived through all time.”1 As the present four-part volume shows, we would like to go

beyond Sir Burton to argue that the history of the stick both preceded and transcended the history of the sword. Indeed, while swords have been discarded from military and civilian contexts with the evolution of the means of waging war, the stick remains in use in both.

Even our genetically closest relatives, the chimpanzees, wield

1 Sir Richard Francis Burton, The Book of the Sword (London: Chatto and Windus, 1884), xi.

EDITORIAL | 55

sticks and stones as tools.2 Similarly, when we look furthest back in our own species’ history, at the oldest cave paintings of humans, they depict people hunting animals with spears. Indeed, it is notable that current archaeology puts the history of the spear back hundreds of thousands of years.3 Furthermore, the most primitive human societies lived in hunting-and-gathering cultures, the purest example of which may have been the Australian Aborigines before contact with Europeans.4 They carried—and carry—among their very few possessions quite many dedicated weapons: special spears, boomerangs, shields, and clubs, all used only for warfare.5 Thus, the 2 Doyne Dawson, (2001): The First Armies, (London: Cassel Co, 2001).

3 Zach Zorich, “The First Spears,” Archaeology Magazine, March/April (2013), https://www.archaeology.org/ issues/81-1303/trenches/523-south-africa-earliest-spears.

4

epilogue of the film classic, 2001: A Space Odyssey, is not so far off the mark—apart from for the monolith, of course.

The archaeological record shows that, for most of human history, the tools used for hunting big game—spears and arrows—were also the tools for warfare. Over time, humans added special tools just for war: first, shields and clubs, and later, swords, battleaxes, and maces.6 It should, however, be remembered that hand-to-hand fighting between groups, rather than between scattered individuals or “champions,” rarely took place in band and village societies.

Many primitive combats were just “firefights,” employing arrows, javelins, slings, and stones. Only after the other side “broke,” would clubs, axes, and lances be used to dispatch any enemies caught.7 Virtually all the important weapons of the pre-gunpowder age were

Dawson, The First Armies.

5 Steven A. LeBlanc and Katherine E. Register, Constant Battles: Why We Fight (New York: St. Martin›s Griffin, 2003).

56 | The Book of the Stick

6

Ibid.

7 Lawrence H. Keeley, War Before Civilization (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996).

in widespread use by the end of the second millennium BCE.8 Thus, spears and other kinds of polearms played major roles in city-state and state warfare in the time of massed infantry as well, the most celebrated examples perhaps being the Greek hoplites of Antiquity and the Swiss pikemen of the Early Modern period. This was also the heyday of the sword, although more often than not, it was relegated to the position of a back-up weapon or sidearm, possibly reflecting the near-universal urge to have more distance against one›s enemies. In the early Medieval period, even the famed Japanese samurai, known for their affection with the sword, rode to battle with bows, arrows, and a variety of polearms.9 One example of an exception here might be the Roman legions that fought in close order with their gladius swords and shields—but even they started the combat by throwing

8 Karl F. Friday, Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan (London and New York: Routledge, 2004).

9

Ibid.

their pilum spears.10 One could also argue that the primary weapon of the cavalry was the horse that provided mobility and ability to use mass—in its literal sense—to break up enemy formations, rather than the swords11 they wielded. The legacy of clubs, spears, and other such wooden weapons is still present in the naming of contemporary weapons like SIG MCX Spear—the newly adopted U.S. Army assault rifle—and the Javelin anti-tank weapon that has shown its effectiveness in the Ukraine war.

Despite the prevalence of the perennial phenomenon of war, the level of violence in human societ10 Harry Sidebottom, Ancient Warfare: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2004).

11 It needs to be noted that not all cultures used cavalry as shock troops in conjunction with swords (and, later, pistols) like in the Westerns tradition. The most obvious example is the famed Mongol horse archers that conquered a vast empire ranging from Korea in the East to Vienna in the West and Siberia in the North to Southeast Asia in the South.

EDITORIAL | 57

ies has decreased over time.12 The alteration of societies and their material realization has made it possible for less violent forms of power to prevail, thus making the use of force more and more a means of last resort. This development has been accompanied with the disarmament of civilians in most societies, laying the monopoly of the legitimate use of force on states and their representatives.

As the sword was developed strictly for killing other humans, its disappearance from the civilian sphere is understandable in this evolution. Knives have other uses, which explain their prevalence in societies around the world in various contexts. Similarly, the stick has multiple functions and uses, which is why its history transcends that of the sword that has been overtaken by more efficient means of killing from afar. Indeed, in the era of sticks, they too were used 12 Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature: The Decline of Violence in History and Its Causes (UK: Penguin Books, 2011).

58 | The Book of the Stick

to provide some security to their wielder in the form of distance, whether one thinks of staves or arrows. The deployment of black powder and then gunpowder to turn battlefield combat into kinetic forms has been accompanied with more and more precise forms of artillery and even nuclear weapons that can cover the globe with intercontinental ballistic missiles, thus making swords obsolete as weapons of war.

Despite such enhancement in the means of waging war, the stick has even military applications still today: special forces are taught to use it in survival training, military police can wield a baton, and some soldiers elect to carry a “tactical tomahawk.” The uses of the stick are even more contemporary and broad when we expand our view from military contexts to combativeness in other forms of human interaction. Indeed, in the present volume, we are using the stick as a window into societies, and as a means of thinking through human behavior. We find that the stick is widely present in societal

contexts that are relevant for the study of human combative behavior, whether those be civilian, constabulary, or military in nature.

In the civilian sphere, sticks have and continue to have multiple uses that range from fashion (walking canes), health (crutches), free-time activities (sport), to utilitarian uses in work (herding) or survival (in the wilderness or in self-defense).

Sticks can be used to expand our haptic sense of touch whether in feeling the depth and solidity of a riverbed, or aiding a blind person in sensing where they are walking. Weapons are often characterized as the extension of a fighter’s hand, yet the same can apply in non-combative situations, too. Indeed, sticks can be used to measure distance, time, and direction.

In the constabulary field, sticks are still used in crowd control, and in subduing individuals. With the invention of the police, these representatives of a city’s or state’s splendor were equipped with batons or dowels. Still today, the extendable baton is used in many countries,

while riots are controlled with batons or even sticks that require the use of two hands.

As noted above, the stick, especially when combined with blades or sharp points, has had an immense historical role in the waging of war. Even modern military forces can wage skirmishes with sticks to avoid escalating a conflict, like what has happened at the border of India and the People’s Republic of China in the 2020s.13 The stick has also been a symbol of military authority, as is the case, for example, with drill sergeants and the swagger sticks of officers in some countries.

Indeed, beyond functional uses, the stick has also had symbolic roles and positions in many societies throughout history, and even today. As such, sticks have been deployed as symbols of power over 13 Jessie Yeung, “Indian and Chinese troops fight with sticks and bricks in video,” CNN, Dec 15, 2022, https:// edition.cnn.com/2022/12/14/asia/ india-china-border-tensions-video-intl-hnk/index.html.

EDITORIAL | 59

the self and others.14 The stick is part of the symbol for European medicine, many forms of royalty have held scepters, and many religious figures like the Pope hold a staff. The stick is present in magicians’ acts in these forms of entertainment. Even the Church of Satan displays a stick in its symbolism.

tion and salvation of their flock.15 This type of technology of power was eventually translated from the religious sphere to those of governing modern societies and individuals in them. The stick, whether in the hand of a school teacher or police officer, has been used to discipline behavior into forms authorities desire.

Political figures have used the stick as an analogy for their capacity to use force, as in Theodore Roosevelt’s creed of speaking softly and carrying a big stick. Even theories of political power have used the stick as a metaphor, as in Michel Foucault’s notion of pastoral power: like the sheep-herder, the pastor is responsible for the protec-

Yet, where there is power, there is also resistance. When such dynamics take on more violent forms, sticks are easily deployable for civilians, whether they find themselves in a terror attack or an uprising against a political leader.

Sticks and edged weapons can still be used in asymmetric and irregular forms of conflict.

14 This symbolic power is true of the sword, too. For example, when confirming a doctoral degree from a Finnish university, the freshly minted academic receives a sword. Likewise in many militaries a graduating officer— and in some cases even a non-commissioned officer—receives a sword to be carried in special occasions in dress uniform.

60 | The Book of the Stick

While a stick can be used without much training, the way the use of the stick as a weapon has been taught has taken on many pedagogical forms throughout his15 Michel Foucault, Security, Territory, Population: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1977–1978, trans. by Graham Burchell (New York and Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).

tory and different cultures. The factors that have had an impact here can be categorized in various ways, like whether one was training in the context of royalty or a court, as part of a tribe or clan, or within a family. Another aspect is whether the skill is taught or developed within a professional school under a master of arms or some other class of teacher, with a coach or trainer sans a school, or one-on-one with a member of the extended family or even the closest relations. Another aspect here is whether the use of the stick for combat was a full-time effort or a profession, whether it was present in the everyday beyond its combative uses, or whether it is learned as a hobby. Finally, whether the stick is being learned as a means of organized conflict as part of a unit, as a tool of a constabulary or security profession, or as a means for self-defense will have a bearing here.

used sticks to enhance combative skills (like how to work as part of a phalanx) and attributes, whether physical (strength and coordination) or mental (like bravery and teamwork). Some of today’s non-combative sports still use a stick in their play. At the same time, combat sport itself has become more widely popular, as exemplified by Mixed Martial Arts.

Weapon-wielding combat sports, whether one looks at forms this takes in la canne in France, the various associations of arnis in the Philippines, or the Real Contact Stick Fighting of the Dog Brothers in the U.S., remain a more niche type of sport, though. Like with many other kinds of sport, its combative forms can also be appropriated and fueled by forms of nationalism.

As the previous paragraphs have shown, the stick is present in many human activities. In the past, many forms of sport also

EDITORIAL | 61

THE BOOK OF THE STICK OVERVIEW

The present four-part volume focuses on how sticks have been used in various ways of combat, yet some bring out the complexities of its other uses.

We thought about various principles of ordering the volume, but in the end we thought that organizing the chapters in alphabetical order by the author’s last name was the way to go: 1. Joel D. Anajao introduces us to the Filipino barangay tanod, community civilian police aides, and shows us how training in the art of arnis can sharpen their skills in tactical self-protection.

2. Michael Belzer recounts his experiences as a life-long student of the Japanese art of Shindo Muso ryu jojutsu, offering us a glimpse of a past era of martial training and pioneering international exploration of Japanese martial arts.

3. Rondel Benjamin highlights how, in the Trinidadian art of kalinda, fighting with sticks is part of a larger system which incorporates spiritual, educational, cultural, and healing aspects.

4. Rondel Benjamin and Mahipal Lunia discuss the ways in which the practice of kalinda is not only a way to recover old ways of being, but also a way to rejoice in the building of a better future.

5. Michael Blackgrave shows us how Wing Chun›s six-and-a-half-point pole can still be used to develop relevant fighting skills.

6. Darrin Cook›s English translation of Arturo Bonafont›s “New Ways of Self-defense on the Street with a Cane” shows us his unique cane fighting system utilizing the rarely seen reverse grip in its entirety.

62 | The Book of the Stick

7. Alejandro Rodriguez Buenafuente takes a look at the native art of the Canary Islands, juego de palo canario, and shows us how different motives for training may take the art in diverging directions: one, toward maintaining folk traditions, and the other, towards pure sport.

8. Jigaba Bwaira introduces us to three African warrior cultures and stick fighting traditions, namely Maguzawa/Hausa and Zulu, noting that these arts are still valued and treated as relevant and enduring methods of preparing young men to withstand the vagaries of a modern world.

9. JC Cabiero takes us through his fascinating insights into the pure art of Angel Cabales› Serrada ng Escrima.

10. Bryan Cannata shows us how the teachings of pre-modern European chivalry can help us acquire skill at arms.

11. Guido Caporizzi explores the role of stick fighting in Northern Italy and France and shows how a few committed practitioners have sought to preserve these arts to the present.

12. Maxime Chouinard and Nathan Featherstone show how the Irish stick fighting art of bataireacht has been preserved, is still practiced in the margins, and also adopted for use in Dog Brothers Gatherings.

13. According to Darrin Cook the art of Kabaroan, meaning “the newest,” breaks with the traditional Filipino martial arts in its use of a heavier and longer weapon and its tactic of merging with the incoming attack.

14. Toby Cowern looks at the multiple attributes a simple stick possesses and how it can aid one in a wide range of everyday challenges.

EDITORIAL | 63

15. As Mark Davies intimates, the use of a stick as a weapon is still very much alive in the UK Special Forces due to the close-quarters nature of today›s counter-insurgency warfare.

16. Marc «Crafty Dog» Denny reveals that, in the Dog Brothers Martial Arts, understanding distance is a much more nuanced thing than the plain old largo, medio, and corto: there are actually seven ranges, starting from controlling the moment of contact and ending with grappling on the ground.

17. In his Stickmata interview, Marc Denny speaks about the beginning and development of Dog Brothers Martial Arts, leading into the credo: “Walk as a warrior all your days.”

18. T. J. Desch-Obi presents us with a history of the origins, development, tactics as well as some of the life histories of practitioners of the Venezolano Moderno style of the Afro-Colombian art of grima.

19. In his Stickmata interview, T. J. Desch-Obi presents a bird›s-eye view of the history and development of Colombian grima from the days of slavery to the present, including a brief discussion on the common characteristics of the different styles.

20. Bethany J. Dillon offers us a historical journey across the Americas and through time to explain how the indigenous peoples armed themselves, trained their youth, and fought their rivals and enemies.

21. Michel Farivar discusses the Japanese staff arts of Geijin ryu, which emphasizes the seamless transition between armed and unarmed techniques and the avoidance of blocking, which hinders the flow of bodily movement.

22. Steaphen Fick summarizes the available European manuscripts on long weapons through several centuries and thus informs us how to reconstruct the ancient art of the quarterstaff.

64 | The Book of the Stick

23. Jeffrey Finder delineates the development of training weaponry through time and argues for the use of modern high-impact plastics.

24. Speaking in his Stickmata interview about the Barbadian art of sticklicking, Philip Forde reminds us that engaging with other arts in training or fighting guards against your own art becoming so insular, so incestuous, that it loses its value as a fighting system.

25. Dean Franco, Dwight Woods, Mahipal Lunia, and Mark Stewart share their ground-breaking discussion about how Filipino Martial Arts, after entering the United States, has gained an identity of its own so that we can now talk about Filipino American Martial Arts—and how this new version of the old arts is gaining a foothold even in the Philippines.

26. Darren Patrick Friesen notes that the possibility of facing actual real-life violence on a day-to-day basis brings with it a host of considerations rarely encountered in most martial artists’ training. He shares his insights about these factors and outlines his no-nonsense approach and methodology of using a baton in security work.

27. George E. Georgas›s piece on Greek staff fighting points to the importance of understanding the relevant historical and political context while reconstructing ancient arts from manuscripts, myths, legends, and stories.

28. David Giomi takes a look at how the Shaolin staff works as an implement for learning how to cultivate and concentrate the kinetic energy of the body.

29. Jeevan Gowda interviews Srinivasan Sastri Sensei on his views on the way energetics are used to charge and manipulate the jo staff in Japanese martial arts.

EDITORIAL | 65

30. Mukatder Gül gives us insight on how Wing Chun kung fu uses the six-and-a-half-point pole and argues that this weapon form’s roots date back to the end of the 1800s and early 1900s, to the famed Red Boat Opera Company.

31. Nicole Holzmann takes us through the evolution of the French art on la canne de combat from its beginnings as a substitute for a sword to its present status as a formal sport.

32. Damon Honeycutt discusses the staff work within Chinese monkey style kung fu, noting that the staff is more than just a practical implement—it maintains cultural traditions.

33. Mark Human explores how traditional skills in fighting translate to knowledge of modern weaponry and how security officials in South Africa continue to adapt their training to counter the threats they face.

34. According to Benjamin N. Judkins and Jared Miracle, the (invented) tradition of Jedi Lightsaber Combat is much closer to traditional martial arts in its values and myth than we might want to admit.

35. Riichi Kitano discusses how, in the classical Japanese weapon art of Katori Shinto ryu, the pole weapons—yari, naginata, and bo—are studied to instill in the practitioners› minds the necessary flexibility to survive in the battlefield, and to also thrive outside of combat.

36. Dexter Labonog explains how his teacher, Leo Giron of Giron Arnis Escrima, transformed his art to ensure its practicality and survival in the Western world.

37. Mahipal Lunia shares a variety of solo training methods from several systems to cultivate specific skills in order to grow as martial artists.

38. Romeo Macapagal discusses the concept of measure in Antonio «Tatang» Ilustrisimo›s fighting system, the most famous of which is to have the opponent miss you by «one inch» while you are able to reach them.

66 | The Book of the Stick

39. Michelle Manu presents us with the history and weaponry of Lua, the ancient combat art of the indigenous people of Hawaii.

40.

Jerry Walker, writing about the weapons of Lua, notes that, in contrast to most arts taught openly today, Lua teaches both formation fighting and melee combat, in addition to one-on-one fighting.

41. William McGrath shares with us a short spear form, called Tapada staff, from the island of Cebu.

42. Nick Merchant compares and contrasts the two most widespread stick-fighting rule sets of the day—WEKAF and Dog Brothers—noting that while WEKAF fighting tends to develop speed, accuracy, combinations, and endurance, the Dog Brothers style stresses versatility, power, movement, and strategy.

43. Scott Meredith describes the physical and energetic dynamics of yiquan long staff training for internal energy.

44. Mark Mikita explains how the cuentada drill, found in some Filipino arts, advises us on how to identify and unlock the logical progression of possibilities that arise when two weapons cross.

45. In his first Stickmata interview, regarding Filipino arts, Mark Mikita notes that true mastery is found in understanding distance, time, and position with reference to your own physical capabilities which may be lacking.

46. In his second Stickmata interview, Mark Mikita argues that the widely used sumbrada drill is not a simple 3- or 5-count drill, but a way of training immediate spontaneous flow of actions in preparation and in conjunction to cuentada, which, then, can be seen as prioritization of actions.

EDITORIAL | 67

47. Ethan Minor enlightens us in the ways the Burmese art of bando views the staff not only as a fighting implement, but also a vital tool in everyday life.

48. Michael Mulconery provides us with a detailed introduction to the Tobosa School of Arnis-Kali-Escrima from Hawaii and how the art developed into Estilo Casag, which, simply put, uses all of the eight directions to drive an opponent to angles that disadvantage them.

49. Michael Mulconery also provides us with a brief primer on how to use the Barabara staff on its own or as a part of Estilo Casag.

50. Adam H.C. Myrie takes a look at stick fighting in North Africa through the history of the region, the basic techniques, and the current role of stick fighting there as an effort to preserve the history of these arts.

51. Roger Norling introduces us to the use of polearms presented in the 16th-century fencing master Joachim Meyer›s weapon manuals.

52. Te Waitere Jason Paahi demonstrates how traditional Māori martial arts of New Zealand contain a comprehensive set of weapons and a holistic worldview.

53. Scott Park Phillips traces the roots of the Chinese Shaolin monk staff performances to the seasonal festivals predating the temple and shows their connection to the Chinese literary classics.

54. Stevan Plinck provides an overview on how to use the deceptively simple concept of base-angle-leverage to maneuver any sized weapon in the West Javanese art of Pukulan Pentjak Silat Sera.

55. Paul Porter shares his 50+ years of experience in the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) full-contact armored fighting, touching on physics, biomechanics, and tactics, all of which can be readily applied to other forms of stick fighting.

68 | The Book of the Stick

56. Luis Preto shares his valuable insights into injury prevention and power output within stick fighting, offering the reader different strategies for both.

57. Writing about the Argentinian Bonafont cane combat system, Jorge Prina tells us about the new cultural forms arising from the blend of the old and the new, and the new ways of fighting emerging from this jumble of people, technologies, and times.

58. Marco Quarta provides us a panorama of armed combative traditions from the Italian peninsula, starting from the Middle Ages and ending up at the present day.

59. Miguel Quijano and Miguel Machado give us a unique look at the Afro-diasporic martial arts of maní of Cuba and cocobalé of Puerto Rico, that trace their origins to the slave owners’ policies of appeasement and interactions with other martial arts.

60.

Mahesh Kumar Ramakrishna, while ostensibly identifying the use of the lathi staff in the combative traditions of India, provides a fascinating overview of the multitude of indigenous combative traditions still extant in India today.

61. In his article, Burton Richardson explores the commonalities and differences between Filipino and South African martial arts traditions.

62. Andrea Rollo takes us through different formats of stick dueling in the Philippines, ranging from friendly plays to serious challenges.

63. Harjit Singh Sagoo contrasts the Indian arts of shastar vidya and gatka, and speculates that the later inclusion of weapons other than the stick to gatka may have been brought about by the desire to revive the largely lost art of shastar vidya.

EDITORIAL | 69

64. In his piece, Ron Saturno explains the hidden knowledge contained in the basic drills of the Filipino art of Serrada Escrima in order to make the art more efficient and, thus, more effective.

65. Daniel Schultz shows us the different ways the staff is used in the Chinese art of Drunken boxing: first, as a single-ended then as a double-ended weapon, and finally, as an «old man staff»—all the applications concerning profound principles and philosophical ideas.

66. Pedro Silva describes some of the strategic and tactical issues between one-on-one and group fighting in the context of Portuguese art of jogo do pau.

67. In their Stickmata interview, Pedro Silva and Oscar Cunha describe how traditional jogo do pau prefers asymmetrical group “games”—one vs. all, two vs. five, and so on—because that is how the art was used in the old days to defend oneself.

68. Vincent Tamer shares his experiences as part of The Immersion Foundation›s expedition to film and learn jogo do pau in Fafe and Cepães, the highlight being seeing the twelve different schools of the art in action.

69. Maija Soderholm writes about Sonny Umpad›s random flow, which is a training method to connect the nervous system and the conscious mind through dance-like play with blades, rather than a collection of techniques or set patterns.

70. In the Filipino art of Kali Abtik Largo, intimates Mark Stewart, it is necessary to learn to fight at all ranges, but the optimal range for a given weapon is its longest reach, and the aim is to utilize distance, evasion, and deception to deliver surgical strikes while avoiding weapon-to-weapon contact.

70 | The Book of the Stick

71. Mike Sutherland presents us with an overview of the staff training— both as an attribute developer and as a weapon—contained in Choy Lay Fut kung fu, offering some invaluable insights about fighting with four different kinds of staves, and also touching on some weak points in CLF staff curriculum.

72. Keegan Taylor tells us about his personal journey through the Trinidadian monastery of kalinda.

73. Keegan Taylor also has a deep talk with Mahipal Lunia about warriorhood and the meanings involved in a free play with gilpins.

74. Henri-Robert Vilaire discusses the principles, weapons, and ways of using different lengths of sticks in the Japanese art of jo jutsu.

75. In his Stickmata interview, Henri-Robert Vilaire reveals that the jo jutsu tradition views the staff as a rope, a flexible weapon to be used at any distance to block, parry, strike, choke, and lock.

76. Martin Wheeler offers us a short primer on how to train fighting with sticks in the Russian systema way.

77. In his Stickmata interview, Martin Wheeler explores the systema mindset, according to which you do not fight with weapons or techniques but with your instinctual system and your natural movement that you re-learn through training.

78. Geoffrey Willcher shares with us his experiences with the Burmese art of bando and shows us how the system reflects the pragmatist and naturalistic worldview of the Burmese people.

79. Finally, Roedy Wiranatakusumah and Gending Raspuzi shed light on the history, development, and philosophy of Ulin Limbuhan, an Indonesian system of pentjak silat specializing—perhaps surprisingly in the context of Indonesian arts—in the use of sticks.

EDITORIAL | 71

There you have it: 79 chapters on various ways, approaches, and styles in which the stick has been used as part of human combative behavior and martial cultures around the globe. The chapters are divided into four parts that come to over 2000 pages and are accompanied by over 1000 photographs. It has been a long time coming, but The Book of the Stick is finally here. Now is the time for us to pass the baton over to you.

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Mahipal Lunia Executive Editor

Juha A. Vuori, Ph.D Managing Editor

Mika Harju-Seppänen Managing Editor

EDITORIAL | 73

Joel D. Anajao

PHILIPPINE COMMUNITY POLICE AIDE & THE ART OF STICK FIGHTING Joel D. Anajao

ARNIS IS THE PROCLAIMED national martial art and sport of the Philippines; it is practiced in educational institutions and private martial arts organizations.

Among the barangay tanod, the legal community police aide, the use of arnis as a tool of self-defense, criminal apprehension, and crime prevention in the community is the manifestation of community acceptance of arnis as national martial art. Since arnis was

76 | The Book of the Stick

ARNIS FOR BARANGAY TANOD

· Joel D. Anajao | 77

introduced to the public, its importance was felt among these security aides. Most of the arnis organizations’ goal is to teach their arnis styles to the community. The previous national organizations of arnis have conducted training for barangay tanod nationwide; this is to equip them with the necessary skill needed for their task.

The barangay tanod is one of the icons of Philippine stick-fighting art. In this article, we will tackle the connection of arnis and the barangay tanod, the very reason for having them, and the importance of arnis to their task; we will introduce some strategies and technical aspects of using arnis in community crime prevention.

The barangay tanods are not allowed to carry firearms, and it is the arm-length rattan stick they can rely on if there is an immediate danger and need for self-protection, and/or if needed to apprehend somebody. For most Filipinos, when they hear the name barangay tanod, they instantly think of a guy with an identifiable vest and carrying a stick.

The Barangay Tanod

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In every history of human habitation, the community has designated people who can protect and defend the community as a whole, against local dissidents and alien intruders. Even in modern times, we have police forces, marshals, and security personnel who are tasked with this.

In the Philippines, the barangay is the basic political unit. It is a small territorial and administrative district forming the most local unit of the Philippine government. The word barangay came from the old Malay word, balangay, a kind of sailboat used by early inhabitants to migrate from island to island.

During the Spanish colonial period, the organized community was called barrio for the community outside the city which was commonly called pueblo.

During the Ferdinand Marcos government, the name barrio was changed into barangay; the new 1987 Philippine Constitution made the barangay the smallest government unit. A barangay consists of officials elected through reg-

ular national and local elections.

The Philippine Local Government Code is the legal basis for the creation of the barangay tanod, supervised by an elected punong barangay (barangay head) who will then assign the Chief Tanod or Executive Officer. The tanod shall be organized into teams composed of a Team Leader and two (2) to four (4) members. The Local Government Code provides a maximum of twenty (20) tanods in each barangay; it may create more as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of the barangay government in accordance with the needs of public service, subject to the budgetary limitations of the barangay.

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A barangay tanod, also called a barangay police officer, is the lowest level of law enforcement officer in the Philippines. They are volunteers from among the community residents who serve as frontliners in the preparation and response to any types of atrocities, public disorders, emergencies, and even disaster—whether natural or human-induced—that threatens public safety and peace and order.

Their responsibilities include: 1. Assisting the barangay officials in the prevention of crime and the promotion of public safety; 2. Conduct patrol (ronda) in the barangay; 3. Report to the concerned barangay officials the occurrence of any crime, fire, accident, public disturbance, environmental degradation activities, and other untoward incidents in the barangay; 4. Monitor the presence and or activities of suspicious persons, criminals, and other lawless elements within their jurisdiction and report the same to the proper authorities; 5. Conduct surveillance on crime-breeding areas within the barangay (purok) and report their observations/findings to the proper authorities;

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6. Assist the police in the execution of warrants and other judicial processes such as tracking the whereabouts of missing persons, in arresting escaped prisoners and other fugitives from justice, and in the recovery of stolen properties; 7. Coordinate closely with the barangay officials and police/local authorities in the drive against all forms of crimes such as terrorism, smuggling, carnapping, drug trafficking, drug pushing, illegal gambling, child abuse, crime against women, and all forms of vices and syndicated crimes; 8. Assist in the implementation of the Fire Code of the Philippines; 9. Detect all forms of fire hazards and other public safety hazards/ violations and institute corrective measure within their capability; 10. Assist in facilitating smooth flow of traffic; and 11. Perform other functions as may be directed by the Punong Barangays.

Ideally, every barangay tanod should be equipped with a uniform that consists of denim pants, a white shirt, a vest with marking and name cloth, a bull cap, and rubber shoes, as well as gadgets or everyday carry (EDC) for their job, such as nightstick with teargas with belt and holster (ideally), handcuff with holster, a whistle, flashlight, raincoat, rain boots, small notebooks, pens, and first aid kits. It is also common for every barangay tanod team to have a woman tanod—this is to ensure proper protocol in dealing with crime or any civil disputes which involve women.

There are about 42,022 barangays in the Philippines, and every barangay is required to have a maximum of twenty barangay tanods.

And these big numbers are an enticement to every group promoting or teaching arnis. There are no recorded numbers of how many tanods were trained and how many times training was conducted, because some barangays can autonomously initiate training to their tanods provided it will be coordinated to their respective municipalities or cities. There were no studies on the evaluation and impacts of those conducted pieces of training.

A typical barangay tanod team. [Source: BTS Barangay tanod society Facebook page, https://www.facebook. com/106000015069341/photos/a. 106004525068890 /106004508402225/]

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Introduction of Arnis to Barangay Tanod The barangay tanod are civilian police aides whose primary responsibility is ensuring community order and safety. As civilians, they are prohibited from possessing and carrying any firearm, but rather rely on their rattan stick that is sturdy enough to use not only for their self-protection but also for the apprehension of criminals and for crowd management. Here the importance of having skills in the use of rattan sticks comes into play.

The stick-fighting art of arnis is essential to them; this implement serves as their tool and weapon in their task. Many arnis practitioners contributed to equipping them with how to use it, and various arnis organizations with their distinct styles were introduced to them. The former National Association of Arnis in the Philippines (NARAPHIL, 1975-1986) and its successor, the Arnis Philippines (1986-2017) both served as the national governing body of the arnis in the country and implemented training programs for the barangay tanod.

Cavite State University teachers facilitating tanods’ training.

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Arnis is taught in three main approaches; the most common approaches are physical education activity, competition, and training for purely combat-based situations. Most of the various groups of arnis with their different styles teach arnis to barangay tanod much like they teach police enforcers and some armed forces units in the country.

In the approach focused on physical education, arnis is taught quite differently than in the traditional manner of teaching students. It is taught as a physical activity for improving fitness, acquisition of motor skills, and development of desirable social traits. It is common to see training in the manners of typical physical education classes: the students are lined up, they do warmup and stretching activities, the teacher demonstrates the skills to be learned, and the students practice either individually or with a partner, and return demonstration will be the conclu-

sion of a typical physical education class. Self-defense is taught but as an introductory skill.

Arnis is also taught as a sport in schools. Here, the focus is to train student-athletes to win in a competition. Strength and conditioning are important parts of the training, basic attacking and response techniques are repeatedly practiced, and led-up and formal sparring using a padded stick or light rattan stick is the big chunk of the training session. It is very different from the traditional approach to practicing arnis. In terms of martial discipline, sport arnis players among student-athletes generally are not demonstrating this, but rather they are practicing arnis for competition for the glory of the school. That is why it is common to see players hitting each other, without the concept of self-protection; this is because of their focus on getting the first hit or the number of decisive strikes that they can land on their opponent.

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We can say that the teaching and training approaches for law enforcers are quite different from the above two approaches. It is more focused on self-protection and apprehension techniques. Generally, most of the training will probably start with giving information about arnis, then practicing the fundamentals of gripping and maneuvering control of the stick, as well as basic offensive and defensive techniques, then it will focus on basic self-defense against a knife attack, disarming techniques, and some apprehension techniques. But academic studies on this matter are still in absence.

The author has many times been invited as a resource trainor for barangay tanod self-defense training programs. Training hours depend on the availability of funds and other factors, such as the facilities, attendance of the officials, and changes in the weather.

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Training usually lasts for five days, or it could be only a day session.

There can be a training program for a single barangay, or it could be a joint project of various barangays. A few training projects used a tonfa-like stick, but the most common ones provided are rattan sticks thicker than the usual rattan sticks used in physical education classes. The stick is 28 to 30 inches in length, and at one end of the stick is a fixed handle loop for securing it from accidental dropping.

The following technical and tactical presentations are based on our own program offered for barangay tanod tactical self-protection and apprehension skill development.

BARANGAY TANOD TACTICAL SKILLS The program presented here is focused on helping the barangay tanod acquire easy-to-learn and functional defensive and offensive skills using available nightstick and their everyday carry such as the hand cup. This program is one of the regular extension services of Cavite State University in which the author is one of the resource trainors.

On-Guard •

Standing Guard: This is a typical posture when at ease, but can also be assumed as a non-aggressive posture while being alert. Assume this position by standing, legs apart, both arms at the side. The tip of the stick is pointed downward.

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•

Square Guard: Assume this guard by squaring your hips towards the assailant, gripping both ends of the stick at the chest level. In this guard, you can change your grips either with the left or right hand to execute a snapping or a whipping strike; from this position blocking and jamming techniques can be executed.

•

Offensive Guard: to assume this guard, step the dominant leg about two feet apart, knees bent so the body weight is distributed evenly over both feet.

The weapon arm must be placed laterally on the dominant side with the elbow slightly bent and the hand is with the same level as the shoulder. The non-weapon arm is kept near the chest or beside the left side of the face.

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Target Zones For barangay tanod when executing an attack on an assailant, there must be a consideration, especially with the damage that they can inflict which may lead to legal matters. Hitting vital parts of the body should be avoided to minimize physical damage; a strike should only be delivered in case of a very necessary situation in defending oneself.

The following are the possible target zones—primary targets and secondary targets: •

The primary target zones are the hand, arm, and elbow. This can be targeted if the situation requires disarming an assailant who is wielding a knife or any bladed weapons. Included here are the lower limbs of the assailant but for the purpose of temporarily halting his attack.

•

The secondary target zone is the trunk of an assailant. Striking this body should not cause permanent damage but is for the purpose of temporarily halting his attack. Hitting very hard or hitting the face and head of the assailant is a no-no option. The use of rattan sticks is favored over the use of hardwood which can result in physical damage.

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Types of Attacks •

Snap strikes: This is a type of strike delivered from the square guard position, done by hitting the intended target with the end part of the stick with a quick motion of the wrist joint and extension of the weapon arm.

Snap strikes can be delivered from the square on-guard, executing the (1) right snap strike with the quick extension of the right arm, or with a (2) reverse snap strike with the quick extension of the left arm.

The right snap strike

The reverse snap strike

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•

Jamming with the stick shaft: This is a technique of hitting the assailant with the stick shaft.

This attack can be delivered from the square on-guard. This technique can also be used for pushing an attacker or blocking somebody who is trying to approach an important person during a mass gathering.

Jamming

Pushing

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•

Butt strike: This is a kind of offensive technique used to land on the assailant’s body by hitting with the end of the stick. This is very efficient in a close-quarter situation.

•

Swing strike: This is a type of strike delivered from an onguard position with the slashing action of the weapon arm intended to land on the target.

The butt strike (top & bottom)

Butt strike application

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•

Angle 1 strike: From the on-guard position raise your armed arm, twist your wrist to an angle of 1 o’clock in a slashing action diagonally downward to the inner side of the body or right arm of the assailant. The striking motion is as if cutting the assailant from his left shoulder to the right hip.

Angle 1 strike applied against a knife attack

•

Angle 2 strike: From the on-guard position, pull slightly your weapon arm to the other side of your shoulder, then deliver an 11-o’clock angle of strike diagonally downward to your assailant’s outer side of the body or to the outer side of their right arm.

Angle 2 strike applied against knife attack

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•

Angle 3 strike: This is a diagonally upward strike to the low inner side of the torso or to the inside part of the assailant’s arm. From on-guard make a diagonal strike from bottom to top, and from left to right.

Angle 3 strike applied against a knife attack

•

Angle 4 strike: This is a reverse diagonal upward strike intended for the low outside of the torso or the outside part of the opponent’s arm.

From on-guard make a diagonal strike from bottom to top, and from left to right.

Angle 4 strike applied against knife attack

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•

Angle 5 strike: This is a horizontal slashing action from the outside to the inside part of the attacker, intended to deliver onto the inside line of the assailant’s torso.

Angle 5 strike

•

Angle 6 strike: This is a reverse horizontal slashing action intended to deliver onto the outside line of the assailant’s torso.

•

Angle 7 strike: This is a vertical downward slashing motion, used to hit the assailant’s shoulder or attacking arm.

•

Leg strike: This is a strike intended to land on the assailant’s knee or shin to temporarily immobilize them. It is better to execute this by lowering your body instead of leaning forward. The leg strike can be delivered to the inner or outer part of the knee or shin.

The leg strike

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Defense with the Stick

Training Drills

Blocking is a defensive action designed to deflect an attack against a knife or impact weapon offensive action by an assailant. There are two general types of blocking techniques used: the two-handed block and one-handed block.

After undergoing fundamental skills training on stances, onguard, attacking, and defenses, the typical drills are focused on disarming an assailant who is wielding a weapon such as a knife, bolo, stick, and even firearms.

Two-handed blocking techniques are done from the square onguard. Without losing the grip of both hands on the sides of the stick, it can execute: a) an inside block, b) an outside block, c) a high block, and d) a low block. Riposte or counter such as jamming, butting, or snap strike can be delivered right after the block.

Knife Disarming with the Use of a Stick

One-handed blocking techniques are done from the offensive onguard position. The strong part of the stick—the half of the stick from its middle part to the tip of the handle part of it—is usually used to parry an incoming attack.

The common one-handed blocking techniques are: a) the inside block, b) the outside block, c) the low inside block, d) the low outside block, e) the sweep block, f) the high block, and g) the reverse high block. Typically, a snap strike or swing strike can be delivered right after the block as a riposte or counterattack.

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A knife attack is the most common form of armed violence in the community. The barangay tanods need to be trained in disarming an armed attacker. The common technique taught to the barangay tanod is to be ready to hit the attacker’s arm holding the knife— one or two blows to disarm him.

Disarming a Knife Attack with Bare Hands Any knife attack is fatal, and dealing with it using bare hands is not as easy as in the movies and other martial arts demonstrations.

Training the barangay tanod on disarming an assailant with a knife must be practical and efficient.

Simple rules for avoiding or dealing with it are necessary,

Here is an example of a bare hand disarming a knife attack.

Situation: a man welding a typical knife will attack the barangay tanod.

Response: the barangay tanod is on his on-guard, ready to respond against the attack.As the attacker lunges his attack, the barangay tanod evades the stab by sidestepping and parrying the attack. Simultaneously hit the assailant’s face, catch the assailant weapon arm, and apply the arm bar lock, pinning him and restraining him with handcuffs.

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Arresting Techniques Part of the task of the barangay tanod is to assist policemen in the execution of arrest warrants, so they must be trained also on the procedures and techniques of arresting.

Arresting a suspected criminal is a hard job; keeping in mind the human rights probations, this task can’t be executed by a single person, as the suspect will make all efforts to resist or escape. A team of barangay tanods will help the arresting officer from the police.

Keeping in mind the proper legal procedures for arresting, the warrant to arrest must be carried and declared upon its execution, and the accused must be delivered to the nearest police station or jail without unnecessary delay. Legal procedures and others matter are usually discussed with the barangay tanod. This includes the declaration of Miranda Rights after placing the suspect under arrest.

The following are the mandated citizen’s arrest procedures based on the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for barangay tanods: 1. Freeze or restrain the suspect/s.

2. Inform the person to be arrested of the intention to arrest and the cause of arrest unless the

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suspect is engaged in the commission of an offense, is pursued immediately after its commission or has escaped, flees, or forcibly resists before the person making the arrest has opportunity to so inform him, or when the giving of such information will imperil the arrest.

3. An officer making a lawful arrest may orally summon as many persons as he deems necessary to assist him in effecting the arrest. Every person so summoned by an officer shall assist him in effecting the arrest when he can render such assistance without detriment to himself.

4. If a person lawfully arrested escapes or is rescued, any person may immediately pursue or retake him without a warrant at any time and in any place within the country.

5. Conduct a thorough search for weapons and other illegal materials.

6. As a general rule, no necessary force shall be used in making an arrest.

7. Confiscated evidence shall be properly documented.

8. Bring the arrested person to the police station for further investigation and disposition.

Although the barangay tanod is not responsible for the direct execution of arrest, which is mandated to policemen, they are mandated to conduct a lawful citizen’s arresting procedure, and know-how and technical skills in the procedures of arresting, restraining, and handcuffing are essential to barangay tanods. The following are some technical and tactical training given to them.

Unarmed Arresting Tactics There are many ways of arresting an unarmed suspect—this may vary depending on the situation.

A team of barangay tanods usually assists policemen. Upon delivering all the protocols, policemen or tanods can restrain a suspect, either in a peaceful manner if the suspect just goes with them, or restraining and handcuffing if needed. Below are the typical restraining and arresting techniques taught to barangay tanods.

Disarming and Arresting a Suspect In the case of arresting a suspect who is violently resisting, a restraining technique is necessarily provided that it will not physically harm the former. An example below is the use of rattan sticks to control and restrain, and consequently handcuffing.

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Another example of controlling and restraining a suspect who has aggressively attacked the arresting officers is shown in the photos.

The assailant attacks the barangay tanod by grabbing the stick (Figures 1 & 2), and the barangay tanod steps forward with his right foot (Figure 3) and presses his right arm over the assailant’s left arm (Figure 4). Then he pushes down the assailant’s arms while pulling the left end of the stick rearward to release the grab, then delivers a butt-end strike to the assailant’s trunk (Figures 4-6). He inserts his stick between the assailant’s left arm and body, and presses it down while unbalancing the former (Figures 7-9). As the assailant is restrained into a prone position, the barangay tanod ties the arms with a synthetic zip tie (Figure 10). With the help of the another barangay tanod, he will bring the arrested assailant to the nearest police station. It is necessary to also protect the restrained assailant while transporting them (Figure 11).

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

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Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

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Simulated Training Upon completing the basic rudiments of the tactical baton, the barangay tanod are usually subjected to a simulated crime situation as their practice and practical evaluation of what they have learned from days of training.

The typical simulated situation is arresting a person with a hidden knife, arresting a single assailant, and a self-defense situation.

Quo Vadis Arnis has already been introduced as a physical education activity, competitive sport, and to the local communities as part of self-defense training of the barangay tanod. Before the formalization of the barangay as the basic and smallest political unit of governance in the Philippines, arnis was already accepted as the viable training for their barangay tanods.

For the past years and with the initiatives of the past national associations of arnis to train the barangay tanods from various communities, still there are numerous barangays that haven’t received training with regards to this matter. Some barangay leaders have also invited the local police force as resource trainers for their tanods.

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The responsibilities of every barangay tanod are numerous, from traffic tasks and assisting community leaders, to crime prevention and safety responses. Keeping in mind that this is a voluntary job— although they are receiving allowances—financial problems still haunt them to continue their community task.

The oscillating nature of barangay leadership and other political issues and interests are some challenges in the training and development of every barangay tanod. The presence of arnis practitioners in the community and even from state universities can be tapped to help in the training of barangay tanods. But effective and functional technical and tactical aspects of arnis should be considered when dealing with the barangay tanods training with sticks.

Academic studies should be done to investigate questions such as: What are the present characteristics of arnis training for barangay tanods? What is the impact of the training program, and what are the best practices in terms of teaching and training methodologies that are efficient? There are lots of possible research topics with regard to the barangay tanod and arnis. The current national association on arnis should also deal with this.

Every educational institution and security-concerned institution should try to have studies on this topic to help in the evaluation of what has already been done, and what is needed for further development and continued programs in terms of self-protection skills of the barangay tanod—as crime is also evolving.

We can’t deny the importance of barangay tanods as agents for the local community safety, emergency response, and orderliness. Barangay tanods are one of the icons of arnis/eskrima as the national martial art and sport of the Philippines.

- Joel D. Anajao

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The following people are those who helped to bring this article to reality: Prof. Ronnel P. Cuachin, the college dean of the College of Sports, Physical Education, and Recreation (CSPEAR) of Cavite State University, who led us not only on academic tasks but also for continuing our community services; Allan C. Guanlao, Angelito Penales, Jerard Noel M. Martinez, Wendel Marzo, and Jeffrey P. Romera, who helped in the training of the barangay tanod from various communities of Cavite.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abrams, Jim. “QC barangay tanods gets arnis training.” Metro News Central. http://metronewscentral.net/quezon-city/barangay-front/qc-barangay-tanods-get-arnis-training.

Araja, R. N. “Arnis training for Quezon City village peace officers.” Manila Standard. February 11, 2019. https://manilastandard.net/lgu/ncr/287554/ arnis-training-for-quezon-city-village-peace-officers.html.

LGUpdates. “Barangay Tanods.” December 22, 2013. https://lgupdates.weebly.com/blogs/barangay-tanods.

NARAPHIL Webpage. “Training the Barangay Tanod, Arnis de Mano.” December 15, 2005. http://naraphil.blogspot.com/2005/12/training-barangay-tanod.html.

Republic of the Philippines. Department of the Interior and Local Government. Guidelines on Professionalizing the Barangay Tanod. Memorandum Circular No. 2003-42. March 10, 2003. https://www.dilg.gov.ph/PDF_File/ issuances/memo_circulars/MC2003-042.pdf.

Rotary Showcase. “Arnis para sa Barangay Tanod.” https://map.rotary.org/ en/project/pages/project_detail.aspx?guid=DA16ED40-7C2F-41C5-AF73BD2F7D77B0D9.

Presas, R. A. Modern Arnis: Philippine Martial Arts. Manila: Modern Arnis, 1974.

Salviejo, Kurt T., et al. “Roles, Responsibility, and Challenges of Barangay Police Officer in Enforcing Health Security Protocols in Selected Barangay of Alfonso Lista, Ifugao.” Undergraduate thesis. Faculty of College of Criminal Justice Education, Ifugao State University, 2021.

Sy Jr., J. U. “Brgy. Malingin Tanods Trains in Filipino M.A., Visayan Filipino Martial Arts.” Visayan Filipino Martial Arts Blog. July 11, 2013. http:// visayanfilipinomartialarts.blogspot.com/2013/07/brgy-malingin-tanods-train-in-filipino.html.

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Michael Belzer @michael.belzer.3

MY PATH TO

JODO MENKYO Michael Belzer

WHY SHINDO MUSO RYU? Over the past decade, I have dedicated myself to walking the path of jojutsu—the art of Japanese stick fighting. I could not have had a better introduction to the art than when I was 18 years old and training at the Rembukan dojo in 1974 under the 25th Headmaster, Shimizu Takaji, and later in 1979 under Donn F. Draeger Sensei in Malaysia.

Although I was occasionally able to pick up a jo and practice with some folks between 1979 and 2007 (a break of 28 years), I really thought that my experience in Shindo

Muso ryu was limited to an excellent introduction and that was the end of that chapter in my martial career. As fate would have it, in 2007 I took my wife, Meredith, on a trip to Kyoto. While I was in Japan, I took the opportunity to visit Otake Sensei of the Katori Shinto ryu and also Ono Sensei of the Takenouchi ryu. The experiences I had at both of these dojo reignited my interest in the koryu of Japan.

When I returned to Los Angeles, I decided to Google around to see if, after 30 years, there were finally any qualified teachers of the art that I started a lifetime ago—Shindo Muso ryu.

The Rembukan dojo, 1975.

Back row: Mike Belzer (far right), Larry Bieri (3rd from left). Front row: Nishioka (2nd from left), Shimizu (center), Kuroda (3rd from right), Kaminoda (far right).

Shimizu Takaji (25th Headmaster) & Kuroda Ichitaro (Shihanke).

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IJF Jamboree Taping, Malaysia, July 1979.

Penang, Malaysia, July 1979.

Donn F. Draeger (Hawaii, 1980). This is the last time I saw him. He died in 1982.

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Otake Sensei of Katori Shinto ryu (Narita, Japan).

Ono Sensei of Takenouchi ryu (Kyoto, Japan).

I have to say that my life in the martial arts (starting at the age of nine in Danzan ryu jujutsu) has been filled with what I can only call “fantastic luck.” My luck continued with my Google search when Steve Bellamy and the Santa Monica Jodo Club popped up in . . . Santa Monica? That was my old hood from high school and college days!

When I met with Mishima Sensei, I shared my early experience at the Rembukan with Shimizu Sensei and later with Draeger Sensei in Malaysia. She seemed satisfied with that and explained to me that Shindo Muso ryu was not a sport, a game, or even a hobby that you can just “dabble in.” Once you start and become a member of the ryu, you commit to learning the whole art from your sensei. As with many things in life, “I had no idea what I was getting into,” even with all of my previous training and experience in various martial arts.

I believe I sent an email first and I received a polite reply from Chisato Mishima about the steps necessary to learn the art: 1. Come to an interview.

2. Watch three classes.

3. Be invited.

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Steven Bellamy (Menkyo Kaiden) & Chisato Mishima (Menkyo) demonstrating the okuden kata in 2013.

I have often said, “If growing up in Danzan ryu was equivalent to my B.A. undergraduate degree in martial arts, then the 10 years I spent under Guro Dan Inosanto learning the Filipino arts of kali, escrima and arnis, was like getting my master’s degree. This makes my training in Shindo Muso ryu like studying for my Ph.D in the martial arts.”

When I arrived at Clover Park to watch my first class, Bellamy Sensei asked if I remembered any of the omote kata. I said that I did and he said: “Show me tachi otoshi.” When I was finished he said, “Good, you are doing the same style we are do-

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Guro Dan Inosanto and his drumming teacher, Buddy Helm.

ing. You are welcome to practice with us.” And so it began.

I was expected to train privately with Bellamy Sensei once a week and also attend the early-morning group classes. When I was told that each student was put on a mandatory one month probation period, I thought carefully about that, and then asked for a threemonth probation. My reasoning was this: anyone can adjust their schedule to do something special for a month. Actually integrating something new into your life takes more time. As the training continued, I met the two senior students,

Raffi and Kee, and we were soon training together as a small group on Sunday mornings with Bellamy Sensei and his wife, Chisato Mishima.

Bellamy Sensei has very high standards. He expects us to come to class, practice on our own and do study sessions that cover the history, customs, and traditions of Shindo Muso ryu. One of the first things I realized was that I would have to make some sacrifices in order to do this training and do it well. I had been teaching my own Wednesday night escrima class at the Circle Park dojo (in Santa

Receiving my Shodan in Danzan ryu jujutsu from my Sensei, Jim Marcinkus, in 1972 (at age 16).

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Monica) for several years, and I decided that I would need to close that down. This would give me more time and energy to devote to my Shindo Muso ryu training.

It was from that point in 2008 that I knew I was committed to learning the art of Shindo Muso ryu and completing the path I had begun almost 30 years ago. Signing the entrance document, nyumon-sho, was a significant event. Karunakaran from Malaysia agreed to be my sponsor, and Meredith also attended the event. As my wife, she

needed to know, and also agree to this path that I was taking with Bellamy Sensei.

I helped organize an Introduction to the Jo seminar, and we attracted 20 students to this event. Two thirds of the people were from the Danzan ryu dojo, and I was quite pleased with that. From that first introductory seminar, three people began training with us on a regular basis: Brendan Dowling, William Fordes, and Rob Eiseman. Rob had to drop out due to his work schedule, but both Brendan and Bill have stayed with it along with me.

Malaysia Mike at age 22 standing with Karunakaran in one of the cabins at the IJF Jodo Jamboree in Taiping, Malaysia (July 1979). “Karuna” was the first student of Donn Draeger in Malaysia, and is the leader of the Malaysian Jodo Federation.

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Our first Introduction to the Jo seminar with Bellamy Sensei (2008). Interesting note: The San Fernando Judo Dojo is 100 years old!

Being asked by Bellamy Sensei to become his deshi was a very significant and important event for me.

I knew that he took it very seriously and he carefully explained that taking the step would deepen our relationship as he also committed to teaching me “all of his art.” In 2009, I signed the shoden-sho document, which signifies that the student has now become more like “an apprentice.”

Bellamy Sensei also began talking about taking a group of us to Japan so we could experience Shindo Muso ryu in its native envi-

ronment. The plan was to make it a jungyo, where we would travel throughout Japan to practice Shindo Muso ryu at different locations and dojos around the country.

The trip to Japan in 2009 was an awesome experience. Most of the students of the Santa Monica Jodo group were able to make the 17-day trip. This included myself, Brendan Dowling, Bill Fordes, and Rich Kaczmarek, along with Bellamy Sensei and his wife, Chisato Mishima. We started in Tokyo and trained at the dojo of Kaminoda Sensei, who was an icon of the

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budo and bujutsu worlds, especially in the realm of Shindo Muso ryu.

Kaminoda Sensei was one of the teachers I saw demonstrate in Maryland when the first demonstration of koryu martial arts was made in the United States along with Donn Draeger. I was 13 years old and saw Shimizu Sensei along with Donn Draeger and Kaminoda Sensei.

Kaminoda Sensei was very gracious to our group, and we were invited back to practice with his dojo a

second time. We saw a student get promoted to his Gomokuroku, and we received a very nice demonstration of the kusarigama.

In direct contrast, when we visited the dojo of Matsui Sensei, we were disrespected and ignored. It was a very strange experience for me. As a matter of fact, it was the worst I have ever been treated in any dojo in the world. The way I look at it, you can learn from any and all experiences even if it is just what not to do.

The announcement of the first demonstration of Japanese koryu to be demonstrated in the U.S. appeared in the Judo Illustrated magazine.

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The Kaminoda dojo (Tokyo, 2009).

Malaysia Mike (left), Des Roy (center), and Bill Fordes (right) at the Tokyo Shrine (2009).

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I would have to say that the most memorable part of the 2009 jungyo was our visit to the Cave of Muso on Mount Homan in Fukuoka. The hike up the mountain was an event in itself. Hearing the Buddhist chanting coming from inside the cave as we approached it really “set the tone.” Entering the cave and leaving our own jo as a sign of respect was definitely a high point.

Being asked to demonstrate tachi otoshi in front of the cave with Rich truly was a “peak experience” for both of us.

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The sign at the cave entrance gives the story of Muso.

From inside the cave, there was chanting as we arrived.

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We saw and experienced many, many things on this trip—way too many to go into here. Suffice to say, it was both awesome and challenging.

Rich & I in front of the cave, after our embu of tachi otoshi.

Receiving my Sandan from Bellamy Sensei on Mt. Homan.

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Returning home from this trip met us with a surprise. Chisato’s mother’s health had taken a turn for the worse and Sensei decided that they needed to stay in Japan and help take care of her. Before we left for this jungyo, we had made many plans with Sensei upon his return to Los Angeles. The primary one was to help them develop a center for training in a variety of the classical Japanese traditions including Shindo Muso ryu jojutsu, Muso Shinden ryu iaido, shodo, and cha-

do. However, sometimes real life interrupts our plans for life. This is what happened here and quite suddenly our little yagai (outdoor) dojo of six guys had to figure out “what to do” now that our Sensei was staying in Japan.

As 2010 started up, I led our first kagami biraki ceremony. We laid out the portable Shinto shrine, bowed to the rising sun, and then each of us made a small demonstration. We drank our sake and discussed how we would approach and continue our training in Shindo Muso ryu, now that our Sensei had moved back to Japan.

Since we did not have a teacher able to be with us on a regular ba-

sis, our small group of dedicated students—Raffi, myself, Brendan, Bill, and Greg—really became what is known as a “Study Group.” We decided to meet on a biweekly basis, and Raffi and I would lead the group on an alternating basis. I am the one who organized the group. I really had no desire to “start teaching,” but someone had to lead the group. Raffi was the senior member of our gang, but over the next year his participation dropped off and, by the end of the year, it was just me leading the group. We continued in this way for the next two years between 2009 and 2011.

We practiced regularly as a group twice a month. We also paired up individually and trained together.

Clover Park yagai dojo (January, 2010). From left to right: Bill Fordes, Raffi Gabriel, Mike Belzer, and Brendan Dowling. Our "portable Shinto shrine" in the middle.

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Kuroda Ichitaro with his sword and a sample of his shodo.

We performed several embu at different events and we each began weekly study sessions with Sensei via Skype.

When Sensei began his Skype study sessions with me in 2009, he told me to begin studying Muso Shinden ryu iaido, and also to start learning shodo—calligraphy. Rats!

More stuff to do! And, I am not interested at all in these two activities—from what I have seen of them.

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Sigh. Okay, just do it. I searched around and found an aikido dojo that also taught Muso Shinden ryu iaido. The dojo was just 15 minutes away, in downtown Los Angeles.

The class was held on Thursday nights from 8 to 9 PM, one hour per week. I can do that. I called the dojo and spoke to Nishida Sensei.

I explained that I was a member of Shindo Muso ryu jojutsu and that my Sensei in Japan was encouraging me to start learning Muso Shinden ryu iaido. I also asked him if he taught the 12 kata of the seitei iaido set. He said “Yes, we do that too.” “Great!” I said. “That’s all I

really want to learn.” “Well, if you join this dojo you will be learning both. Not just one or the other.”

“Okay,” I said. “Damn!” The way I looked at it, the 12 kata of seitei iaido should be like the 12 kata of seitei jodo. Learn the 12 kata and I will have a good introduction to the use of the sword. Yes, I was looking for a shortcut. Ha ha!

watch the aikido class beforehand.

It brought back good memories of my time at the Aikikai Hombu in Tokyo, way back in 1974.

Getting back to an indoor dojo was a very interesting experience.

I came early and got a chance to

Nishida Sensei give me a bokken and worked with me through the basic motions: •

nuke—the draw

•

kiri—the cut

•

chiburi—the blood wipe

•

noto—put away

Nishida Sensei inside the City Aikido & Swordsmanship dojo.

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Learning the reiho to step on the mat with the sword, bowing to the shomen and then waiting for the class to begin while kneeling in seiza with my sword at my right side, was another kata to learn.

The reiho included bowing to the shomen as a group, bowing to the Sensei and then placing the sword in front of us correctly and bowing to it. Only then do we put the sword into our obi and tie it to our hakama.

Learning how to clean and powder the sword after each session was another kata to add to the list.

Over the next several months, I really got to enjoy the focus, the silent training and getting to know the sword. I did learn the 12 kata of the seitei iaido set and also began to learn and practice many of the kata from the shoden, chuden, and okuden kata sets of the complete art of Muso Shinden ryu. I am “nothing” when it comes to the practice of Muso Shinden ryu, but I demonstrated the 12 kata of seitei iaido when I was in Japan in 2015.

It was good to do it in front of my Sensei, as the use of the katana is part of his kyotei—personal teaching.

While I was at an iaido session, I met Masanao-san who was here from Japan to go to college. He was

an older guy in his 40s and we hit it off. I heard about a Japan Family Day event to be held at Santa Anita racetrack and thought it would be a fun event to go to: Japanese food, music, martial arts, and other Japanese arts and culture. As we walked through the fair, I passed by a booth where shodo (calligraphy) was being demonstrated.

The Sensei saw me stop and look, and she simply held the brush out to me and I took it. She said, “Sit down here. Let’s write your name.”

I cannot say that I was “hooked” at that moment, but I did take her card and saw that she was teaching down in Torrance. I knew that shodo was also a huge part of the kyotei of Kuroda Ichitaro and that meant it was part of my teacher’s as well. Although he did not give me “the assignment,” I knew I had to give it a go, and try my hand to learn shodo.

Two weeks later, when I walked into the shodo class, I saw that not only was I the only man in the room but also the only non-Japanese. What I had really walked into was a group of local Japanese women who had been doing shodo for years—kind of like walking into a women’s bridge club that meets every week. By the end of the class, the Sensei had “suggested” to me that “this class might not

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be for you.” However, she said she had a student that also taught shodo, lived in the Valley, and would come to my office in Glendale to teach me privately. “Really?” “Yes.” I contacted Yukari Tokumaru and she said, “Yes, I would be happy to come over to your office and teach you shodo.” Cool.

During our first class she said, “What you are doing to start is really called shuji. This is what the grade school kids learn first. It is kind of like how American kids learn to print letters and numbers and then how to write in cursive handwriting.” I started by learning how to prepare the ink, hold the brush, steady the paper, and how

to start the brush strokes at the correct 45° angle. Tokumaru Sensei began coming to my office on a weekly basis. I cannot say I practiced much between classes. As a matter of fact, I approached my shodo practice like I did my iaido practice—once a week for about 90 minutes at a time with no practice in between. I also have to say that I did not look forward to each session. I never felt that I had time for it, or that “I am getting the hang of it,” either. Having said that, Tokumaru Sensei was coming to my office and I simply had very few excuses to cancel my weekly class.

I kept going because I knew it was part of my Sensei’s kyotei, pure and simple.

Tokumaru Sensei (in orange) and Malaysia Mike (in black).

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As October 2011 approached, both Brendan and myself prepared for another trip to Japan. This would be the first time we would be training with Bellamy Sensei since we had left Japan in 2009. For this trip, Brendan and I would be staying in a suburb of Nagoya and not traveling all over Japan like we did in 2009. The other unique aspect of this trip was that both Brendan and I would be staying with “host families.”

My family, the Nozaki’s, were a great fit for me. Ayano Nozaki owned an English school in her house and taught class after “regular school” had finished up. Her husband worked for a computer company, and their two kids were both in elementary school.

Brendan and I trained with Bellamy Sensei at separate times and focused on learning the okuden set.

He trained us in a very interesting way. Sensei trained with me using the sword as the uchidachi. With Brendan, he trained him with the

jo as the shidachi. Our mission, when we returned to Santa Monica, would be to bring our knowledge together and teach each other the movements of the jo and the tachi.

We had many great experiences on this trip. Here are just a few of the highlights.

The Okuiri Ceremony: Both Brendan and I were given a full ceremony that recognizes the first level of Shindo Muso ryu known as the okuiri. The okuiri is a letter which indicates the “probation period” is finally over, and the deshi has proven himself to be worthy of learning the oku (deeper) aspects of the art.

Ahmed Mansuri acted as Sensei’s assistant. The location was inside a Buddhist temple that looked like it was right out of a kung fu movie set. It was a formal affair done in full hakama. Sensei wore his white one for this. Both Brendan and I had lost our inkan (personal stamp) that Sensei had given us back in

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The Nozaki family at home.

Bellamy Sensei’s Wall of Weapons.

Bellamy Sensei & his wife Chisato Mishima at home in Nagoya.

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2009. This was considered very, very bad—kind of like losing your passport while you are in a foreign country! So, Sensei said, “We need to stamp your okuiri with both my inkan and yours. Since you both lost your inkan you must do a keppan (blood seal). We did this by taking a sharp razor blade and cutting the top of our thumb just under the thumbnail. Then, we took the drop of blood and placed it on the okuiri document.

After the ceremony, Sensei and Chisato took us to another sec-

tion of the temple, and we were given a formal tea ceremony by the owner of the temple. One of the things she asked us was, “Why did you choose Shindo Muso ryu?”

She asked each of us this question.

When it came to me I told her, “I think Shindo Muso ryu chose me.”

As I started to answer, Sensei spoke up and told her my history in Japanese, starting with coming to Tokyo out of high school, training at the Rembukan, and learning from Shimizu Sensei; then, taking 30 years off and finally meeting Bel-

One of the several yagai dojo areas that Bellamy Sensei uses in Nagoya.

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Brendan & I sitting with our okuiri documents and Bellamy Sensei.

lamy Sensei in California in 2007.

“Ever since he met me, his life has never been the same!”

The thumb cut from the okuiri ceremony.

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The Tea Sensei thought about what Bellamy Sensei had told her, then looked at me, and said in Japanese, “You are like the dirt that remains.”

Bellamy Sensei explained to me that, “Although it sounds strange, she gave you a compliment.” He explained it to me like this: “When you wash clothes, first you shake the clothes to knock loose any dirt that might easily dislodge. Then, you wash the clothes and that gets

rid of most of the dirt stains. But sometimes, there is a little bit of dirt that remains. It is stubborn and persistent. The complement she is giving you is that you did not give up. You are still here. You did not quit. ‘Never giving up’ is considered a high compliment in Japan.”

pared a nice one with the long kata found in the gohon no midare set.

Too bad when we arrived in Nagoya and told this to Sensei and Chisato, they said, “Nice plan, but we want you to raise your game and demonstrate what you have learned while you were here.” The okuden set. “Really?” “Yes.”

Brendan and I returned to the temple for a third time. We were scheduled to give an embu, outside on the grounds of the temple. We had known that we were going to have to do an embu and had pre-

As the 17-day trip came to an end, we returned to the temple and began our embu. The embu really did look and feel to me like it was out of an episode of the old Kung Fu TV series. The weather was cloudy,

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and just as we began, it started to drizzle slightly. A funeral was just concluding in another part of the temple, and as they started to file out, they saw the demonstration, and politely stopped to watch.

The only sound you heard was the sound of their umbrellas opening up. I had one of those moments where I felt like I was “above it all” and watching Brendan and myself doing the kata like it was a movie.

The embu went off without a hitch and it was the culmination of our training time for this 2011 trip.

When Brendan and I got back to Los Angeles, we continued our regular training with the Santa Monica group. My weekly iaido training resumed and I also continued my weekly shodo classes. We also continued to make public demonstrations at various events.

Bellamy Sensei dispatched us on a cross-country mission to teach Sakimukai Sensei the satsuki ame kata set.

Jacksonville, FL (2012).

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The Shoseian Whispering Pine Tea House in Glendale, CA.

It was about this time that Meredith and I found out about the Shoseian Tea House located right in Glendale, up in Brand Park. It is a beautiful traditional Japanese tea house surrounded by an awesome Friendship Garden. After some investigation, I was able to locate the phone number of the lady who was teaching the tea ceremony at the tea house. Her name was Keiko Nakada, and I called her right

away. She answered the phone and explained to me that she had just been getting her energy back from an illness but she was planning to get activities started up again at the tea house soon. Nakada Sensei asked if we would like to attend the next business meeting of her group, and Meredith and I immediately said “Yes.” The meeting was a small one, held in Nakada Sensei’s house in Pasa-

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Intro to the Jo at the Shoseian Tea House

dena, with just herself and three of her students—Julie, Susan, and Ginna. We talked about the plans not only of holding tea ceremonies and classes at the tea house but also to offer other Japanese cultural activities such as budo, shodo, ikebana, and music. The City of Glendale has given Nakada Sensei’s group—the Friends of Shoseian—the use of the tea house on the third Sunday of each month.

By the end of the meeting, Nakada Sensei asked if we would like to be on the Board of Directors of the tea house. I said “Yes” immediately. The next question was, “Would you like a title?” I said, “Yes.” “Ambassador would be nice,” she said.

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“Fine, you will be our Ambassador of Martial Arts to the Shoseian Tea House.”

Meredith and I brought new energy and enthusiasm into the Shoseian Tea House. Along with each tea ceremony, we added an embu of Shindo Muso ryu to help attract people to come onto the grounds of the garden. Pretty soon, I had organized the first of several Intro to the Jo classes which were well attended with over 20 students in each class. Over the next year, we also added a shodo workshop with my teacher Yukari Tokumaru and ikebana class taught by Seiko Sensei.

I produced a very nice 12-minute video that gave the history of the Glendale Sister City Program with Higashi Osaka, the building of the Shoseian and the classes, programs and events that we were now offering. I made two versions of this YouTube video. One was in English that we could use to share with other individual groups and organizations here in the U.S. The other version was narrated in Japanese so I could take it back to Japan on my next trip which was coming up in 2013.

The 2013 trip was another great event. Brendan, Bill Fordes, Greg Poretz, Mark Willoughby, his wife Terry, and myself made up this team. Mark was from another jo group I had met in Bakersfield at a jo seminar. Bellamy Sensei had suggested to me to “invite anyone at the Bakersfield budo seminar to come to Japan with us.” So, I did just that as we had dinner with the group that night. An older guy, Mark Willoughby, approached me and said, “Were you serious? I’ve always wanted to go to Japan. It’s

The U.S. Team arriving in Japan for the Nagoya Gasshuku (October, 2013).

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Kurogo Sensei

been one of the dreams of my life.”

I found out later that Mark was already an accomplished swordsmith who actually makes Japanese katana in his garage. Boy, was he going to have the trip of his life!

The 2013 trip turned out to be a rough one for me. About a week into it, I came down with the flu and I was completely down and out for a solid week. On top of that, all sorts of problems were happening with my business at home. Meredith was really struggling to keep it all together. I was still able to participate in many of the activities, but at a much lower energy level.

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We learned all of the jutte kata in tandoku fashion (solo, not against the sword). We also learned the six kata of the yumidare set. We spent half the day working on some of the Matsubayashi jujutsu techniques.

Three very interesting events took place that I am glad I recovered enough to participate in: •

Training with Kurogo Sensei for the day;

•

Going to the location of the Battle of Sekigahara;

•

Receiving the Gomokuroku promotion after I took my exam.

An 8th Dan named Kurogo Sensei was invited by Bellamy Sensei to spend the day with us and take us through the Kendo Renmei seitei jodo curriculum. Sensei told us that Kurogo was “the Man” when it came to final decisions about any changes with the seitei curriculum in Japan. He wanted us to train with Kurogo Sensei and establish a connection with him. I had the opportunity to be his demonstration partner for the entire day. He took the sword and I had the jo. We went through all 12 of the kihon and all 12 of the kata. His technique was very crisp and he had a great kiai.

After the day of training, we went out for dinner, showed some magic tricks, and had a great time. I had a bit of a relapse after that training with Kurogo Sensei, but I was pleased that I could “hang” with him.

Bellamy Sensei sent a message to all of us that we would need to be ready to get on the road early the next day. “You’re going somewhere very important.” Early in the mornig, we all piled in the car and headed out for a road trip. Little did we know that we were headed to walk on the battleground where both Hirano Gonbei and Musashi Miyamoto fought in 1600 during the Battle of Sekigahara.

Dinner, gifts, and magic tricks.

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The battleground of Sekigahara.

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The battleground is an historic site, and there was activity preparing for some kind of ceremony that was to happen in a few days.

We had a chance to walk over the different areas, and Sensei painted the picture for us with some more history and stories.

After we returned to base, the next big events were examinations. I was going for Gomokuroku. Brendan and Rich were testing for Shomokuroku. Mark Willoughby was taking the grading in both iaido and jodo.

The most interesting part of the Gomokuroku examination was that I was on the sword for most of the time. Bellamy Sensei said he already knew what my jo technique looked like. “Gomokuroku means that you will be among the most senior people in the dojo and it means you will be uchidachi (on the sword) and be leading them using hiki tate geiko (pulling them along training method).”

Sensei always has us stand and answer questions as part of the exam. By “stand,” I mean just that: you cannot move, pantomime, or demonstrate anything. Your answers must be verbal only. Although I was still feeling the effects

of the flu, I did rally long enough to make it through the test which lasted about three hours. Sensei informed me that I had passed.

Nice!

Brendan and Rich partnered up for their Shomokuroku exam, and the most memorable part was when Rich was asked to spend some time working with me on some different aspects of the midare dome kata. He had not done very well on that kata. Sensei told him, “You are right on the borderline of pass or fail. I am going to give you a chance to practice that kata and then come back later and demonstrate it again.”

Rich and I practiced midare dome along with Brendan. Then, after an hour, Rich took another crack at it. By this time in the trip, Rich was also sick and he had a pretty bad injury to one of his ankles— not the ideal way to go in for a “make or break” moment, but that was the way it was. There is a moment in the kata where shidachi does a tai atari (double fisted strike to the body and face) of the uchidachi to knock him back a few steps. Brendan is a big guy, probably 6’ 3”. Rich is my size, maybe 5’ 9”. Rich “popped” Big Brendan so

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hard, it knocked him down on his ass. No one lets that kind of thing just “happen.” It was very impressive. Sensei let out a cheer, Chisato stood up with a smile on her face, and I caught it all on video. Sensei said, “Well, I guess that’s a pass.

Congratulations!” The even better

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news was that the new Shomokurokus had to pay for dinner for all of us. Ha ha!

Mark Willoughby really had “the trip of his life.” As a martial artist and a swordmaker at home in the US, he always had a dream of going to Japan, the “home of the samurai and his sword.” Now, here he was.

He already had spent a day with a

swordmaker and had an awesome experience learning the traditional way swords were made. As the trip was coming to an, end he now had the opportunity to take the grading for iaido and seitei jo. He would be awarded a Dan ranking, if he passed.

There was only one teeny-weeny little problem. The style of the iaido Mark practiced was not the standard “official kata” of the Kendo Renmei seitei iaido curriculum.

Although Mark knew “all of the moves,” there were just enough details and differences so whatever he demonstrated would be considered wrong. That was the bad news. The good news was that I knew all 12 of the seitei kata and

I told Sensei, “Give me an hour and I can train him to do what he needs to do.” How is that possible?

Because, to get your Shodan, you only have to demonstrate five of the 12 kata. Ha ha! Then he got to select them. Mark made his choice and I helped to make a change here and there. On this particular grading, Mark also took a grading for seitei jodo. I was his uchidachi and he did very well. He is an intense guy with the jo or sword in his hand. His iaido demonstration went fine. He passed! Sensei talked with him afterwards and gave him guidance and homework to do when he returned to the U.S. Even if he had not passed, the whole experience would have been “the best.” Talk about a “peak experience” for Mark!

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As the 2013 trip came to a close, we all agreed that the person who did the best, had the best attitude, kept the best spirit, never complained, and always supported usm was Mark’s wife, Terry—especially as a non-martial artist, coming along for the ride, and for the first time in Japan. She blew us all away!

The six yumidare kata that we also learned tandoku were more challenging because there just were no models, photos, or video that we could look at. The best we could do was watch the video of Ahmed doing them tandoku so that we could at least remember the sequence of movements.

It took me an incredible six weeks to recover from that last trip to Japan! Whatever flu bug I picked up zapped my energy longer than anything I have ever experienced.

Slowly, I got back to my early-morning fitness in the MMA gym and got back to leading the biweekly Shindo Muso ryu classes on Sunday mornings.

During our last Japan trip in 2013, Sensei created an organization called the “Musokan,” or “The House of Muso,” as a way to counter the problem of the Kendo Renmei’s decision to start teaching what they call koryu kata. He made me the head of Musokan USA and encouraged me to “grow the group.” I decided to use the Shoseian Tea House as my base and hold a series of three Intro to the Jo seminars on the grounds of the Friendship Garden each year.

We had already held one seminar which had over 20 students, and it was a great success. My goal with this series was to get the Musokan USA name out there and see if we could attract a few more dedicated students.

We worked hard to apply the sword movements to the 12 jutte kata that we were only able to learn tandoku (solo) while we were in Japan. We watched the videos, looked at the photos, and slowly put the sword attacks along with the jutte counters to the complete kata one by one.

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The next Intro to the Jo seminar I held attracted several aikido sensei and also a group of escrima practitioners. The escrima group spoke to me when it was over and requested that I come to their Pasadena location once a month to teach them. This is the first time a group (six men and two women) had approached me to teach them.

Two very interesting things happened: They did not quit. The group stayed together and their open-mindedness (junanshin) has been quite impressive.

Musokan USA—1st Gasshuku held in Tehachapi, CA (September, 2014).

The first meeting of the “Musokan” held in Nagoya, Japan (October, 2013).

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They are learning and making progress even at two hours a month! We are working on the seitei curriculum and, so far, they have made it through the kihon tandoku (solo) and sotai (paired) and the first six kata. They are just now learning how to handle the sword by learning how to “accept” the hiki otoshi and other strikes. They even came up with a name for their group: The Pasadena Jodo Society.

We had a big event here in Los Angeles when I re-established a connection with Dr. David Hall who had just published an amazing reference book called the Encyclopedia of Japanese Martial Arts. I had met Dave back in the mid-80s along with Hunter Armstrong as they were both heavily involved with Donn Draeger’s development of hoplology. It turns out that Bellamy Sensei had met both Armstrong and Hall while they were all in Japan in the 70s.

Bellamy Sensei reconnected with Dave Hall after many, many years and then both of us talked to him on a Skype conversation. Dave asked for my help in promoting his book by seeing whether I could set up a book signing and lecture. I was able to do this with the Asian American Museum in Pasadena.

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Dave and his wife traveled here to Los Angeles from Maryland, and he asked our group to help him with his lecture by demonstrating Shindo Muso ryu kata to illustrate the points he was making in his talk.

We treated this event as quite an honor for the Santa Monica Jodo group.

Time flies when you are busy. Running my real estate management company with my wife and partner, Meredith, can be more than a full-time job. We can be on call for an emergency at a building or with a tenant at any time, day or night. Having said that, since it is my own business that I have built over the last 25 years, I have developed a network of vendors and contacts that I can rely on when the call comes in. This allows me to have much more flexibility in setting my own schedule, and this is what has allowed me to carve out the time to study Shindo Muso ryu to the level of detail that Bellamy Sensei requires of me.

Returning to Japan for 10 days in 2015 and then moving on to Malaysia for 16 days, the biggest wild card in the deck was my left hip.

An MRI showed moderate to severe arthritis and thinning of the protective cartilage. The pain had

progressed to the point that just the daily activities of walking, sitting down, getting up, getting in and out of the car hurt. When you think about walking somewhere and the first question in your mind is, ”How far is that?”—you know you have a big problem.

Dr. Cipkenian put me completely out under anesthesia for cortisone injections which went deep into my left hip joint. The next thing I knew, it was “Time to go home, Mr. Belzer.” The first week was almost pain-free. It really did feel like someone had removed a knife from my hip! As of the second week, I started to notice pain coming back—not to the degree that was before, but still a problem.

I went back to iaido for the first time in many months. I decided it was time to test my hip and my newly sharpened sword. Class went fine. Not only did my hip survive, but there was no spilling of blood—mine or anyone else’s!

Sensei, a serious talk with Meredith, and some soul searching on my part, we decided that the best course of action for the 10 days in Japan was to take the “ramp up” to the 3-day Menkyo Evaluation, “off the table.” This way, instead of things having to go harder each day, with increased intensity, culminating in the 100% effort that will be required for the Menkyo Evaluation, we could back off, take it day by day, or even session by session, if necessary. Sensei had re-formulated the plan so that this 10-day trip was the beginning of a two-year Menkyo Evaluation period. This way we could still accomplish much, learn many things, and move forward on the Path to Menkyo. At the same time, we lowered the intensity, “were smart” about my hip and my limitations, and then returned to L.A. to get my hip replaced. I recovered and then came back to Japan in 2017.

In each and every training session, I still did my best and was my best.

Bellamy Sensei was quite concerned about my hip, and he wanted to monitor it carefully while I was in Japan. He wanted me to be able to go on to the second part of my trip, which was 16 days in Malaysia. After much discussion with

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My trip to Malaysia was a very interesting one. I met up with my old friend, Christopher Sanmugam, who was my age and an original student of Donn Draeger from back in the 70s. We met at the 1st International Jodo Jamboree held in Taiping, Malaysia in 1979.

We have maintained contact ever since. Christopher came here to the US and attended the IJF Ha-

waii Gasshuku in 1994 and also traveled with me here in Los Angeles. Now it was my turn to go to Malaysia and travel with him for a bit. Our plan was to visit many of the instructors that Draeger Sensei took me to originally (at least those that are still alive) back in 1979. The pentjak silat Master Abdul Rhaman has passed on but his son, Sazali, interviewed me as I

Left to right: Larry Bieri, Nanis, Quitin Chambers, Pascal Kreiger, Meik Skoss, Karunakaran, Mike Belzer, and Christopher Sanmugan.

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was one of the people that Draeger Sensei brought to visit his father.

I also had quite a few pictures and some video of his father that he was very interested in since he was writing a biography of his father, and most of the family photos and videos he had have been destroyed by fire or flood.

Karuna & Christopher with Pascal Kreiger.

Johnny Seow (left), Donn Draeger (center), and Pascal Kreiger (right) at the IJF Jodo Jamboree. Taiping, Malaysia (1979).

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Christopher Sanmugam & Malaysia Mike at the IJF Jodo Jamboree. Taiping, Malaysia (1979).

Bellamy Sensei has asked me to write out what my “philosophy of training” is concerning the practice of Shindo Muso ryu. Here it is: Shindo Muso ryu is a traditional bujutsu of Japan, which is a fighting art, a cultural art, and a path to follow in life.

The art itself was born out of a duel between Hirano Gonbei and Musashi Miyamoto, who were two very accomplished warriors in the early 1600s. The art was designed

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for personal combat, not for use on the battlefield. The jo, which was a new weapon, and the kensho (“great enlightenment”) of Hirano Gonbei was quickly adopted for use by the dominant Kuroda clan in Fukuoka for controlling unruly samurai. The art has always been associated with the police and is alive and in use even today, by the Tokyo Riot Police.

Four hundred years of history makes this art “bigger” than any one man. The art has grown, been tested in conflict, and evolved over the centuries into the art we know today. The art has been “paid for”

by the blood and sometimes even the life of its practitioners. Shindo Muso ryu is taught in the “old way” from master to student. The art is not conducive to being taught to large groups. I feel that it is both a high honor and an awesome responsibility to learn Shindo Muso ryu in the “old way,” and then to transmit it, in its entirety, to the

next generation. This is how it has been done for 400 years. Soon, I will “get the ball,” and it will be my responsibility to care for it (carry it) and then find the ones who are ready, willing, and able to do the same thing I have done.

Following this path of training has made me a better person. There is no doubt in my mind about that.

By following the directions of my Sensei—“Do this, learn that, follow up on this, research that, report on this, find this teacher, go to that training . . .”—my life experience

Demonstrating Kasumi Shinto ryu kenjutsu.

Donn Draeger & Karuna

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Shindo Muso ryu strengthens my mind, body, and spirit to such a degree that “I can do anything” if I put my mind to it.

Transmitting this amazing art to the next generation means that both the sensei and the students have to “find each other.” This seems to happen naturally, and I think the main purpose of an embu is to demonstrate the art so that a potential student “gets the fire sparked” enough to make the approach to the sensei with the ques-

Hirano Gonbei with his new weapon—the jo.

has become richer and more expansive. Besides the training in the art itself, there are all of the people that I have met along the way, and will continue to meet. With each and every person I meet and interact with, I represent my Sensei and the art of Shindo Muso ryu.

Personal character is revealed by adversity. When everything is “going right,” it is easy to say the right thing and do the right thing. When the daily grind of life throws the “whoppers” at you, that is when your true colors are shown. I believe that the complete practice of

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Musashi Miyamoto and his two-sword style of kenjutsu.

tion, “How can I learn to do this?”

Each student is different and the responsibility of the sensei is to find the way to meet the student and “be a beginner with them.”

Patience, respect, communication, and the willingness to “do it again and again until we get it” are the qualities of a good teacher, and those same qualities, applied to the dojo of life, make us better human beings. In the dojo of life, the qualities of respect, communication, and sincerely being interested in another person, will help us “bridge the gap” and help turn strangers into fellow travelers along the path. Once you have broken through the initial “I don’t know you, so I don’t trust you” part, you begin to share information, stories, and advice. Who knows, you might even find someone who says, “How do I learn that?”

Since I am not a professional warrior or a police officer, it is unlikely that I will find myself in a situation where I am the target of an attack.

In both of these professions, you will be very likely to have to use your skills in just the same way as our warriors of the past—to protect your life or the life of another. Having said that, learning the skills of a combative art such as Shindo Muso ryu teaches you the

A Tokyo police officer standing ready with his jo.

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secrets of all combat, which include understanding timing, distance, the vital targets, and the mental/ emotional conditions necessary to prevail in a conflict. The “martial art training paradox” is this: The more you train in the fighting arts, the less likely you will be to have to actually put them to use “in the real world.” There are two primary reasons for this: Your level of awareness and preparation for action alerts you to potential trouble in advance because you see “signs of trouble” ahead and take the necessary steps to avoid them. Awareness and avoidance are the most important aspects of personal self-defense.

The way you carry and present yourself to the world sends a message that you are not a good target.

You will not be a victim and any predator will be smart to look for another “target of opportunity.”

Along with my personal philosophy of training, I have the following training rules:

No excuses. It is going to be difficult.

•

Go the extra mile. “Average” just is not good enough.

•

Be helpful to others. Especially your Sensei.

•

Represent your Sensei. Do not embarrass him.

•

Strive for excellence in your jikiden. The physical performance of the kata is how people will “see” the art and appreciate it.

•

Know the history, traditions, and customs of “your art.”

This is how your practice of a 400-year-old traditional Japanese martial art is put into context with your own life.

•

Seek to make connections with other practitioners. “There are many ways to be correct.”

•

Be confident of what you know, yet be ready to receive new knowledge.

•

Show up.

Along with a training philosophy and training rules, we need a motto. Here is mine:

•

Be consistent.

“You Never Know, Until You Go.”

•

Have a good attitude.

•

Keep an open mind and trust your teacher (junanshin).

•

No complaining. No whining.

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-Michael Belzer

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Rondel Benjamin @rondel.benjamin

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KALINDA AN INTRODUCTION TO THE TRINIDADIAN STICKFIGHTING ART Rondel Benjamin

THE ART OF KALINDA IS AN ancient art form traditionally played in Trinidad and Tobago during the carnival period from January to February. It is uniquely indigenous to the island but interestingly blended with various elements of visiting fighting arts from other diasporas and cultures, such as gatka from the Sikh Indian traditions and some Venezuelan garrote.

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Stickfighting is heavily influenced

by African warrior origins brought here by the enslaved peoples coming from the Mother-Continent.

According to the writer Maureen Warner Lewis, the art form in and of itself called kalinda began as a ritualized mating dance, performed by the men in the village to the resonating sound of the drums surrounding the encircled space known as the gayelle. The men would challenge each other to the sound of the drum, dancing and performing movements to its rhythms, creating ritual, channeling ancestral power, and competing for the right to choose a woman from the enamored crowd.

When the dance became heated, encouraged by the rapture of the drum, these danced battles would erupt into a desire for greater aggression. In turn, the barely contained energy generated would cause the men to be launched into another space where the ritualistic combat would be played out to its bloody end.

In modern times, kalinda burst forth from the chains of slavery just like the African people themselves, intertwining itself into the very culture and the people of Trinidad and Tobago. Kalinda and other expressions of a people kidnapped and stolen from their

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homes took root anew in various aspects of the everyday life experience of society. Rural communities such as Moruga, Talparo, Mayaro, and Gran Couva are notable examples of this transplantation.

Kalinda is a way of life that embodies the key aspects of African life and traditions encapsulated in this treasure chest, as it were, to be opened by those who interact with it in many ways. The practices and rituals surrounding the game in itself are an experience difficult to imagine because there is almost no experience like it unless one interacts with it in some way.

Fighting Styles Examined Trinidadian stickfighting is primarily a combat style that pits two batoniers, or stick fighters, against each other. Competitors are ultimately trying to best the other, ideally drawing first blood from the head. The competitor seeks to deliver skillful shots to the scalp or forehead via a precise strike delivered from a dual-handed attack system. Competitors fight with a stick that is approximately four and a half feet in length and the width of the average quarter or coin. The stick style is unique because fighters hold the stick with both hands and can strike with either hand while also utilizing the

stick to defend against blows. The footwork can be quite athletic and varying in styles, similar to that of a boxer. Other times, it entails more rooted stances with a subtle type of encroaching footwork to close gaps between the opponents to attack and mount defenses. All of these variations take shape in a dance-like manner to the drum’s beat and rhythm, much like its martial cousin, capoeira.

Fights occur in a space called the gayelle—a ritual space at the four-corner junction of the village.

The site is symbolic of a crossroad interaction for returning ancestors to re-enter this world. Ancestral worship and recognition are critical components of the art, and the gayelle is one of the elements that facilitate this integral part of the equation.

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Whereas combatants in typical fighting styles face each other in what seems to be organized and timed encounters, with fighters chosen by either an informal or formal referee, kalinda is much different. The energy generated by the beating drum, the excitement of the spectators, the vibe, the energy, and the sheer willpower of the fighters as they enter the ring seeking to manifest their glory or destiny, combine in a volatile way.

At times the place feels like it will spontaneously explode in a massive fireball. Fighters may huddle together in the gayelle—multiple opponents at a time dancing to the beat of the drum until fighters recognize that a particular pair is more inclined to do battle with each other than another. They would then dissipate out of the ring and allow the battle to begin.

In sanctioned competitive bouts, the ringmasters choose fighters, referees, and judges who regulate the fights and select winners, based on knockouts, blood drawn, or the referee’s decision.

Music and Kalinda Kalinda, or “the way of the drum,” is a unique combat art because it revolves around the music. The musicality of the art form requires great study because of its depth.

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Usually, the music is analyzed separately from the fighting art itself.

There are particular songs sung around the gayelle called lavways, which can be referred to as the battle hymns of the fighters, echoing the sentiments of the African Caribbean warrior as he prepares for battle and faces his own mortality in the form of an able-bodied terror standing before him. The chantelle sings the songs, whose sensitivity to the vibration around the ring allows him to determine what to sing as he leads the drum section, called bateria. The chantelle also takes the crowd’s pulse, who follow along in a call-and-response system he leads. Three drums comprise the bateria: the buller (bass drum), the fuller (rhythm drum), and the cutter (solo drum).

The buller drum plays a very distinct rhythm similar to the gallop of a horse running, while the cutter plays a precise rhythm done in syncopated beats from the buller drum. The fuller drum blends the other two drums, providing a balancing effect to the sound. These three drums primarily make up the section; however, other drums are free to join in and add to the energy as long as the cutter drum is not bothered, smothered, or intersected—all other drummers are welcomed. Traditionally, rum

kegs used to carry and store rum were stripped and used to build a drum. Unfortunately, the practice has since died out, and the djembe drum can be used as a fuller or cutter drum. Still, the best for playing the buller rhythm has a wide bass and bottom. Men often use chac chac (maracas) to accompany the rhythms, offering a mid-frequency sound to the overall rhythm emanating from the drum and bark and call from the chantelle and crowd combined.

An equally important point to note in the powerful role of the lavways themselves is that the songs depict various combat scenarios of the warrior himself. Song lyrics revolve around fatalistic topics ranging from telling family members not to allow anyone to wear their clothing when they die, to the recognition and acceptance of jail time for their intended activities.

These songs also include ideas that potentially enhance the warrior spirit, promoting within the individual warrior-emboldened ideas about themselves with songs referring to fighters as lions and tigers and even wild, ravenous dogs of war. The songs can even allow the fighter to achieve a flow state, especially with the accompaniment of the drums and chorus sung by the crowd.

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African tradition and rituals profoundly inform stickfighting in Trinidad and, not surprisingly, line up with the spiritual expressions of all other African cultures. Various ritualistic preparations are part of the system to get a fighter ready for his season of combat. There are a series of protocols for preparing one’s body, mind, and spirit for the experience of kalinda well before the time of competition and the fights. These rituals involve ritual bush baths with special herbs helpful in cutting off negative energy accumulated around the combatant. They also provide powers of protection as these baths combine with specific prayers and activities intended to assist the stickfighter in getting ready for war and avoiding death and injury.

Ritualistic preparations also surround the creation of a fighter’s stick. First, it is important to note that a fighter’s stick is as significant as a soldier’s rifle—and even more so, as stickfight folklore states that the right stick can even brake or defend against a gunshot.

Acquiring your stick from the forest involves going into the forest and receiving permission from the chosen poui tree to acquire its body to make your stick. The person must cut the branch at a specific time called the dark moon.

This time ensures that wood has the least water saturation and is strong in crafting. Upon its final crafting by either the fighter himself or a skilled stickfight craftsman, it can go through a series of rituals and obeah (magic) that can make the stick quite deadly. The stick can often inflict bizarre injuries and even cause death by simply touching or striking an opponent. And it is for this reason that fighters cloak, guard, and prepare themselves with these baths and even say specific prayers before entering a ring to protect themselves against the effects of obeah and other supposed forces that are real threats to a stickfighter.

Ultimately, the art of stickfighting is played by the warrior-spirited man of Trinidad and Tobago in defense of his community and his duty as being stalwart to an ancient calling embedded within him. Many warrior cultures have settled here and called this land home. And as a result, men of all races enter the ring now to embrace their warrior spirit and work out their salvation through the church of kalinda. The lure of fame and glory and the spoils of war, such as social acceptance and “fair maiden’s hand”—so to speak—await the celebrated victor of a stickfight challenge. Motivat-

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ed by this force of crowd-shared love, support, and gratitude, men of all skill levels and walks of society enter the gayelle unconcerned about the dangers. Alcohol, a necessary fuel to the fire within the space, also emboldens men to go forth into a “nest of demons,” as it were, and often fall to the blows of a superior warrior. Nevertheless, most times, it is done in the spirit of the game, which ultimately is a test of a man’s mettle and paying homage to the ancestors through ritualized violence, which has a deeper meaning for the community.

Deeper Meaning While many may reduce stickfighting to a glorified bloodsport or a battle between drunken old men in front of a rum shop, others agree that this game is far more than naysayers may simplify it to be. Aside from the incredible skill required to practice the art, it is an opportunity for a man to engage his best self. In many instances, the seeking of perfection and calm in the face of adversity, as well as the dance and fight component, lend to a Zen-like quality which instills in a person the need to be effortless in the face of seemingly insurmountable adversity—to essentially be beautiful in the face of all that

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is evil, terrible, and overwhelming; to confront your demons head-on and conquer them not only in actions but in spirit, temperament, and deed.

Kalinda calls forth the entire community to stand and witness their champion, bare it all for the sake of the others, and to show exemplary manhood and warriorhood to upcoming youth, planting the seeds of nobility, honor, and respect within them. To defend oneself and community, that is the bois1 man code.

Kalinda ultimately teaches about paying homage and honor to one’s ancestors, as the game is powered by a sense of remembrance of the past and those that came before them, and it is a form of reacquiring identity not only for the fighter but for the community at large.

- Rondel Benjamin

1

Pronounced "bwa"

The conversation below is part of a larger project of The Immersion Foundtion, for putting two long-term practitioners of martial art traditions in dialogue with each other in order to: 1) push them to explain aspects of their art in greater depth; 2) to push each other to bring out other equally interesting aspects of their art they both find interesting; 3) and finally to find a common ground where these arts or their concepts come together.

Rondel Benjamin: I would like to lay out the structure of what we are doing in the Bois Academy. I think this will allow us to see some of the key concepts and core areas of study that we use.

The Bois Academy is a collection of practitioners of the three central kalinda arts. As practiced in Trinidad and Tobago, kalinda comprises stick fighting, also known as the bois, the gilpin or machete or

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LIFE & STRIFE AN ONGOING CONVERSATION Rondel Benjamin & Mahipal Lunia

cutlass, and a flexible weapon art that covers everything from the six-foot bullwhip to what we call a bull-pizzle, or a short flexible cable. Additionally, there is a series of improvised combat arts, including the icepick, white-handled razor, and bottle. We also have the improvised use of the belt, which is part of the old Trinidadian Police Force, CLS tactics, and the sap.

These are arts that the Caribbean diaspora had never articulated as a complete system. Because of our pedagogies and the way we pass information on, sometimes people fail to see the interconnectedness and the structure, whereby they cannot articulate and identify what we are doing as a system. I will give you a classic example. Descriptions of African diasporic arts use the term “games” versus “arts.”

Our pedagogical model uses play and layered gaming to create information or knowledge transfer.

Because it is gaming, it is nonlinear and not defined by belt ranks.

They are not just unconnected individual games but designed with the specific purpose of creating a skill that ensures personal survival.

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I use a real story to elucidate this concept from when I was four years old. I used to go to my grandfather’s uncle. He was a sailor. We called him Achoy, or Great Uncle, a strange name for somebody of Afro-Trinidadian descent. His name and one of the names of our family were Korean, which is Wilson. But when we did the DNA testing, the results came back showing we had Vietnamese and Chinese ancestry.

These family members would have passed through Suriname into Trinidad.

He learned the kalinda suite. What he would have me do when my parents brought me to visit him, he would keep me on the porch with him because I was the boy. He had me butt his hand, and then every time I butted his hand, he would change the place of his hand, and then he would make corrections.

If I butted with the wrong place of my head, he would rap me with his knuckles, and it would hurt. If I butted the right way, he would laugh and reward me. Years later, I found out that he was teaching me the art of the big knuckle, which is the five points of the head that we use. Because you never actual-

[All photos in this article were taken from The Immersion Foundation’s first hoplological expedition to the Southern Caribbean. To access The Secret Fighting Arts of the America, a unique docu-instructional series based on the expedition, please visit: https://immersionfoundation.podia.com/ilf-caribbean-expedition]

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ly butt with the front part of the forehead, there are too many capillaries. Once you butt with this part of your body, it slashes open, and blood runs into your eyes. They would butt with the two top corners, the top of the head and the back corners.

Every time I saw my granduncle, I would play the game with him.

When I went to school and got into fights, I started butting guys. I realized that I was learning to fight.

As I got older, we would play tripping games. He was an old guy on a chair. He tripped me every time I came there, and I fell down and hit my shin. I did not know that he was teaching me knocking, a very

classic African diasporic game that runs all the way from Louisiana to Brazil. Knocking is an art that occurs from the knee down with the feet or shins to disrupt balance or cause pain.

I remember when I was eleven years old, I lived for a while in the States. Then, when I came back to Trinidad, I had an American accent, and the little children would pick on me, which made me really frustrated. My mom sat me down and said: “Listen, this has to stop. So, this is how we’re going to stop it. Every time you see them, you are going to kick them in the shins and run. You are going to kick them

in these two spots. They are going to either fall or scream out in pain. Because you are faster than them, you’re going to run, and when they get tired, you’re going to find them, and kick them again and run. Eventually, at some point, they are going to get really scared of you because you’re not going to stop, day after day, every time you see them, just kick them, and run.

By the second week, the principal’s going to call me in. That is okay.

When the principal calls me in, I’m going to say, Rondel, you shouldn’t do this. This is wrong. Do not hit other people’s children. The next day when you see them, kick them, and run again. You are going to create a mental mindset, and every time they see you, they are going to give you the space and leave the room. They will want no part of you.”

That was my introduction to guerrilla warfare, Caribbean style.

When you look at the idea of terrorism, I knew it as a child. It was because I had to fight a gang of six boys who were bigger than me, but I knew if I caught them on their own, and I hurt them bad enough and disappeared, eventually I would break their will because they were not willing to take it as far as I would. That was a game, too.

KALINDA CONVERSATION I: LIFE & STRIFE

In these family games, I learned two things: using my head as a weapon and using my legs as a weapon. Then there is the classic Caribbean, what we call a “cowl path(?)”1—which is slapping. Those are the three directions: back, forehand, and behind the head.

There was also a game we played as kids we called “clout for clout.”

To summarize everything, I have said up to now: we had open-hand striking, the use of the head, and the use of feet. Now that I am old, I recognize that these are games that most children who grew up with me knew. At different periods in a boy’s life, they would learn these things. It could be our older brother, uncle, or your mother who introduced these ideas or games and then left you to explore them on your own. You would then come back and say, “Well, I tried this, and it didn’t work,” and they would make a correction. Our pedagogical model blends skill development with experience but is not classifiable in the traditional martial arts way. That runs right through the gamut of all our combat arts in the Caribbean. The Bois Academy became a place where we started collecting all these different combat forms.

1 Not clearly heard on the recording for transcription [editor].

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Non-Linear Learning Our main objective in the Bois Academy was four-fold: to immerse ourselves in becoming living experts of the culture; to videotape it, archive it, obtain written reference of these forms; to track down lineages, locations, or accounts presented in media, newspapers, or disseminated through popular media, documentaries, videos, cartoons, comic books, or songs; then we seek to disperse it because we believe that with African diaspora arts, there is a tendency for the arts to come under cultural attack in the regions they are from. One

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of the best ways to protect these forms is to take them out of this region and seed them in other locations. That is the goal of the Bois Academy.

We then had long conversations with our compadres—our allies— in the capoeira angola community, specifically a guy called Cobra Mansa. He came to Trinidad to spend time with us to visit some of our elders and our teachers.

He said we were missing one key: “You have to understand that in diasporic arts we must elevate the

physical, financial, and spiritual environment of our elders and masters.” That is one of the problems with the diaspora. The masters generally were able to pass the information on because they all lived outside of the system.

They were what we call in French Patois, “those who live on the periphery of society.” These are generally men and women of lower class or who live in rural communities, who were not indoctrinated by Western education, and who could pass on traditions in their most original form, outside of the control of Western influences. Be-

KALINDA CONVERSATION I: LIFE & STRIFE

cause of that, they generally lived in a great deal of poverty and were not recognized. That became the fifth step in the Bois Academy.

We then researched and filmed a series of documentaries, competed in international competitions, and really started developing a deep understanding of the form. Then some of the old masters heard of us and came to where we were competing. During the initial phase of this research, we did not have any instruction. We had just watched and applied what we saw. From this time, they began to initiate us,

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because when they looked at what we were doing, they said, “Right, you’re following the old way. You all have the right energy. And we now have confidence that we can open up and teach you.” That is when we came on to the formal instruction in kalinda and gilpin.

Because of this, we soon started having a lot of success in the national competitions, and then we came to the attention of the whipmaster. He decided, “Yes, you all are somebody who I can now pass on my family lineage of whip arts.”

Once we entered this phase, the Bois Academy became a site that acted as a type of collective of the combat arts of the region. The old masters started showing us things like white-handled razor, icepick arts, and so on.

Through this journey, the philosophical opinion of kalinda became clear, and the core concept of creating a safe space to allow persons to experience the mechanisms of liminal transport, and then, doing what we call “pointing,” or helping people return back from the liminal transport system and improve. We believe this philosophical underpinning links to an ancient Fulani concept of be-

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coming a stalwart. Combat practitioners like Dammyé from Martinique, Kalinda from Trinidad, and KoKobale from Puerto Rico were all described by the phrase, “and he became a stalwart.” It is to become somebody of great integrity and character, somebody who can be depended upon by the village and community to seek interest, somebody who was capable at all times of bearing the yoke of oppression and countering it with skill. Not necessarily skill in physical violence, but the ability to navigate peace intelligently, especially under risk and pressure. And this brought a whole new layer to what we were doing. All I wanted to do was to hit people with sticks

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at first. But now, there was this unfolding, this access to a series of technologies and a set of information lying under the surface of what we do, not often articulated but very available. We saw multiple spaces in our cultural forms, where this ethos is expressed at a world-class level of excellence. The mechanism of achieving excellence is through culture because it is so subtle in its expression and easily missed. It made us transform the structure of the Bois Academy into what it has become now.

There is a series of eight intersecting circles. One of these is the combat arts. Two is what we call the wisdom school, where what we

set up is a safe space where the elders are willing to share the information and the mechanics of the culture to initiated members of the community.

The combat art school and wisdom school spawned a fascinating thing that I think would be very exciting for anybody who understands archetypes. The standard archetypes for warriors and combatants fall within the classic Jungian models of the Lover, the Magician, the Warrior, and the King. We do not

have that model. We have an integrated model of the True Hero, the Dancer, the Lover, and the King. However, it is not the king in terms of a royal king but a king of meritocracy. In the Kongo-Bantu culture, it is the leader of the mbongi, or the sacred space in each village where the village collects and gathers all this information and knowledge overseen by the king of the mbongi. It is not a royal bloodline king, but the king elevates everybody to this sacred

safe space by drawing everybody in the community. Because of his prowess, he keeps the space open because he is not somebody anybody could bully or challenge. This model of the Caribbean man— the joyful, beach-going guy with the shirt open who can sing well, dance well, and is super physically competent, is the same model that Georges Hébert drew on when he designed his Natural Gymnastics.

Many people do not know that Natural Gymnastics became the origin of the modern military training method in France. This integrated series of overlapping games came from a man who observed Caribbean people during the 1902 volcanic eruption in Martinique. He saw how capable they were when pregnant women were fleeing the eruption and swam out to a distance of two miles into the sea and tread the water for hours with their children. Western thinkers recognize the archetype in the Caribbean of a certain kind of capability. But the mechanics of how they get to the capability is not quite clear, but Hébert was one of the guys who recognized this. They do a set of different things I call “Geo-Practice.”

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Georges Hébert was a French naval officer from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He also designed what we call obstacle courses and is regarded as the inventor of parkour by some. He also developed this whole health system called the “diagnostic method.”

This archetype naturally lends to anybody involved in any form of performance-based environment: being able to access the transcendent self under stress. Performing artists, playwrights, actors find themselves pulled into the skill in the method.

Mahipal Lunia: Basically, a method of accessing flow.

RB: Correct. But flow is one step; flow is what we call a “crossing.”

After you cross, there is the river, and after you immerse yourself in the river, there is the other side.

The other side is where we try to get to.

ML: Yes, I meant flow as getting into that greater harmony, so that a download happens, and that it is the download that manages this world, rather than you trying to impose on it.

RB: Exactly. That is one of the challenges of the kalinda method. It requires access in an altered state before teaching. We do not actually teach people in a normal state and then hope to find flow.

We teach them to access altered states and then teach them in an altered state. They return with the download. Because you are not really teaching them, they are teaching themselves. In our pedagogical model, you have to find your dance; you have to find your flow; you have to hear your own drum in your head.

We have the combat school, wisdom school, and thirdly the performing arts, or performance school.

What happened naturally, as I recognized that all of the people in the combat schools started learning how to heal trauma, this became the fourth school. Plant-based medicine, physical manipulation, and energetic manipulation are natural. This whole healing culture is particular about how they eat, when to fast, when not to fast, what to drink, and what not to drink. The interaction with plants and spirits, which is alcohol, is all sacred and ritualistic and not for pleasure, which is common among

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warrior cultures globally. In kalinda, it is done organically and induced from an altered state that is hard to articulate. For example, you tell them, “What plant should I use for this?” They say, “Well, go and ask, and come and tell me what they told you.” All right, and then they will come back and say, “Well, I guess I had this dream.”

They say, “Good, then take this, and this, and this.” It is a reverse model and often misinterpreted as vodun or obeah. When someone misunderstands technology, it is perceived to be magic. The Caribbean is famous for its magic. But it runs from New Orleans to Brazil and is systematically applied in a very rigid structure. It is not magic; it is just a technology that is organic and delivered in a mechanism that is so foreign to Western thought and even different from Eastern thought. It does not fit in the two main models of thinking, and it gets discarded. Out of that process, the majority of our students have started engaging with academia.

I suspect this is more to do with the founders, myself and Keegan, and our slant, where we wanted

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the world to see the majesty of what we have. We recognized that we needed to help form allies and structure, not to follow the Western model but to allow dialogue to begin with Western thinking.

We have five people in the Academy who are working toward their Ph.Ds or master’s degrees. We have a series of steps and a set of research and archives that they can access to start sharing different elements of kalinda with the academic world in order for us to have it recognized for what it is.

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The last in the seven schools inside the Bois Academy is what we call the survival school, where you learn all the survival skills from indentureship and slavery and how to cook and find food in the forests.

These are skills for when there is a hurricane or COVID-19. None of these stickfighting elders have any stress. If there is no electricity or no laptops, they go up into the forest; they know where everything is, how to get it, how to construct lean-to’s, how to live just with a cutlass in the woods. One of my principal teachers by the name of David Brown, spent 15 years living wild in the woods, a maroon. His experiences and insights, his survival skills are part of what we are passing on.

The Role of Bantu-Kongo Cosmology The last thing is what we call the initiation school. We have an eightweek program, where we are trying to condense a set of information and skills to present to our initial students to validate whether they can enter the higher schools or not. As in most Kongo or Ba-Kongo cosmological processes, we believe the uninitiated, who do not speak the language, should not learn the inner secrets. That does not mean you cannot use Western thought and language to teach a non-Westerner, but first, I need to teach you the language of kalinda. Kalinda is for everybody, but not everybody is for kalinda. We have to see those who qualify themselves, whose spirit and energy align with kalinda. We believe ritual is its own living thing and the ritual itself protects and guides. Kalinda chooses who she wants or who she does not want. Once they initiate, they can enter these different areas to focus on developing special skills and then lead in those areas.

The Westerners here in the 1600s and 1700s could not understand what was going on with the Africans. It was so terrifying to the Europeans that there was legislation

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specific to African males having a blade or a stick longer than three feet in all the Spanish, French, and English-speaking territories.

Having one meant immediate jailtime. What blew my mind was: why would you jail a slave because slavery is already imprisonment?

It means Europeans felt an extra level of discomfort because of how skilled these Kongo practitioners were at their art. And from here is where we kind of step into what we call “Kalinda 101.”

What are the eight things that make kalinda unique? The first thing is kalinda, “the way of the drums or Ka-inda, the way of hurt, or the way of harm.” Another way of defining the word is “drumming the hand,” which does not make sense unless you understand that Ka is a portal. We step into it to allow trance and induce altered states.

In the kalinda secret arts, music is true transcendental engagement.

All kalinda spaces have a musical function. A gayelle, our circle of practice, is not so much a physical space as a psychical-musical space.

The drumming and chanting allow people to access what Westerners call “flow.” It allows us to cross the kalunga line, which is a major concept. Kalinda is the one stick art I found in Africa and in the

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Western world that holds the stick flat across ambidextrously. That is a symbolic, metaphysical grip as well as a tactical grip. It allows for dexterity and a cause of intention.

It is also a visible reminder of “as above, so below”, which runs right through our region as one of the mantras of the practitioners of our art. We recognize that there is a physical world, but there is also a metaphysical world; there is a world of hard reality, but there is a world of immediate access to ancestral knowledge, which they believe is the reverse of the physical world. Holding up the stick like that means I now challenge you to cross this line, that we both have an embodied guile. It is a portal that allows us to intersect worlds so that we are not only fighting physically, but we are fighting in the other world, too.

ML: Very hermetic, very Egyptian.

RB: I actually think it is very Bantu, too. I believe Bantu thought is what influenced what we now call Nubian thought. Nubian thought is what influenced Egyptian thought. So yes, very hermetic.

There is a lot of good research that shows how the Bantu peoples became Sub-Saharan. They were not

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always Sub-Saharan. They were pushed into sub-Saharan Africa by the Arab expansion into North Africa.

Like in Bantu thought, our gayelles are circular, and so every circle must be built on a cross. This cross has the kalunga line and another line. Each of the four points is related to the speed of daily travel of the sun. Midnight-midday, duskdawn, death-rebirth. It is very Egyptian in every way. We always travel anti-clockwise around the circle in capoeira, dammyé, mani, kokobale, gaga rara. I could go through every art from Louisiana to Brazil, and their core method, physical structures, and the aura of the drums. The way we travel in the space designed with music is almost mirrored. It is precisely the same thing when you see it and understand.

When you look at Bantu thought, people do not realize that Bantu-language-speaking communities run from the tip of South Africa up through Central and East Africa. It is so important because when you look at slave records, the first set of enslaved did not come from coastal Africa. They came from Central Africa. It was Ban-

tu language communities whom we brought from the 1400s to the 1600s. From the 17th century to the 1800s, the Western coastal Africans began to sell neighboring peoples.

First, you sell your enemies. Much of what we call Caribbean thought and energetics, our forms of spiritual practice, our magical practices, the foods we eat, the way we engage in space is very Central African. When I started recognizing the sacred symbols, we used the new ones: crosses, stars, circles, structures, as well as musicality.

The practitioners would mumble things like, “You’re behaving like a real old Kongo-boy;” “You have real Kongo in you.” When you talk about early umbanda circles in Brazil, there was even a Candomblé patio of Angola and capoeira angola. When you talk about Kongo Square in Louisiana, and the kind of old practices of this region, the way they would use feathers, everybody thought that they were copying a Native American Indian.

They are not. The Black Indians in Louisiana dress like Kongo fetish war practitioners from Benin, Togo, some parts of Ghana, South Africa, and Nigeria, down to South Africa.

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This understanding of the movement patterns and the societal structures matches how we build the Bois Academy. We created the Bois Academy along kalinda’s secret society lines. At the time, we failed to recognize we were organizing the structures along the lines of Kongo practices. Because they did not have regional kings, they had regional village organizations. Even their spiritual beliefs are not like the Orisha, or a belief of the embodied God. You revise the energetic system, the sun, or the energetic system, and you venerate these energetic systems as systems.

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Crossing the Kalunga The next block that triggered us was kalinda’s understanding led to an older word, which is musundi. This refers to how the Africans fought in Haiti and the upper Caribbean. Some early work on the 1500s in Marian Juana Lewis’s book explained the emergence of musindia and rara bands in the Dominican Republic, known as the gaga bands that would train and practice their skills. We started to recognize that in Trinidad, we practice the same art. But we could not figure out why until we found out about the wealthy Haitian planters just before the Haitian revolution.

That is something called “seguridad population” in 1790. Just before the revolution, Trinidad told Haiti that anyone who had enough money could come here and be given a lot of land. Pre-Haitian revolution people populated the whole of Trinidad, just before enslavement. Some of the lwa or spirit ways I know were sung in the Haitian revolution and had concepts from Haiti. That is why Trinidad and Haiti have such similar cultural practices, because, in many respects, we are a seed of Haiti.

Musundi is really a model for the ecology of practice required for

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kalinda. You take a young boy for training and emphasize movement to build agility. Then teach them to dance, then use whips, sticks, and finally blades and how you progress through relevant attributes both psychologically and physically. Fear management controls body mechanics. There are older capoeira practitioners from Belém do Pará and Maranhâo.

They saw the way we trained and said, “Oh, you’re still in a very primordial capoeira,” where they said this is more like batuque. This is the old stuff. We do a lot of head butting and tripping in kalinda.

This is phase one. We carry people through that.

The next phase is where we have the drum and the mastering of different drumming patterns, the songs, how to use the songs, and the drumming patterns to manage and teach fighters. In our forms, what is called the “little master” or the “small master” are actually the drummers. The drummers can communicate in-flight, in real-time, directly to that deep sense of the person who is fighting.

Step forward, step back, move to the left, move to the right without words and cognition. We have this whole communication system built into the Ka, or the vibrational

energy that jumps. For us, drums are not drums. Drums are living things made up of ether and many energies. After we teach kalinda and drumming, we end with drumming as a liminal transport. But to enter drumming as a liminal passport, we have to pass our students.

Canboulay is a word often defined as “burning” or “killing,” but it does not really mean that. It really comes from other words, a Kongo word to speak about fire procession. I am sure you know that fire

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processions are about cleansing.

There is a ritualized cleansing process combined with it.

ML: The things of this world are left here, and only the pure can enter there.

RB: Correct! We will not let you cross if we do not set you up to cross. We know that if you are crossing and you are not right, you will get stuck. That is why in native thought, soul retrieval is an actual task of shamans, that peo-

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ple sometimes cross on their own without being induced and initiated in the process. Sometimes you have to go and get them back.

What many people call PTSD is in our tradition conceptualized as people who have crossed due to the situation of battle but do not know how to come back. One of our main forms of religious practice in Trinidad is Shango Baptists.

It is a synchronization between Christianity and Kongo practices.

When we put people into a process for initiation, it is called “mourn-

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ing” or “morning.” You always ascend with a pointer when you go through the mourning ground. A pointer is your guide, but not in the sense that they are carrying you to cross you. The pointer’s job is to point you back home because they know that they can help you cross any boundary. The real hard thing is getting you back and what happens when people cross. They do not know that when they cross, they enter, instead of what we call liminal, the inter-liminoidal. When they start trying to get that feeling

back, they go to drugs, sex, gambling. Those are shortcuts to try and get to the liminal, but they always lead you down the wrong path because you are not purified.

You have not been through the fire. The canboulay processes are how we prepare you to cross and how to get you back. It cannot be done by those who do not know, another problem. You cannot read it in a book or watch a YouTube video.

ML: It is not a four-week course on the internet.

RB: We teach you to come back, which is really about personal protection and has nothing to do with the stick. It has to do with all these psychic and emotional steps of fear control management, spiritual protection, psychic protection, and then we lead you into this pathway that allows for transport.

We help purify and cleanse you to get ready for the next phase. The next phase is, he who has traveled becomes self-aware, he who is self-aware becomes self-actualized, and finally, the self-actualized naturally recognizes the need for communal actualization. You have to return and give it to those who need you. That is where we

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help people transition self-actualization into communal actualization. The fancy term in Caribbean literature is African dance society.

They recognized very early when they brought Africans to the new world, that if they did not leave them to attend to their spiritual and psychic selves, they would revolt. They would say, “we’re going to leave you alone; you’re going to do your thing. We’re not going to tell you what to do. We’re going to turn a blind eye to what you’re doing.” A lot of what we now call Afro-American behaviors and Afro-Caribbean behaviors were developed in what we call “windows of time.” These windows of time always involve drumming, dancing, fire, and games.

One of the things that our research in the Bois Academy is forcing us to do is that we have to rethink what we call a “slave society.” We have to really rethink the position of the Africans in their society. The powerlessness that is assumed, was not there. The cooperation with the process was not what people thought it was. The constant negotiation between the enslaved and the un-enslaved needs to be taken into consideration, and the way

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the society was structured and the structuring of society to promote the actualized self and liberation.

That is a big step that people who are initiated in kalinda must understand: the concept of community and how a community really works. We are not talking about democracy or communism.

Rituals were actualized and connected to the ease of possessions to lead you forward. Once we walk them through the African dance society models, we train them and provide codes of conduct that are lacking in much of the diaspora community. We can introduce them to our main concepts in the Bois Academy where we call kalinda the source code. Kalinda and canboulay are literally ascribed to be the source of salsa, tango, calypso, bomba, plena, and like every musical form. When you research its origin, those two words come up: bamboula and kalinda. The Caribbean way of being, which produced, for example, the most successful sporting team in modern sport, which is the West Indies cricket team that no one has beaten for 30 years. When you have exceptional conduct, when you produce the first-ever black American to fly, to have a pilot’s license with a Trinidadian, when you look at Kareem Abdul Jabbar, a Trinidadi-

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an, when you look at Colin Powell, when you look at many luminaries, figures of thought in the Western world, who are of African descent.

What all these people share is a way of approaching space and a world that has yet to be identified as a methodology, but definitely is effective and it is in clear display consistently. You know, you look at, for example, a lot of the most successful American athletes, and you continually find Caribbean roots, you know, you look at baseball and its successful guys, Cubans, Dominican Republic guys, they all are running on a system of being that has not yet been identified.

The Caribbean as the Birthplace of a Globalized World Trinidadians are a people who have spent the last 500 years under the effects of globalization, multiculturalism, and multiethnic interaction. We have had to tend to many problems for a long time that this world is now running into because of technology. We were forced into very small, confined spaces on the tiny little island where we have had to work through. For example, when you look at Tamil and Madrassi culture from India in places such as Jamaica and Belize, places where you find some of the oldest versions of it. When you look at Caribbean French Creole fashion, the most important cloth is called “madras cloth.” What everyone thinks is the Martinican and Dominican, all these cultures have this patchwork pattern cloth. The cloth comes from Madras or Southern India. On all those islands, there were Madrassi. Madrassi and what we call French culture in the Caribbean is very deeply interconnected in their food, clothes, and their beliefs. When you look at Ja-

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maicans, they are famous for two things: Rastafari and marijuana.

Where did those two main ideas come from? The Rastafari? They were highly influenced by the yogis and the sadhus. The marijuana that came to Jamaica came from India; the famous Jamaican concept of the bhang is really a drink that came from India. We have a lot of complexities in our region of culture that are highly interwoven that have produced hybrid cultures.

ML: I think one of the big reasons the stories get lost is that the influence of the Indian diaspora is not taken into consideration. They were not accepted by either side.

RB: Well, yes and no: they were accepted, but they were not. There has been an omission, or a degree of acceptance. When they came, they were very accepted. The problem is not the first generation. By the time you have the third generation, it suddenly becomes the enemy. I suspect that has something to do with the 1920s and 30s in India, and how partition triggered off stupid things in the Caribbean, where there was a drawing away from the bonds. There was a new narrative written. Certain thoughts were introduced into some of the elites among Indian

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society that drew them away from the lower class Indian culture that was bonding naturally with the Africans. In Trinidad, it happened interestingly. When the British began to pull out, they gave all indentured laborers land. When they gave them land ownership and did not give the Africans land ownership, it automatically created the final divide. Even when they left India, they gave land away to create conflict. They left conflict in place. The war they left is to this day in Trinidad. The two communities are split. If I talk to anybody born prior to 1940, they all grew up in the same villages doing all the same things all together. I talked to the old Indian farmers, and they said they were taught to farm by the Africans because they did not know how to farm. These conditions and the Africans have been here for almost 250 years.

There were whole things about the geography, topography, and the plant life that the Africans knew that they taught to them. There was no conversation about Africans not knowing how to farm, Africans being lazy. Then all of a sudden somewhere around 1920, this rift occurred, and then the narrative changed. But because we have been interacting for so long, we have a lot in common.

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Being Trinidadian is really about a way of being. This way of being can only come about by a sense of deep joy and deep play, to come to a place of deep play and deep joy. Games do four things; 1) teach me how to survive; 2) teach me how to heal; 3) teach me how to grow and take on things, to look after things as they grow, make sure it grows right; 4) provide the glue to tie society together. If I do not have these four elements, I cannot have that sense of deep play. Yoga teaches access to alternate states. But yoga does not have risks. Certain types of exercise and movement-based systems can allow us to access altered states, meditations, or whatever.

The problem, or the way the kalinda world perceives it, is that they do not then take that state and pressure-test it by playing. This is how it was taught, but it is not a six-week course or an eight-week course. You have to be born into it.

But if you are not born into it, then you need to have a long apprenticeship with somebody in that world.

Initiation is an investment, so not everyone will be let in. Once you are initiated into our family, if you come to me at any time, I have to see you. If you say, “Benji, the

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police are in front of my house, I just killed my neighbor,” I have to show up. If you are in court, I have to show up. When you are in jail, I have to come to see you every week. “How are you doing?”

“Remember what you were taught, find your way back. You made a mistake.” The question is, can you keep accessing this state? Can you fix this in this life or the next because the understanding of the Kongo spiral and what we call the multiverse, ourselves, understanding that our self is not just one cell, that it is multiple cells, and that multiple cells interact with multiple cells that all interact with one grid cell. Each person we teach is part of our cells. We care for them as ourselves. That is very difficult in our modern time.

I tell them, “You do not understand. Now we are tighter than blood in some ways,” because the way we see it, we see the strands of the DNA. We say there are two strands. What is DNA? It is information. One strand of that DNA is your genetic strand, or your genetic data. The second strand is the information that you take in from outside your DNA. These two mix over time, and that is how

it spreads. This is the reason the word “guru” is taken so seriously.

What the guru does, he is the main processor of that second strand of your DNA. It is a metaphor. I do not want people to think we are injecting something. What “guru” means is “he who removes darkness from me.” That is what it means. When I teach, I take responsibility for that person for the rest of his life; not life, but lives. People do not understand that. If you are trained

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in that way, then you understand how significant that relationship is with most people. In the West, they do not get it. They look at me like, what the hell are you talking about? So, I stop talking about it.

There are two or three martial concepts that ring deeply true.

We hold a stick in this pattern in a cross. Our movement goes along with the cross, the V, the circle, and then when those become dynamic,

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they create the spiral. Our movement system is in those shapes.

If you look at capoeira, the footwork is on a V. But sometimes the kicking techniques are on a cross.

So, you have X’s on crosses. When you combine X’s and crosses, and they start moving, you have these three-dimensional spirals all occurring in this space where there are multiples of these things going on all at the same time.

ML: The circle beats the line, the spiral beats the circle, the spiral cuts through the line again.

RB: Those are very distinctive things. It is one of the things that makes me very curious about the only other stick art that feels that way to me. I was talking to a practitioner of kali in Europe. I reminded him that the part of kali that you are looking at may not be the part that works. He said, “What do you mean?” I said, “Do you know about oracion? Do you know about the tattoos?” He said, “What tattoos?” I said, “You all are practicing kali that’s been passed through a Western filter and organized by Western minds, and not this lifelong bond, where I may show you one thing and then tell you, ‘Go fight,’ and then you come back and you tell me, ‘When I was fighting this happened and I got cut here.’ I

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can say, ‘Right! Because let us work on this now.’” Then the teacher might send you, like Sony Umpad did, to go and spend some time doing cha cha cha. Or go hang out by the bar. With my capoeira mestre, one of the tests to attain the rank of mestre is he would carry you off to get you drunk and tell you to start a fight in order for him to see how you’re going to handle yourself. Those are the old ways, and I am not saying that those are ways we follow now.

Most people buy a martial arts service, so they think, “Oh, I paid you, so this is mine.” I say to them, “Take it, let me see if you can make it yours.” You cannot pay me for kalinda and not drum. I told them, “Do you know the old kali drumming pattern?” He said, “What kali drumming patterns?” If you do not know how to drum the kali songs, then the patterns that they are using in the music, you might miss it.

He said, “How do you know that?”

I said, “I do not know that, I am

not a kali practitioner. Just when I look at it, it feels very similar to kalinda in a different kind of way, because they are an island people.

They have multiple cultural influences like this storm is similar to our storm, but their mix is just different from our mix.”

One of the things that has helped me the most is how this has allowed multiple martial art forms from around the world to interact and become visible. Some of the stuff you all have done, for example, with the Māori type of practice, with the jogo do pau, the way they interact with the Bajan sticklickers and the Italian stick fencers. It creates clarity for us because it creates a portal space, that gayelle space where ideas conflict and cooperation occurs. There is conflict and cooperation.

It has helped us be more confident in sitting in ourselves and our form and saying, well, this is who we are. We do not need to go to kali to prove that Trinidadian kalinda is good. We do not need it. Kali is a brother art or sister art. We love seeing kali practitioners. Nobody loves kali more than me. But what I do is just as valuable. What the Māori do, which people thought was a performance singing and dancing, is what we do too, sing

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and dance. When I see them sing and dance, I see that they know what they are doing and do not need to explain it.

You have to be crazy to do this. I have to be crazy to see as I saw.

There is a clip of the Māori working with you. I saw what they were doing with their stick and the way they held a stick with two hands, and I felt at ease. The two-handed approach to combat has relative merit. Other cultures recognize the relative merits, which is different from our merit, but they still recognize it. I do not need non-practitioners to understand it, but other practitioners get me. For example, now I found out about lathi. The way they hold the stick makes me at ease because there is a traditional folk performing arts in Trinidad called biraha.

There were four troupes that used to travel around Trinidad, doing martial style plays in little circles with willows, what you would call gungguroo(?).2 It was not kata; it was pre-kata. Inside of that form and the songs were a lot of hidden art forms. When I saw them 2 Not clearly heard on the recording for transcription [editor].

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dancing the biraha, I smiled; I knew what they were doing, even if nobody else knew. When I asked a man in his 90s who knows it, “You were doing this, this, and this, right?” he shook his head and said, “How do you know that, boy?

How do you know what I am doing?” I said, “Are you doing it?”

He laughed. He said, “Those who have eyes will see, I don’t have to tell you because you know.” It felt good that he recognized my ability to recognize, and we do not say a single word. After, we just smiled.

As you must know this is how the East Indians passed on some information by creating these traveling folk troupes with singing, dancing, and performance, but they were not only singing and dancing. I see the model is turned upside down in the east, and this is not something that is well understood here.

ML: Arriving at the arts, any art, it was the highest offering to a god.

The keyword is the “highest offering to a god.” It is not a sense of entitlement where he is a misunderstood artist of the West. He is a struggling artist. No, that is the privilege that you go through, the privilege you are granted to make the offerings to God, but not un-

derstanding that shifts the whole thing. I keep telling people this is my self-expression. I respond, “First show me you have a “self ” and show me the self is able to express itself. Before you dug me out.

This is my self-expression.” That is something that may come after a lifetime of hard work.

ML: I find it ironic and funny that both of these strands keep going apart, and they disappear for a while. Then guys like you and me come back and say no, they belong together, and start pulling those threads together.

- Rondel Benjamin & Mahipal Lunia

RB: It feels comfortable to share your ideas and have people who have seen enough of other forms to help recreate lost connections.

This is one of the challenges we have in the Caribbean form. We have a cloudy history. If your history is erased, you become a slate onto which I can write as I want.

When they did that, they created a space for us to write anew. Our people took what they had and built new things. Now we have Afro-Indo diaspora arts that are new in some ways. They are not African, and they are not Indian. There is something else. That is part of our deep beauty now.

KALINDA CONVERSATION I: LIFE & STRIFE

· Rondel Benjamin & Mahipal Lunia | 195

Michael Blackgrave @Michael.Blackgrave

THE LONG POLE A WESTERN PERSPECTIVE Michael Blackgrave

“Simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication.”

- Leonardo Da Vinci

THE ARTICLE YOU ARE ABOUT to read will be on my understanding of the look dim boon quan or “six-and-a-half-point pole,” “dragon pole,” “long pole,” and how I use it. I approach this article as who I am—a westerner. I am not a master of the pole, just a humble practitioner who sees deep value in the long pole work of Wing Chun.

I will present my approach to the pole, and more so, how I use it for my daily training and in daily life.

The History There have been countless articles on the Wing Chun long pole, along with numerous premises as to where it originated. Many people believe the pole was used as a boat-pusher by various individuals in the time of the "Red Boat Days."

This premise holds in many ways.

In those bygone days, river transportation was frequent; there had to be a simple way to propel the craft, and seeing how the boats would often use much shallower canals, it was practical to use a long pole to propel a vessel.

The pole is also believed by many to have doubled as a spear. The spear is an ancient weapon that comes in various lengths and adorned with multiple types of points—some

steel, others carved down—and fire-hardened wooden points.

In ancient times, the possession of steel weapons by the common man were forbidden by the Qing dynasty. The Qing dynasty, who persecuted the commoner of the time, made it quite clear that the possession of a weapon was an offense punishable by death. The long pole was an everyday tool used by farmers, fishermen, and boatmen. A simple tool, it could also be utilized as a weapon quite easily. It would not take a considerable amount of skill to wield it in such a fashion, and it was simple enough to blend into daily life.

So, which view is correct? In my opinion, they all hold merit as they all make practical sense. The pole as a weapon has been used in many formal systems, and informally by people who just picked it up and smashed someone in defense of oneself or one’s clan.

While the history of the long pole and its inception into Wing Chun has always been a mystery, there is no doubt that this tool is both lethal, and in this writer’s opinion, the backbone of Wing Chun.

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Poles The long pole is a very versatile tool with different yet equally important components to its usage.

Taking into consideration these varied usages determines the type of pole one will use. I use three different poles, the first being a very heavy eight-and-a-half-foot pole that I use for conditioning. I also use a nine-foot tapered hickory pole to work the long pole form and build flow. For sparring, I find a seven-foot wax wood pole suitable as it is lighter, dense, and can take a smashing. I also use a cutdown six-foot-long hickory pole.

The long pole traditionally was measured at nine feet; however, through the years and individual choice, the pole lengths now vary

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between seven and nine feet. Another reason for shortening the poles is postal shipping. It is much easier to ship a seven- or eightfoot pole as opposed to a nine-foot pole, and in today's world where Wing Chun is a highly sought discipline, wholesale houses rapidly send poles worldwide.

The long pole also comes made from various species, each with their strengths and weaknesses.

Everything from oak, wax wood, to exotic hardwoods like hopea, iron bark, iron wood, and the highly sought quan din wood, is used. The work to be done depends on the wood. Most pole builders will use a Janka rating for the wood, which determines if it is suitable for heavy

smash training (using the tip of the weapon to hit floored objects—e.g. coins, bottle caps, etc.). If the Janka rating is too low, you will run the high probability of shattering your pole, especially if it has a taper towards the tip. The quan din wood is perfect for smash training as is hard hickory, especially if you forgo a heavy tapered tip. Woods that are not good for smash training are African sapele wood, cherry, birch, and some wax woods depending upon the taper. The best advice I could give a prospective buyer of a long pole is: ask for a Janka rating of the pole that interests you. If it is a custom order, discuss the taper and its advantages and disadvantages.

With every long pole comes user responsibility. One must keep the pole straight and oiled. Being such a long item, and a porous wooden object, it runs the risk of warping if not stored properly. If you lean the long pole against a wall at an angle consistently, the pole will slightly bow. If the pole is left in moist areas while leaning, the bow will quickly become significant.

The proper way to store your pole is on the floor or a shelf that has the same length or greater than the pole itself. In this way, you assure that no weight of the pole is unsupported, thus containing any

potential bowing issues. The long pole must also be oiled to keep its suppleness to avoid any dry rot that may occur. Dry rot of wood usually occurs on items that are unkept and stored improperly, moisture being one of the worst culprits.

Another consideration on your long pole is the taper; some people like a finer taper while others prefer none. I fall in between the two.

With my personal conditioning/ smash pole, I use no taper whatsoever. With my form pole, I use a slight taper. The key is finding a pole that encompasses both aspects of the two types mentioned above, tapered or not, and finding a pole of suitable material for your needs. If your pole is far too heavy, you will forgo any pole training as it will be extremely cumbersome and painful to use. If your pole is too light, there will be little challenge, leading to its limited usage. Smash training will become a moot point as you will consistently break your pole and lighten your wallet. A cheaply made pole is still expensive.

My advice to all long pole buyers: do your homework, research online, and buy from reputable companies.

Caveat emptor! (Buyer beware!)

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· Michael Blackgrave | 201

Long Pole Conditioning With good reason, the Wing Chun long pole is the first weapon taught in the Wing Chun curriculum. The pole, as I view it, is a central point of Wing Chun; it is a weapon but also the catalyst for Wing Chun power and precision. To understand the pole is to understand Wing Chun and the necessary simplicity of the system that makes it a highly effective combat discipline.

a properly weighted pole will bring.

As stated earlier, if the long pole is too heavy, the practitioner will struggle with the core-strengthbuilding exercises and quickly lose interest in proceeding further. If the pole is too light, the challenge will become a moot point, leading to a potential placebo effect for the practitioner—i.e. what he perceives as gains are genuinely not.

Before one undertakes the long pole form, we must first address a series of precursor conditioning sets. These exercises will not only build the proper strength in one’s appendages, but also develop the necessary back, core, and leg strength needed to drive the pole with speed, power, and accuracy.

While these physical manifestations begin to take hold through dedicated effort, the pole exercises will start developing the necessary focus one must commit to for overall development in not only the long pole work but also within the entire Wing Chun curriculum.

My suggestion to people is to purchase a pole no longer than nine feet in length, with a minimal taper that weighs no more than four pounds. While the weight may seem light, I assure you it is anything but, when utilized with the precursor exercises. Due to the length of the weapon and the toll it places upon the body trying to wield it with precision, the pole may feel much more cumbersome to the practitioner. As one gains in strength, it is natural to switch to progressively heavier poles. I started with a four-pound pole and slowly graduated to an eightpound pole, which creates an excellent strength-building body that facilitates Wing Chun across the board. Any strength work we do must be to the betterment of our Wing Chun. Ask yourself, “Are you a Wing Chun practitioner, or a weightlifter?”

In any strength conditioning routine that one undertakes, common sense must prevail. You do not want to choose an exceedingly heavy pole, nor an extremely light pole. To do either will cheat the practitioner of the advantages that

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· Michael Blackgrave | 203

Leg Exercises

1

Wing Chun, like any martial art, is built from the ground up. Knowing this, the first exercise to master is the leg builder. The practitioner assumes the Wing Chun stance (keep your toes forward) and grabs the pole with the over/under grip (rear hand palm-down, front hand palm-up) pulling the pole close to the top of the chest. The practitioner will then do squats while maintaining control of the pole tip, so it does not dip and sway.

Start with shallow squats and build up to deep squats. Once you have increased your strength, you can up the dynamic by pressing the pole straight out while maintaining control of the tip while doing the same exercise. You will then see how the legs and back work together when engaged.

Back Exercises

2

The back is an essential part of the human body as it pertains to Wing Chun; it is the source that allows for the generation of “close-power.” Sadly, it is rarely coveted or trained as such. The exercise needed for back development comes with the forward pole press. The practitioner will now assume the Wing Chun stance and once again grab the pole and bring it to the high port position. Once stable, the practitioner will slowly press the pole out to a locked armed position for a four-second hold.

Once the hold is complete, the practitioner slowly lowers the pole with straight arms to his upper thigh area, and from there, while straight-armed the practitioner raises the pole back to the shoulder level and then curls it back to the start position at the shoulder level.

This exercise, like all others, is to be done slowly, for no less than ten repetitions per set. Notice how the biceps are now engaged as well as the front deltoids.

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· Michael Blackgrave | 205

Pole Punches

3

The long pole is versatile in its weapon form. It not only smashes, but it also pierces, and as a piercing weapon, the thrust is crucial.

To develop thrusting power, one must now engage the care of the body along with the back and deltoids.

The practitioner will assume the Wing Chun long pole guarding stance with the butt of the weapon and hand appropriately placed by the practitioner’s hip, and the forehand set accordingly. The tip of the weapon should be higher than the rest of the weapon, and the weight of the stance will be rear-foot-heavy. The lead foot is kept very light and movable.

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To produce the long pole punch, the practitioner simultaneously steps out with the lead foot while propelling with a rear-foot push thrusting the pole forward, pushing his lead hand forward, which will then open the hips and engage the back. The rear-hand placement will be at chin level; the thrust must be straight ahead to a target you choose. Once the thrust is complete, the practitioner then snaps back to the starting position for another repetition. The pole punch exercise will build your Wing Chun power quickly; it is the key to long bridge hitting in the empty hands.

These are but three exercises I utilize in my training. All three exercises contribute to building the supple strength required for a Wing Chun body. The pole is a fabulous developer of strength and overall fitness, but in truth, it is so much more. I am a firm believer that the long pole makes everything better. The empty hands have a direct correlation; the knives have a direct correlation; the chin-na aspects are all developed via the pole. All it takes is work and an open mind to see it.

Wing Chun is conceptual; the pole is a fantastic tool to build and guide conceptuality in those who dare to take their Wing Chun into the deep end.

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· Michael Blackgrave | 207

Pole Is Knife In most martial arts, there is a weapon component. In Wing Chun, the two weapons are the look dim boon quan or long pole, and the baat jam do or knives. Both the pole and the knives transpose into the empty-hand components of Wing Chun.

The Wing Chun long pole, in my opinion, transposes directly into the knife usage. If you look at the various work in the long pole, you will find similar postures and

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hand placement with the knives.

The same mechanics in the pole thrust are the exact mechanics of the knife thrust, especially in the long bridge position, as well as the downward striking where the guarding stance once again comes into play for both the pole and knives alike.

With the long pole, there are manipulations such as bong quan, hun quan, and jum quan. These applications are highly usable in the

knife work. The empty-hand component also benefits significantly from these manipulations. The same mechanics apply across the system lines: differences in distance, timing, and even the length of the weapon, or the lack thereof.

conceptual methods are transposable throughout the system, there is no compartmentalization; with no compartmentalization, everything we do under duress will come out naturally, no matter if it is weapon-related or empty-hand.

Wing Chun is conceptual; one must access the weapons and all elements of Wing Chun with that approach. To not is to cheat yourself of what could be, and to stunt your development in the art truly. Transposition is the key; if our

Compartmentalizing causes overthinking, overthinking leads to tension, tension is slow, and in a violent situation where your life or the life of a loved one is in danger, slow can get you killed.

WING CHUN LONG POLE I

· Michael Blackgrave | 209

Long Pole Combat The long pole in its combat usage dates back to antiquity, back to a time where a man was able to figure out that a big clubbing object was a good way to defend themselves or means to wage war. Things have not changed in 2018. A long pole is still a long pole, and in the right hands can be an extremely effective weapon against various forms of weaponry and attack.

Long ago, long poles were used to dismount mounted soldiers from their steeds and used as pikes against attacking cavalry. These usages once again transcend any individual culture, as a long pole is a long pole no matter where in the world it is wielded. As previously mentioned, the long pole was, at times, fitted with spearheads and other times had fire-hardened tips to use as skewering weapons against infantry and mounted cavalry. It was a fantastic weapon due to its length to keep swordsmen at bay. After the melees, the poles were often transformed into stretchers to carry off the dead and wounded—a versatile tool to be sure.

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In non-military usage, the long pole was an excellent choice of tool for the traveler. It not only could ferry a boat along, but it could also be used to carry goods, etc., and under dire times, the long pole sufficed as a go-to weapon against marauders, thieves, and thugs.

When you view a Wing Chun long pole form (there are many variances), you will see direct and straightforward counters and attacks that make the pole an excellent choice.

The thrusts are simple and designed to cause deep concussive force into vital regions allowing for simple smashing finishes. The smashing finishes target any portion of the adversaries’ body made available. The one that I prefer and the one I find easiest to get is the toe smash. Once that foot is smashed, it opens the adversary to thrusts and subsequent smashes.

In truth, the foot smash will oftentimes end it. The adage holds: if you can’t stand, you can’t fight!

The long pole is a weapon that should be sparred in training, under supervision, and with extreme control and caution while donning protective gear. What appears to be a cumbersome weapon can quickly turn into a fast nightmare if disrespected. Long-range sparring under control allows the practitioners to feel and find their way through various attacks that

may press them. Thus, they can find the counters through their footwork and mechanics.

Once a practitioner gets to the point of live sparring with the long pole, he or she will understand the significance of the precaution mentioned before the strength exercises. To grab a long pole and think you are going to wield it successfully is foolish.

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· Michael Blackgrave | 211

Crossover Effect The long pole, while useful, is also a hindrance in today’s world. You do not see people walking around with an eight-foot pole. If one has an open mind, then one can easily pick up and transpose one’s skill with the long pole into a much shorter object, not deemed a weapon at first sight. A walking stick or walking cane are just two possibilities; both are viewed as everyday objects, dependent upon the context. A walking stick is not to

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be scoffed at when you see people out and about walking or hiking in parks or the woods. The same goes for a walking cane; nobody scoffs at a person walking with a cane— they are in truth, a legal weapon.

The long pole motions and tactics are easily transposable to both walking cane and walking stick. In many ways, the long pole tactics are supercharged when placed into a much shorter, denser, faster ob-

ject. A smash is still a smash, and thrust is still a thrust; the only difference will be in the distance and timing due to the length of the weapon. The footwork and body mechanics to drive the weapon will remain the same.

With proper long pole training (strength development, form-building, and sparring), the pole becomes a hard weapon to beat. Once ingrained in the prac-

titioner, he or she then becomes a very serious adversary, and one to avoid at all costs, primarily when that knowledge works in a shorter weapon delivery system such as a walking stick or cane.

Like most traditional martial systems, Wing Chun is highly misunderstood by many. In my honest opinion, it is over-thought by its practitioners. It is a straightforward system that, in my opinion,

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· Michael Blackgrave | 213

was designed to get good people skilled in all facets of combat, quickly! Perhaps if people started opening their eyes to what’s real instead of trying to find what’s right, then Wing Chun will receive its due respect. In the capable hands of people more interested in results than fiction, Wing Chun will flourish.

- Michael Blackgrave

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WING CHUN LONG POLE I

· Michael Blackgrave | 215

Arturo Bonafont

BONAFONT CANE FIGHTING SYSTEM NEW WAYS OF SELF-DEFENSE ON THE STREET WITH A CANE Arturo Bonafont (Translated by Darrin Cook)

*Originally: Nuevos Modos de Defenderse en la Calle con un Bastón (illustrated edition with seventy-two photographs)

To the Prestigious Institution, The Fencing and Physical Education Club of Buenos Aires, on the 11th of November, 1930 (the 50th anniersary of its founding) the Author dedicates this modest work. ~

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· Arturo Bonafont | 219

Foreword by the Translator My love is Filipino martial arts and stick-fighting, especially with the long stick of approximately 36 inches in length. I was fascinated when I heard of a unique method of self-defense with the long stick or walking cane that features the inverted grip, meaning that the length of the stick protrudes from the bottom of the fist instead of the top of the fist, as in almost all stick-fighting systems. I am always looking for new ideas and want to learn from the insight and experience of past masters, so I decided to learn his one-of-a-kind system.

The catch, though, is that the original source of the Bonafont walking stick defense method is an obscure book, Nuevos Modos de Defenderse en la Calle con un Bastón (New Ways of Self-defense on the Street with a Cane), published in Argentina in 1930. Only a handful of copies exist, and I know of just one other person in North America who owns a copy. The book is very expensive, which puts it out of the reach of many who are interested in learning this style. Furthermore, even if you do succeed in getting your hands on a treasured copy, it is written in Spanish, which is yet another barrier to learning this system. In my research, I read talk of a plan to translate and publish the lone copy in the United States, but that obviously fell through.

When I did an online search I came up with just a handful of sources on

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Bonafont method, which did more to whet my appetite than to inform me.

Then one day, while researching Bonafont, I found a copy of Nuevos Modos de Defenderse en la Calle con un Bastón for sale on Ebay. I gulped when I saw a price of nearly $200, but I knew I would not be able to live with myself if I did not get the book, so I bought it.

After a long wait, I got the book, and I knew that I needed to make this rare manuscript available to the public. No one should have to go to the lengths that I did to learn this fascinating system. I want to honor Maestro Bonafont by sharing his teaching with the world. In this translation, I will strive to get out of the way and let Maestro Bonafont speak directly to you, conveying his ideas in modern English and maintaining the original appearance of the manuscript.

After Maestro Bonafont has had his chance to speak without interruption, I will add my thoughts on his system. My few comments are in brackets.

I am proud to be able to offer this long-lost treasure to the martial arts world.

Sincerely, Darrin Cook

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· Arturo Bonafont | 221

Prologue “At last I have been able to end the book on personal defense that so many friends prompted me to write,” I told myself as I was going about putting in order the last of the manuscripts, but now, you send it out publicly with all the ostentation that is customarily required. What is missing is to add a prologue by a person who is honorable and at the same time understanding in the art of defense.

After much meditation, it occurred to me to ask an accredited maestro of fencing who dedicates himself, as a matter of preference, to handling the combative sword. And so, to get it out of the way as soon as possible, I directed myself toward his residence. *** What a beautiful house! I rang. The doorman came out and, after looking over from head to toe, asked me: “With whom do you wish to speak, sir?” “With Maestro C.” “On behalf of whom?”

“Of professor Bonafont.” And I gave him my card, which I had prepared.

“Please have the goodness to wait a moment. Have a seat.”

Once I found myself in the anteroom, I began to inspect all that surrounded me with curiosity. In the corner to my right was a coat hanger formed by sabers and spears. In the corner to my left, a magnificent pedestal with a statue of a knight from the Middle Ages, with the face of one making the sign of the cross; long and pointy whiskers, tall plume on the hat; the cape rolled on the arm and the left hand supporting the hilt of an oversized sword. At the foot of said statue, an inscription that says, “I am the handsomest.”

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What most caught my attention were some oil paintings representing, with somewhat sad colors, duels of Chestegneraye, defeated by the blow of Jernac; that of celebrated Jean-Louis fighting with one of his thirteen adversaries, who waited their turn in line; that of the poet Cavalottí, dead from a thrust to the mouth by the journalist D.N.; that of the Cuban Jorrín, who died from a thrust to the abdomen given to him by the captain of artillery of the Spanish army, S.D.; and, lastly, the encounter between Sir Eugenio Pini and the Baron of San Malatto, that the fencing world spoke so much about.

While I was reflecting upon the importance of the duels, and if the thrust that caused the death of Mr. Cavalottí could be suitably added to the blows with the tip of the cane displayed in my book, I heard someone drawing near.

Suddenly the maestro appeared, and extending his hand, said to me, “How are you, my friend? How may I help you?”

“I have come to implore you to sponsor me…”

“Yes, man, yes. Nothing more needs to be said. Is the matter to first blood, or is it more serious?”

“It’s nothing of the sort, Maestro: but I desire to publish a book titled, New Ways of Self-Defense on the Street with a Cane, which I just finished writing, and I would be grateful if you, sir, being an experienced master in the art of combat, would sponsor me by adding a small prologue.

BONAFONT CANE

· Arturo Bonafont | 223

After reflecting on my last words, with definite seriousness he answered me, “Look, Maestro; if it were about a matter related to the field of honor, I would help you with pleasure, but dealing with vulgar brawls or street encounters, I can’t do it. In the first place, because decent people shouldn’t be fighting in the street, and, in the second, it’s an issue that doesn’t pertain to my profession.”

Then I asked him: “And if after turning the corner, for example, you were to find yourself assaulted or attacked, and, as such, obligated to defend yourself against an evildoer? I believe that you wouldn’t trouble yourself to give him your card to signal a duel.”

“In that case, I would content myself with breaking my cane on his ribs.”

“Precisely, my book explains distinct methods of striking with more efficiency.”

“Yes, I understand; but…it’s not in any way possible for me to accept your offer.”

And stretching out his hands once again, accompanied very courteously with words of farewell, we considered the interview ended.

Upon arriving at my house, discouraged by the negativity, I returned to thinking about who would be the most suitable candidate to fill the vacancy in the fruit of my late nights, of which there were many.

After reflecting for a bit, and further convinced of the little that could be said in praise of my writings, I resolved that myself should become the author of the prologue to my own book, which goes as follows:

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Studious reader: upon presenting this small volume, a compilation of several years of practice in the handling of the cane employed as physical exercise and for personal defense, I do this without the least doubt that there are those defects that men of letters or writers will label as an incorrectness of style or ignorance of the language; but with the impossibility of being able to offer it adorned with eloquent words or phrases, since I handle the cane better than a pen, it has limited me to explaining, plainly, but with the greatest clarity possible, the execution of the most efficient attacks and defenses to fight with a cane against any dangerous adversary.

Furthermore, so that you will be able to implement, with precision, the movements of which combative actions are composed, seventy-two photographs have been inserted, depicting the most important actions of the principal scenarios, in which the reader will be able to verify that these are about new reasoning, since neither the means of gripping the weapon, nor the guard positions, nor the means of striking, nor the manner of executing the parries and blocks, have been, until now, known or, at the least, published by any other teacher.

The different attacks displayed in this work, I have categorized and divided into eleven parts or sections, making known, beyond the indispensable rules to implement them, several bits of general advice of well-known usefulness prior to fights and for the means of their execution.

No one can say, “I’m free from assault!” And, as a consequence, everyone should know how to defend himself with a cane.

In the conviction that this book will lend a great service to humanity, I await with resignation its much appreciated condemnation.

THE AUTHOR. *Note: The demonstrations that this book contains have been undertaken by the author and his son Roque, assistant instructor.

BONAFONT CANE

· Arturo Bonafont | 225

Causes and Effects NOW MORE THAN EVER, IT IS necessary to know how to defend oneself with a cane in the hand; although there have always existed quarrelsome individuals and outlaw robbers, the many assaults, robberies, and killings perpetrated during these last years show that, although the end of the great European war has added to the number of keepers of public order, crime has increased considerably.

The constant unrest of certain nations, and the well-known scarcity of means for progress in life, have motivated such a great influx of people of all classes and social spheres into the big cities, so that between those families who willingly abandon their respective countries and those that have seen

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themselves forced to flee, such as the outcasts, deserters, and those escaping for diverse reasons, the great capitals have become veritable flash points in which there exists a large quantity of subjects without scruples nor considerations of how to make themselves money, since, not having paid attention to means employed for doing so, they dedicate themselves with total brazenness to fraud and robbery, and even sometimes to killing. For that reason, each day it becomes more indispensable to know how to defend oneself against evildoers.

Furthermore, we know that all populations of growing development have their characteristic slums or more or less dangerous neighborhoods, which, apart from being inhabited by a certain num-

ber of honest families, also give shelter to unsavory persons that usually have some unfinished business with the police because they are troublemakers, lovers of what belongs to others, and even killers.

In these suburban neighborhoods, that are generally lacking in development and in security lighting, so that you cannot go through them at night without being more cautious than confident; since its dark and deserted streets lined with trees favor the bad guys, they become real danger zones in which one finds oneself exposed to being a victim of some attack or brutal assault, because every tree, bend, or corner can hide a killer.

A solid walking stick, one of those that is used for support by peace-loving men, is an accessory that, wielded by a person expert in the subject matter, can easily be transformed into a weapon of great efficiency for one’s own defense.

Upon the arrival of the moment in which it is indispensable to defend ourselves, we must instantly observe the position, attitude, expression, or aggressive movement of the adversary, in order to implement our attack, detaining or counterattacking his assault the moment he initiates it. Seeing

and executing with the speed of a lightning bolt must be done simultaneously.

Watchfulness and the preservation of calm give certain confidence, and even the assurance to employ the necessary force and precision when one wants to stun the opponent for a short time.

Upon finding ourselves face-toface with an outlaw and our lives at risk, we must hit violently at the selected spot in order to put him out of the fight as soon as possible.

We must keep in mind that law enforcement officers, although they may be bold men and loyal in the fulfillment of their duties, in as much as they cannot be everywhere at the same time, almost always come to the rescue after the commission of the deed—that is, too late to protect us.

Consequently, it being difficult to avoid all the misdeeds of those thieves who are constantly looking for the opportunity to achieve their purposes or bad impulses, the peace-loving citizen must exercise, in case of trouble, the right of his legitimate personal defense, without waiting for help, nor counting on, in this instance, the protection of anyone.

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· Arturo Bonafont | 227

Although a revolver may be the most suitable weapon to confront, intimidate, or to kill one or several individuals, in many cases using such a weapon would be an overreaction; in addition to the remorse at being the cause of death, we would see ourselves bound to appear before the court, with the objective of convincing the judges that such a serious mishap was truly caused in self-defense upon finding our life threatened.

For these and other reasons that I will expound upon below, I do not consider it prudent to routinely carry arms of bloody and destructive efficiency, such as revolvers, automatic pistols, and so on.

•

First—Because during our activities, routines, and daily struggles in life, due to any carelessness we would run the danger of injuring or killing our own selves. Well, as the saying goes, “Weapons are mobilized by the Devil.”

•

Second—Because the law prohibits the use of arms by persons who do not have the capacity to carry them, by order of the administration.

•

Third—Because using firearms, even if having been used in legitimate defense, causes a great

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deal of trouble, such that one must suffer, at the least, a preventive arrest, giving an infinite amount of declarations and convincing proofs that in the face of danger you saw yourself forced to proceed, risking every time to save everything. And you can still be thankful if the authorities do not throw the book at you.

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Fourth—From the humanitarian point of view, one should avoid all aggression that endangers the life of any fellow man.

On one occasion, I drew my revolver in self-defense; and after pointing it at the chest of my opponent, I raised my arm and fired into the air . . . because . . . I was scared. I was afraid of killing! How many men have had the same thing happen to them that happened to me?

Carrying a weapon is not the same thing as using it.

The walking stick is not considered a weapon, nor is carrying one illegal, so it is able to be our companion as much in meetings as in jaunts about, outings, and so on; whereas, knowing how to handle it, in a difficult situation in which we would have to defend ourselves from some adversary that we bump into in life—either a brutal troublemaker, a mugger, or some-

times a murderer—a single blow, well applied, can make them lose consciousness, depriving them, momentarily, of the ability to carry out aggressive intent.

Fighting off an attack, rendering the opponent useless for a while does not mean taking the law into one’s own hands, but rather defending oneself in the face of an assault. Besides, you can ask for help afterwards.

The Walking Stick To become skilled in the actions of fighting, one should employ the walking stick that one would use on the street, or one that combines qualities of length, thickness, weight, and strength. It is always best, in the event of a fight, to make use of the weapon that you are accustomed to handling.

The walking stick that we should use for self-defense needs to be straight, made from a slightly flexible wood, and one that will not break easily:1 of a length approx-

1 Cherry, lignum vitae or ironwood, quince, palo rosa, and holm oak are strong and fibrous trees from which can be obtained straight canes that combine good qualities to make walking sticks that, by their elegance and strength, can serve equally for strolling and self-defense.

imately 95 centimeters [37 inches] and with a weight of 250 to 300 grams [9-10 ½ ounces], perhaps a little more or less. Rather, the length and weight of the cane should be adequate for the stature and strength of the individual who wields it.

Height and muscular strength are two very important physical qualities for the combatant. The strong and tall individual, besides being able to use a somewhat longer and generally heavier weapon than someone of shorter stature, has the odds in his favor; whereas, the guy who is short and weak, in order for his strikes to be effective, must above all else strengthen himself, and then gradually acquire the ability or mastery necessary to even out the forces at play, or at least to get great advantage despite his physical shortcomings. As it is known, in the majority of cases skill comes to dominate force.

For a better understanding from the outset, the walking stick is divided into three sections: the strong or the thick part is closest to the handle or pommel, the middle third is the center of the cane, and the weak third, or thin part, is closest to the tip or ferrule.

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Gripping the Cane

The Guard

The main ways of gripping the cane in a combative posture are two in number: the inverted grip (one-handed) and the power grip (two-handed).

Guard means to protect yourself. It is the foundation of every fighting art. It is the supporting point and starting point of all fighters.

The inverted grip holds the cane in an uncommon manner, but one that is very important for combat.

It is when the thumb and first finger are located closest to the strong end of the walking stick, some 1015 centimeters [4-6 inches] from the pommel.

The power grip proceeds from the inverted grip, grasping the cane with the left hand (turning the fingernails downward), and with the little finger situated some 1015 centimeters [4-6 inches] from the tip, which is to say, to hold the cane with a hand at each end.

Guard is a single word, but it says a lot: a posture or position of bodily stability; the positioning of the weapon to defend ourselves and to attack with it; and the act of determining ahead the likely danger and with what action we will be able to avoid it, taking the opponent out of the fight.

As demonstrated, the one who says “I’m on guard” lets it be understood that he is alert facing the adversary, with all attention on calculation, vision, attitude, and readiness, and finds himself perfectly prepared for attack and defense, as well as to counter any adversary’s attack by means of a stop-hit or counterattack.

A Piece of Advice In order to execute some combative movement to perfection, when you read that one hand is turned with the fingernails on the inside, one should understand that the hand referred to should be closed, and turned with the fingernails in the direction of your own body, then the other actions that the hands should undertake in action can be understood easily with a simple explanation.

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Since there are different kinds of combat—for example, fencing, wrestling, stick-fighting, boxing, and so on, both friendly and real— it is indispensable, in order to be able to fight with a certain advantage, to situate oneself in the special guard position that corresponds to every encounter, ensuring that your posture combines, in every circumstance, the conditions of effectiveness already explained.

However, as the unusual circumstances that one experiences in a fight without rules that occurs in the street, the café, the theater, and so on, require us to use defenses that differ from those used in academic exercises in the wielding of the stick—which demand that the stick-fighter assume an elegant stance, perfect, artistic posture, and correct execution of twirling and attacks with a flourish, widely celebrated in the classic attacks in stick fencing—I have adopted two guard positions that, apart from being very natural and easy, fit any combative movement.

These positions, I make known in my stick and cane school by the names open guard and closed guard.

Open guard means a natural position and one where the cane is not in a place where parries or blocks end. It is completely opposite of the scholarly stance in stick and cane fencing (Figure 1). Iis taken in the following manner: the body must be straight and calm, nonchalant; the legs flexible and standing naturally, but with the left foot some 20 centimeters [8 inches] forward, which is to say, presenting a bit of one’s left flank to the adversary; the right arm slightly bent forward, holding the cane vertically with the right hand,2 having the thumb and first finger approximately 10 centimeters [4 inches] from the knob (inverted grip);3 the left hand falls naturally; the head elevated, looking at the opponent suspiciously, with the aim of divining his intentions, selecting, at the

2 Obviously, for a left-hander these conditions are reversed.

3 Inverted grip means having the cane held upside down—that is, the opposite of the usual and ordinary.

This being an unusual manner of holding the stick in the hand, and, as such, uncomfortable for many beginners, I recommend that, instead of getting discouraged (as often happens), you practice it confidently, so that when you are used to handling the cane in this manner you will become convinced of its good results.

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same time, the place or target4 that we can attack with the greatest certainty and safety. Let us make sure that we do not show the opponent that in this posture we are ready to carry out any defensive act.

The closed guard is a very strong position for striking the opponent the moment he initiates his attack (Figure 20). It consists of placing the cane on our left side, with the right hand turned with the fingernails facing outward and the arm slightly bent, keeping the cane supported by its middle third, which is in the groin area of the side; the body bent a bit forward, making certain to present the right side to the opponent; the legs bent, with the right foot forward and raising the heel of the left foot. If appropriate, we can place the left foot closer to the opponent.

The two guards can be used during the same fight.

Cane Strikes The most important cane strikes for self-defense are divided into two classes, the first category consisting of stick strikes, which are 4 The target is the site where you should direct the attack. We call targets those exposed parts that the opponent presents. The place or point selected for striking is the target.

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directed, with sure execution, in the form of a blow like an ax to the head (temple), face (lower maxillary), clavicle, hand, crotch, knee, and shin of the opponent.

Stick strikes should not linger on the opponent, but should be thrown with the force necessary to strike and continue the movement of the cane. This is the main way of keeping the opponent from grabbing our cane.

The second class of strikes, delivered with either the pommel or the tip of the cane, applied directly, are the form of a thrust to the eyes, nose, upper lip, carotid (under the

A Piece of Advice The distance that should exist between the two feet in motion during combat will be between 40 and 60 centimeters [16 and 24 inches] depending on the height of the fencer, in that way forming a sufficient base to keep the body balance.

earlobe), jaw, throat, chest, stomach, kidneys, and lower stomach.

The bulk of these strikes can easily cause a knockout or severe injuries. One must keep in mind that

Figure 1

these are the most efficient strikes for self-defense.

that the cane strikes with greater precision.

How One Must Strike

The strikes delivered with the pommel or with the tip should be applied directly (without windup or wasted motion), gripping the cane with one hand (inverted grip) or with both hands (power grip).

The main directions that the cane must take in order to strike one or several individuals are: horizontal, diagonal, and vertical (see windmill strikes below).

The study or practice exercises are, foremost, delivered slowly with the cane, and with much expansion— that is, making the cane trace a large circle until one has managed to attain the perfect path. Later, one goes about decreasing, bit by bit, the length that the cane travels, making sure that the action each successive time is faster and

The cane strikes complement each other, and you can use them singly or one after the other, according to the circumstances or the kind of attack that you want to carry out.

Attacks and Counters Attacks, naturally, are the aggregation of various movements applied with the cane, arms, body, and legs

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with the aim of striking the adversary. They can be single, combined, or compound.

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Single attacks are those that are implemented with a single strike.

Combative Ranges The ranges that exist between two combatants armed with walking sticks are four in number; namely: long, true, short, and close.

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They are at long range when they cannot reach the other without first advancing (more than two meters of separation).

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Combined attacks are those in which you attack with two or more strikes.

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Compound attacks are those that are made with windmill strikes, feints, controls, and so on.

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They are at true range when they can reach each other by making a half-step (two meters of separation).

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Furthermore, there are double attacks, which are when the cane is directed two times in succession against the same side. They are formed from the windmill strikes; the first strike can be just a feint. One also doubles up when the attack does not hit its target because of a miss on the first strike.

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They are at short distance when they can reach the other merely by extending the arm (a meter of separation).

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They are at close range when having come so close (less than a half meter of separation) that there is almost no distance separating the two. They are now in close combat, or hand-tohand.

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The attacks that one makes immediately after defending against a strike are called counters.

It is called hand-to-hand [chest-tochest] when one has the opponent so close that, in order to attack him advantageously, it is necessary to strike with pommel blows or the tip of the cane.

There are many that hold the belief that the walking stick cannot be deployed in hand-to-hand combat.

But keeping in mind the strikes

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that can be delivered with the tip or the knob while gripping the cane firmly with both hands, I am sure that, the closer we find ourselves to the opponent, the more dangerous our attacks will be.

In summary, defenses should be made according to how far you are from the adversary. The greater the distance, the less is the danger.

same distance.5 In the event it is necessary, one can replace one’s foot position by short hops.

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Side retreat or profile retreat is to separate oneself from the opponent with the foot that is rearmost, followed by the front foot.

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A half-step is obtained by leaning the body forward, advancing only the foot nearest the opponent, until one gains the distance necessary to reach him.

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The leap backward is made by taking a vigorous jump backward, pushing off with the legs and bodily momentum.6

Foot Movement In order to be able to execute the attacks and the defenses while placing the feet in the appropriate place, one must practice stance switches, turns, advances, retreats, half-steps, and leaps.

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•

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The guard switch or stance switch, in place, consists of making the right foot occupy the position of the left foot, and vice versa.

A turn is to change the side advancing or retreating, making the body spin over the tip of one foot while the other foot traces a half-circle, a little bit more or less around the body.

Side advance or profile advance [fencer’s step] is to advance the foot furthest forward while making the rear foot gain the

Windmill Strikes The circular movements that are used with the cane to direct blows or to defend ourselves from the opponent are called windmill strikes.

They are of great usefulness in wielding the cane, since, besides facilitating the carrying out and 5 The advance or step forward is executed by advancing 30-40 centimeters [12-16 inches]—that is, the distance necessary to reach the opponent.

6 This movement should be made in the action of attack or defense. It can be practiced at the same time one is performing combative exercises.

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A Piece of Advice All of the foot movements that need to be made during combat are based upon the guard positions, turns, switches, and so on. These actions reinforce each other, and with exercise they will be applied instinctively.

management of our attacks, they enable us to acquire skill, agility, power, and dexterity.

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The diagonals are those that are performed from upward then downward with a slight slant from right to left or vice versa, aiming the blow at the temple or the clavicle of the opponent (Figure 3).

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The verticals are accomplished, usually, by making the cane trace a circle from underneath moving upward, directing the strike to the hand or the lower stomach of the opponent.

The main windmill strikes are classified as offensive and defensive.

They are offensive when they serve during the attack to facilitate the aim of the strike.

They are defensive when we execute them for defending ourselves against the opponent’s strikes.

There are three offensive windmill strikes, and they are executed in six directions: two horizontal, two diagonal and two vertical.

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The horizontals are performed laterally, making the cane trace one or more circles from right to left or vice versa. These are generally aimed at the jaw or the carotid of the aggressor (Figure 2).

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The windmill strikes can be repeated and alternated with each other by means of rotating the wrist and with the assistance of the forearm.

Defensive windmill strikes are accomplished by making the cane trace perpendicular circles with the

Figure 2

Figure 3

aim of stopping the opponent’s blow by crashing our cane into his.

These should be implemented in front of oneself in the form of circular parries, which I will take on later.

Training Training means, in walking-stick defense, combative drilling with the aim of acquiring, by means of physical work or the repetition

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of rational movements, good vision, looseness, and resistance, strengthening at the same time the muscles of the entire body and especially the shoulder, arm, forearm, and hand that hold and lend force to the cane.

“In order to be strong, one must train carefully.”

We should not forget that theoretical knowledge of combat is useful, but, without practice, insufficient—since “no fighting action can be undertaken with perfection, without having done simulations of that action beforehand.”

“Ten minutes of action are better than ten hours of theory.”

Figure 4 - training board

Consequently, in order to be able to emerge victorious from real combat, it is necessary to have practiced all the strikes and actions possible that could occur during its unfolding.

Training Dummy In order to drill in precision, speed, and power in striking, one can employ a very simple apparatus that consists of a wood post or board, held up by a base, which has been placed against a wall or partition.

When practicing, do not get too close to the target. In order to do away with the base, one can nail the board to the wall.

This board or post, so that it can serve perfectly as a training dummy, should be the height of a man and covered from the upper part to some 40 centimeters [16 inches] from the floor, with a sack or canvas lined with crinoline or other similar material so that one can strike energetically without major discomfort or jolts to the arm or wrist.

If you would like to give this mannequin a more human form, instead of the sack or padded canvas, put on its upper end a football stuffed with crinoline, etc., marking it, furthermore, with the main points or targets to direct attacks.

On the lower end of this ball one

Figure 5 - training dummy

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can place another target representing the trunk of the opponent, adding others to act as hand, knee, and so on, with the aim of being able to hit them as though they had a real opponent in front of them.

It will be of great usefulness to drill attacking in these conditions the selected target of this apparatus, from the same spot both advancing and retreating in order to gradually acquire the muscular strength, bodily flexibility, and familiarity with the proper distances for real combat.

Training Program So that the highly qualified reader—a novice in the art of self-defense with a cane in the hand— can practice, one by one, all of the strikes considered most important for personal defense, I have prepared a training program divided into eleven parts or sections composed of five attacks in each one, and in progressive order with the goal of being able to practice them, starting with the easiest, and ending with the most difficult.

For the study and practice of these actions one should observe the following instructions:

instructions for each attack, not forgetting that upon initiating any attack one should implement it, as much as possible, from a position of stillness—that is to say, without making any movement that could signal to the opponent that one is about to throw a strike.

The best way of getting vigorous training is to exercise for ten minutes daily with the aim of perfecting the actions learned, and to maintain, at the same time, a perfect state of health due to the effect of the physical exercise that you are practicing.

It is not necessary to constantly practice all the attacks explained in this book, since perfecting just one or two in each section, adapted to one’s own inclinations or physical condition, will be sufficient for one to emerge victorious from any street fight.

Although it would be preferable to train while wearing light clothing or what one is used to wearing around the house, it would be very advisable that, every once in a while, one should practice combative movements in street clothes.

Once the beginner is in front of the training dummy and in the open guard position, be certain to attack with the recommended

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SECTION I Single Attacks: Strikes that are applied with the knob of the walking stick

All of the blows comprising this part should be thrown with the pommel of the cane, holding it gripped tightly with the right hand, to the temple, nose, carotid, throat, and stomach of the opponent.

For their execution, one starts out, always, from the free guard position with inverted grip, setting the left foot at some 30 centimeters [12 inches] from the training dummy.

Upon finding oneself fighting at less than a meter’s separation from the opponent, the encounter is regarded as occurring at close range or hand-to-hand.

All of the attacks should be drilled separately to the point that, through the precision, speed, and force developed in the strikes, one should understand that these will be genuinely effective.

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The various movements that make up each attack should be blended together into just one—which is to say, executed simultaneously and making certain, furthermore, to begin from a state of motionlessness.

A Piece of Advice It is not enough to know a certain number of strikes from reading about them, even though they may be the most important strikes for real combat; because in order to defend oneself and triumph, it is indispensable to practice on the dummy until one is certain that, when the moment arrives, the strikes can be delivered with maximum speed, force, and accuracy.

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1st strike to the temple—This blow should be delivered by raising the weapon-bearing arm until the hand (with the fingernails facing downward), elbow, and shoulder are almost horizontal, and with the knob of the cane in the direction of the left temple (forward of the upper part of the ear) of the opponent, in order to attack him, obliquely and from right to left, with the arm and shoulder somewhat tightened and accentuating a rotational movement of the body for bringing more force to the blow. With the aim of striking with the greatest impact, simultaneously advance the left foot toward the right of the dummy, raising the

heel of the other foot. Executing the same movements, one can direct the strike to the left lower jaw of the opponent. It is an attack with a great crushing impact. (See Figure 6.)

After striking, one must observe if the opponent has a stunned reaction, so that, in case he does not, one can execute a new attack. It is a fight; it is not prudent to get too confident.

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2nd strike to the nose—This attack is performed like the previous one, making sure, this time, that the pommel of the cane is directed to the nose or the upper lip of the opponent in order to strike him from underneath, moving upwards, simultane-

Figure 6

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ously accentuating a rotation of the body from right to left with the objective of lending greater impetus to the attack. It is a blow of great sunning effect, which, in addition to dazing the opponent, brings a sparkle to one’s eyes. (See Figure 7.)

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3rd strike to the carotid—This action is executed by raising the arm until the hand (fingernails turned downward), elbow, and shoulder are almost horizontal, and with the pommel of the cane in the direction of the carotid (below and a bit behind the left ear) of the opponent, in order to attack him from right to left, having the shoulder tightened to lend greater force

Figure 7

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to the strike. The left foot advances a bit toward the right of the dummy, with the body inclined over the same side, simultaneously raising the heel of the right foot so that, from this position, one can bring the lower back around and add to the effect. It is a blow that should be prohibited, and only should be used to save one’s life.

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4th strike to the throat—This attack is accomplished by aiming the knob of the cane (with the hand turned fingernails downward) to the throat (under the chin) of the opponent, in order to attack him from underneath moving upward, keeping the arm and shoulder lightly con-

tracted. One advances, at the same time, the left foot toward the right of the dummy, supporting the body over the leg of that same side, raising the heel of the right foot with the goal of driving the blow by means of an energetic expansion of the lower back.

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5th strike to the stomach—This blow is executed like the previous one, making certain, this time, that the knob of the cane

is directed to the stomach (the hollow formed underneath the sternum, also known as the pit of the stomach) of the opponent, in order to strike him directly from underneath moving upward. With the objective of adding force to the attack, the arm and the shoulder should be somewhat tightened. It is a blow of great efficiency to put the opponent out of action by means of a knockout. (See Figure 8.)

A Piece of Advice The various movements that make up the single attacks, in addition to starting from a state of motionlessness, should be executed simultaneously.

Figure 8

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SECTION II Single Attacks: Strikes that are applied with the tip of the walking stick

The five strikes or attacks assembled in this part should be thrown with the tip (tightly gripping the cane with both hands) to the left eye, jaw, chest, kidneys, and lower stomach of the opponent.

These attacks are executed on two beats (one of preparation and the other of attack) starting from the open guard position and at close range, directing the blows to the left side or the front of the training dummy.

The first beat of each attack is effectuated by making a light rotational movement of the body toward the right, simultaneously raising the tip of the cane so that it is parallel to the ground (one meter off the ground, more or less) and gripping by its weak third at some 10 centimeters [4 inches] from the tip, with the left hand turned fingernails down. This manner of holding the cane with both hands, I have made known by the name power grip.

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From this position one continues raising the tip until it is pointed at the selected target, holding the hands pretty much at the same height.

However, one should execute the five attacks by different means due to having to direct them to different parts of the body. The second beat that makes up each attack will be explained in the place corresponding to the strike that you are employing.

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6th strike to the left eye—This is an extremely dangerous blow that we should only employ against a killer or in the face of a deadly weapon, such as a revolver, knife, and so on; which is to say, using it only in defense of our life, since the application of this could cause the opponent’s death. The execution is as follows: to realize the movements of the first beat at the beginning of this section, one aims the tip at the opponent’s left eye, holding the left hand

with the fingernails facing outward and the right hand’s nails facing inward. The second beat is executed by applying the strike by means of energetically leaning the body forward (with a slight movement from right to left), simultaneously advancing the left foot and raising the right heel. The walking stick should be gripped strongly with both hands (power grip). The two movements that make up this attack, as much as possible, should be combined into one.

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7th strike to the jaw—In order to execute this attack, one does the movements of the first beat, described previously, directing the blow to the jaw of

the opponent, holding the left hand turned with the fingernails facing downward, and the right with the nails facing upward, making certain that the hands are more or less at the same height. The second beat is carried out by energetically rotating the chest from right to left, simultaneously advancing the left foot a bit toward the dummy with the aim of giving greater force to the blow. The walking stick should be gripped strongly with a hand at either end, and striking with hands and shoulders tightened. With the proper application of this strike, one can put an end to the fight.

Figure 9

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8th strike to the chest—The first beat of this attack is executed like those earlier, aiming, this time, the tip at the chest (sternum or over the heart) of the opponent, holding the left hand with the nails turned downward and the right in the opposite direction. The second beat is carried out by energetically leaning the body forward, giving, at the same time, a strong drive with the arms to hit the selected target with the greatest force possible. The left foot should advance a bit toward the right side of the training dummy, simultaneously raising the right heel. This is a very effective blow for street fights. (See Figure 9.)

Figure 10

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9th strike to the kidney—After having executed the first beat by aiming the tip at the kidneys (over the empty spot or lower ribs of the left side) of the opponent, holding the left hand with the fingernails facing downward and the right with the nails facing upward, one executes the second beat in the following manner: gripping the cane strongly with both hands, apply the strike to the left side of the opponent by means of an energetic rotation of the body (from right to left), advancing, simultaneously, the left foot toward the right side of the training dummy. This is one of the best strikes for taking the opponent out of action.

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10th strike to the lower stomach—In order to carry out this attack one executes the movements of the first beat, aiming, this time, the tip at the lower stomach (lower abdomen) or at the groin of the opponent, holding the left hand with the fingernails facing inward and the right with the nails outward. The second beat is carried out by strongly driving the arms (toward the front and from bottom to top) aided by means of an energetic bending forward of the body, simultaneously advancing the left foot with the aim of adding more force to the blow. All of the attacks should be executed with great speed, unifying the beats as much as possible. (See Figure 10.)

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SECTION III Combination Attacks: Two strikes that are applied, one with the tip and the other with the knob of the cane

The attacks assembled in this section should be launched at the specific undefended targets that the opponent presents, alternating between the tip and the pommel, from close range, holding the cane in the power grip—that is, with a hand at either end.

These attacks are combined in order to hit two times in succession, from different directions in the following order: kidney and carotid, jaw and temple, stomach and throat, chest and the right eye, and upper lip and the groin, with the capability of varying the second strike according to the circumstances and the exposed areas that the opponent presents.

The two strikes that make up each attack are executed in three beats (one of preparation and two of attack), starting from the open guard position, carrying out the first two like the attacks in the previous section.

The second strike of each attack should be thrown with the knob of

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the cane at the right side or front of the training dummy.

One should execute the movements of the third beat by aiming the strikes at specific parts of the opponent’s body. These are explained in the corresponding place to the action that one is carrying out.

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11th strike with the tip to the kidney and strike with the knob to the carotid—The first beat of this attack, as has been stated previously, will be executed as in the prior section. The second beat occurs after delivering the blow to the kidney (left side) (Figure 11), removing the tip from the target by means of an energetic lurch of the arms and rotation of the body (from right to left), aiming the knob of the cane at the next selected target.

The third beat is carried out by applying the pommel to the carotid (right side) with a strong thrust of the arms, causing the body to rotate (from right to

left), simultaneously advancing the right foot toward the left side of the training dummy (Figure 12). The right hand should be turned with the fingernails facing upward and the left with the nails downward.

A Piece of Advice The tip or knob strikes delivered with a hand on either end (power grip) can be applied twice in succession at the same spot or at a separate target.

Figure 11

Figure 12

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12th strike with the tip to the jaw and pommel blow to the temple— The first beat of this attack is executed like those previous, this time aiming at the tip at the jaw (left side) of the opponent. The second beat, which is the blow to the jaw is executed in the same way as explained in the seventh attack, continuing the rotation of the body (from right to left) accompanied by a strong lurch of the arms until the knob of the cane remains pointed at the temple (right side) with the right hand turned fingernails upward and the left nails down.

The third beat delivers the blow to the aforementioned target by means of an energetic drive of the arms accompanied by a twist of the body (from left to right), simultaneously advancing the left foot toward the training dummy. The heel of the left foot should be raised, making certain not to lose one’s balance.

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13th strike with the tip to the stomach and pommel blow to the throat—The first beat of this attack, like those preceding, consists of gripping the cane in the power grip and directing the tip toward the stomach of the opponent, with the left hand turned fingernails inward and the right’s turned outward.

The second beat or first strike is executed by vigorously driving the arms toward the front and moving from underneath upward, aided by means of the body strongly leaning forward.

The left foot simultaneously moves forward. Then, rotating the body (from right to left) with a slight lean backward, aim the knob of the cane at the throat of the opponent. The third beat is carried out by driving the strike (from underneath upward) by strongly shifting the arms and leaning forward while simultaneously advancing the right foot.

A Piece of Advice During suitable instances, these attacks can be made up of three or more blows, which can also be applied against multiple opponents.

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All attacks should be executed with the greatest speed possible.

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14th strike with the tip to the chest and knob strike to the right eye—The first beat of this attack is executed like the preceding, but with the tip aimed at the chest of the opponent. The second beat is carried out by forcefully striking the selected target, causing the body to rotate (from right to left) leaning back a bit and aiming the knob of the cane at the right eye of our adversary. The third beat or second strike is performed with a strong drive of the arms supporting the blow with one’s body weight. This attack should be executed by holding the right hand with the fingernails turned inward and the left with the nails outward. This is a very dangerous strike.

15th strike with the thin end to the lip and pommel strike to the groin—The first beat of this strike is executed like those before, aiming, this time, the tip of the cane at the upper lip of the opponent. The second beat or first strike is executed by strongly attacking said target.

Then, rotating the body, from

right to left, bending over from the waist, aim the pommel of the cane at the groin or lower stomach of our attacker. The third beat is applied by driving the blow (from underneath traveling upward) with a strong drive of the arms and leaning the body. Simultaneously advance the right foot, while raising the heel of the left. The right hand should be turned with the fingernails facing outward and the left with the nails turned inward.

A Piece of Advice All of the strikes that until now have been delivered at close range can also be applied from a starting point at short range, leading with one’s side in the act of executing the first movement, thereby causing close-quarter combat.

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SECTION IV Single Attacks: Stick strikes

The five strikes in this part should be delivered with the weak third of the walking stick, from the open guard position, holding the cane in inverted grip in the right hand, and at short distance (a meter, more or less, of separation from the training dummy), to the temple, jaw, wrist, groin, and knee of the opponent.

These strikes should be directed to the left side of the training dummy, always beginning from a state of motionlessness.

The stick strikes thrown in the manner of an ax blow can also be delivered at true range (two meters, more or less, from the opponent), advancing the right foot by means of a turn or blading the body, simultaneously raising the left heel.

All of the attacks in this section should be executed in a single beat and with the greatest speed and force possible.

A Piece of Advice First: After striking, move into the closed guard (Figure 20) remaining aware that it may be necessary to attack with another strike or simply turn to defense with a circular parry or a power block that will be explained at the appropriate time.

Second: When the reader has learned the attacks contained in the first four sections, I believe that one will be able to develop the remaining even if they are not explained in great detail.

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16th stick strike to the temple— This strike is executed from the open guard and a meter away from the training dummy, making it trace 3/4 of a circle with the weak third of the walking stick by raising the arm, moving in a circle, diagonally, from the rear to the front, with the aim of making it fly, aiming it at the left temple of the opponent. The body should rotate, from right to left, simultaneously raising the heel of the right foot. During this action, the hand should be with the fingernails turned outward and the elbow pointed upward. As has been said earlier, this attack should occur in a single beat. It is a blow that could cause the

opponent to lose consciousness momentarily.

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17th stick strike to the jaw—This strike is executed from the same guard and at the same distance as the previous attack, raising the arm, slightly arched, toward the right, until the hand (nails facing downward), elbow, and cane are horizontal at the level of the shoulder; then rotating the body from right to left, simultaneously raising the heel of the right foot, delivered with the arm somewhat tightened, a stick strike to the enemy’s left jaw. After striking horizontally assume the closed guard position. This attack could cause our attacker to black out for a few moments.

Figure 13

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18th stick strike to the wrist— This strike is carried out from the same guard and at the same distance as the previous one, forcefully directing the cane (from underneath moving upward) at the wrist of the opponent with the aim of making him drop the weapon from his hand. During the execution of this strike one can advance the right foot, but keep at a steady distance. This strike is recommended for street fights. (See Figure 13.)

19th stick strike to the groin— This strike is executed in the same way as the prior one, aiming the cane vertically at the groin of the opponent. This is an extremely dangerous strike.

Figure 14

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We should vary the severity of the strikes according to the adversaries we have before us.

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20th stick strike to the knee— This strike is performed from the same guard and at the same distance as the previous attacks, raising the arm a little toward the right, until the hand (turned with the fingernails facing downward) stays at the level of the waist. Then rotate one’s body from right to left, applying horizontally and with the arm tightened, a strong blow to the opponent’s knee, while raising the heel of the right foot. After striking, assume the closed guard position. (See Figure 14.)

SECTION V Combination Attacks: A stick strike and a blow with the pommel of the cane

The attacks taught in this section are composed of two strikes—that is, one stick strike with the weak third of the cane and one blow with the knob of the cane, starting from the open guard position at a meter’s distance, more or less, from the opponent and executed in two beats (one beat for each strike).

These attacks are combined in order to achieve two consecutive strikes in different parts of our adversary’s body in the following order: temple and stomach, jaw and carotid, wrist and lip, groin and throat, and shin and lower back.

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21st stick strike to the temple and knob strike to the stomach—The

first strike of this attack, that is, the stick strike to the temple, is executed the same way as the 16th, but advancing the right foot by means of a turn or a stance shift. The second strike is executed while advancing the left foot forward a bit while simultaneously gripping the cane in power grip, in order to throw, to the front and from underneath moving upward, a strong blow with the pommel to the opponent’s stomach.

With the objective of lending greater force to the blow, take a short half-step while leaning the body forward, at the same time raising the heel of the left foot.

A Piece of Advice First: The stick strikes should be applied in the same manner as presented in the previous section.

Second: The strikes delivered with the knob of the walking stick are carried out by bridging the distance in the same way as presented in Section III.

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A Piece of Advice Instead of delivering the second strike with the knob, one can execute the strike with the tip as follows: after striking the opponent’s temple, lean the body back, carrying the knob of the cane next to the left side of our waist with the objective of taking it by the strong third with the left hand and sliding the right hand rapidly until it is gripping the weak third of the walking stick. The hands should be turned with the fingernails facing downward.

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22nd stick strike to the jaw and pommel blow to the carotid— The first strike of this attack, that is, the stick strike to the opponent’s jaw, is executed like the 17th, which appears in the previous section, but advancing the right foot by means of a turn. The second strike is carried out while moving the left foot forward a bit, simultaneously gripping the weak third of the cane with the left hand turned fingernails down, in order to attack the opponent’s right carotid, rotating the body from left to right and forcefully driving the blow with the arms.

The right foot should advance, a bit, toward the left side of the opponent or training dummy.

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23rd stick strike to the wrist and pommel blow to the lip—The first strike of this attack, which is the stick strike to the hand or the wrist of the opponent, is carried out like the 18th, but advancing the right foot by means of a turn. The second strike is carried out by moving the left foot forward a bit while simultaneously gripping the cane with the left hand in order to attack with the power grip the upper lip of the opponent. With the aim of lending greater force to the blow, lean your body forward, strongly supporting the arms and advancing the right foot. The right hand should be turned with the nails facing inward and the left with the nails outward.

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24th stick strike to the groin and pommel blow to the throat—The first strike of this attack, which is the stick strike to the groin of the opponent, is carried out like the 19th, but while advancing the right foot by means of a stance switch (Figure 15). The second strike is carried out by advancing the left forward a bit while simultaneously gripping the walking stick with the left hand in order to attack from the front and from underneath moving upward, a strong pommel blow to the opponent’s throat (Figure 16). The right foot is set to the left side of the training dummy.

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25th stick strike to the shin and pommel blow to the lower back— The first strike of this combination attack, which is the stick strike to the adversary’s shin, is executed like the strike to the knee explained in the 20th attack, but advancing the right foot by means of a turn. The second strike is performed by moving the left foot forward, at the same time gripping the weak third of the cane with the left hand in order to strike the opponent’s kidney at his right side, by means of an energetic rotation of the body from left to right, and the force of both arms.

The right hand should be with the fingernails turned upward and the left nails turned down.

Figure 15

Figure 16

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SECTION VI Combination Attacks: Three stick strikes applied with the weak third of the cane

The attacks assembled in this part are composed of three blows, each of them executed, of course, from the open guard position with the cane in the inverted grip and with more or less two meters of separation from the training dummy.

To place ourselves at the appropriate distance, we should advance the right foot by means of a turn or stance switch.

To launch an attack of this nature, we should neither have concern for, nor even think about, the attacks that our opponent might make; let us just make certain to hit non-stop with force and great speed.

During these combinations we should present the right side to the opponent.

Once we have finished a combination, we should set ourselves in the closed guard position, just in case it is necessary to return to the attack or attend to defense.

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26th three stick strikes: temple, jaw, and clavicle—The first strike of this combined attack is executed by raising the arm from back to front, with the aim of tracing a 3/4 circle with the weak third of the walking stick, attacking diagonally with the hand turned with the fingernails facing outward and the elbow pointed upward, the left temple of the attacker. During the execution of the strike the right foot advances by means of a turn. The body should make a rotational movement from right to left, until after having struck, keeping the arm bent at the level of, and next to, the left shoulder, with the hand turned fingernails facing downward.

The second strike is carried out by gripping the cane firmly, attacking the right jaw of the opponent horizontally and energetically, by means of a rapid rotation from left to right. After striking, the arm stays bent

on the right side at head height, with the hand turned nails outward. The third strike is delivered like the first, but with neither the large arc of the first strike nor the turn, remaining afterward in the closed guard position.

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27th three stick strikes: jaw, temple, and carotid—The first strike of this combined attack is executed by raising the arm, slightly bent, toward the right, until the hand (fingernails turned downward), elbow, and cane are aligned horizontally with the shoulder. And turning forward to apply, with the arm slightly tensed, and a vigorous rotation of the body from right to left, a stick blow to the left jaw of the opponent. After striking, lean the body back, keeping the arm arched to the left at head height, with the fingernails of the hand facing outward. The second strike is performed by strongly attacking with the arm tightened, to the right temple of the opponent, by means of an energetic rotation of the body from left to right, and driven by the lower back. After striking, the arm should stay bent at our right side at shoulder height, with the nails of the hand turned downward. The

third strike is applied like the first, remaining afterward in the closed guard position.

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28th three stick strikes: wrist, carotid, and knee—The first strike is executed by advancing the right foot by means of a turn or a shift in stance, vigorously aiming the cane from underneath moving upward, to the wrist of the opponent with the aim of making him drop his weapon.

After striking, lean the body back, keeping the arm arched at the level of, and next to, our left shoulder, with the nails turned downward. The second strike is delivered by striking forcefully at the opponent’s carotid, by rotating the body from right to left, gripping the cane securely. After striking, the arm should remain bent at our right side at waist height, with the fingernails turned downward.

The third strike is carried out by rotating the body from right to left, delivering a stick strike to the opponent’s knee. Afterward, assume the closed guard position.

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29th three stick strikes: groin, temple, and jaw—The first strike is executed by advancing the right foot while turning the side toward the opponent and

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throwing the cane from underneath moving upward and with the nails facing inward to the groin of the opponent.

After striking, lean the body back, keeping the arm bent at our left side and at head height with the hand turned so the fingernails face outward. The second strike is delivered by attacking, with the arm slightly tensed, the right temple of the attacker by means of rotating the body from left to right and a forceful movement of the lower back. After striking, the arm should remain at our right side at shoulder height, with the hand turned so the nails

are facing downward. The third strike is delivered by executing a strong rotational movement from right to left, aided by the impetus of the lower back, with the objective of delivering a forceful blow to the left jaw of the opponent. Immediately following, take the closed guard position.

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30th three stick strikes: knee, jaw, and temple—The first strike is executed by raising the arm a little to the right until the hand, with the fingernails turned downward, is at waist height with the aim of making a turn forward delivering a strong blow to the opponent’s knee

Figure 18

Figure 17

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(Figure 17). After striking, lean the body back, keeping the arm arched next to our left shoulder, with the hand turned so that the nails face downward.

The second strike is carried out by swinging strongly and horizontally at the right jaw of the opponent, by means of a vigorous twist of the body from left to right (Figure 18). After striking, the arm remains bent at our right side at head height, with the hand turned nails outward. The third strike is implemented by striking diagonally to the left temple of the opponent by means of a vigorous drive of the arm while rotating

the body from right to left (Figure 19). Upon completing the combination assume the closed guard position (Figure 20).

A Piece of Advice Immediately after attacking from right to left we should assume the closed guard position; after striking from left to right we find ourselves in the open guard, prepared in either case to resume fighting.

Figure 20

Figure 19

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SECTION VII Combination Attacks: Four stick strikes or blows applied with the weak third of the cane and with the pommel

The attacks assembled in this chapter are combinations of four stick strikes or blows, each of them starting from the open guard and at two meters’ distance, more or less, from the opponent.

(Figures 21, 22, and 23), applied as in the previous section, making certain that after the third hit you grip the cane with both hands (power grip) and with the knob aimed at the opponent’s stomach. The fourth strike is delivered to the front and from underneath upward, by attacking with a strong blow with the pommel to the aforementioned target (Figure 24).

In executing these combined attacks of multiple strikes, they should be applied continuously and with the greatest speed and force possible.

When strikes are delivered with just the right hand, we should be certain to always present the right side to the opponent.

This class of continuous attack or series of blows are really useful when you want to violently attack one or several opponents at the same time.

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31st three stick strikes and a pommel blow [to the stomach]—In the following four strikes, the first three are delivered in the form of ax blows to the left temple, right jaw, and left temple

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32nd three stick strikes and a pommel blow to the upper lip— In the following four strikes, the first three are delivered with the weak third of the cane to the opponent’s left jaw, right temple, and left carotid, making certain that after the third hit you grip the cane in power grip and with the knob aimed at the opponent’s upper lip.

The fourth strike is delivered to the front and from underneath upward, by attacking the aforementioned target.

Figure 22

Figure 21

Figure 24

Figure 23

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33rd three stick strikes and a pommel blow to the throat—In the following four strikes the first three are delivered in the form of ax blows to the opponent’s wrist (hand), right carotid, and left temple, applied as in the previous section, making certain that after the third hit you grip the cane with both hands and with the knob aimed at the opponent’s throat. The fourth strike is delivered to the front and from underneath upward, by attacking with a strong blow with the pommel to the selected target.

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34th three stick strikes and a pommel blow to the chest—In the following four strikes of this combined attack the first three are delivered with the weak third of the cane to the attacker’s groin, right temple, and left jaw, making certain that after the third hit you grip the cane in power grip and with the knob aimed at the opponent’s chest. The fourth strike is implemented by strongly attacking, directly, to the indicated target.

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35th four diagonal or crossing stick strikes—The first blow of this combination is carried out by throwing the stick diagonally from the ground upward with the aim of attacking from right to left on the attacker’s knee or groin. After striking, one should continue the movement of the stick, tracing an arc over the top of the opponent’s head (as in Figure 3). The second strike is delivered diagonally from above moving downward to the jaw or left clavicle. After striking, one should continue the movement of the stick into closed guard. The third strike is executed by swinging the cane diagonally and from underneath moving upward to the opponent’s groin or right side knee. After hitting, one should continue the movement of the cane, making a circular arc over the attacker’s head. The fourth stick strike is thrown diagonally and from above moving downward to the opponent’s jaw or right clavicle, continuing the action until one arrives at the original guard position.

The four stick strikes should be delivered consecutively in the form of windmill strikes, which are very useful for keeping the opponent at long range.

SECTION VIII Combination Attacks: A feint and a strike

A feint is an act of threatening or pretending to strike in order to make the opponent believe that you are attacking him at one spot, with the objective that his defense will uncover another target, or making a false attack to distract him or to slip past his defense.

Although it is recommended in combat tactics to sound out the enemy by threats or some other movement with the goal of examining his intentions before undertaking real attacks, I am not in favor of employing a lot of feints in a street fight, since when wielding the walking stick in self-defense we should not put all our hopes of winning on these kinds of tricks, because the majority of these opponents do not know the art of self-defense with the cane; they will not take the bait of our threats, but will take advantage of this beat to strike us.

But for the reader to know and to be able to practice an attack of this nature, I will limit myself to

explaining attacks composed of a single feint and a strike, and which I believe are most suitable for real combat.

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36th feint to the lower stomach and strike to the temple—This compound attack is executed in two beats, starting from the open guard position and at more or less one meter’s distance from the opponent. The first beat is implemented by threatening a blow with the tip, from underneath moving upward, to the lower stomach of the opponent, holding the cane in power grip (Figure 25). In order to give the strike greater realism, take a short half-step with the left foot, at the same time bending at the waist.

These movements should be executed simultaneously. The second beat is performed by releasing the left hand and making the weak third of the cane trace a diagonal circle by means of elevating the forearm, with

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the hand turned so that the fingernails face outward and with the elbow pointed upward, in order to apply a stick strike to the left side temple or jaw of the attacker. Your body should rotate from right to left, while simultaneously raising the heel of the right foot (Figure 26). After striking, assume the closed guard position.

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37th feint to the nose and strike to the groin—This compound attack is executed in two beats, starting from the open guard position and at more or less one meter’s distance from the opponent. The first beat is executed by holding the cane in power grip and raising it to head height, threatening a strike with the narrow tip at the nose or upper lip of the opponent.

The second beat is performed by releasing the right hand in order to vigorously swing with the left to the enemy’s groin.

This blow should be delivered with the strong third [knob end] of the cane.

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38th feint to the jaw and strike to the throat—This compound attack is executed in two beats, starting from the open guard position at two meters’ distance, a slightly different distance for the training dummy.

The first beat is carried out by making a turn or presenting the side forward, simultaneously threatening a stick strike to the left jaw of the enemy (Figure 27). After feinting, grasp the cane (at the strong end) with the left hand, while rapidly sliding the right hand to the middle third and aiming the tip (from underneath moving upward) at the opponent’s throat.

The second beat is implemented by forcefully striking the indicated target (Figure 28). To strike with greater power lean your body forward, advancing the right foot and lifting the left heel.

Figure 26

Figure 25

Figure 28

Figure 27

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39th feint to the temple and blow to the stomach—This compound attack is executed in two beats, starting from the open guard position in inverted grip at two meters’ distance from the training dummy. The first beat is implemented by turning the body toward the front, while threatening a stick strike to the opponent’s left temple. After feinting, grab the cane with the left hand, briefly placing both thumbs together, then quickly slide the right hand down until it is gripping the middle third of the cane and aiming the tip (from underneath moving upward) at the opponent’s stomach. The second beat is accomplished by striking forcefully at the aforementioned target, holding the cane firmly with both hands. Support the strike with the weight of your body, advancing the right foot and lifting the left heel.

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40th feint to the lower back and strike to the jaw—This attack is executed in two beats starting from the open guard position approximately a meter’s distance from the attacker. The first beat is accomplished by raising the tip of the cane until it is seized in power grip and threatening by leaning the

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body, a blow with the tip to the lower back on the opponent’s left side. After feinting, move the cane away, positioning it at the opponent’s jaw on the same side. The second beat is realized by striking with the tip at the previously mentioned target, while rotating the body from right to left. With the goal of supporting this attack, move the left foot forward while simultaneously raising the heel of the right.

SECTION IX Various Techniques: Attacks, blocks, counters, controls and stop-hits

This section and the ones that follow are the most difficult to execute.

Up to this point the studious reader has been able to practice all the movements explained in this book without the aid of a training partner, but upon arriving at this section dealing with fighting cane against cane, it will be indispensable for you to train with a partner.

In order to accomplish the different ways of blocking a strike, the appropriate counters, the ways of seizing the opponent’s stick, and the perfect execution of stop-hits, it is necessary to have a friend or stick fencing instructor set in front of the reader for the purpose of executing these actions.

The success of the attacks and defenses that will be appropriate in a fight depends upon the patience of the teacher and the will of the student.

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41st defenses against a walking stick—In order for us to be able to defend ourselves against an opponent armed with a cane, it is necessary to have practiced beforehand with a friend or someone who has mastered this defense, that is to say, the blocks corresponding to the strikes that we could receive from the opponent’s weapon.

There are eight blocks or parries in stick fighting, which are designated numerically according to the side and the target they defend: ◊ The left side is defended with block One; the right side is defended with block Two. ◊ The right side face and waist are defended by block Three; the left side with block Four. ◊ The right side head and face are defended by block Five; the left side with block Six.

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Figure 29 - Block One

Figure 30 - Block Two

◊ The right side waist and hand are defended by block Seven;7 the left side with block Eight.

Furthermore, there are blocks with the power grip.

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The circular parries Four, Six, and Eight, assigned to defend the left side of the body, are executed with the hand turned so that the fingernails face the opponent. Blocks Three, Five, and Seven belonging to the right side, are carried out with the fingernails toward ourselves.

Both the blocks and the parries

7 Block Seven cannot be executed with the necessary perfection, due to the violent and uncomfortable position of the wrist; but by simultaneously moving the right leg backward we can defend ourselves easily.

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Figure 31 - Block Three

Figure 32 - Block Four

can be done with the assistance of the left hand.

Once the reader knows the blocks and parries, in addition to the different directions that the cane can take to stop or deflect that of the opponent, the teacher will aggressively deliver strikes to any part of the student’s body so that the student will hit the cane with his own, in this way getting used to deviating the opponent’s cane from its line of attack via the collision produced.

Figure 33 - Block Five

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Figure 34 - Block Six

42nd blocks or circular parries and counters—The preferred blocks that we should use to defend ourselves at true range are those that are called circular parries, which are executed by a circular movement with our cane to counter that of the opponent and to deflect it with a violent collision, usually taking advantage of that same action to immediately strike the opponent’s body. The attack that one makes immediately after having stopped a blow is called a counter.

Since it is not possible to demonstrate practically the efficiency of a block, counter, or counterstrike unless there is a threat or strike thrown, for that purpose, the teacher and the student stand facing each other

Figure 35 - Block Seven

Figure 36 - Block Eight

in the open guard position with inverted grip to practice the following attacks and parries: ◊ The instructor attacks horizontally to the left jaw, and the student defends with circular parry Four (Figure 37). The instructor attacks diagonally to the left temple, and the student defends with circular parry Six (Figure 38). ◊ The teacher vertically attacks the lower stomach from the left side, and the student defends with circular parry Eight (Figure 39). ◊ The teacher attacks from underneath moving upward, from the right side, and the student draws back the right foot while executing circular parry Seven (Figure 40).

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Figure 38

Figure 37

Figure 40

Figure 39

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Once the student knows how to defend against single attacks, practice the blocks or parries against the combination attacks of two or three strikes explained in Section VI. Blows with the tip and the pommel are defended with the blocks and parries corresponding to the side and the target to which they are delivered.

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43rd power grip blocks and counters—The blocks that we should ordinarily use to defend ourselves at short range are those that are called power blocks, which are executed in expectation of the opponent’s strike, holding the cane gripped at both the weak and strong thirds. To defend our right side the left hand should be held above and

the walking stick almost vertical (Figure 41). The power block that we should employ to protect our left side is executed the same as the First (fallback), but gripping the weak third of the cane with the left hand.

In order to practice the execution of these blocks, the teacher and the student position themselves in the open guard and afterward in the closed guard with the goal of practicing the defenses from both guards holding the cane in power grip.

After defending ourselves with a power block, we will counter with blows delivered with the tip or the pommel (Figure 42). You could also use a neck hold and trip like those I will explain in the next section.

Figure 41

Figure 42

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44th fallback block, grab, and counter—This compound defense of fallback block and counter is executed in three beats, starting from the open guard position with inverted grip at more or less one meter’s distance from the opponent and at the moment that he launches a strike at the right temple or jaw. The first beat is defending the attack by means of fallback block Two, which is accomplished by raising the arm and holding the cane vertically with the intention of stopping the strike. At the same time close the distance between you by advancing with the left foot (Figure 43). The second beat is accomplished by resting

the left forearm over the opponent’s cane [in Figures 43 & 44 he grips the opponent’s cane with his left hand] thereby stopping any aggressive movement.

The third beat is carried out by delivering a blow with the hilt to the face (Figure 44). ◊ If the opponent’s attack were delivered to our left side, we would defend ourselves with fallback block One, while gripping the opponent’s stick by underneath and next to ours, so that we are capable of countering with a stick strike to the jaw, a strike with the narrow tip to the face, or with the pommel to any undefended target.

Figure 44

Figure 43

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◊ These compound blocks and counters should be done so quickly that the three beats making them up become just one.

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45th stop-hits or counterstrikes— In combative tactics, stop-hits are those that are delivered by taking advantage of the beat that the opponent employs in threatening or executing an attack. A stop-hit is striking him in the midst of his attack. Any movement the attacker makes with his arm, leg, or body can provide an opportunity to attack him on that beat. ◊ Although in executing these strikes you will always be exposed to some risk, these are distinguished from con-

trol strikes, which, that is to say, means throwing and holding. However, keeping in mind that circular parries are executed by striking the opponent’s cane before attacking his body, these can easily be transformed into stop-hits or counter-strikes when—instead of colliding with the attacker’s cane— one hits him in the wrist, jaw, lower stomach, and so on (Figures 15, 45 and 46). ◊ To perform these: the instructor threatens some attacks which will be counterattacked by the student, who should be very careful not to injure his trainer.

Figure 46

Figure 45

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SECTION X Various Techniques: Natural weapons, disarms, controls, neck holds, and throws

In this section, just as in the last one, it will be necessary to get the help of someone else in order to practice the techniques explained.

Because this is the next to last section, and one of the most difficult to execute, I do not doubt that the reader will do anything possible to understand how to put into practice the techniques presented here, which are very useful in closerange combat.

In hand-to-hand fights we should apply pommel blows, blows with the tip of the cane, natural weapons,8 and attacks comprising controls, neck holds, throws, and so on, that are explained in this section.

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46th hand-to-hand defenses and natural weapons—Once we get to hand-to-hand combat, we must fight until the end. In a fight at close range, if the op-

8 Blows thrown with the fist, elbow, head, foot, and so on, are called natural weapons.

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ponent grabs our cane with the aim of preventing any offensive movement and takes advantage of this situation in order to hit us, we must deliver blows with the tip and the pommel, and if these come up short, our natural weapons, which I recommend you practice every now and then with your instructor or on the training dummy. In addition, it is useful to know the natural blows, so that we are not taken by surprise when the opponent delivers one, and before or during a hand-tohand fight, we will be able to apply them whenever necessary. “Often a surprise delivers the victory.” The most common natural weapons are executed as follows: ◊ The punch is accomplished by strongly hitting the opponent’s jaw, stomach, or kidney; ◊ The elbow strike is hitting him with the elbow to the jaw or nose;

Figure 47

◊ The head-butt is causing the side of the head to collide with the attacker’s face or nose (Figure 47); ◊ The knee strike is energetically hitting him with the knee in the gut; ◊ The toe kick is striking him with the tip of the foot to the groin; ◊ The stomp is stomping with the heel of the foot onto the enemy’s toes; ◊ The oblique kick is striking him in the shin, with the edge in the inner side of the sole of our shoe (Figure 48).

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47th disarm by striking his cane—Any strike forcefully directed to the opponent’s wrist, forearm, or cane can result in a

Figure 48

disarm. If the attacker threatens us with the tip of his walking stick, rapier, umbrella, and so on, we will apply a blade ride or beat-down,9 making certain that the stick strikes the opponent’s hand (Figure 49). The same action is employed in order to strike the head of our adversary the moment he crouches down to attack the lower body (Figure 23), alternating diagonal windmill strikes (from right to left, and up and down, and vice versa) and aiming the cane at the opponent’s wrist, which can easily result in a dis9 A blade ride is to hit forcefully and with prolonged pressure, causing our cane to slide down along the opponent’s cane until it strikes his hand.

A beat-down is to strike our cane into the opponent’s.

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Figure 50

Figure 49

arm.

•

48th feint, control, and strike— This compound attack is executed in three beats, starting from the open guard and at a meter’s distance from the opponent. The first beat is accomplished by holding the cane in power grip and taking a halfstep with the left foot, simultaneously feigning a blow with the tip to the chest or face of the enemy (Figure 50). The second beat is executed the moment the opponent defends against our strike by placing his cane against ours. At this instant we make certain to keep his cane hooked in the vertex of the angle formed by the weak third of the cane and the left hand, rap-

278 | The Book of the Stick

idly turning the body forward, while controlling10 his cane (Figure 51). The third beat is implemented by delivering a blow with the pommel of the cane to the attacker’s upper lip (Figure 52) or by executing a neck hold and throw.

•

49th side throw with a neck hold—This compound counter is achieved after using the power grip to block the opponent’s forceful strike to our right side (Figure 53), putting our left foot behind his right while simulta-

10 A control is to trap the opponent’s cane, separating it from the line of attack by means of firm pressure with the aim of preventing any movement.

Figure 52

Figure 51

neously pushing his neck at an angle formed by the weak third of the cane and the left forearm (Figure 54), in order to make him lean back and fall to the floor on his back (Figure 55).

In order to knock him down more easily, we place ourselves in front of the enemy by means of a turn. In order to make him fall to our right side we must stop a blow to our left side, using the power grip, catching his left leg with our right leg and executing the same movements as in the previous sequence, but in the opposite direction. One can also execute a neck grab and throw after effecting any

A Piece of Advice First: The best strike that you can deliver to a fallen opponent is a good stick strike to his legs (shins or ankles).

Second: In order to topple an attacker by means of a throw, one needs opportunity, speed, and force.

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Figure 54

Figure 53

Figure 56

Figure 55

280 | The Book of the Stick

control.

•

•

49th (extra) stick strike to the shin—Against a toe kick to the groin. (Figure 56). This is a counterstrike that is executed just like the stick strike to the head in the 47th attack (Figure 49).

50th throw from the front with pressure to the face—This compound attack is executed at close range and with the left foot a bit forward (Figure 57) turning the body over that foot with the aim of rapidly placing our right leg behind the enemy’s same side so that by forcefully throwing the right leg a strong collision occurs jolting

his leg toward us (Figure 58). At the same time, we will push his upper lip with the knob of the cane in order to make him lose his balance and fall on his back (Figure 59).

•

50th (extra) pommel strike to the nose—Against a headbutt to the stomach. This attack is accomplished with the knob of the walking stick, hitting strongly from underneath moving upward, to the opponent’s nose (Figure 60). In order to increase the power of this attack, the arm and shoulder should be somewhat tightened. Applied correctly, this will take the enemy out of the fight.

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Figure 58

Figure 57

Figure 60

Figure 59

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SECTION XI Various Techniques: Closing parry, simultaneous hit, knee on the ground, flying thrust and varied defenses

The various attacks explained in the present chapter should be carried out with great precision; otherwise, they lose all the effectiveness that we are pursuing.

Real success will only be obtained by executing the movements precisely, rapidly, and forcefully, with it being indispensable—just as in the previous sections—to execute them with the person who acts as trainer.

*Note: So that the reader will not be shortchanged with regard to the resources necessary for his legitimate defense, I have sought to complete these last sections expounding on the main actions necessary to be able to face any kind of combat.

Figure 61

Figure 62

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•

51st: Sixth parry with closing, strike with the tip, and pommel blow—These actions of defense and attack are executed in three beats, starting from the open guard, but with the right foot forward at two meters’ distance, more or less, from the opponent. The first beat is carried out at the instant the attacker directs his stick strike at our left temple, which we will defend with the Sixth parry while simultaneously closing the distance by means of a turn or hop. At the same time, let us make sure that the left foot remains further forward toward the enemy’s opponent’s right

Figure 63

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side and the left hand reinforces the strong third of the cane (Figure 61). The second beat is realized by taking a half-step to the side, delivering a blow with the tip of the cane to the opponent’s lower right back, holding the walking stick in the power grip (Figure 62). The third beat will cause close physical contact by means of a turn from left to right, simultaneously attacking the right side carotid with the knob of the cane (Figure 63). All the movements should be executed with the greatest speed possible.

Figure 64

•

52nd: simultaneous blow with the tip against a leg attack—This attack is accomplished in the following manner: At the moment our adversary delivers a stick strike to the left leg, we will turn or hop to close the distance, striking him in the face with the tip while holding the cane in power grip (Figure 64).

By closing the distance we will make sure that the attacker’s weapon-bearing hand hits behind our waist.

•

53rd: held by the waist and arms, knee on the ground and pommel blow—This attack is executed in two beats, from close quarters at the instant the enemy

encircles our waist with his arms (Figure 65). The first beat is accomplished by dropping down until the right knee hits the ground, while at the same time sliding the hands on the walking stick, until the right hand is gripping the middle third and the left hand gripping the weak third (Figure 66). The second beat is executed by rising up forcefully, striking him under the chin with the knob of our walking stick (Figure 67).

•

54th: blow with the point (flying thrust), to the left eye—This attack is achieved (against a deadly weapon) by raising the forearm forward until the hand

Figure 65

Figure 66

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(turned fingernails facing inward) is at head height, aiming the tip of the cane at the left eye of our opponent, in order to deliver the strike by extending the arm forward, simultaneously advancing the right foot a bit (Figure 68). This strike can also be employed as a counter, with one or both hands, immediately after having executed the Fifth or Sixth circular parries.

•

55th: two strikes (one with the pommel and another with the tip), two stick strikes, and getting clear—If we must defend against several individuals at once, finding ourselves sur-

Figure 67

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rounded and receiving threats or more aggressive actions, we will grip the cane with a hand at each end, placing the cane at neck height with the intention of attacking by means of forceful blows with the pommel and tip, directed to the opponents closest to us and immediately delivering strong strikes against those surrounding us. These strikes are executed as follows: first, striking with the knob of the cane, strike the face of the attacker on our right by leaning the body and driving with the lower back toward the right side (Figure 69); second, strike with the tip to the face or stom-

Figure 68

ach to the one on our left side, by forcefully rotating the body and the arms tensed (Figure 70); third: strike with the weak third of the cane to the adversary on our right, turning a bit backward (Figure 71); fourth, strike the temple of the enemy we find on our left, twisting the body toward him (Figure 72).

The four blows should be delivered with the greatest force possible, in just two seconds.

We will continuously deliver strong blows by spinning and throwing horizontal and diagonal windmill strikes, trying to eliminate one by one the most dangerous adversaries around us and within reach (Figure 2).

*Note: The reader who has regularly practiced the defenses and attacks contained in this book, when in a tight spot or a moment prone to danger, should not lose calmness of spirit; but with determination and courage, he will be able to come out of the encounter with flying colors, having defeated the enemy.

Figure 69

Figure 70

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Figure 72

Figure 71

General Advice The cane is a fragile support, used by men since time immemorial. In actuality one can say that it complements one’s dress and is an accessory of well-known usefulness for one’s defense.

When going out for a stroll with a cane in the hand, we find that this does not disturb the others who are present; otherwise, one could cause some incident, which is so annoying among decent people.

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In places where there are other people, one should not execute windmill strikes with the walking stick, nor move it from side to side, nor put it sideways under the arm, placed so that the tip is constantly threatening the passers-by in our surroundings. And if, for any reason, we should need the cane to point to something, we should do that by always keeping the tip in front of us.

So that the cane will not hurt anyone, we should carry it almost parallel to the body, just giving it a light swaying movement with the arm and aid of the wrist with the aim of supporting ourselves every now and then with the cane, by means of a gentle touch on the ground.

Furthermore, it is not enough to know how to carry the cane in the hand, with the customary inverted grip but with ease and elegance; in case it is necessary, one must also know how to use it in self-defense. *** The well-educated man keeps his behavior irreproachable in all the actions of his life; and since he prefers social harmony to discord, he is extremely agreeable to his peers.

In order to become good citizens, and not imitating the braggart who is confident in the advantages to be gained by fighting, we should offend no one, neither in word nor in deed, but to the contrary, it is better to be respectful and careful, in this way avoiding unpleasant quarrels and their dangerous consequences.

kind of quarrel or fight, whether individual or group, as well as not being offended by slights nor giving any great weight to certain words or facial expressions that for the most part do not cause anyone harm.

Neither should we retaliate when someone has unintentionally offended us, and even less, if those who have caused offense own up to their actions, whether in private or in public.

Furthermore, let us be certain to be tolerant with those people of an excessively restless temperament, who get extremely worked up to the point that they cannot find reasonable words to finish the debate, so they resort to insults, or to blows. Before we fight, it would be best to be able to dodge or check those blows as much as possible in order to convince our antagonist that fighting does not lead to reason. *** Fights are almost always due to a lack of prudence and calmness.

***

To fight over something insignificant is cowardice in the guise of bravery.

A kind act, worthy of praise, is to avoid, by whatever means, any

On the other hand, the best way to avoid a fight is to flee from it,

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not approaching where there are violent discussions or quarrels, let alone intervening in them without a good reason, because even if you do not receive a bump, punch, or kick, to teach you not to be a meddler, it will be very likely that you will have to go to the trouble of being a witness.

Only upon finding ourselves unavoidably obligated to act in legitimate defense, should we make use of our true right. And we should not just defend our own person, but also our mother, wife, daughters and other weak persons when they are attacked by any wrongdoer.

We should not forget that: “Prudence is the mother of safety,” and that “Only after actions end does one suffer the consequences.”

***

Fighting is an act of imposition, revenge, or venting. The outcome does not mean justice is served, because usually the stronger, more skilled, or cunning man wins. Nevertheless, there are moments in life when it is impossible to refuse to fight.

Since there exist those individuals who are so vulgar and rude that they are constantly annoying peaceful people, goading them to fight, and when peaceful people find themselves in the unavoidable necessity of having to fight them, often it turns out they are as cowardly as they are rude. ***

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One is always exposed to incidents for having unintentionally committed some small offense on the street, such as: bumping into someone; hitting someone with the elbow, or stepping on his foot; finding oneself apparently giving a provocative glance, and so on; quarrels, all of which, if it were not for an excess of self-regard and individual pride, would not be important at all, or at the very least, would be ended with an “Excuse me, sir, it was an accident.” But unfortunately, it often does not happen like that, but due to the arrogance or phony pretentiousness of some antagonist, it causes him to take the liberty of rattling off a series of insults, threats, and profane language so shameful that no sensible person would dare to use

them, let alone on a public street.

Due to motives like that, it is difficult for these challenges to end in an insignificant encounter. *** In a real fight you cannot choose your enemy: according to fate, he may be large or small, weak or powerful. The individual that we have confronting us could be a skilled fighter, or just somebody who is confident of his chances, making use of his boldness and strength, and his instinct for self-preservation. Whether he is skillful or inept, we must make certain to defeat him.

Before and during combat, we should maintain a calm spirit, which will help us execute the right defense or simultaneous counterattack.

We should not think only about our attacks, but rather in getting ready to counter those of our opponent.

In combat tactics one should take advantage of his resources and of the mistakes of the opponent.

Let us not forget that the main defense is to have the enemy at a

distance where we can reach him with our attacks.

On the street we should strike without the cane tracing all those big circles that the common fencing styles recommend. It is not necessary to wind up a blow in order to make it fly, because the enemy can see it coming, and easily avoid it.

We will also refrain from making threats [feints], because if the enemy is expert in the subject matter, he will not be fooled by them, and if he is fooled, we will not have to resort to them in order to hit him.

As such, it will always be most appropriate to attack with really effective strikes than to make use of threats.

When fighting an enemy who appears to be inferior in skill, we should not get too confident, because a moment of distraction could lead to our defeat. “You must be suspicious of the opponent, no matter how ignorant he appears.”

To execute an attack, we will employ sufficient force so that the cane travels with great force; otherwise, our strikes will be nearly

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harmless. Instead, a well-delivered strike can deliver us a victory.

will always be prepared for any of the opponent’s surprises.

We should not use the same caliber of strikes against a dreadful opponent, that attacks us with a knife or some other weapon like that, as opposed to a citizen that we have bumped into, or entered into a heated discussion who gets so agitated and enraged that he prefers to resort to his hands instead of to reason. In the first case, we should employ deadly strikes, but in the latter case it would be unwise to deliver excessive punishment.

***

One must defend and attack according to the opponent that we have before us. We know that there are certain blows that should only be employed in defense of one’s life.

Although, as the saying goes, “The one who hits first hits twice,” the individual who has confidence in himself, waits until he is attacked, or at least waits until sees himself threatened with physical violence, before stopping or counterattacking the adversary in the act. The one who knows how to defend himself, and keeps a calm spirit,

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In order to defend ourselves against someone who wants to hit us with his cane, but without blocking his strike with our cane, we will lean the body backward, simultaneously hitting his weapon-bearing hand (Figure 46). The stop-hit (stoppage) to the wrist is recommended because in addition to being capable of applying it at quite a distance, one can disarm the opponent with it without causing him much damage. Furthermore, if in the middle of his attack, we can injure him without being injured ourselves, he will lose the opportunity and the moment. As such, it will always be preferable to strike him with a stop-hit than to turn to a block. *** If the adversary continuously attacks us, we will defend those strikes by means of circular parries and at long range, making certain to injure his wrist and keeping on the lookout for him to throw a backhand blow. In this case, we will close the distance while si-

multaneously using a power block (Figure 41) with the aim of countering with one of the main strikes in this defense.

We can also apply the Sixth parry, closing the distance unflinchingly, at the instant the opponent directs a stick strike to our left temple in order to deliver a tip strike by means of a sideways half-step, to his right-side kidney or carotid (Figure 61). *** When the attacks are directed to our legs, we will move the forward leg to dodge the blow while hitting him in the head at the same time (Figure 23), or we will close the distance while striking with the tip to the face or the stomach, holding the cane in power grip (Figure 64). *** If the individual attacking us with a cane in his hand shows that he has some knowledge of fencing, we will place ourselves out of his reach, in the closed guard (Figure 20) awaiting his feint or attack, advancing with the intent of striking him in the hand, temple, jaw, and so on. This position, in addition to

enabling us to execute any parry or block, is very recommendable for when one does want to have concern for the opponent’s attack, who frequently is going to threaten us with the goal of making us resort to blocking, so that we remain without a cane in hand and a lump as a gift. *** If by coincidence the enemy wields the cane in the same style as ours, which we will know by the way in which he holds the cane and in the guard he adopts; we will avoid any surprises by placing ourselves outside of his reach, ready to execute circular parries, transforming them whenever possible into stop-hits to the hand with the aim of of disarming him, or to remain standing once combat has ended, even if there is no winner or loser. *** If we have to defend ourselves against someone who attacks us with a curved cane, we should be prepared for the hooking attacks that he can employ. And if he aims to hook our leg, neck, forearm, or walking stick with his curved

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cane, we will utilize stop-hits to his wrist or head at the instant he bends over in an attempt to hook (Figures 23, 46, and 49). *** On the street, it could happen that we are threatened with an umbrella; but because the blows with this are harmless, we only need to avoid thrusts with the point. *** If, at the start of the fight, the opponent attempts to surprise us with a toe kick to the lower stomach, we

will dodge the attack by means of a short hop backwards, simultaneously attacking him from above, moving downward, striking him in the shin (Figure 56). *** Some individuals, when they fight, are used to grabbing the opponent’s lapels, with the goal of throwing him strongly, while at the same time delivering a headbutt to the face. This attack is defended by applying a blow to his left jaw with the knob of the cane (Figure 6). ***

A Piece of Advice The pommel blow or the stick blow to the lower left jaw, thrown at very close range, or at a meter’s distance, are the best attacks to apply the moment the opponent attempts to attack us, whether by punching, grabbing us by the lapels, making a motion as if to draw a weapon, or throwing a blow with the cane, and so on. These blows should be practiced as a priority (Figures 3 and 4 [also 5 and 6]).

If he attempts to attack us with a headbutt to the stomach, we will defend ourselves by moving the left leg back, at the same time striking him in the head with the weak third of the cane, or in the nose with the knob of the cane, from underneath coming upward (Figures 23 and 60).

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Getting entangled in a fight with a boxer, who due to the skill and power of his punches, if he reaches us, can cause us to lose consciousness for a bit, we will make certain to attack him at a distance, and if by any mistake or accident we end up hand to hand, we will attack quickly and continuously with pommel blows and tip strikes holding the walking stick in power grip (Figure 11). The use of the throw can knock down the opponent (Figure 54). *** If in a hand-to-hand encounter our opponent holds us by wrapping his hands or arms around our neck or waist, in the first instance [a neckhold] we can get loose by striking him in the nose or upper lip with the pommel (Figure 7).

In the second instance [a waisthold] we will instantaneously collapse until our knee hits the ground, at the same time sliding the hand over the cane until we are gripping it at the middle third with the right, and the weak third with the left. From this position we will surge upward with great speed and strength, hitting him under the chin with the pommel (Figure 65).

Finding ourselves against a wrongdoer attacking us with a knife in hand, courage and skill will doubtless contribute to the preservation of a calm spirit, and remaining at a good distance, we will attack him forcefully to his hand, groin, temple, and jaw (Figure 13 and 29th Attack). And if, despite all these attacks, our attacker tries to close the distance by defending or cushioning the blows with the left forearm, wrapped in an article of clothing and raising it up, we will go all out, giving him a strong blow with the tip or the pommel to his face, holding the cane with both hands (Figure 27). *** If we find ourselves in a fight hemmed in by the crowd and consequently lacking enough space to be able to execute attacks with the cane, due to an inability to let loose with the cane, or due to fear of hitting other persons, we will attack by using blows with the tip and the pommel, gripping the cane firmly in power grip (Figure 11).

In hand-to-hand combat we should not forget natural weapons (Figures 47 and 48). ***

***

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Having to fight in a dark place in which the dim light gets in the way of us seeing the aggressor’s attacks, we must be sure to hit strongly, circling the cane quickly and forcefully in all directions (Figure 2). *** It often happens that automobile drivers, by the poor judgment or carelessness of some of them who are driving without following the traffic rules, cause a commotion on the public road, and while exchanging a string of words that are quite profane, the most easily angered guy lets go of the steering wheel and grabs a hammer, wrench, or crowbar, ready to confront his antagonist in a menacing manner (31st Attack).

In order to be able to defend ourselves against any attack of this nature, it will not be very difficult for the reader of these lines to be in the habit of seeing the necessity of always traveling with a good walking stick in the car. *** When we find ourselves in the predicament of having to fight against several opponents at the same

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time, starting the fight at very close range, we will firmly grasp the cane in power grip, placing it perpendicular and close to our chest in order to attack with the knob and the tip to the faces of our adversaries, by energetically rotating the body from right to left and vice versa, until the moment we are able to jump backward to escape the encirclement. In order to clear the space of our surroundings and reach, we will execute vigorous windmill strikes, horizontally and diagonally, simultaneously revolving around the left foot, moving forward and backward, strongly hitting those opponents that present the greatest danger (Figures 2 and 60). *** It could be the case that we must defend against an enemy armed with a revolver.

At the instant the opponent makes a gesture of drawing a weapon from his clothing, we will stop him by striking him powerfully in the stomach, wrist, or jaw (Figure 45).

Any of these strikes will momentarily make it impossible for him to carry out any aggressive action. If

he already has a revolver in hand, but has not been able to take aim, we will strike as quickly as possible with a blow with the tip to the left eye (Figure 68). This action will stop the attack, taking all the fight out of him due to the effects of the blow he received.

Confronted by an individual of bad character who means business, as he points the muzzle of his revolver at our face, and consequently finding our life seriously threatened, it matters little in such circumstances whether you are brave or a coward, because facing such imminent danger there are only two possible defenses: one, attack the enemy, and the other, take off running. You need to decide before the opponent squeezes the trigger.

Afterwards, it will be too late. In the first case, as is understandable, we should use the most effective strikes; in the second case, we should be certain to distance ourselves from danger, but not running in a straight line—rather moving from right to left and vice versa (in zigzag) so that the enemy will not be able to get a bead on us with any confidence. In this case,

our salvation relies on trusting in his bad aim. *** When an assailant with the intention of robbing us aims a weapon at us, whether visibly or from within the pocket, being at four to six steps’ separation, he only needs to squeeze his finger to fire off a shot. We do not have an option other than to obey, and as is often said, we submit to his directions; otherwise, it would be exaggerated bravery to attempt to fight in the face of death. *** If, in order to carry out our daily tasks, or being in the tight spot of having to go out to a call, we find ourselves in the unavoidable necessity of having to go through some street or road at night that is deserted and has little police presence, we must go about prepared; we should scan at the greatest distance possible, every bend in the route we must take so that we are not surprised by assailants who take advantage of the darkness, who could be hidden behind a tree, underbrush, corner, or doorway, to

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pounce and rob us at the moment they find opportune.

Good vision and confidence in ourselves will be the main factors in keeping them from cleaning out our pockets, and getting clubbed on top of that; although bad guys just use this last tactic to stun their victims, they often wind up hitting too hard.

Consequently, if we find ourselves stumbling into a difficult-to-escape ambush, in which it is more dangerous to retreat than to continue walking, we must not let ourselves be controlled by fear, but advance with determination, prepared to confront any act of villainy that the bad guys are attempting.

We should not walk on the sidewalk, much less hugging the walls, because not only can bad guys be hidden in some entryway, it would not be uncommon for someone pretending to be passing through to push us into some doorway in order to strip us of everything without a second thought.

It would also be advisable that while we are nearing the site of an

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ambush, we should note how many assailants there are, and the weapons they intend to use, so that the instant they attack, we are prepared with the corresponding defense, not forgetting that in these cases, “the best defense is a good offense.” *** As has been said before, if we find ourselves in the inescapable necessity of having to fight against multiple opponents at the same time, we should try to take them out one after the other, by means of strong strikes with the cane. *** There is no doubt that knowing how to wield a walking stick in self-defense will produce excellent results in a tight spot; nevertheless, we should not have any illusions about our abilities, since, although always carrying a firearm could cause us some trouble or danger, in those cases where one is obligated to defend himself from men of bad character or genuine killers, it is logical to go about armed with a good revolver than just a simple cane.

*** When robbers want to carry out some mischief they almost always find some way to take their victims by surprise. As such, we should cross through an isolated place alert and suspicious, because these people will make use of an infinite number of tricks—for example: following behind the person they intend to rob, waiting for the moment they are favored by darkness or a lapse in alertness in order to intimidate him, or club him in the head in order to make off with his wallet. *** A bad guy of this nature could also take us by surprise by acting drunk, staggering from one side to the other in order to best employ this trick as we are approaching. *** Similarly, he could pretend that he has been hurt, and ask for our help amid moans and cries in order to clean out our pockets, or employ their better or lesser known tricks and schemes to fool their fellow man, such as: asking for a light for a cigarette, asking for the time,

pretending to be lost, asking for a buck, offering us their company, and so on, all in order to get close to us and lie in wait for the moment they can take us by surprise. *** Since these guys almost never act alone, they do not always employ these simple stratagems, but will also resort to others of greater cunning and danger, which are very difficult to escape from without putting up a serious fight.

Sometimes they will pretend to be old ladies walking with difficulty who will approach us asking for some favor with the objective of leaving us later without even a single coin for the streetcar. *** Other times, they will use a woman of loose morals who has been tasked with leading us to the place they plan to assault us. *** They are also used to staging a fight among themselves, so that when we intervene to try to calm them down, they can pounce on us and give us a thumping before cleaning out our vest pockets.

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When the riffraff feel pleased to rob from the crowd, they choose their candidate during a public scene, whether it is in the plaza, the theater, the cinema, and so on, provoking him and throwing some blows or encouraging him to go out into the street so that they can more easily distract him while he is preoccupied with the fight.

Once the fisticuffs have ended, the victim does not know how he lost his tie tack, wallet, and watch.

tract the police who are attracted to the detonation and will temporarily neglect their radio or station where the riffraff are planning to attack.

***

***

Sometimes they put a wire across the road so that when the victim passes by he stumbles and falls. Afterwards they offer a hand to help him up, and he can be grateful if they leave him with his shoes still on.

Consequently, we must go about prepared against these tricks and others that the bad guys employ to take their victims by surprise.

*** Especially at night we should be suspicious of a vehicle that stops ahead of us without its occupants getting out, because they could be waiting for the right moment to attack us. *** Some thieves are so clever and brazen that, in order to steal within the city, they will throw an explosive into a side street before committing the crime in order to dis-

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*** Some are so soulless and cowardly that they have the vile habit of throwing tobacco, salt, pepper, and so on, in the eyes of their victims so that they rob them without meeting resistance.

*** I remember having read in a book about street self-defense the following, more or less: “If you want to be a strong adversary during a street fight, learn the practical strikes of English boxing, French boxing (with kicks), wrestling, jiu-jitsu, cane, and revolver, always being well-practiced.”

Is not that too much for a man to learn on his own? But even if it is, there is no doubt that the author of that paragraph makes a lot of sense.

- Arturo Bonafont

[Another work will soon be published by the same author, titled: Scholarly Fencing Course of the Stick-Cane Alternatively Wielded with the Right Hand, the Left and with Both at Once, which will be highly recommended as a sport and an art of physical cultivation.]

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Alejandro Rodriguez Buenafuente @alejandro.rodriguezbuenafuente

DOCUMENTARY ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF THE

JUEGO DE PALO CANARIO Alejandro Rodriguez Buenafuente

Translated by Michael J. Ryan, Ph.D. Generational Transmission: Ángel González Torres (1949), Tomás Deniz Hernández (19001983), Nicolás Morales Martín (1865- 1944), José Morales Martín (1854-1935), Pedro Pestana Gevara (1832-1905)

THE JUEGO DE PALO OR THE juego de garrote is a tradition stretching back centuries. On the Canary Islands, when two people demonstrate their skills of the juego de palo in private, or more often in front of an appreciative public, the intensity of these matches can vary. Matches can range from a performance-oriented exhibition during celebrations to a match with a more severe intent that might occur during a more private duel.

In the Canary Islands, beginning around the middle of the 1970s, there have been several ongoing disagreements over the terminology and techniques of the juego de palo canario. These disagreements have, thanks to the internet, even turned into transnational debates.

As a result, there is a broad range of opinions about the art ranging from the introduction of “invent-

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ed” techniques derived from selfstyled “traditional” family schools to the increasing acknowledgment of several recently invented “Canarian martial arts” including lucha del palo, lucha del garrote, lucha del tolete, arte del palo, or mano’ canario.

At present, the situation can be especially confusing. Those who wish to know more about this art can contact the two officially recognized organizations: The Federación de Juego del Palo Canario or the Federación de Lucha del Garrote Canario.

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We can date this confusion back to 1975 when the first association dedicated solely to the juego de palo canario was set up to promote and teach the art of Canarian stick fighting. To be clear, Canary Island wrestling, or lucha canario, was also part of this movement, although there had been formal clubs dedicated to this art since the 1940s. It turned out this was a radical change as it meant these once local and semi-secretive family-based arts would open up to train outsiders. The results of this move turned out to be analogous to a baseball player not only hit-

ting the ball and running the bases, but also to being in charge of scoring the game. In other words, the newfound efforts to promote, teach, and create an infrastructure for the juego de palo canario led to several competing and conflicting opinions. One major drawback, seen by long-time practitioners, was the eagerness that new practitioners promoted themselves as masters of the art, thus offering their unique training and interpretations of it, without really understanding the art at all.

By the end of the decade, one could observe the coexistence of a traditional folkloric point of view of the art, as seen in the earliest publications devoted to the juego de palo.

On the other hand, there was an alternate point of view that sought to treat it purely as a sport, as seen with the 1978 publication of a set of rules to guide its activity. This move to promote the art as a sport began a new phase where some interested parties sought to substitute the original name, “juego de palo,” for another one that was supposed to be more acceptable to everyone. For a while, this group tried to substitute juego de palo for banot, the name of an ancient wooden weapon used by the indigenous Canarian warriors.

In 1982, a new association, the Palo Canario Association (ASPAC), exerted a significant influence on this debate, calling for the elimination of the word, “juego” (game). Instead, in 1984, the leader of this group suggested changing the name of juego de palo canario to some variation of juego de palo. Beginning on the island of Gran Canaria, some practitioners started using the term, “lucha de garrote” (stick fighting). They felt substituting lucha de garrote for the juego de palo brought out the original war-like intent of this art that was once hidden by the villagers by using the term, “juego de garrote,” in the face of a hypothetical, and never proven persecution of practitioners by local authorities.

In 1985, another new association emerged on the island of Tenerife.

The Association of the Juego de Palo (AJUPAL) came up with a new definition of the term, “styles.”

This proposal tried to safeguard the traditional lines of the transmission of the art, which customarily had been passed down through families with their own sticks of various sizes, and with their own ways of holding and manipulating the stick. In this way, they kept the tradition alive, so the younger

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generation of those families could claim its heritage. Although the AJUPAL contributed to the protection of these family styles, it also placed too much effort in institutionalizing ways of holding and moving the sticks, resulting in severe problems between competing branches of one family. Specific methods of grasping and manipulating the stick were considered to be the sole property of a branch of a family, so it was felt that another branch of the same family had no right to use them.

Towards the end of the 1980s, the government recognized nine separate styles of the juego de palo canario. Seven of these styles used a medium-length stick (appx. 4 feet high, or level with the individual’s heart), and two styles used a long stick (appx. 6 to 12 feet in length).

Other groups have taken to re-introducing the palo chico, or “small stick” (the size of a walking stick), which had disappeared by the 20th century.

In 1993, the government of the Canary Islands extended its jurisdiction over the juego de palo with the law of Canarian Sports, creating two regulating organizations: the Federación de Juego del Palo Canario and the Federación de Lucha del Garrote Canario. Following their lead on this, the Fed-

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eración de Juego del Palo Canario embraced the AJUPAL’s proposal regarding the definition of “styles” that considered the juego de palo a folkloric tradition with competitive fencing having no role in the tradition. However, opposing this viewpoint, the Federación Lucha del Garrote Canario promoted a sports-oriented type of juego de palo canario where all those interested could compete under a set of unified techniques. While the debate has continued, competitive events under the auspices of the Federación de Lucha del Garrote Canario began in 1997.

Regarding the continuation of traditional practices, both federations have had problems in representing everybody. In fact, more than half of the actual known practitioners have declined to join both groups.

On one side, the Federación del Juego del Palo Canario has restricted the number of official styles to what they have already recognized. The refusal to acknowledge any other style than those already included in the federation shows how difficult it can be to try to promote traditional styles or lineages.

Moreover, it may be especially true when attempted through an officially sanctioned institution dedicated to exclusively promoting the art of the juego de palo as a sport.

On the other hand, the Federación de Lucha del Garrote Canario proposed a singular technical interpretation, officially distancing themselves entirely from any connection with practitioners of older, more traditional schools, including those representatives who were present when the idea first arose for convoking the federation. Such is the case of the traditional school of Francisco San-

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tana who was initially present as an original member of the ASPAC association and ended up turning his traditional school into a sporting club as an affiliate of the Federación de Lucha del Garrote Canario. But what is remarkable about this man’s actions is the attention he put into writing up a description of technical statutes to expressly exclude the use of the palo chico (walking stick). What

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made this such a strange attempt was that the palo chico was long held to be part of the repertoire of traditional Canarian weapons.

Moreover, the Federation Juego de Palo has recognized the palo chico as a traditional Canarian weapon.

In 2003, after a series of failed attempts, the original promoters of the lucha del garrote and its corresponding federation succeeded in forming an association specifically to recover the “lost” traditions of the palo chico. The newly formed National Association of Tolete Canario (ANTC) lobbied for the elimination of the earlier, more traditional use of the phrase, “juego de,” or “game of,” commonly used to describe combative traditions in Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Italian, as well as many other languages. Instead, they sought to promote the term, “lucha del tolete,” meaning “cudgeling” or a “fight with cudgels,” and towards the end of 2010, sought the assent of the Commission of Sports and Indigenous Sports, an organized body under the General Director of Sport. This group also unsuccessfully lobbied for the official recognition of a third federation with the title of “juego de palos cortos,” or the “game of the short stick / walking stick.”

Finally, we must review how in 2010, a process of promoting the coining of the term, “Artes Marciales Canarias” came about with the convocation of the First International Congress of Canarian Martial Arts. A surprising result of the conference was the number of groups which, with the explicit collaboration of the Federación de Lucha del Garrote Canario, enthusiastically supported this exaggeratedly traditional martial art conference. The president of the Federación de Lucha del Garrote Canario was also a board member of the Tagore de las Artes Marciales Canario. Noticeable in the proceeding of the conference was a proposal asserting the status of now-extinct traditional combative art of juego de la mano, or juego de mano, as a type of ancient fist-fighting, and that it had definite links with other forms of documented Canarian combative traditions.

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The Situation Previous to the Associations and the Institutional Intervention: the Historical Story We have tried to summarize the confusing situation that occurred to Canarian combative traditions from 1975 until the present moment. There is a clear historical chain of evidence to support the existence of Canarian martial arts with written documents describing these traditions dating back to the beginning of the 18th century. Here, in these writings, we can find the specific use of the term, “juego del palo,” and a description of the art.

The origins of the juego de palo canario probably lie in the indigenous culture of the Guanches, as documents from the 16th century suggest when writing of “Canarian challenge matches.” Written records by Spanish administrators, bureaucrats, travelers, priests, and others show that there were regularly held competitions among the Guanches (indigenous Canarians)

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who dueled in a highly regulated way. Opponents threw stones at each other, belabored each other with sticks, lunged at each other with obsidian knives, and finally engaged in the form of standing belted grappling with each other.

Men gathered in specific areas delineated as competition grounds where judges and juries kept the competitors safe and the action going. All of this points to the intent not to hurt each other, but to show off their courage and skills.

A possible link in these public challenge types of matches to the medieval European world, suggests the presence of Spanish influence on the practice of public dueling.

One problem in making this link is the fact that dueling and jousting among the Spanish were not very common at the time of the conquest and settlement of the Canary Islands.

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In conclusion, though, there is no evidence of a tradition of public stick fighting in the Iberian peninsula between the 15th and 20th centuries, except in the case of Northern Portugal, the Azores Islands, and the island of Madeira, where stick fighting is documented only from the end of the 19th century. A link between the Canarian traditions and the Portuguese-colonized Atlantic Islands, including the indigenous Canarian inhabitants, may exist. Still, more evidence is needed before we arrive at a firm conclusion. On the other hand, there is evidence of the existence of another possible link, this time to West Africa, where there is a great deal of historical and ethnographic evidence pointing to the existence of regularly held public stick fighting matches.

The expression, “juego del palo” or “juego de palo garrote / lata / vara / tolete / chola / mano,” points to several Spanish language terms relating to the handling of a palo in both an offensive and defensive manner. The word, “jugar,” or “to play,” has a meaning that is little used today but still is defined in current dictionaries as “the handling or manipulating of a weapon.” In the more specific case of the Canary Islands, what is interesting, for example, is when the

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poet Viana regularly speaks in his epic of the conquest, of those “who ‘jugar’ with sticks, maces, swords, two-handed longswords, or pikes.”

These weapons were not only restricted to the Canary Islands at the time, but were common throughout Western Europe, as can be seen in any pre-20th century Spanish manual of arms.

From a merely practical point of view, the juego de palo (de garrote, etc.) indicates an ability or knowledge allowing one to subdue another in a violent situation. The way these combative traditions took place, as with many other useful skills, is that the juego de palo has come to be developed more as a recreational pastime than a method of self-defense or dueling, both in the Canary Islands and many other sites. Besides, if we stick strictly to the Spanish or Portuguese languages, the term, “juego,” appears repeatedly to identify and describe popular traditions of fencing, as well as other stick fighting traditions, that currently exist in Venezuela, Colombia, and the Philippines.

Source Documents As previously cited sources show, indigenous stick dueling matches were first explicitly recorded as juego del palo as early as the 18th century, describing it as a “dangerous game that can end in the death of one of the practitioners.”

Reading this, one must keep in mind that this chronicler is describing a type of popular public demonstration without specifying an exact location where these

types of events took place. Due to the lack of specificity regarding where these matches took place, the scanty evidence suggests they could have occurred anywhere in the island chain.

The second mention of the juego de palo in the Canary Islands that we can track down dates to 1750, in the town of La Laguna. In this document, a chronicler describes the demonstration of fights usually during village festivals, but also

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as a technically sophisticated warfare-oriented practice, from which we can understand from the account one can even “take lessons.”

Besides, he continues, it possesses a practical use in situations such as when facing an armed bandit, where one’s knowledge of the juego de palo can not only provide a means of defense, but be a method that could result in the death of the aggressor. The terminology used to describe such an aggressive, combative system in these documents is the “juego del palo.”

Other terms found in existing documents include the terms, “jugar el palo” and “jugar el garrote.”

From a document dating from 1820, we find a third citation with an account of these kinds of events, which is of interest for us, not so much for the appearance of the expression, “juego de palo” or “juego de garrote,” as these terms are often not used; what we find instead is a passage describing several challenge matches with sticks by men on the island of Fuerteventura, and a description of the best way of gripping what is called a “garrote,” which is a unique Castilian term at the time.

In an old illustration, we can see two men fighting at a little distance from each other with two

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palos a little taller than themselves. What is especially interesting in this illustration is the fact that there exists a third party that appears to be interacting with the two combatants. One could hypothesize the existence of a fight between three contenders, but this would be counter to all we know of how the art developed on the island. This is unlike the stickfighting art of jogo do pau of Portugal, where adherents regularly trained against multiple opponents and for being ambushed from behind.

More likely, this illustration points to the existence of a judge/referee who is responsible for seeing to it that both contestants hew to the already agreed-upon terms of a clean match. The figure of a judge/ referee is without a doubt known to exist in the later times, not only in the juego del palo, but also in the lucha canaria (Canarian wrestling), as a “fair man.” It would be safe to say, this man was a direct predecessor of the actual referees of the lucha canaria at present.

The presence of a judge-referee character is also widely mentioned in the 20th century, both in the written records, and oral histories of the challenge matches of the jugadores del palo. Written records describe these types of personages “who were employed with great ea-

gerness” by those involved in these types of duels. From this source, we get the impression that men did not go off to a secluded place to settle conclusions, but are more interested in demonstrating their skill and courage with a modicum of rules, in a way that to modern eyes appears like a sport. The account only dates to the beginning of the 19th century, a time when such words as “judge” or “referee” were not in general use in our language.

In 1900, a short story by the local author, Benito Pérez Armas, described in detail many of the social aspects and customs of this tradition. This story takes place in the city of Tenerife during the middle of the 19th century, in a place called San Miguel de Abona, and in the cañadas (ravines) near the active volcano of Mount Teide.

Here, a famous jugador del palo from the northeast of the island was looking to challenge someone to a public duel without being too concerned about having any rules to guide the match. Also included in this story are accounts of an allout type of fight between a jugador and three adversaries, and, finally, a private duel. Some notable aspects of this account include what seems to be the arbitrarily interchangeable use of the words, “palo”

and “garrote,” as the reference to the weapon used. Also, the author of the document even takes note of how these weapons were subject to regulation, noting how the “regulated” dimensions of these weapons should be checked to ensure they reach from the ground to the shoulder of the person holding the them. Finally, the author uses the term, “arte de jugar el palo,” or the “art of stick fighting,” to identify the number of different events he has written about, suggesting a shared understanding of what this art was among the islanders.

Also relevant is the identification of two distinct “schools” of the juego de palo existing at the time.

One of these schools uses a type of grip very close to what Diston reported 80 years earlier, where the operator would hold the stick around a third of the way from the end on both sides and strike with both ends of the stick in what is known as the juego de trozos y punta, or “slash and thrust style.” The other school called for the stick to be held with both hands towards the butt-end of the weapon. If the operator sought to switch up his attacks or blocks, it would first be necessary to determine which end of the stick he would use to strike. Then, the operator would swing the stick in a circular mo-

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tion to grip it by the other end. In what seems to be a contradiction, this school is known as the Escuela Majoera, or the “Goat School,” referencing a local species of goat native to the island of Fuerteventura.

From 1910 until now, the ethnographer and anthropologist, Juan Bentencourt Alfonso (1847-1913), would include the most up-to-date information available at the time in his exhaustive and unfinished multi-volume, “History of the Guanche People” (1995). In Chapters 13 and 17 of his book, entitled “Juegos Beñesmares Gimnástica,” the author draws on ethnographic data collected in his investigations of the pastimes of the indigenous inhabitants of Tenerife. In these

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chapters, he based his evidence primarily on creating links from the ethnographic data collected in his investigations in the countryside to the historical data from old documents. In the case of the juego de palo o garrote, as he called it, he also mentions two distinguished schools of garrote.

Juan Betencourt goes on to talk of the two great schools of trozo y punto, or “slash and thrust,” and the palo largo, or the “long stick.”

In detail, he carefully describes the technical characteristics of a variety of the second (palo largo) school—what he identifies as a mano fija, or “fixed grip,” and the juego cerrado, or “closed game”— while including the stances and

footwork patterns. He goes on to explain how they should be used at specific times to produce particular results during a match. Finally, he goes so far as to point out the regions of the island where the other school predominates.

The attention to detail shown in the writings makes one think that Juan Betencourt had a teacher, and that he was an active participant in this art. It might have been the same person of whom it was said: “in our youth, we were well acquainted with this manly sport.” Finally, we need to address that which was previously written above regarding the whirlpool of confusion resulting from the innumerable debates over the cor-

rect terms to use to describe the juego de palo, that began back in the 1970s. As regards proper terminology, let the reader be reminded that Juan Betencourt used the terms, “juego del palo” or “juego del garrote,” as well as “juego de palo o garrote,” interchangeably with no problem. In fact, he would often include these terms in the same sentence as he would use the terms, “palo,” “garrote,” or “estaca.”

An interview in the newspaper, Today, tells the story of a 76-yearold jugador by the name of José Morales Martín from the village of San Andrés, and his exhibition of the juego de palo the following day in the bull ring in the capital

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city, Santa Cruz de Tenerife. In this appearance, he showcased at least three of the lines of transmission best known from the northeast of Tenerife, appearing very competent, like a maestro. This was not the first time that it was recognized that he displayed the skills of a master. A photograph dated from 1920 shows him with a palo in his hand. A handwritten note on the picture from one of his students says, “Nicolás Morales, Master.” Overall, this ended up being a well-done interview that illustrat-

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ed some of the technical aspects of the juego de palo. In the conversation of this man, we see a master who does not resemble those stereotypical business-oriented teachers of East Asian martial arts that we often see. Instead, we see a master teaching solely out of the passion he has for his art, and the appreciation his students show him.

In this passage, D. José is clear: “. . . my students never failed to show me a lack of respect.” Continuing, he answers, “yes, sir; I still call myself a man from the countryside . . . because it costs a lot less,” and talks about how he doesn’t charge a lot for classes: “two or three pesetas for a class.” Furthermore, he affirms that, in the past, he had learned from women and had lived in Cuba during two periods of his life, totaling at least 20 years in all.

His teaching method is of interest to us, as it is conceptualized and taught in a systematic pedagogical manner. Each lesson builds on the previous in such a way that, as a student, one could gain a good level of skill in minimal time: “I explained that the juego is like one lesson from a book. You do not need much more than one month of training, and then you are ready.”

and make an inventory of his skills and abilities and then make a decision of what to do.”

Continuing to elaborate on this train of thought, José Morales Martín recounts how one time when he was fighting against four jugadores de palo at the same time, “I was only hit one time in the head.

Me alone, against four men fighting with my head cracked open during the fight.” The emphasis on the necessity of a practically oriented knowledge adaptable to any situation is also present in his views on the different lengths of palos. When speaking on the use of various lengths of palos, he advised students thus:

As to the content of his teaching, he says:

“Do the same things with a short stick what you would do with a long stick. However, with a palo largo (tall stick), you can hit a man anywhere, but the palo corto (short stick) is best to defend any attack. A bastoncito (walking stick) is all you need.”

“I want it to be clear that we teach a practical, useful type of knowledge, which can be called ‘self-defense.’ But that what I teach, I can tell you I go wherever I wish to go and go whenever I want to go. So, every jugador I come across must himself look deep down in himself

Finally, one realizes that, when one has a true understanding of the juego, “one can even defend oneself from a palo of any length with only a penknife in their hand.”

Then one comes to understand that they do not even need a weapon—“. . . that the juego de palo

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(fighting with sticks) or the juego de mano (fighting with the hands), it’s all the same.” Towards the end of the interview, he suggests that one eventually reaches the point where their understanding deepens to such a degree that they can knock down an aggressor without causing him any injury, in this way attaining a pure victory. “If you do not believe me, I tell you to strike me any way you want without holding back, and I will throw you to the ground, so you end up with your belly facing the sky.”

Notwithstanding everything above, the interviewer made clear that he did not need a demonstration from the old man to believe his claims of what he can do to the interviewer. Furthermore, the interviewer understands the great respect he has for his art when he refers to the juego de palo as an “honorable art”—“I believe that the juego de palo is an ancient and honorable art, from the time of the Guanches.”

The fact of the public exhibition of the following day led to the interview and many mentions recognizing the many semi-public demonstrations of his skills, as he continues to regale the interviewer of his many adventures:

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“One time in Cuba as I was saying, I saw four black men sparring with machetes. I stopped to watch them, and they came up on both sides of me and said to me, ‘what are you looking at, Isleño (somebody from the Canary Islands)?’ And I answered them, ‘I stopped to look because I enjoyed it.’ They responded, ‘The art of the Isleños only works for the garrote and does not work with the machetes.’ I became enraged and responded by yelling, ‘The art of the Isleños works with whatever comes to hand.’ Then they began to smile, and we ended up all becoming friends.”

Between 1935 and 1975, many registered documents pointed to the regular performance of a considerable number of public demonstrations or exhibitions. Of these the most interesting here is the one from Puerto de la Cruz, dated 1938, between the jugadores, Tomás Déniz Hernández and Domingo Gutiérrez Martín. We also have the good fortune to have footage of Tomás recorded with a Super 8 camera. In this footage, one can clearly see an example of the juego de palo largo, which corresponds to other sources already mentioned in this article. Moreover, there is also a short recording of him shot in 1953, with one of his brothers.

We only have written documentation from one of the only public competitions put on in 1955—although oral sources usually mention the semi-private character of these affairs at this time that often took place at the Plaza de Toros, or the bull ring in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The lucha canaria competitions are often associated with such towns as Güímar and La Orotava, and featured, among others, a few women who gave public demonstrations of their skill in the juego de palo, such as Doña Luciana Díaz Rodríguez. A chronicler writing of this has this to say: “The impending combat had aroused a great expectation in the sportswriters of Tenerife as being the first time that a woman hailing from Tenerife who has stepped into the marked boundaries to engage in the juego de garrote.”

To conclude this brief review of source documents of the juego del palo, we feel compelled to remark on an interview done in the late 1950s conducted by the journalist, Luis Álvarex Cruz, with a wellknown female jugadora. With her, we hear a phrase that thoroughly summarizes the real sense of the sometimes-reviled name, “juego,” and why there is another reason for the misunderstanding of the name.

“The maestros do not teach anything but the ‘science’ behind the art, anything else, no . . . so there is an element of the art that cannot be learned. Each teacher has an edge, an intuitive realization.

It cannot be taught and cannot be learned. So, everyone must discover it through their own means.”

Conclusion We believe that one especially significant result emerging from a review of the available documents is a clear image of the juego del palo from the mid-1970s, drawing exclusively from available information during this time. There is a conviction that this image is hardly affected by what is subsequently known about the tradition, to the date which I have taken as a reference, so we propose it is valid to describe the principal characteristics of the juego del palo of the Canary Islands in the following manner—namely: 1) The juego del palo canario is a pre-literate systemized repertoire of tactics for operating a weapon; in other words, a “juego,” and, in this case, with a “stick” with aggressive intent.

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2) The technical systemization of the art does not restrict itself to the handling of a variety of wooden sticks, but also relies on a more fundamental set of combative-oriented concepts implemented with, or without, a range of different weapons. These concepts integral to combat form the basis both for fencing (juego de palo) and pugilism (juego de mano); in other words, leaving out, in general, the grabs and holds that would best correspond with its Canarian cultural counterpoint, the Canary wrestling. These concepts form a part of a technical repertoire that affects both offensive and defensive tactics.

3) In contrast to the widespread idea regarding the general secrecy surrounding the practice, the documents show that teaching was open to the public, and evidence advertising paid classes is documented as far back as the 17th century, so that any traditions of secrecy could have been seen an exception to the generally held view of the transmission of the art.

4) There is a pattern of public demonstrations in Canarian society beginning from pre-European times until the present in the form of exhibitions, festivals, challenges, or public competitions that were

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not intentionally hidden, and, at times, held quite open to the public. Clearly, the term, “juego,” was merely a descriptive term and later given a cultural meaning. The sources demonstrate that, without a doubt, the popular idea that the juego de palo came out of some remote past and subsequently became a quaint sport, is absolutely false. There is a history of public demonstrations showcasing its practicality and usefulness for self-defense.

5) Several documents show that regulated competitions were an institutionalized aspect of a traditional juego del palo from at least the middle of the 19th century.

There is no reason we cannot assume these types of regulated contests did not exist even earlier. In fact, we believe it should be a manifestation of the indigenous inhabitants. These two aspects go back as far as the 16th century.

6) From a strictly technical point of view, and central to stick fencing, the documentation shows the existence of two broad tendencies.

One involves the firm grasp of the stick at, or near, the center of the stick, while the other hand grasps towards one the ends. If one seeks to grip the other end of the stick, one simply slips the one hand up to

the center while the second slides to the other end. This is called the “juego of two ends” (juego de dos puntas) or the “game of strikes” (juego de trozos). One may also firmly grab the stick about a third of the way up in a way that both hands are gripping one end of the stick. The hand toward the end remains stable. If one seeks to switch to a completely different grip, though, the stable hand can move, and the other hand can take the role of the stable or fixed one.

These ways of gripping the stick are known as the juego por una punta, juego de palo largo, juego de mano firme, or the juego de recogidos.

terreno (“juego of continuous moving”), also known as a juego abierto (“open juego”). The first examples seem to correspond more with the juego de palo largo y mano fija (“juego of the long stick and fixed hand”) of the first group,m while the second appears more typical of the juego de puntos y trozos.

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7) The available sources also tell of two other strategic ranges of seemingly lesser importance.

One involves maintaining fixed postures and moving the palo to either the outside or inside of one’s body depending on the opponent’s movements. This game is known as the juego de cuadras firmes (“juego of strong stances”) or alternately as the juego cerrado (“closed juego”). Finally, there is another juego that avoids meeting force with unmovable force, with a tendency to launch attacks at unpredictable times or unfamiliar angles—known as the juego sin cumplir con las cuadras sobre el

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Jigaba Bwaira

AFRICAN STICK FIGHTING IN MAGUZAWA / HAUSA & ZULU CULTURES Jigaba Bwaira

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WE ARE AN ORGANIZATION called Mukhanda International; we research and practice African martial arts both in Africa and the African diaspora, such as the Caribbean, North and South America, and ancient black peoples in Asia, e.g., Negritos in modern Thailand.

This article will explore African stick fighting among the Maguzawa/Hausa and Zulu cultures, together with is’cima or the Zulu empty-hand combat never seen outside of Africa, and Kadiya Maguzawa or Hausa stick fighting, as seen in the context of an older and broader Maguzawa/Hausa martial culture. Finally, we will conclude with a brief discussion of stick fighting in Rwanda.

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MAGUWAZA / HAUSA

The Gangi Brotherhood The Gangi brotherhood is a pre-Islamic pre-Christian Maguzawa/ Hausa warrior society. Wasan gangi is the Hausa sword fighting system done with one or two swords enabling a Hausa warrior to fight multiple opponents. Kadiya is Hausa stick/sword fighting and done with a long staff or a stick/ sword in each hand. Kokawa or combat grappling, was once part of the grappling aspect of dambe, the fist-fighting and kicking sport; even though both arts have separated, only the Gangi brotherhood practice the complete system. Yan tauri is the generic name for Hausa armed combat, including swords, sticks, knife, and empty hand counters to armed attacks. Sword skills among peoples such as the Ashanti, Yoruba, Nupe, and Nagasawa/Hausa are legendary, and their reputation for armed skills continues into the present.

The Gangi brotherhood still practices an older, rougher form of dambe that relies on the use of

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knees, elbows, headbutts, and grappling in its repertoire. Today, grappling has split off from dambe and is known as kokawa.

However, for those of the Gangi brotherhood, it is still part of dambe. Dambe damisa is also known as leopard boxing because, up until the recent past, fighters would at times wrap their strong-side punching hand in a cloth dipped in resin glue or honey and then cover the wraps with shards of broken glass. Alternatively, men could fight with their punching hand with a type of knuckle-duster to increase the power of their blows.

Men could also fight with wrist knives or shanci. The kadiya stick, sword, and knife fighting arts are all still the preserve of the Gangi brotherhood. When one joins the Gangi warrior association, they are taught these fighting arts in addition to the pre-Islamic Maguzawa spirit system called Bori, which is similar to Yoruba Ife.

Kadiya Stick Fighting As mentioned before, yan tauri is the generic name for Hausa armed combat systems. A sub-art of yan tauri is a form of stick fighting, or kadiya, done either with a single stick or with a stick in each hand.

In the past, kadiya was used to train warriors to handle swords and was also a civilian self-defense weapon.

Even now in 2019, in Hausa land, Nigeria, people still carry sticks as protection. And kadiya is still used for self-defense and as a local recreational activity. As a recreational pastime, kadiya takes place as full contact stick matches occur with no body armor, but just one’s skill and fast reflexes to protect oneself.

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ZULU WARRIOR CULTURE & MARTIAL ARTS Impi Embovu Impi embovu is the spear/shield system created by Shaka Zulu.

The umkhonto is the spear, and the shield is ihawa or isihalangu.

There are many ways to use this combination of weapons. Ukubhula is to strike the enemy on his face with a shield. Following this is ukuhlaba ngenhlabelo, referring to the ubhoko or the long rod in the center of the shield, used for stabbing at the enemy’s ankles, feet, and shins. Ukuvika is a technique to block with a shield by holding it in different positions. Ukugqema or ukugqimuzana are techniques of striking with the spear and clubs used in war. Learning these techniques occurred via a war dance called ukugiya. Ukugiya is the solitary display of fighting against an imaginary opponent. It is similar to shadow boxing done in Western arts and solo forms done in Asian arts. In this case, it is purely African. Apart from ukugiya, Zulu warriors practiced impi embovu by charging against

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each other with blunted spears to habituate the warrior to the clash of arms with an enemy. Zulu warriors also have an empty-hand system, variously known as isibakela, amanqindi, or amankomane. All these names refer to Zulu methods of empty-hand fighting, relying on headbutts, knees, elbow, grappling throws, and kicks. Bone-breaking techniques, pressure point strikes, and chokes are also part of the repertoire.

Zulu warriors also practiced their martial arts by doing the ukugiya war dance, showing their kicking prowess that would serve them well in combat. Techniques used included the front kick, side kick, and roundhouse kick. These kicks were part of the impi embovu as well as isibakela, Zulu fist-fighting that was popular as far back as the late 18th century when the legendary emperor of the Zulu Empire, Shaka Zulu, was born. It’s interesting to note that the front kick, sidekick, and low roundhouse

kick are also typical in the African combative games of ’ngolo from Angola, dambe in Nigeria, and by extension, capoeira and other African-derived martial arts in the Americas. A British soldier in the Anglo-Zulu wars of 1879 wrote in his journal how a front thrust kick from a Zulu warrior had knocked him flat on his back, breaking a couple of ribs in the process.

ty-hand-translated stick fighting techniques. Please note in Sotho that push kicks to the opponent’s lower legs, stomach, and rib cage are part of stick fighting.

Is’cima: Zulu Empty-Hand Combat Stick fighting techniques can be translted into bare-hands applications. When Zulu men faced a ban prohibiting them from carrying induku sticks in nearby urban areas, they transposed stick fighting techniques to empty-hand variations. At some point, it became known as is’cima or “off switch,” probably because during a fierce stick fight, one does get their lights switched off with a strike to the head (a K.O.), hence the name.

Other tribes like the Sotho and Xhosa also have variations of emp-

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Conclusion From the Maguzawa/Hausa in Nigeria to the Banyarwanda peoples in Rwanda, and onto the Zulu of South Africa, African martial arts are found in every corner of the continent but remain largely unknown to outsiders. Who, for example, knows of the mfuh warrior society, the army of the Nso peoples from the northwest region of Cameroon, West Africa? The mfuh warrior society came together to protect the Nso people during their long migrations over the centuries. In charge of protecting the Fondom traditional ruler of the Nso, mfuh warriors relied on the nyui.

- Jigaba Bwaira

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JC Cabiero @jc.cabiero

THE PURE ART OF ANGEL CABALES

SERRADA NG ESCRIMA JC Cabiero

A MAN FROM BARRIO IGANIA, Sibalom, Antique, the Philippines of the Visayan Islands, once decided to expose to the public his weapons close-quarter fighting art, which he called Serrada Ng Escrima. This man was Angel Cabales (1917-1991), escrimador. Let us digress a bit to put this into a meaningful context. The term escrima-

dor is a marque bestowed only to a deathmatch-proven skilled fighter by other escrimadors in the Philippines. More importantly, only an escrimador can develop a fighter into another escrimador, thus proclaiming that fighter as an escrimador—not a self-proclaimed escrimador. It was in Stockton, California, in 1966, where Angel

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opened one of the first Filipino Martial Art schools in the United States of America.

Angel Cabales once explained, “I call my weapons fighting art Serrada because I fight very close, inside to my attacker, to block and take them out right away, and Serrada means close, inside—very close!

That is my fighting style.”

Angel Cabales was very gracious in giving part of his life to training me in Serrada. It is Angel’s truth that I bear witness to. Angel’s teachings are grounded in the rawness of the art of fighting and the connectedness with life itself. Angel would say to me, “When you are a fighter, you are the same person every day.

When you eat or when you fight—

you are the same person.” At first, I did not truly understand. However, as years of training with Angel transpired, I finally realized what Angel was telling me; I have to be the same person whether I am training with him or living my daily life—I must be who I am. Then I will be real to myself and in my art of fighting. Otherwise, if I am one person learning how to fight and being another person in my daily life, I am not real and cannot be one within myself. I would not be able to see the truth, to know the truth, and be truthful to myself and in the art of fighting. Angel was also telling me, I must be pure in heart to excel in life and reach the highest level of consciousness and spiritual realization. This will show

me the truth of my weakness and strength in life and my training.

As Angel’s fighter/student, I developed my weakness into strength and advanced my strength to another level of consciousness.

Blessed with the gift of the truth in the art of fighting, Angel had been well-educated in the barrio streets, the jungle, and backroom bars of the Philippines, not from books, a school, videos, TV, internet, or social media. It is this rawness that makes his art of fighting come alive. To clarify how this Filipino fighting art evolved to exist in the USA and get exposed to the world, we need to relate the historical happenings to the whole outcome, placing these events in perspective.

Angel Cabales learned from early childhood how to be a survivor on the unpaved earthen calles, or streets, in the barrios. A slight digression: the word barrio is derived from the Arabic noun, barr— meaning “land or open country.”

During this period, the Arabic word, barrī—or “of the land”—was applied to villages and rural communities that lay in the territory surrounding a town or city. Barrios were often considered disreputable and dangerous by government standards. To survive the streets in the barrios, one had to be mentally strong, alert, have pronounced physical prowess, and, most importantly, street smarts.

Those who did not know how to fight with street smarts did not

survive the streets of the barrios; it was just that simple—nature’s law of survival. Angel told me his street survival training began in his childhood with his natural boxing skills, which he felt was innate.

He explained to me, when growing up, he enjoyed boxing and relied on his rudimentary boxing skills to defend himself against other kids.

He never had boxing lessons, but in many fights, he was able to defeat his opponent. Other times, both kids beat each other to a pulp, and the fight stopped due to mutual exhaustion. As he became a teenager, he included the rattan with his boxing skills because other teenagers were fighting with rattans. One time he said his weapons fighting skills and abilities increased as he got older. He attributed his ironclad defense abilities, as seen in his in-tightness, good body balance, and body positioning, to his raw boxing skills. From this base, he developed a prediction for fighting in close range. And this is how his fighting style developed to survive in the streets of the barrios.

One day, while still in his teens, Angel stated, a stranger from the mountains of Cebu in the Visayan Islands came to see him. He found out later that this stranger was also a great warrior of the land, a legendary escrimador, also known as

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Dimasalang—or “One who cannot be touched.” Also known as Feliscimo Dizon, he was a great escrimador and considered as a member of the Doce Pares group composed of the 12 best fighters of the Philippines. Dizon told Angel that he had heard of his pronounced fighting skills and abilities in his journeys throughout the barrios as word travels quickly about upcoming fighters who are developing a fearsome reputation. Dizon wanted to see for himself the fighting caliber of Angel, and soon enough, Angel had to defend himself once again.

Dizon was impressed with Angel’s iron defensive skills and abilities, attacks, and ability to end a fight quickly.

In 1932, at the tender age of 15, Angel Cabales began his rigorous and intensive training under the watchful eyes and tutelage of Felicisimo Dizon. Angel absorbed the knowledge of Felicisimo’s weapons fighting art very quickly—this was the main reason Felicisimo was inspired to train this young man in his weapons fighting art of escrima. From that moment on, the two rapidly became close friends developing into sangre familia, or family by blood; thus, Angel’s legacy began. Angel explained to me that Dizon had great respect for his fighting spirit and sensed that

he had the character and personality, especially living in the barrios, to make him his student/ fighter. At that moment, Dizon acknowledged Angel as a member of his sangre familia. He immediately took Angel under his wings, mentoring the young man. He expanded Angel’s fighting knowledge through his method of armed combat, which was known by every fighter on the island as decuerdas—meaning in Spanish, “the

winding of,” like winding a watch (i.e., torquing of the body). Angel explained to me that Dizon never named his fighting style—it was the village people who saw Dizon fight who named his style decuerdas. Thus, decuerdas was branded on Dizon. Soon after that, other fighters called him The DeCuerdas Fighter.

Angel indicated to me that Dizon utilized the streets and countryside for their training ground and

used real situations in the barrios and in the roughest part of the city against the most hardened fighters to test his learning capacity and ability. Angel said, “Dizon would train me in his fighting based on many types of angles of attacks using one or two rattans, long and short blades—or espada y daga—and with a knife or two knives. Then we would go into a barrio or the most dangerous part of a town or city, and Dizon would have me challenge the toughest fighter. Each time, I would take out the other guy without waiting or thinking; just sometimes I block him, then I hit him many times.

Other fights I would smack him first and keep smacking him until he gives up or was knocked out!”

Angel specified that he would defeat his opponents within three to eleven seconds. For the most part, during these times, the rattan was the weapon of choice; other times, the blades would come out if the opponent desired. Angel emerged victorious in every fight. While most defeated fighters loved to fight another day, albeit badly bruised, some did not survive the encounter, especially when the blade was involved.

As each day turned into weeks, weeks into months, and months

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into years, Angel progressively developed his skills, abilities, and knowledge comparable to his teacher. It wasn’t long before Feliscimo and Angel were challenged in deathmatches by other escrimadors trying to burnish their reputations. From village to village, city to city, bars, and shipping docks, Angel said that most of these challenges took place with a short and long blade, and every time, he and Feliscimo ended the matches quickly, even when the odds were stacked against them eight against two. The challenges continued as they journeyed throughout the Philippines, and they left a long line of bloody but living opponents; others were not so lucky.

All of Feliscimo and Angel’s deathmatches lasted only three to eleven seconds; once the weapons came out, both men did not hesitate to eliminate their opponents. After many years of this type of training and deathmatches, Dizon finally informed Angel his training had come to an end—he must now venture on his own. Though parting was painful, each had to walk their path and begin new journeys.

Feliscimo Dizon returned to the mountains of the Philippines, and Angel started the next chapter of his life on a ship headed for Alaska, where new challenges and adven-

tures awaited him. Eventually, he settled down in Stockton, California, where in 1966, he revealed the Filipino Martial Arts to the public.

Angel always told me, in our native tongue of Tagalog, “Wala pang nakuha—maliban kung ito ay nakamit,” which meant, “Nothing is ever gained—unless it is earned!”

In other words, the more a fighter immerses themselves in the rigorous training of the pure art of Serrada Ng Escrima, their fighting skills, abilities, and knowledge will increase.

The effort that a student puts into practice can be seen in their blocking and attacking. Additionally, and even more importantly, it will determine how they will handle their moment of truth. And this is the reason why Angel drilled into me the axiom that the foundation is the heartbeat and structure of his armed close-quarter combat art. Angel knew if the fighter had a solid, strong foundation, then the fighter could build upon this utilizing their skills, abilities, and knowledge to move into Advanced Weapons Training (AWT). However, if the fighter’s foundation were less than compact and robust, even if he advanced into the AWT portion of the art, his art would still be of inferior quality. Angel always

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reminded me of this lesson, telling me during our training sessions, “If you are weak in your foundation, you will be a weak fighter!”

Angel’s close-quarter combat weapons system, first and foremost, is adaptable to any fighting art. He often said to me and many others, “My fighting style works good with any fighting style—it is compatible with what you already know!” Angel’s close-quarter style is very simple and direct. In-tightness, economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of movements form the basis of his art. One blocks and attacks with bad intentions, striking vulnerable targets while seeking to circle behind the opponent. If the opponent hesitates and there is an opening, attack first and keep on striking those vulnerable targets and circle to the rear of the opponent. Angel often stated to me: “When you block, you got to hit.

When you hit, you hit, hit, until he is no more! If he doesn’t hit you first, then you must see the opening and hit him first, then hit, hit, hit until he is no more!”

Angel’s famous words spoken to me and the world was, “Hit a man three times, and he will fall!”

These are not shallow or posturing words, but words Angel translated into execution in real life deathmatches. In his attacks, he called

his execution Triple Strikes—targeting vulnerable targets of the opponent’s head. Finally, decuerdas, or torquing of the hips, is the key in Angel’s Triple Strikes.

So, no matter what fighting art you know and learned, anyone can find Angel’s close-quarter combat weapons fighting art and enhance one’s fighting skills, abilities, and knowledge in the art of fighting.

Every fighter is different, and training is tailored to their attributes. However, all training goes through, first and foremost, The Foundation, and second, AWT—or Advanced Weapons Training. And afterward, students progress into Master Level Training (MLT) with more realistic attacks and movements from the master trainer, to expose any weaknesses in their movements. During the fighter’s training, the fighter has fully developed their skills, abilities, and knowledge in mastering their movements in MLT. From this point, the fighter progresses to the next, highest level of consciousness and spiritual realization: Escrimador Level Training (ELT) to mature into a true pure escrimador. Training as an escrimador is continuous and everlasting—always being humbled by life. This is Angel’s Way.

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Angel’s weapons fighting art is ultimately a high-level sharp-edged weapons fighting art. It encompasses in-tight fighting, body balance, body positioning, body angling, economy of movement, and motion. Also, it stresses efficiency and effectiveness in execution, evasiveness, and fluidity in defensive and offensive movements.

Just as necessary is the ability to reverse, mobility in attacking, and adaptability in fighting tactics and strategy. In today’s modern world, the blade is often still the weapon of choice for many predators. Angel realized in any blade attack, the attributes of his weapons fighting art will determine whether the defender of the attack will survive their moment of truth. Angel would often tell me during our training sessions: “You must always have balance, all the time when you are moving when you are defending yourself. When you block and counter, you must have balance, and you always try to get your opponent to lose their balance. Remember, when there is no balance, it is hard to defend and harder to attack because there is no balance!”

I comprehended through the years that this was one of the basic rules of the art of self-defense. Angel was an escrimador who was masterful at getting his opponent off-bal-

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ance; once this occurred, Angel, an in-tight fighter, would zoom in on vulnerable targets, attacking with slicing and/or thrusting with his blade or blades.

His weapons fighting style was for survival, self-preservation of life— not for demonstrations, ranking, exercise, or school-type controlled environment training. Blocking the blade is a high-level art form; it takes a high degree of skill, ability, and knowledge to execute.

Knowing how to coordinate body positioning and body angle with

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the block is the root of the art, in conjunction with the essential primary attributes of body balance, coordination of mind and body, and footwork. Most people practicing knife self-defense usually face square to their attacker, and in doing so, provide a lot of targets to attack. This makes the blocking execution against the knife attack much more difficult to defend; so the learning process becomes more of jumping back to avoid being cut then jumping in to cut, which is becoming the most common practice seen. A trained blade fighter

understands efficiency, and effectiveness is always the sought-after goal.

Angel would say, “Do not waste time in movement; be direct, do not be fancy, and you must be very in-tight!” In other words: Economy in movement, simple and direct, and in-tightness are the keys to survive a blade attack!

At one time during my training, working deeper into Angel’s art, there was no longer a structure during our training sessions. I learned to expect the unexpected and express my fakes, picks, pulling, pushing, jamming, trapping, reversing, and sticky stick from all angles. Angel enhanced my footwork style of shuffling, angling, circling, crossover stepping, and rapid stepping while hitting—a readily identifiable characteristic of Angel’s movement.

Angel once reflected upon the importance of tactics and strategies in combat with a statement.

It is both profound and straightforward, reflecting the raw barrio environment Angel once fought in and lived: “In real, everything goes, there are no rules when it comes to your life!” Fighting is for one reason and one reason only: to take the attacker’s life within three to eleven seconds! Furthermore,

Angel would tell me, “If you take more than three to eleven seconds, you will give the attacker a chance to knock you out or kill you!”

I must reiterate, Angel’s art is not for tournament, ranking, or prestige. There is no exercise or drills like hitting stick to stick; in Angel’s training, when we feed a strike, we strike the body, and the defender must block. Angel believes this is the only way to learn how to defend yourself in a life and death situation. Angel Cabales proved his fighting skills, abilities, and knowledge in over 100 deathmatch challenges in the Philip-

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pines. Working on the fishing boats off Alaska, he was attacked by five very large Canadians in California.

Over the years many escrimadors challenged him, and he emerged victorious from every encounter.

We hope and pray we will never have to fight for our life during our time on earth. However, we realize every day someone dies violently at the hands of another. Consequently, if our moment of truth happens—we know based on our gladiator-type training that, deep within our heart and our belief in

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God, we are ready to eliminate the bloodthirsty evil person from this earth within three to eleven seconds. The Pure Art of Serrada Ng Escrima is now my path, and if a fighter so chooses, of his/her own free will, to seek the purity of Angel’s weapons fighting art, I will say this: My teacher, Angel Cabales, was enthusiastic about teaching with his heart to all fighters hungry to learn his weapons close-quarter combat fighting style. Following in his footsteps, so too I shall continue the same passion as my mentor/ teacher/trainer/family escrimador Angel Cabales, in training voracious fighters. Suppose the fighter has the discipline and diligent durable energy to train often. In that case, the results this fighter will “gain” will be a wide-ranging understanding of the true knowledge of Angel’s weapons fighting art. For all the fighters who will search and seek me out, I will, with all my heart and soul, endow Angel’s Truth—through everything I have been taught/trained by Angel Cabales. Mabuhay ang the Pure Art of Cabales Serrada Ng Escrima— forever!

ELEMENTS OF THE PURE ART OF SERRADA NG ESCRIMA The most significant aspect of what Angel taught me was the elements of his foundation of Serrada. As I mentioned previously, the foundation is the “heartbeat and structure” of his close-quarter combat weapons fighting art. One cannot learn Angel’s style of weapons fighting without completely learning the foundation of Serrada. In the foundation training of the Pure Art of Serrada Ng Escrima, the training application is deterministic—Knowable Outcome training. In other words, I know what strike will be applied, and I execute a block that is predetermined in the structure (In AWT, it becomes stochastic—meaning, one whose state is non-deterministic).

As Angel’s fighter, I learned to utilize simple steps to keep my feet underneath my shoulders and maintain a fundamental comprehension in vertical fighting, such as pugilism—which Angel loved.

2. Body Angle Angling my upper body at the optimum side position, limiting the target amount to the attacker. In other words, instead of moving forward with my body square to the opponent, I turn my body sideways so all the opponent will view is the side of my arm and body, providing fewer targets to attack.

3. Body Balance

Angel taught me the importance of:

In conjunction with body positioning and angling, Angel taught me always to be balanced in the execution of movement.

1. Body Positioning

4. Timing

45-degree angle in stepping forward from a neutral position (square body with feet together) and utilizing the 80-20 footwork, which is 80% of my weight in my front leg and 20% on my back leg.

In my training with Angel, he taught me how to gauge the timing of my opponent, allowing me to be effective in my execution of movements.

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5. In-tightness

7. DeCuerdas

In Angel’s style of weapons fighting, I learned right from the beginning that I had to be very in-tight with my movements. I always kept my arms and hands close to my body in the execution of movements. Angel drilled me never to extend my arms to block or hit. He trained me to comprehend that, as soon as I extended my arm away from my body, my movements became inefficient and ineffective, including losing Body Balance.

This is one significant aspect Angel learned from Dizon: body-torquing for power. Angel instilled in me the key skill of torquing my hips to produce the power I needed to defend myself and in striking my opponent with bad intentions. He told me that self-defense was created for the small man, and a small man must learn how to block and hit like a very big man. He indicated that big men are rarely attacked because they are very big. Big men always attack the small man because they are small. Nature has a way to balance this, and the fighting arts for self-defense and self-preservation came to LIFE! He said to me, “Never hold back; always fight for your life—because your life will depend on this!”

6. Economy of Movement and Motion in Execution (no wasted actions) Angel taught me the critical importance of concentrating on utilizing direct and straightforward execution in my movements. In other words, when I execute his style, I must always use the minimum amount of movements—instead of taking three movements to accomplish my block, I utilize two movements. He educated me, advising me if I did not need to move my arm, hand, or feet to complete my block. And if it did not provide any added value in execution, then I must eliminate the wasted movement.

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I train fighters to their optimum potential, preparing them for their moment of truth—this is how Angel trained me. A master trainer develops the fighter within their capacity and then expands that capacity through being patient, supportive, informative, and truthful, exposing all weaknesses. This is the knowledge I learned from Angel Cabales. Angel’s weapons fighting method is alive, and in constant motion—never stationary. Angel’s weapons fighting art is only geared for the realities of life; in true combat, anything goes!

My training method involves this stochastic process, providing many different looks/approaches in the attack. This assists in improving the fighter’s focus, concentration, steadiness, relaxed yet total readiness, controlling of all emotions.

Defects must be exposed during training sessions, developing internal self-control: as one example, training/developing the fighter to control his emotions, for the mind and body are a perfect symbiosis—any stimulus or outside factor equally affects both. An aggressive frame of mind produces a physical reaction that can be detrimental to their life—in other words, taking control of your emotions instead

of letting your emotions take control of you!

In Advance Weapons Training, I begin training the fighter to recognize his internal emotional content, for it is critical that the fighter understands the truth of who they are—eliminating not only wasted movements, but putting aside egos, pride, etc., and eradicating all false self-confidence. Instead, one must cultivate a high level of self-control.

The fighter must practice this internal self-control 24/7 in their life.

Once the fighter can succeed consistently—not only during hermit training or regular training sessions but in their daily activities— this demonstrates that the fighter has achieved internal self-control permanently, and transformation of self-control becomes the Fighter’s Truth, forever—an attribute that extraordinary fighters have (Angel’s Truth) . . .

- JC Cabiero

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Bryan Cannata @bryan.cannata.5

STICKS AND CHIVALRY Bryan Cannata

MOST MARTIAL ARTISTS ARE familiar with the work of the Dog Brothers and their dedication to full-contact stick fighting or the various Filipino martial arts and their use of sticks in combat.

Another lesser-known form of full-contact stick fighting has been and is continuing to evolve across the world, this one with a medieval flavor. In Berkeley, California, on the first of May, 1966, a themed party was thrown, and a medieval tournament held. From that tournament, an entire martial art and culture grew.

It is likely that right now, as you read this, on a field in a camp-

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ground or perhaps a public park or even someone’s backyard down the street, two people circle and stare at each other through the ocular openings of heavy iron or stainless steel helmets, their breath even and controlled. Narrowed eyes measure the slightest movement or shift in weight. A gauntleted hand tightens against the grip of a 36-inch-long rattan baton with markings to represent the edge of a sword. Wooden shields adjust fractions of an inch to cover a leg better. A foot shifts and sinews tighten. The tension in the air is palpable.

In a fraction of a second, one of the combatants explodes forward with speed surprising for a 200-pound man in 30 pounds of armor. Shields and bodies clash with a sound reminiscent of two cars in a head-on collision. One of the combatants nimbly sidesteps to gain position on the unprotected flank of his opponent. A baton lashes out. Its tip moving faster than the strike of a rattlesnake.

The blow finds its target. The crack from the impact, as loud as a gunshot, explodes through the air.

The struck opponent shouts in a loud voice, "Good!” He then bows his head, takes a knee, and offers his baton, handle first, to his opponent as an acknowledgment of defeat. The winner salutes the loser as the next contestants make ready. Or perhaps the two combatants reset for another pass.

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Part experimental archeology, part costume party, the Society for Creative Anachronism, or SCA, has quietly expanded across the United States. It is now a worldwide non-profit educational organization with thousands of participants and chapters across the globe. At last count, one in five participants take part in martial activities, and many of them pursue it with a passion and ardor that most martial arts organizations would wish their members had.

It would be easy to dismiss the SCA fighters as a bunch of silly weirdos in homemade medieval-ish armor

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playing children’s games. However, at this point, with over fifty years of research and pressure testing of techniques and tactics through unscripted, highly competitive, full-force tournaments, SCA heavy combat has evolved into a legitimate martial art and combat sport with a philosophy, jargon, styles, ranks, and schools of thought. It is also, only until recently, the one organization where you could take part in battles with near, if not surpassing, a thousand combatants on each side. The SCA has grown large enough that entire industries have sprung up to support the need for equipment.

I found the SCA in 1988. It was summertime. I was an 18-year-old private in the United States Army at my first duty station. I had been studying martial arts at that point in my life since I was eight or nine years old. I was obsessed with all forms and styles of martial arts from all cultures, particularly the sword and blade arts. One Friday evening, my barracks roommate invited me to a “fighter practice.” When he explained what he planned on doing, I will admit that I was dubious. It sounded ridiculous. Intriguing but ridiculous.

He showed me his "suit of armor."

It was an amalgamation of conveyor belt and poorly hammered sheet metal with hockey gear and

volleyball pads. It seemed to me to be more Mad Max than Lancelot or William the Marshal, but I was game. I downed the last of my drink and said: “Why the hell not.”

It was close to payday, and I only had enough money for maybe a pizza in my bank account, so going somewhere, anywhere that did not involve the outlay of cash, was better than hanging out in barracks.

Besides, he told me I would get to see people fight.

We left the fort and made our way to a suburban house in a cul-de-sac filled with more cars than meant to park there. My roommate grabbed a duffel bag full of his gear out of his hatchback and led me to the backyard.

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The backyard was full of people.

Some were running a BBQ grill.

Others were in various states of getting into gear. My first thoughts were of a gladiator ludus. I suspect the training grounds of ancient Rome had a similar atmosphere.

Everyone was joking and talking with each other, but there was an underlying seriousness. Not a single kit looked like an actual suit of medieval armor. The roots were there, but the Mad Max flavor was omnipresent.

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A couple of guys put on their helmets, picked up their shields and sticks, and gave each other a knowing nod. One of the combatants wore a red belt around their waist. I would learn later that the red belt marked him as a squire of a knight. They made their way to a barren circle of dirt in the center of the yard. I heard one of them say, “Let’s warm up with some slow work then pick it up when we are ready.” They started moving and swinging their duct-tape-covered sticks at each other in slow mo-

tion. The pace increased with each pass. Finally, one of them asked if the other was ready. With a wordless nod, they reset to the center of the yard. You could see the gears shift.

The body language changed, and they began to fight in earnest.

They swung at each other with speed, control, intent, and power. Every time a blow was blocked with a shield, the sound would echo off the neighborhood buildings. Throughout the exchanges, they would shout, “Light!” or

“Good!” or occasionally, “Flat!” as their opponents’ weapon struck home. I saw immediately that this was not some adults play-acting as I had mostly expected, but two committed martial artists practicing their art. The fighting continued throughout the evening.

When it became too dark to see, large floodlights continued to illuminate the backyard. Various people answered my questions, explained the rules, and in general, tried to give me a much better understanding of what was going on.

Their enthusiasm was contagious.

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While the SCA has many and varied activities within its boundaries, the current article will focus on the martial aspects.

In theory, the heavy combat within the SCA replicates the foot combat tournaments of the Middle Ages with all its honor, chivalry, and pageantry. The reality is that it is a 20th-century stick combat sport flavored with the trappings of medievalism. There are one-on-one

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tournaments as well as mass group battles. As time has progressed, the gear and equipment have improved significantly from the early days of conveyor belt armor and freon can helmets. Because of the rules, other influences, and rattan weapons, it cannot be called a re-creation of medieval European martial arts.

SCA heavy combat must be looked upon and judged as a modern combative sport.

The ruleset of SCA combat is unique on many levels. To compete in the SCA as a "heavy fighter," a person must first undergo a period of training. Then at a sanctioned tournament, the fighter must pass through an authorization bout. This bout is not to show skill but instead for demonstrating that the fighter is not a danger to themselves or others in the competition. Initially, the fighter faces a significantly more skilled fighter that can control the fight while two referees watch and evaluate.

The fighters move through three phases. There is an inspection of armor and weapons, and a quiz to determine if the new fighter understands the rules. From this

point, two fighters go through several passes where the more experienced fighter takes a mostly defensive posture, and the new fighter is allowed to go full-out. Once his abilities are recognized, the new fighter can strike with proper power and accuracy and display a controlled aggressiveness; he moves to the next phase. Here the more skilled fighter takes on a more active role, attacking and pushing the newer fighter into what can be uncomfortable positions. At this time, the fighter is evaluated in his ability to understand how to "call" the blows he receives and not react poorly to being struck with force.

If struck in the head or body, the fighter has lost the bout.

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If struck in the leg or arm, the fighter must give up the use of the struck limb for that fight. In the final phase, the two combatants enact a full tournament round.

The combatants fight until one of them loses. Once the third phase of authorization is over, the marshals and the experienced fighter discuss the new fighter and their performance. If found satisfactory, the new fighter will be registered as an authorized fighter and will be allowed to fight at any SCA event.

The first or most obvious thing that stands out for many is that it is up to the defeated person to declare that they are defeated. A "marshal" will supervise a fight for safety, but they are not in the ring to appoint a winner. Personal honor, integrity, and proper behavior in the competition are significant.

When struck by a blow with sufficient force from their opponent, the struck person will call out "Good," and usually either fall to the ground or take a knee to show

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the crowd that they have lost. If the blow was not of sufficient force, the struck combatant would call out "Light," and the fight continues. In keeping with the idea that the rattan batons are sword simulators, fighters judge blows as either incapacitating or fatal. A well-placed blow must strike with not only the proper amount of force but also with appropriate edge alignment.

"Good’" or "telling" blows possess enough force that if the participants were not wearing protective armor, bones would easily break.

There are no divisions for heavy combat. Men and women of all sizes and weights compete on the same field against each other. Because of this rather egalitarian approach, grappling and striking with anything other than a weapon is disallowed. It allows the maximum number of people to compete safely yet still have the same level of intensity that any different weight rank bracketed.

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Within the SCA, there is a medieval-based hierarchy that denotes mastery. In the fighting community, those of a master's level are referred to as knights. Knights are awarded a white belt, gold chain, and spurs to denote their title and rank. To become a knight in the SCA takes on average about as long as it takes to become a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Less than three percent of all fighters in the SCA reach the level and rank of Knight. Knighthood is awarded when the circle of knights decides

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that a fighter is their peer. In other words, the candidate must show that they are at the same skill level as the rest of the knights. There is a saying in the SCA: "Knights are not made. They are recognized." A knight is expected to not only show skill at arms but also embody the chivalric ideal and follow the chivalric code. It is part of a knight’s duty within the SCA to pay attention to the fighters and encourage their progress and guide them along the path.

Knights take squires. Squires are personal students of a knight.

The knight teaches the squire the chivalric code as well as how to fight. In turn, the squire serves the knight, often taking on classical duties such as maintaining the knight’s armor and gear. A person does not have to become a squire to become a knight, but like in all sports, it is more comfortable with a good coach.

The batons used by SCA fighters are at a minimum one and a quarter inches in diameter. The average baton is around one and a half inches in diameter. The average length is 36 inches approximating the length and weight of an actual steel broadsword. Over the years,

SCA heavy combat has developed its techniques. Many of them would be very familiar to an escrimador or practitioner of any other blade and stick art. The mechanics of the blows vary slightly to compensate for the heavier weight of the rattan used by SCA fighters.

There are only so many ways a human being can swing a stick or sword. Forehand and backhand weapon strikes are as you would expect, but because of the use of a shield, the fighters become skilled at hitting with power from odd angles and in ways that would be surprising to many. One of the more unique techniques is a Wrap. Similar to a back cut with a saber or bowie knife, the Wrap strikes the

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opponents back with the back or inside edge of the baton when in extremely close range. At medium range, the leg becomes a primary target. It can also be used at long range to strike around a block.

Footwork for the SCA heavy fighter takes on the familiar angular patterns of the Filipino martial arts or, in some cases, a style of movement similar to a modern boxer. The primary goal is almost always to move to the opponent's flank and take up a dominant position whereby one can strike the opponent yet remain protected by theirshield. The more skilled fighters even seek to position themselves in such a way to their opponent that they are using the opponent’s shield to cover themselves as well.

SCA combat is not just limited to sword and shield. There are multiple weapons forms that people practice. All of them are analogous to weapons that existed in medieval tournament and war, such as two-handed sword or spears or various forms of halberd type weapons. For safety, all weapons are of rattan except for spears made from a specific type of fiberglass.

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To go into much more detail about the SCA and its martial arts would take a much longer study than this space would allow. I do hope this article gives you a bit of insight into a thriving martial art and sport that is not often talked about outside of its participants and encourages you to take a bit of time and explore.

the world. But to many others, it is a "way" in the philosophical sense, a modern approach to the chivalric ideals and warrior culture ethos of the past. Within that way is found self-improvement, self-understanding, and perhaps eventually self-mastery.

For many of the participants, it is just a weekend warrior hobby, much like those in strip mall dojos across

- Bryan Cannata

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For more information on the SCA, you can visit: www.sca.org.

Guido Caporizzi @guidonair

STICK FENCING AND CANNE ITALIANA Guido Caporizzi

"The effectiveness of the cane can only derive from a broadly developed movement that launches it with vigor. Tightening the moulinet would mean depriving the sport of the cane of its substance."

- Bernard Plasait, French savate champion and politician

Stick Fencing and Canne Italiana Known in France as la canne and in England as a cane, the walking stick was a self-defense discipline practiced in Europe from the time of the Romans.

Throughout history, the walking-sized stick contests enjoyed a popularity between the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century. Particularly widespread in Italy and later in France, only from the second half of the 19th century was it practiced as a real regulated discipline. At first, it was restricted to military training in the Italian sale d’armes, as preparatory to the study of the saber, later spreading to the military barracks of France, Belgium, and Hungary.

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The diffusion of the French la canne in Italy was made by Maestro Zerboni, who introduced it at the Andrea Doria Gymnastics Society in Genoa, and by Maestro Manusardi in Lombardy. It should be noted, however, that the French canne was nothing more than the Italian stick fencing imported into France by the Italians during the Renaissance period and later revised by the French, though solely in terms of vocabulary; several historians recognize this fact, including the preeminent French authority on canne and savate, Maître Sylvain Salvini.

Stick fencing thrived until the beginning of the 20th century, despite many edicts prohibiting its carrying in public. Only those persons with disabilities or those having real work-related needs were granted an exemption. Around the 1930s, with the decline in the fashion of walking sticks, the art risked disappearing altogether from the salle d’armes. In France, cane fighting continued to be practiced, but for the most part only by devotees of French savate: men such as

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Roger Lafond, who had begun to practice French savate and fencing with his father in Paris. Roger Lafond served in the army from 1933, and from as early as 1937, he trained with the Joinville battalion. With the start of WWII in 1939, Roger Lafond was sent to the front.

Subsequently captured by German forces, he interned in a POW camp where he began teaching canne and fencing to fellow prisoners.

When he refused to teach his art to the Nazi guards, they banned him from further practice. After the war, his fame as a canne master spread, and in 1960 he taught his art to Patrick Macnee, the actor of the hit TV series, The Avengers. Following WWII, the sport of canne underwent a new development in France, becoming canne de combat, an alternative to the Lafond method. Instead, in Italy, cane fighting, known as Canne Italiana, inspired by the precepts of traditional fencing, continued autonomously under the guidance of Maestro Italo Manusardi and his nephew, Lorenzo Ravazzani Manusardi.

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The Milanese Cane School and Canne Italiana Milan is the city that, by the middle of the 19th century, saw the publication of the first Italian articles on bastone, or stick fighting, and savate. Savate, also known as le boxe française, savate boxing, French kickboxing, or French foot fighting, is a French combat sport that uses the hands and feet as weapons, combining elements of English boxing with graceful kicking techniques. Only foot kicks are allowed, unlike in some systems such as Muay Thai, which allow the use of knees or shins. Savate is a French word for “old shoe or boot,” and savate fighters wear specially designed boots.

The Trattato teorico-pratico della scherma di bastone (1854) by Giuseppe Cerri was the first publi-

cation to describe the use of the two-handed staff in Milan, with lessons and exercises. In 1869 the manual, Trattato di box-libera. Ossia difesa personale by Luigi Carmine was published. This book, according to French historian Sylvain Salvini, is a plagiarism of Manuel de la boxe française et anglaise by Louis Leboucher, even if Maestro Carmine had a verifiable and documented knowledge of fencing, gymnastics, wrestling, and boxing. Gianluca Zanini, in his re-edition of the famous Trattato of Master G. Cerri, points out that in Milan there was familiarity with the use of weapons, as confirmed in the Guide di Milan that noted that, between 1827 and 1889, there were up to 22 fencing halls, with 42 maestros teaching.

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First Half of the 19th Century From the time of Luigi Carmine of the late 19th century to the second post-war period in Lombardy, and specifically in Milan, only one other treatise on stick fencing was published. Master Giannino Martinelli wrote Trattato di scherma col bastone da passeggio, a book in which he adapted the saber technique to the stick. The part of the publication dedicated to personal defense targeted officers of the Milan municipal police, who regularly armed themselves with walking sticks. The book covered the use of the stick both for sport and self-defense. Another book published in 1930s, La Difesa Personale

by Carlo Volpi, which dealt with self-defense using weapons such as walking sticks, knives, savate, and jiu-jitsu, cannot be considered as original, as it is merely a translation of Jean Joseph-Renaud’s La Defénse dans la Rue.

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Second Half of the 19th Century: the Birth of Canne Italiana Emerging from these historical roots, the Manusardi Academy was born in the 1950s, later developing its style of walking stick fighting called Canne Italiana. The founder of the academy, Arrigo Manusardi, continued his family military tradition of combat, gymnastics, and wrestling, and then established relations in France, to increasingly spread the sport of savate, which was already practiced in Genoa and Milan. Arrigo Manusardi wrote four books, published by the Milanese publisher Zibetti, on the disciplines he taught: Jiu-Jitsu e Savate per Difesa Personale: Manuale Pratico of 1958 followed in 1959 by Ginnastica Educativa: Manuale Pratico and in 1960 by two additional texts, La Boxe Francese (La Savate): Difesa Personale e Pport and then Lotte Olimpiche: Greco-Romana e Stile Libero. In 1968, following the

death of Arrigo Manusardi, the eldest of his three sons, Italo Manusardi, founded E.N.B.F. - Italia (École Nationale de Boxe Française d’Italie) to continue the work of his father.

March 7, 1969, was the historic date of the first international savate match between France and Italy. The most famous Italian sports newspaper, La Gazzetta dello Sport, commented as follows: “Nice Italian victory in Paris. An interesting match of French kickboxing took place in the Wagram Room between the teams of France and Italy, won by the latter 2:1. The Italians, led by Italo Manusardi, beat the French at one of their favorite combat sports.”

On this occasion, Italo Manusardi attended a high-level cane match, which he already knew about, having seen it practiced several times in Genoa and partially learned from his father Arrigo who, before becoming the founder of the Lombard school of savate, had been a brilliant student of the famous cane master, Roger Lafond. Italo was so impressed by the match that he decided to improve on the sport and spread it throughout Italy. The handling of the cane, whose technique was in some ways like that of the dueling sabre, was

made easier for Italo Manusardi thanks to the fencing techniques learned from the famous Master Wolfram Werner at the German School of War during WWII. Attending the prestigious Genoese school of Master Lazzaro Delfino, together with Maestro Mario Pavani, allowed Italo Manusardi to further refine his skills as a maestro and fencer. At the same time, thanks to contacts with France and having access to historical manuals to study the history and evolution of the cane, Italo Manusardi was able to carry out personal research that gave further impetus to his passion, leading him to create an original Italian method for the interpretation of the cane, or the Canne Italiana. The inspiring principle of this new discipline was to consider stick fencing not only a sport but also a perfect introduction to traditional dueling with metal weapons: Canne Italiana represented the perfect fusion between traditional canne and saber dueling. Italo Manusardi thus began to teach Canne Italiana to his savate students, including his young son Renato and his grandson, Lorenzo Ravazzani Manusardi, who learned all the secrets of his style from his grandfather.

Subsequently, grandfather and grandson began to avidly spread

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the sport of Canne Italiana, strictly based on the traditional system of Roger Lafond and different from modern canne de combat.

With the birth of the “Sala d’armi e codice d’onore Lazzaro Delfino,” the study of Canne Italiana was extended to the two-handed staff: the result was a style of its own, a fusion of Canne Italiana and French canne, thus arriving at a unique way in the handling of the two-handed weapon.

Canne Italiana in the New Millennium In 2000 the synergy between the Manusardi Academy and the historic gym, S.G. Pro Patria 1883 Milano, led to the creation of a real structure dedicated to Canne Italiana. At that time, the Academia Canne Italiana introduced its full-contact version as Full-Contact Canne Italiana where the fencing technique of Canne Italiana blended with the fighting techniques of savate, with stick grips, disarms, direct shots without the need for a moulinet and the two-handed grip.

In just a few years, the Full-Contact Canna Italiana style became unique in its genre for its elegance and effectiveness, giving rise to a period of very intense activity; a national network of practitioners and stick experts emerged, and in-

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ternational introduction seminars and Canne Italiana courses were held in Paris, thanks to Maître Jean-Pierre Julemont, European savate champion and great friend of Italo. Television and newspapers were also interested in Maestro Italo and Canne Italiana: in the academic year of 2004/2005 the Sky Sports 1 TV station broadcast a television show where the head of the school Italo Manusardi and his nephew Lorenzo, interviewed at the S.G. Pro Patria 1883 Milano gym, described the history and the technique of Canne Italiana and demonstrated exercises and fights. Master Italo Manusardi, still working at the age of 80, was then interviewed in the spring of 2009 by the national TV channel, Rai 2, to talk about his longevity.

In the interview, Master Manusardi described Canne Italiana while his nephew Lorenzo demonstrated some sporting and defense techniques.

Research and Development of Weapons The development of Full-Contact Canne Italiana, with its potential significant degree of physical impact, led to a need for research and development of equipment and materials that offered adequate protection to practitioners. A new arrival made a significant contribution in this sense: Guido Caporizzi, savateur, in completing the entire academic path leading to his attainment of the black ribbon in Canne Italiana, began to passionately devote himself to the weapon of Canne Italiana, with a special interest in its safe practice.

Wood Treatments Together with the laborious job of working with scarce and fragmented written documents was also the significant obstacle of overcoming the barrier of confidentiality of the most orthodox masters of the various stick disciplines, protective of the secrets of their weapons.

However, due to the seriousness and commitment of Guido Caporizzi, he succeeded in convincing them that their precious technical knowledge would not be passed on to self-taught or undeserving laymen: Guido learned from the masters the woods to choose and the ones to avoid, as well as the

proper phases of the moon and the season to cut the sticks. Additionally, he learned to strip, straighten, and temper them by fire. Finally, he learned how and at what temperature and humidity to season and store them. Other information handed down from master to pupil included “oiling sticks once a day for a week, once a week for a month, once a month for a year and then once a year forever.”

Soft Sticks for a Soft Approach The constant work in the salle d’arme also highlighted the need to create suitable sticks for novices who wish to approach Canne Italiana without immediately purchasing expensive and complete fencing equipment. Guido thus designed soft sticks that, although slower and not high-performance, allow beginners to try their hand at Canne Italiana without protection, but in total safety. Alternatively, an inflatable stick, which could be inflated and then deflated after use, became another option for easier transport of otherwise long and bulky sticks used in public demonstrations.

Rubberized Cane A key creation was the invention of a “rubberized cane,” completely covered with a natural rubber particularly suitable for Canne Itali-

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ana. Thanks to this technical cane created by Guido, in the event of the cane breaking upon impact, especially during Full-Contact Canne Italiana, any dangerous, resulting splinters are retained by the rubber. Master Italo Manusardi, wishing to reward this achievement, decided to give a special mention of honor to Guido Caporizzi, who had created it. An exemplar of one of these rubberized canes is in the section dedicated to stick fencing at the Agorà fencing museum in Busto Arsizio, a renowned Italian museum dedicated to fencing.

Technical Peculiarities of Canne Italiana The characteristics that distinguish Canne Italiana are: •

•

The circumduction of the wrist—derives mainly from the saber technique and has the function of giving additional strength and fluidity to the movement of the weapon; initially triggered by the arm, at the time of making specific strikes.

The “moulinet” or cane twirling—the cane being a light blunt weapon and unlike the saber, which is a heavy, sharp, and powerful weapon, its effectiveness derives, almost of necessity, from a widely devel-

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oped large rotary movement that lends energy to it; it is, therefore, the sum of speed and centrifugal force that gives an effectiveness to the strike made with this light weapon.

•

Tip thrusts—these are mostly thrusting like we do with the sabe, and they are made at different heights and different targets.

•

Whipped strikes—consisting of the ability of the fencer to use the fingers in cutting blows to provide a further push to the weapon after the moulinet, a split second before the weapon impacts the target implying the development of considerable sensitivity of the fingers for the so-called “snapping” and sensitivity in timing.

Arguments in Support of the Italian and French Cane Systems There are arguments, of equal value, in support of both the Italian and French systems. The Canne Italiana organizes itself around moulinets, and its blows are predicated on a moulinet because, we believe—as also claimed by French savateur Bernard Plasait—that due to physical reasons the power of the blow derives from the moulinet. Tightening the moulinet to increase speed would mean depriving the cane sport of its substance.

Modern French canne de combat has instead almost eliminated moulinets, believing that blows carried without a moulinet are faster and efficient. In Canne Italiana, we believe the speed of execution derives instead from intense specific training, as proven

by Master Lecour who, as we read in Traité de canne, boxe et baton (anonymous), was able to deliver two hundred strokes per minute.

Modern French canne de combat employs six strokes—brisé/coup donné en tête, latéral extérieur, latéral croisé, enlevé, croisé tête, and croisé jambe—thus excluding the thrust, believing that these slow down the action. In Canne Italiana, on the other hand, thrusts are still present and considered very effective, particularly in Full-Contact Canne Italiana.

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STYLES OF CANNE ITALIANA

Canne Italiana Accademica (Light Contact): This is the academic version of Canne Italiana, limited to the use of the cane only, with blows carried out with full control and light contact. The practitioner must be able to use the canes equally with the right or left hand, without distinction.

Canna Italiana Contatto Pieno: This is Full-Contact Canne Italiana combining the fencing techniques of Canne Italiana with savate strikes. Strikes can be carried out with or without moulinets, at all distances and heights, as would potentially happen in a hypothetical street brawl, though considering some basic safety rules.

Doppia Canna: This consists of the simultaneous use of two canes (one for each hand) mainly as an academic exercise in dexterity, in order to increase one’s manual ability. Studied and further developed by Sergio Rallo—savateur, instructor and one of the managers of the Manusardi Academy—the guiding principle is to achieve total control of the independence of the two hands, where one cane parries and protects while the other carries out offensive strikes; all dynamic parries or strikes are preceded by a moulinet, which is the distinguishing feature of Canne Italiana.

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Two-Handed Staff: This uses a heavy weapon mainly with strikes preceded by a moulinet, giving even more energy to the strikes thanks to the centrifugal force and weight of the arm. Moreover, due to its weight and length, it is almost exclusively handled with two hands. Vertical moulinets from bottom to top and vice versa, and forward or backward, are reminiscent of a kayak stroke.

One does them using horizontal circular blows, slippage of the stick in one of the two hands, and by lateral strikes that give the two-handed Canne Italiana a peculiar style and elegance. The manner of holding the stick is one of the ways to identify the Italian and French styles.

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DEGREES / LEVELS One-Handed Canne Italiana Levels

ry restrictions, and are entirely free, with judges and referees who assign points based on the real effectiveness of the techniques used. To reach this level, adequate knowledge and the practice of savate is necessary as chausson/savate techniques are used.

Canne Italiana has three grades or levels, called Ribbons, with the colors white, red and black in progression, where black, being the highest level, is granted after passing an examination before a commission: •

•

•

White Ribbon involves the knowledge of basic techniques and training in semi-contact fighting, called touché combat. The matches have one or more rounds and are paused upon each successful strike of one of the two opponents.

Red Ribbon requires full knowledge of the Canne Italiana technique and training in light-contact fighting. The matches are without interruption and divided into two or more by-thepoint rounds.

Black Ribbon, as the highest martial level, requires knowledge and the practical application of Canne Italiana for self-defense. The matches are full-contact, with no regulato-

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Two-Handed Canne Italiana Levels There are also three Ribbons, with the colors white, red, and black in progression, where black, being the highest level, is achieved after passing an exam: •

White Ribbon involves the learning of the techniques of the Italian method.

•

Red Ribbon involves the study of French techniques and combat in the two different styles.

•

Black Ribbon involves the practical application of the two methods in mixed schools— Italian versus French and vice versa—and the technique of both systems in the handling of the staff.

WEAPONS One-Handed Canne Italiana

Protective Gear

•

One-handed Canne Italiana for novices—a soft padded or inflatable cane that allows beginners to approach Canne Italiana without protection and in total safety.

•

•

One-handed Canne Italiana for academic practice—a cane of chestnut or nutwood or other similar wood, made from a young barked and unlathed sucker, having the following characteristics:

Stick fencing mask following F.I.E. standards (mesh steel resistance 1600 NW) with the protection for the nape in plastic (both for academic-style Canne Italiana and Full-Contact Canne Italiana).

•

Upper body armor, such as martial arts, riot control, hockey, and biking armor, is mandatory for Full-Contact Canne Italiana (use of a fencing jacket under armor is optional).

•

Athletic supporter and cup in P.V.C. or hard plastic, to be worn under pants (both for academic and Full-Contact Canne Italiana).

•

Elbow, knee, and shin protection for martial arts, riot control, hockey, rollerblading, or biking (both for academic and Full-Contact Canne Italiana).

•

Gloves suitable for martial arts or ice and field hockey (both for academic and Full-Contact Canne Italiana).

◊ Length: 90-95 cm; ◊ Weight not exceeding 160 grams, including wrapping; ◊ Wrapping made of rubber or other material suitable for containing splinters from breakage.

Two-Handed Staff •

Two-handed staff—a staff of chestnut or nutwood or other similar wood, made from a young barked and unlathed sucker, approximately 140 cm long and weighing 400 grams.

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STRIKES & TARGETS Valid Strikes and Targets Strikes made with a moulinet of the wrist or elbow, or with at least half a rotation of the cane, except for point shots which reach the targets with the tip of the weapon, are considered valid. One-handed thrusting strikes are permitted to valid torso targets at all levels; mask thrusts are valid to the front of the mask.

Targets •

Head: with mask (thrusts and slashes)

•

Torso: with padded (thrusts and slashes)

•

Right/left arm: entire arm

•

Right/left leg: entire leg

•

Hands: with a glove (back of the hand)

armor

Invalid Strikes and Targets Strike to the groin and feet are forbidden. In academic Canne Italiana, uncontrolled strikes are prohibited; strikes must not be heavy-handed but delivered to the target without excessive force.

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EXTERNAL LINKS Canne Lafond: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ7tK9i3u5I&t=44s Interview on TV Sky Sport 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vwDJoOyiJU Interview on TV Rai 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6cLKGBClk=121s Canne Italiana in slow motion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV2ql63e-KQ Sparring with no armor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Rrol9J7MQU Black Ribbon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLwNpxeNQsE Disarmament: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D339Z0GP4Ms&t=61s Full-Contact Canne Italiana: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2n90YPd7Io Acknowledgments Special thanks to Ms. Luana Hegglin, a professional translator—without her precious support for the preparation of the Italian documents, this article would not have been possible (luana.hegglin@gmail.com).

- Guido Caporizzi

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Maxime Chouinard @chouinard1

Nathan Featherstone @nathan.featherstone.3

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BATAIREACHT A ONCE-FAMOUS IRISH MARTIAL ART COMING BACK TO LIFE Maxime Chouinard & Nathan Featherstone

IF YOU GO TO IRELAND today, it is unlikely that most of the people you will meet will be aware that a martial art was once extremely popular in their homeland. Mention that it was called bataireacht, and you will undoubtedly raise eyebrows. Explain that this was the art of using the shillelagh, and you will get many varied reactions.

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Until the late 19th century, you would have been hard-pressed to find a parish in Ireland where no one practiced bataireacht, to the point where it became somewhat of a preconceived notion in other European nations. If you were Irish, you were surely quite an expert at stick fighting. This idea is now extinct, but bataireacht itself is not, though it is incredibly rare, especially in its country of origin.

In this article, we will examine the history of the practice and explore the living lineages that are still taught today—how it relates to the modern martial arts scene, how it is perceived in Ireland, and finally how this is all shaping its present and future.

Where It All Started As with most martial arts dealing with sticks, it is extremely difficult to pinpoint the origin of bataireacht. The job is made even harder due to the fact that, before the 18th century, Irish history was almost exclusively shared through oral tales, and descriptions of daily life were put under writing, more often than not, by foreign visitors or invaders. The written descriptions we have of Irish fighting methods before the Williamite War could probably stand on a sin-

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gle sheet. Nevertheless, there are clues that can be found in those descriptions.

We hear of clubs in the Irish Heroic Tales, such as in The Destruction of Da Derga’s Hostel, where warriors are said to carry “great clubs of thorn with bands of iron.”1 We also hear of an insurrection in a Dublin friary in 1381, where monks used clubs called crannibh.2 It should not be surprising to find weapons like these in Medieval Ireland, as the cudgel (a ball-headed club) was common all over Europe at the time, as can be seen in countless representations, including in Ireland.

Although they were probably not a new phenomenon, we read with increasing frequency about faction fights and the sticks used in

1 Charles W. Elliot, ed., Vol. 49, Epic and Saga: Beowulf, The Song of Roland, The Destruction of Da Derga’s Hostel, The Story of the Volsungs, and Niblungs, The Harvard Classics (New York: Collier & son, 1910).

2 Mervyn Archdall, Monasticon Hibernicum: Or, A History of the Abbeys, Priories, and Other Religious Houses in Ireland; Interspersed with Memoirs of Their Several Founders and Benefactors, and of Their Abbots and Other Superiors, to the Time of Their Final Suppression (Ireland: W. B. Kelly, 1876), 69.

Daniel Macdonald’s “The Fighter” (1844).

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them, by the very start of the 18th century. In 1710, William Moffett, an Irish instructor, writes one of the first clear descriptions of the weapon in a poem: “And at these fairs he ne’er was seen Without a cudgel and a skeen; A cudgel of hard thorn or oak, With which he many craniums broke.”3 The origins of faction fighting are shrouded in mystery. It could have appeared as part of traditions around pattern days, or could have simply been a continuation of raiding wars fought among the Irish clans before the 17th century, which incidentally shared many organizational commonalities with faction fights. The term covered many different types of group fighting, held during festive occasions such as fairs, weddings, funerals, or sometimes to settle feuds between factions such as 3 William Moffett, Hesperi-Neso-graphia: Or, a Description of the Western Isle. in Eight Canto’s (Printed and sold by J. Baker, 1716).

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the Liberty Boys, Shanavests, Caravats, Four Year Olds, Three Year Olds, and many others. The fighting could be done for pleasure, or deadly intent, though in all cases deaths could occur. Certain authors, like William Carleton, drew a line between party fights, done for political and/or religious motives, and faction fights done for more abstract reasons.

Although stick fighters, or bataires, were mostly men, women were also represented in these occasions, sometimes as stick fighters themselves, which was apparently more common within the Traveller community, but also using makeshift flails made from handkerchiefs filled with stones.4 It would be easy to think of such encounters as groups of violent thugs swinging sticks haphazardly—and this is very much how they 4 Mícheál Ó hAodha and T. A. Acton, Counter-Hegemony and the Postcolonial ‘Other’ (Cambridge Scholars Press, 2006), 65.

are perceived today by most Irish people—but the reality was quite different. Bataires not only attracted attention because of their fights, but also because of the skills they exhibited in a martial art that was referred to as boiscin (fencing) or bataireacht (cudgeling). Allanson-Winn, an Irish peer and famous figure in the boxing and fencing scenes of Victorian Britain, had this to say of the stick fighters he observed in County Kerry: “Sometimes a great deal of skill is displayed, and I often wonder whether a really expert swordsman would be much more than a match for some quick, strong, Kerry boys I could pick out.”5

Coat-dragging was a ritualized way of declaring a fight. A bataire would drag a coat on the ground, daring anyone to step on it, expressing the desire to fight. Coat-dragging is still an expression in Ireland today, denoting someone who is looking for trouble. Erskine Nicoll's “A Call to Fight” (ca.

1860).

Winn’s opinion was reflected in similar stories—sometimes even reported by their opponents— where bataires bested trained 5 Rowland G. Allanson-Winn and Clive Phillips-Wooley, Broad-Sword and Single-Stick with Chapters on Quarter-Staff, Bayonet, Cudgel, Shillalah, Walking-Stick, Umbrella and Other Weapons of Self-Defence (London: G. Bell & Sons, 1911).

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A group training bataireacht outside a tavern. Charles Mackenzie (ca. 1805), National Library of Ireland.

swordsmen. Bataireacht was taught in families, and, as with many vernacular martial arts, we read of children learning by imitating the adults. While adults fought, children sparred with sticks nearby.

Many schools were also said to exist around the country: “Professional teachers of the art seem to have been numerous.

Down, apparently, to the first quarter of the last century, there was at Cahir, Co. Tipperary, a school for the teaching of stick-fencing, and the instance seems not to have been an isolated one. A choice selection of fencing-sticks used to be placed

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on a stand in the street opposite to this establishment. A grown male person handling one of these sticks through curiosity would be asked by a pupil of the school: ‘Are you able to use that stick?’ and the answer being in the affirmative, battle was at once joined. Thus did the school advertise itself.”6 We do know what bataireacht looked like, thanks not only to quite a few historical sources, but also to a few remaining lineages.

The image we have of the art is 6 P. Lyons, “Stick-Fencing,” Béaloideas (1943): 269-272.

remarkably consistent—A mainly one-handed art which uses sticks held around the third or middle section. The lower part, called the buta, is used to protect the arm, and serves as a kind of guard, not only to block but also to cover.

When blocking, the buta can be used to strike simultaneously the opponent’s strike being returned at him through a fulcrum effect.

The stick is typically gripped with the thumb up along the shaft, a detail that again comes back in nearly every historical description. This may appear strange to proponents of martial arts where the common wisdom is to hold the weapon in a hammer or handshake grip, for fear of being disarmed, but it is actually quite the opposite in bataireacht, where a hammer grip is judged to be more unstable due to the lack of control.

San Francisco Sunday Call, August 20, 1905, page 4.

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The story is told of a young man about to set out for the fair of Ardagh, when his old father, telling him to guard himself, twisted the young man’s stick out of his hand with a quick twirl of his own.

“There you are now boy! Didn’t I tell you not to close your thumb over your fingers? Up along the stick you should put your thumb to give you power over it.”7 Some people today saw these skills being practiced. The historian Marianna O’Gallagher (19292010) from Quebec City once told me that her father Dermot (18911977), a former mayor of SainteFoy, knew how to fight with a shillelagh, a skill he had learned from his father Jeremiah who emigrated in 1860 from Macroom in County Cork. Unfortunately, he never showed much of it to his children, but she did learn a few things which were identical to what is

7 Kevin Danaher, “Who’ll Say Boo to a Mulvihill?” Irish Digest 1st ed., Vol. 71 (1962): 48.

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taught today.8 Unfortunately, the O’Gallagher style disappeared, but the little which was shared helped to confirm our knowledge of the practice.

By the mid-19th century, a major social upheaval came to hit faction fighting and, by association, bataireacht. While the British colonial authorities mostly turned a blind eye to faction fighting, by the Victorian era, they started to suppress it with a renewed fervor, due in no small part to the complaints of industrialists who saw faction fighting as a threat to the economy, encouraging absenteeism and discouraging investments.9 The downfall of faction fighting was not entirely caused by British repression, though, as other factors played in. Following the Great Famine, Ireland saw a renewed movement for indepen8 Marianna O’Gallagher, “Marianna O’Gallagher,” January 1, 2008, http://irelandmonumentvancouver. com/side-3-the-100-names/the-100names/marianna-ogallagher/.

9 “Irish Faction-Fight,” The Journal of Civilization; Its Necessities, Progress and Blessings (1842): 61.

The widow of the mysterious Donald Walker published a posthumous book in 1840, where, among things such as wrestling, boxing, and fencing, her deceased husband included the shillalah. Walker’s entry is short, but gives us some rare visual details of the techniques. His comment on bataireacht being “not a very scientific amusement” illustrates some of the contempt that the elites had of the art. Donald Walker, Defensive Exercises (1840).

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dence. The Home Rule movement, which aimed to increase the political power of Irish citizens, saw its demands rejected time and time again by the British government.

Among the reasons invoked to reject such democratic changes were faction fights. Newspapers caricatured the Irish as a violent people, or sometimes even an inferior “race,” unable to control their impulses and, as such, unable to govern themselves.

In reaction to this, the Irish elites pushed for alternatives to faction fighting. The Gaelic Athletic Association was in part created to counter the rise of British sports in Ireland, but also as a means to offer an alternative to faction fights—one that had clear written rules, and, as such, was much eas-

Jafsie teaching bataireacht in the Bronx, 1928 [Source: Fox Movietone].

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ier to control.10 It does not seem that the idea of making a sport of bataireacht was ever truly considered, and so the art slowly disappeared from the public eye.

Nevertheless, bataireacht was not completely extinguished. In 1905, an anonymous author in the San Francisco call gave us one of the most detailed descriptions of bataireacht techniques, complete with photographs. In 1928, bataireacht even made it on the screen, as Dr. Condon, a.k.a. Jafsie, is filmed giving a lesson in New York City. Faction fights with blackthorn sticks were still reported as late as the 1930s, and in the 1960s and 1970s, shillelaghs were wielded by residents of Northern Ireland wishing to protect their neighborhoods, as evidenced in television news reports.

Living Lineages As I hinted earlier in this article, bataireacht is not simply a thing of the past. Though the art is now extremely rare, we now know of at least two distinct lineages, with perhaps more to be uncovered.

10 David Storey, “Heritage, Culture and Identity: The Case of the Gaelic Games,” in Sport, History and Heritage: Studies in Public Representation, ed. Jeffrey Hill (New York: Boydell & Brewer Group, 2014).

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Antrim Bata: King of the North Antrim bata came onto the public stage in the early 2000s, thanks to an online discussion group on Irish stick fighting, created by the late Ken Pfrenger. Around 2005, a member of the Ramsey family from County Antrim came upon this group, hoping to find other people in Ireland who, like him, knew and practiced bataireacht.

I visited Ireland in 2007, and having heard of bataireacht, I was curious to know if I could find somewhere to try it. I joined the discussion groups, and was told by Louie Pastore to contact Mr. Ramsey,11 who agreed to teach us. We met in Cork, where he was visiting family, and he showed us what he had learned from his family. The number of techniques was rather impressive, with more than 40 techniques ranging from strikes with various parts of the stick, parries, punches, kicks, and grappling. Our aim was not to become instructors, but by the end, we were unceremoniously given permission to teach. After three years of practicing together, we decided to open up the practice to others.

11 As he has asked his complete name be left out of the public realm, we only refer to him as “Mr. Ramsey.”

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Antrim bata was named as such in honor of the county where it was practiced. The Ramsey family moved to Ireland in the 18th century at the latest, and married with local Irish families. As this martial art is vernacular, it is almost impossible to draw a clear history, as records were not kept. The family lore does say that certain ancestors were active in faction fights, with one nicknamed “Ticketyboo,” who was said to be quite an expert. The family also competed in the combat sport most commonly associated with Ireland today—boxing.

Antrim bata is probably the most representative of bataireacht as practiced by most Irish bataires. It relies most often on a one-handed grip, leaving the off-hand free to strike or grab—a much needed option in a busy faction fight—or to control an opponent’s stick, but it is also free to block strikes if needed as well as throw rocks or other smaller objects to the opponent, as was de rigueur in most of these fights.

The grip is very fluid in Antrim bata. The hand placed at the third allows for a very strong protection and quick strikes, but gripping the stick by the top with the off-hand allows one to rapidly extend their

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reach. The off-hand can also come unto the stick to strike in what would usually be a punching or grappling range, or alternatively, both hands can move to the lower end in order to create space when outnumbered, a grip that would look very familiar for practitioners of jogo do pau or Italian bastone.

Antrim bata also preserved many rituals, some appearing to be direct holdouts from faction-fighting days. Catholicism of course played an important part. For example, before a fight, a fighter is told to engrave crosses on the soles of their shoes, and to pray to their chosen patron saint.12 Once the fight starts, fighters begin to “stomp” and “wheel.” Those peculiar habits are recorded in many descriptions of faction fights, and could even be linked to medieval Irish warfare. The fighters start to rhythmically stomp the ground with their feet, all the while shouting war cries, poems, insults, or all of those at the same time. This is done as a warm-up routine, but also as a means to intimidate and 12 In the modern day, we do not demand that students pray. They are instead encouraged to take a moment to silently focus in the way they see best, be it actual praying or meditation.

distract the opponent. To that latter end, fighters are encouraged to talk while fighting, in order to keep creating distraction, but also to relax themselves.

Various other traditions also exist around bataireacht, many of them centered around the trees used to create sticks. Hawthorn, for example, while being quite close to blackthorn, is generally shunned as a source of terrible curses. Blackthorn itself is associated with war and is said to be inhabited by malevolent spirits that will seek vengeance if a stick is cut down during certain nights.

The high guard in Antrim bata (2007).

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Antrim Bata practice.

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The Doyles: The Dance of the Whiskey Stick The Irish diaspora has held on to and preserved many Irish customs even as they have come into decline in Ireland. This is especially true of the Canadian communities in Newfoundland, an area that was heavily populated with Irish immigrants. This is where the Doyle family style came to be and where it survived. Also known as Rince an Bhata Uisce Beatha in Irish or the “Dance of the Whiskey Stick” in English, it is often referred to as RBUB in short.

The current head of the family style is Glen Doyle, whose living family style was brought over from Ireland by his ancestors and taught to successive generations of the Doyles living in Irish Newfoundland, Canada. He was in turn taught by his father Greg Doyle, a decorated war veteran who served in the Canadian forces during the Korean war.

Glen Doyle started training in the art of boxing in 1969 under the tutelage of his father, Greg Doyle.

In 1972, Greg introduced Glen to a family legacy, an old and almost

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forgotten tradition: the art of Irish Stick Fighting. Keeping in line with the authenticity, the style was passed on clandestinely. Martial arts worldwide, especially family styles, were often kept secret, a trend that still occurs in many aspects of Irish society even to this day.

Glen’s realization of the effectiveness and functionality of his family’s style of stick fighting pushed him to ask his father for permission to teach outside the family to anyone who wanted to learn. For years, Glen’s father denied him permission to teach anyone outside the family, until sadly fate stepped in and changed the face of Irish stick fighting forever. In March of 1998, Greg Doyle was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and the final talk between father and son covered every aspect of their lives together and resulted in Glen getting his father’s full support to share their family style with the rest of the world. From this point on, Glen would go on to teach his family style to a number of instructors who would travel from across the globe to learn under him and see the style flourish once again.

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Nathan: I first became aware of RBUB and Irish stick fighting in general when I was in high school sometime in the mid-2000s through the online discussion group. I was doing historical re-enactments at the time, and began to become aware of HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts). This led me to question if Ireland had any martial traditions of its own and, after long research, I came across references to bataireacht, which eventually led me to the Yahoo forum on the topic. This forum was a rich source of information, with Glen and many other teachers and researchers being involved.

The one chief characteristic of RBUB that—to most outsiders— looks unique is the grip. The stick is held in a third grip similar to other styles, yet the stick is held in both hands horizontally to the floor with both palms facing down. The stance very much resembles that of a boxer with the feet apart and weight dropped low.

While there are many things with-

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in RBUB that are reflected in other styles, its main unique feature is the overall meta of the style—that is, to engage the enemy in order to break distance, and to remove their ability to use their range, while still being able to attack.

This is done by a series of blocks and counterattacks, and once this is accomplished, the horizontal grip comes into its own, allowing the use of both ends of the stick in an almost quarterstaff-like fashion—yet more reminiscent of boxing—as well as the ability to push your opponent away through using the middle section of the stick.13

13 Maxime: It is important to note that, while RBUB has its own way of delivering these techniques, most of them are not unknown to other styles.

From the perspective of Antrim bata, RBUB appears to have focused almost entirely on a set of techniques we would call “infighting,” which are techniques used to fight from a punching or grappling range.

Nathan Featherstone, instructor of RBUB and AB captain at the Rambling Kern School, Dublin.

Maxime Chouinard, Head Instructor of Antrim bata.

Back into the Fight: Bataireacht in the Wider Martial Arts World As bataireacht started to grow once more, it began to attract the attention of other martial arts. Both of the authors actively sought to create links with different groups, as well as experience how bataireacht itself would fare against more established styles.

Maxime’s Experience

Maxime: For myself, I was already active within HEMA, and so this was a fairly natural fit. I found quite a lot of interest, though the nature of Antrim bata, being a more classical lineage-based art, proved to be a bit of a black sheep in the historical martial arts scene, especially since the movement itself is primarily focused on swordsmanship—stick fighting being a fairly niche corner.

As a newcomer—a strange concept for a martial art that is older than many more popular ones practiced today—Antrim bata was quickly put under the considerable pres-

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sure of the very competitive martial art scene. Although the style proved that it could very well hold its own against any other stick fighting style, it needed to truly prove itself in order to be taken seriously. Meeting Sébastien Poirier, a.k.a. Pirate Dog, in a seminar I was giving in Montreal, I was invited to attend the Montreal Dog Brothers Gathering in 2016. Those Gatherings are, in most of North America and Europe, considered to be the most extreme stick fighting events. I joined and fought at the event, which proved to be a major milestone for myself and Antrim bata. It was a great learning opportunity, and also proved that Antrim bata was able and willing to step up to the challenge of the modern martial art scene.

Antrim Bata brings along some truly unique riddles to most sparring partners that are unaccustomed to its quirks. From an outside perspective, the strike may look rather light, and the grip fairly limiting in reach. The opponent usually

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finds rather quickly that not only the grip allows for powerful and rapid strikes, but also allows to dynamically change the reach of the weapon, which almost universally proves to be the most challenging aspect for martial artists used to more fixed measures.

A sparring session with the local Dog Brothers, 2020.

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Antrim bata also brings to the table European fencing concepts, which are rarely well understood outside of HEMA and of course Olympic fencing circles. Questions of timing and distance are profoundly integrated, and in my opinion, represent a major advantage for Antrim bata over many other styles.

Nathan's Experience

Nathan: Prior to learning RBUB, I was actively practicing and competing in a variety of combat sports such as BJJ and MMA. This helped to shape my outlook on Irish stick fighting and martial arts in general, especially in regards to the need to face resisting opponents. Since there are not many weapon-based martial arts practiced in Ireland in general, this forced me to look outside of Ireland, which brought me to the Dog Brothers.

My first exposure to the Dog Brothers was at a sparring day in Aberdeen. While this was only one day, it helped me to understand changes I needed to make in my own training as well as some new approaches I needed to undertake with my students. Later that year, I would travel to Switzerland and take part in my first Gathering of the pack. This is an event open to all, which allows people from all styles to come and participate. Now, as the Dog Brothers

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will readily admit, there are certain differences between a “real” fight and those fights that happen at a gathering. The obvious ones are that the sticks used in the latter case are often rattan, and that there is safety equipment. Now, while the safety equipment is minimal—usually gloves and a fencing mask—it still allows you to take certain hits without serious injury, which, for obvious reasons, is key. Also, while some of the rattan sticks I spar with weigh the same as my shillelagh, they are two very different materials in the way they affect an opponent. For safety reasons, I would never spar with blackthorn, as it would be far too likely to seriously injure, unless they were heavily armored, which creates its own set of artifacts.

My first fight was an eye-opening moment for me, as I was determined to only use RBUB on my opponent. However, straight from the start, the issue for me became apparent. My opponent could tell I had two options: attack his hands

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with stick punches or jabs, as they would refer to them, or close in on him. Having hit his hands with little effect due to the gloves, rattan, and lack of wind up in the stick punches, I then attempted to close in. However, he was aware of this and backed away quicker than I could run, angling off and using his left hand to keep me at a distance. The rest of the round went much the same, with me trying to close, and him fending me off and landing shots as I tried to close. In my subsequent fights, my attempts to engage led my opponents to grapple me instead, which led me to be badly hip-tossed by my opponent at one point.

Needless to say, this led me to reassess my own flaws and what I needed to do in order to make RBUB work in this context. Let me say: this is not a critique on RBUB, but rather something that is true of many traditional arts. There are certain considerations that were not relevant at the time, or in some cases, that simply did not survive to be passed down.

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Over the coming years, I spent a lot of time training with my students, and I was eventually able to figure out some ways to get RBUB to perform well in this context. Mainly, it meant finding ways to make the art a better fit in this setting.

As RBUB revolves around closing in on an enemy who is in a group or without room to retreat, waiting to rush in and using footwork to get my opponent into a corner or next to a wall often served me much better.

One thing I can confirm about RBUB is that it gives you a large toolbox of techniques to use from close range, and when these techniques are drilled with grappling in mind, it allows you to overwhelm opponents who are used to fighting at a longer range. To me, it is truly an infighting style, and serves itself best at this close range.

Nathan throwing a stick punch—a titular technique of RBUB.

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An Old Art Colliding with Modern Perceptions Although bataireacht is still alive and well with a well-documented past full of interesting stories, and there are hundreds if not thousands that can be found in period newspapers, travelogs, fighting manuals, and oral stories, many today still perceive bataireacht as

an unskilled practice—that it was simply men picking up sticks and hitting each other haphazardly.

This perception is due to many things, which we shall examine in more detail, but it is not an easy one to change, as it is truly and deeply ingrained in an active rejection of the culture of faction fighting itself.

An example of the sort of political propaganda that shaped the stereotype of the Irish as violent club-swinging sub-humans. Thomas Nast, “The Day We Celebrate,” Harper’s Weekly magazine, April 6, 1867 [Source: The New York Historical Society].

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Nathan: After coaching Irish stick fighting in Ireland—for what I believe is now longer than anyone else has on the island—it has given me a deep understanding of not just the style, but also of how it is perceived by the Irish people as a whole. This is something I think many people outside of Ireland do not quite understand. Over the years, attitudes have begun to change and people are now far more receptive to learning about Irish stick fighting compared to a decade ago, but there are still many negative ideas linked to the art that are both deeply cultural and historical, and I will do my best to illustrate this based on my own experience.

One of the first and most common issues I have encountered is that most people simply do not know that a thing such as Irish stick fighting exists, which is usually closely followed by a disbelief that something like bataireacht existed, or that it was a martial art.

When exposed to the history of the

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art, many become more open to the idea. However, for some, even when exposed to the facts, the idea of bataireacht is still impossible to accept.

As often, they will admit faction fights did happen, that folk martial arts existed in every other country in Europe, that they did practice with sticks, but that it was not a martial art. Sometimes, this is often linked to a modern conception of what a martial art is.

By this, I mean a practice that has ranks, titles, manuals, and a clearly laid-out syllabus. However, most indigenous arts lack this, as they were often practiced by the working class, who were often illiterate.

Few martial arts in Europe, and even in Asia, would fit such a definition of martial art until recent times.

Another deeply rooted belief is that bataires were simply just beating each other up with clubs, and that there was little to no skill involved.

This is something deeply rooted within Irish culture and, I believe,

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somewhat of a colonial hangover.

The faction fighters were depicted in this fashion, as were many Irish people of this era, and, as a result, this can often be seen by how the era of faction fighting is portrayed in Irish media and historical interpretations.

Finally, one of the areas of contention is the fact that RBUB and Irish stick fighting in general are more popular and more widely practiced outside of Ireland. This, I find, often creates a sense of distrust amongst Irish people, who then consider that these arts are likely fabricated. However, like many aspects of Irish culture, the Irish diaspora has successfully preserved many aspects of Ireland’s cultural heritage, and so, it is not strange that this form of self-defense would be preserved, too.

Looking forward to the future of Irish stick fighting, my hope is that the work being done by myself and many others to preserve and promote these arts will see them survive and flourish for generations

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to come, as I feel it is an important part of Irish cultural heritage. I feel that, with the correct approach and continued efforts, Irish stick fighting will continue to grow over the coming years.

Maxime: My own experience has been very similar to that of Nathan, the main difference being that I teach outside of Ireland. I find that, interestingly, the popularity of bataireacht is inversely proportional to the presence of negative Irish stereotypes in the local popular imagination. Bataireacht is very popular in places such as France or Russia, for example, while it is somewhat popular in North America, and it still has a difficult growth in Ireland. In Canada or the United States, the image of the fighting Irish does not carry the same weight, and is often looked at with light amusement or fearful reverence, depending on the way it is portrayed—this to the chagrin of the Irish people, who have been trying for more than a century to dispel this stereotype.

A certain understandable fear also exists of Irish culture being appropriated by ignorant “Plastic Paddies.” As Nathan noted, this feeling is truly underestimated in North America and is important to address, if bataireacht is to have any future in Ireland. This initial belief that I was actively—either intentionally or not—spreading ste-

reotypes and invented traditions, resulted in many Irish nationals being openly hostile to what I was doing. Presenting a different take on the history of bataireacht, one that goes away from the Victorian propaganda and cartoons, has been rather successful at proving that this is a serious martial art worthy of being preserved.

Antrim bata workshop, 2021.

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Antrim bata seminar in France.

I often compare the history of bataireacht to that of Japanese martial arts. Both came into very similar situations in the late 19th century. Indeed, the Japanese, who had just thrown out their warrior overlords, openly rejected their martial arts in favor of western practices, to the point where many

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schools closed down, and Japanese bujutsu almost tipped into oblivion. It was through the work of a few dedicated individuals that the image of Japanese martial arts—that of overly violent brutes and bullies, more concerned with fighting each other than moving forward—was completely changed

to what it is today: a noble practice of personnel growth seeped in a spiritual aura—miles away from how many saw it in feudal Japan.

Unfortunately, bataireacht had no Kano, Baez, or Kenkichi. Some important Irish figures of folklore studies, like Patrick Lyons or Kevin Danaher, tried to elevate perceptions of the practice, but with little impact, unfortunately. On that note, I will finish with this quote of Danaher, which is still worthy of consideration today: “The great Fighters are gone, this hundred years, and their dust is lying in Kilfergus and Templeathea, Rathcahill and Rathnaseer.

They were men of their time; and though it all seems very foolish to us now, they admired strength and skill and courage. We could do worse than they, and we certainly have no cause to be ashamed of them.”14

- Maxime Chouinard & Nathan Featherstone

14 Kevin Danaher, “Who’ll Say Boo to a Mulvihill?” Irish Digest 1st ed., Vol. 75 Issue 1 (1962).

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Darrin Cook @BigStickCombat

ESSENTIAL KABAROAN Darrin Cook

WHAT IS KABAROAN? Kabaroan, pronounced “kah-bar-wahn,” is an Ilocano term meaning “the newest.” The northern Philippine provinces of Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte are the ancestral home of the late Philippine president, Ferdinand Marcos. Their language, Ilocano, serves as a trade language throughout much of northern Luzon, the main island where the capital of Manila is located, and is either the second or third most

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commonly spoken language in the Philippines. So, even though the late Grandmaster Leo Giron of the Philippine province of Pangasinan was not from the Ilocos provinces, he and Grandmaster Estalilla communicated in the Ilocano language. The Filipino martial arts are generally weapon-based methods that train with sticks and blades, and Kabaroan is the distinctively Ilocano style.

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Kabaroan is best understood by what it is not. Kabaroan is “the newest,” a radical break with the old, traditional styles of the Filipino martial arts called kadaanan [kah-dah-ah-nahn], an Ilocano term meaning “the old.” The old, traditional styles use short sticks or machetes, and are based on blocking. Demonstrations of these styles involve complicated blocks, quick footwork, and the clacking and twirling of sticks at close range, which make for a great spectacle. In contrast, the new style of Kabaroan features a longer weapon practiced with long strides at a distance. The style was designed to employ the field tool called a panabas, which is a twenty-inch machete blade attached to a twenty-inch handle. It is a simplified system that features merging with an attack rather than blocking it.

On page 2 of The Secrets of Giron Arnis Escrima by Antonio Somera, the late Grandmaster Giron is seen wielding the panabas. This section of the book also explains the origin of Kabaroan.

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Why This Article?

I want to preserve the numerous stories that Maestro Estalilla shared with me, and the culture of the art as I learned it.

It should also be understood that GM Estalilla regards the essence of Kabaroan as his ace in the hole, which he is reluctant to teach to just anyone who shows up at a seminar. GM Giron once confided to GM Estalilla that he had twenty styles on his master’s fan, but Kabaroan was the hidden system he held in reserve. So, Maestro Estalilla teaches basic techniques publicly, all the while holding back and closely guarding his treasured Kabaroan techniques. The advantage of this strategy is that it protects the secrets of Kabaroan, but the disadvantage is that observers come to believe that these simple techniques comprising his public presentation of the art represents all that he knows. This is false.

For example, a quick YouTube search shows GM Estalilla teaching sinawali, the double stick weaving patterns of eskrima, at a seminar.

This is not Kabaroan, but it is one of the first videos to show up in a search. When I first trained with Maestro, I was surprised to learn that he was very confident in using a single long stick against an

From left to right: Ryan Osborn, GM Estalilla, and Darrin Cook

opponent armed with two sticks.

It seemed obvious to me that a person with two sticks has a clear advantage over an opponent with just one. Maestro Estalilla then showed me how he would defeat a double-stick opponent, and I became a believer. So, although GM Estalilla knows sinawali and teaches it, the double-stick method is not Kabaroan.

In recent years I have seen Maestro online, wielding a staff in one hand and a long stick in the other. When we trained together, we never did any of these techniques, which may be interesting, but are not Kabaroan. I now see men associated with Maestro representing the system, and I do not know how solid their foundation in Kabaroan, or any of the Filipino mar-

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tial arts, is. By way of analogy, you could become a student of Bruce Lee without any previous martial arts training, just like Ted Wong did. But the people who really appreciated what Bruce Lee offered, who grasped the radical innovation he represented, were those with extensive martial arts training. I just wonder if some people representing Kabaroan really have the depth and the commitment that they should.

So, my aim here is to teach the essence of Kabaroan, as it was taught to me personally by the grandmaster himself. I also want to illustrate what makes Kabaroan unique among the Filipino martial arts. Furthermore, and because Kabaroan is based upon advanced concepts, you can apply it to almost any style you do.

The Kabaroan Stick When I trained with Maestro, we never used the rattan so common in the Filipino martial arts. We used hardwood sticks of approximately 36 inches in length. One way to measure the proper length of the stick for Kabaroan is to stand with your arm outstretched, parallel to the ground. The stick should reach from your fingertips to the center of your chest at the sternum. Another way to measure the correct

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stick length is to stand up straight with the stick at your side resting with the tip on the ground next to your foot—the top of the stick should reach your hip at the belt line. My favorite stick is a shovel handle, which you can purchase at any one of the big hardware stores like Home Depot, and have them cut it down for you.

A key attribute of the Kabaroan stick is not just its length, but its weight. I have seen Filipino martial artists wielding long sticks made of rattan. Although this stick is long, it is too light, and as a result one sees these practitioners twirling the stick and making large movements that are impossible to perform with a solid stick. Maestro typically wielded a heavy hardwood stick that, I would guess, was two inches in diameter. He had no trouble handling a hefty stick that was heavier than those of me and my training partner, Ryan Osborne, a friend of mine who was also a private student of GM Estalilla.

How can the longer, heavier stick even compete with—let alone surpass—the much quicker, shorter, and lighter stick? In my view, the long, heavy stick forces one always to take the shortcut, to emphasize economy of motion. You simply

cannot do the twirling and spinning techniques of the short stick styles. Thus, the long stick of Kabaroan serves as a tool to teach you to follow the straight line and the tightened arc.

Take a Critical Look Before I get into technique, I would like to share an analogy from Maestro: “If I give you a fish, do you eat it bones and all? No! You separate the meat from the bones.” This is GM Estalilla’s memorable way of saying that there are thousands of styles and multiple thousands of techniques, so, when you see a technique you must carefully evaluate it, separating the bones (techniques that are useless) from the meat (techniques that are good).

Not every technique is useful, but I believe that every person and system has something valuable to teach. This is reminiscent of Bruce Lee’s dictum, “Absorb what is useful.” I invite you to take a critical look at everything I will share with you in this article, and carefully evaluate for yourself whether it is effective.

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BEGINNING LESSONS I would like to begin by introducing you to the manner in which we used to begin the lessons when I trained with GM Estalilla.

First of all, we started with a bow.

With both feet together, I placed the far end of the stick under my left armpit. My left hand went over the stick and came up between my stick and my right arm to grasp my right wrist. With a bow I said, “Adalanak,” which is Ilocano for “Disciple me,” or “Show me the way.” (Dalan is “way” in Ilocano.)

Next, we did warm-up exercises.

Maestro always stressed that the long stick—unlike the short stick— can also be used as an exercise tool, so we started off with a series of exercises with the big stick.

Jumping Jacks To Increase the heart rate, which in turn creates blood flow to the mus-

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cles and thus helps prevent tearing and other injuries, we started with jumping jacks. Especially with the stretching exercises that follow, it is important to be warmed up.

Most of these exercises begin from the rest position. Standing naturally with the knees slightly bent and the feet shoulder-width apart, the hands grasp the stick palm-down, shoulder-width apart. The arms hang down loosely so that the stick is horizontal at about crotch level.

To do jumping jacks with the long stick, again grasp the stick palmsdown and shoulder-width apart.

Let your arms hang down naturally, with the stick horizontal at crotch level, and your feet together. Jump up and spread your feet to shoulder width or slightly wider, while swinging your arms upward until they are as high above your head as possible, with the stick parallel

to the ground. In these exercises, we always strive to get maximum range of motion. Reverse this process, hopping to bring your feet together while swinging the stick down to your waist. Repeat.

You can also do jumping jacks by starting with the feet together and the stick held naturally at your waist with both hands shoulder-width apart. Jump while throwing the right foot forward and the left foot backward. At the same time, fling the stick up above your head. Reverse, throwing the right foot behind you, and the left foot out in front, while swinging the stick downward. Repeat.

Windmills Windmills combine stretching and cardio in one exercise. With the feet wider than shoulder width and the hands grasping the stick

palm-down at shoulder width, reach up as high as you can above your head with the right end of the stick, then drop down to bring the right end of your stick down toward your left ankle, with your legs straight. Now reach up with your left hand as high as possible above your head toward an imaginary upper left corner, then swing the left end down toward your right ankle. Repeat.

Sayaw (Dance) The following exercise is reminiscent of traditional Filipino dances such as the cariñosa and the pandanggo sa ilaw. Starting at the rest position, bring the stick up above the left side of your head at a 45-degree angle as though blocking an overhead attack to the left side of your head, while stepping forward with the right foot. Your left foot now steps behind and

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to the outside of your right foot, while driving the left end of your stick straight behind you. The left foot now steps out to its original position and the stick is brought up at a 45-degree angle as though blocking an overhand attack to the right side of your head. The right foot now steps behind and to the outside of your left foot as you strike with the right end of your stick straight behind you, as though thrusting the tip of the stick into the gut of an attacker approaching from behind. Return to the original position and repeat.

Your feet trace a trapezoid, with the short end in front of you and the wider base behind you. Let the arms really swing as you perform this. GM Estalilla was always joyous in this exercise, a feeling that was contagious.

Dynamic Tension We also did a series of exercises based upon dynamic tension, which serves to stretch and to tone muscle. From the rest position, raise the stick as high as possible

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overhead, so that it is parallel to the ground. Now lean toward your right, bending your right leg and arm. Your left arm and leg straighten as you pull the stick down toward your shoulder level. All this time your left and right hands pull in opposite directions, as though you are trying to pull the stick apart at its middle, exerting considerable force with your arms. Return to rest position and repeat, only in reverse this time. Your left leg and arm bend as you lean toward your left, while your right arm and leg straighten out, as though you are shooting an arrow. One variation is to do this same exercise, except bring the stick behind your head.

You can also hold the stick at your waist in the rest position and try to pull it apart with all your might, then, alter by holding the stick at waist level behind your back. Yet another variation is to grasp the stick behind your back diagonally, with the right hand above your right shoulder, and the left hand at your lower back, holding the stick as though you were drying your

back with a towel. Once again, pull as hard as you can in opposite directions, as though you were pulling the stick apart in the middle.

Switch and reverse hands.

Superman Maestro always encouraged me to innovate, to improve upon what he has built, or in his words, “to refine the system.” In that spirit I add the following exercise, the Superman. Lie down on the floor on your stomach with your arms extended forward grasping the stick at shoulder width, and your legs straight behind you with the feet at shoulder width. Now raise your hands and legs upward as high as you can, while keeping your arms and legs straight. Hold this position for several seconds and gradually increase the length of time you hold this position. This develops your lower back, which you should really feel being worked during this exercise. Lower back injuries are common, and this exercise helps prevent them.

The “Dying Snake” Principle In the following training sequences we will be blocking, or “meeting” strikes with opposing strikes, in GM Estalilla’s terminology.

These blocks exist for the purposes of the drill, but are not the essence of Kabaroan. Before we move on, I would like to discuss an important concept imparted to me by Maestro regarding the drawbacks of blocking, a concept that I call the “Dying Snake” Principle. When GM Estalilla was a young man, there was a guy in his village who encountered a snake in the jungle, which was a common occurrence. In order to deal with this constant threat, Maestro and the other men of his village carried machetes when they went into the jungle. The young man suddenly came upon a snake hanging down from a tree branch, and severed its head with a stroke of his machete. He looked around, but could not find the snake’s detached head, until he glanced up, and saw the snake head with its fangs clamped onto the brim of his

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hat! The young man realized that even though the snake was dead, it was still deadly.

GM Estalilla uses this story to explain the dangers of blocking.

Suppose you meet the opponent’s strike by hitting his hand, a technique called “defanging the snake” in the Filipino martial arts. Even if you crush his hand, and especially if you disarm him, the momentum of the stick (or tire iron) may carry it into your face, so the dying snake is still deadly.

I believe the Dying Snake Principle applies to many self-defense situations. Suppose you punch an opponent and you see he is fading out—you have stunned him. So, you decide to move in to finish him off. Former bouncer and renowned martial artist, Geoff Thompson, warns you not to do this. Just as the dying snake is still deadly, the fading opponent can pull you into him and drag you down. Once you are on the ground, his friend, wife, or a malicious spectator can easily kick you in the head, with lethal consequences.

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Someone might attack you with a knife, and you shoot him. He is dying, and will be dead within a minute, but he is not dead yet. He can still kill you before he fades to black. The same applies, if you stab someone fatally—he still has several seconds of life left, and those seconds can be a very long time when you are being stabbed.

So, this is a problem with blocking.

He swings a beer bottle, and you hit his hand, which causes the bottle to fly into your face. Or you hit the bottle, which sends beer and fragments of glass into your face.

There was another young man in Maestro’s village nicknamed “Number 2.” Once this young man tried to block a machete, and although he stopped it, the tip of the blade traced the corner of his eye, leaving him with a scar in the shape of the number 2. Meeting force with force has its drawbacks, so, Maestro prefers to merge, or go with, the opponent’s attack.

THE ABRIDGED 15

GM Estalilla teaches a form, like a kata (anyo in Filipino), called the Abridged 15. This short form is the easiest way to grasp the essence of his system, particularly as you examine the strikes and their counters. It also helps to understand that the sequence of strikes has a flow, which shows you how to handle the long stick combatively.

belligerent nor threatening. There is no danger that someone will call the police complaining about a crazy guy with a stick. Keep in mind that this is not an obvious martial arts stance, but one that looks to the casual observer as though you are merely standing and alert.

From the rest position, we proceed to what I call low guard. The stick is held in the right hand only several inches from the butt end, and the tip of the stick lies on the ground right beside your right foot, which is placed forward. Your right leg is bent, and your left leg is behind you, straighter but slightly bent.

Both feet are pointed forward. The left hand is held at the chest. This is a ready stance that is prepared to confront an attack, but is neither

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Strike #1: Center Thrust The first strike of the Abridged 15 is a straight thrust to the opponent’s midsection. Be careful not to wind up, or pull the stick back, or do anything else to signal to the opponent that a strike is coming. The thrust should move in a straight line from the ground to the opponent’s midsection. Although a thrust with a blunt-end stick may not seem like an effective

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move, the weight of the stick gives it a solid impact. Furthermore, the thrust’s economy of motion means that the big stick moves surprisingly quickly.

The defender stands in what I call middle guard—GM Estalilla’s preferred fighting stance. Once again the right leg is forward and bent, while the left leg is behind you, and also bent. This stance is deeper, with a greater bend at

the knees, so that it is obviously a martial arts stance. The right hand rests at the hip, grasping the stick several inches from the butt end, which lies outside of the leg. The stick crosses the body, coming to a point under your chin. The left hand grasps the stick palm-down, several inches from the forward end. The tip of the stick should be aimed directly at the opponent’s face.

To counter this strike, the defender in middle guard drops his stick straight downward to intercept the thrust, not parallel to the attacker’s stick, but at a slight cross angle. Many styles will block this strike by chopping with the stick or forearm perpendicular to the straight thrust attack, whether in the form of a thrust with a stick, knife, or front kick. This perpendicular block wastes motion, and leaves the defender vulnerable to missing, creating a vulnerability by removing the defending arm from the centerline. With a heavy weapon, the abaniko block in which

one twists the wrist downward, runs the risk of a self-disarm, where a miss causes the weight of the weapon to work against the thumb, sending the weapon flying.

This block knocks the attacker’s stick down to his left. For the purposes of this drill we will block, going force-against-force. In actual application, you would parry the thrust, subtly diverting it and countering.

Countering the Center Thrust Once you have parried downward, intercepting the opponent’s thrust at a slight angle, redirect the tip of your stick upward with a counter-thrust. You can use your left hand, palm up, to move the opponent’s weapon arm out of the way.

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Strike #2: Underleft As the attacker performing the Abridged 15, I have thrust to the opponent’s midsection. In response, he has chopped downward, knocking my stick down to my lower left.

I will now execute strike number two, an underleft.

This is the genius of GM Estalilla. Most Filipino styles number their strikes, so you will often hear something like, “Feed me a num-

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ber seven,” or “Now we’re going to work on counters to a number five.” This is further complicated by the fact that dozens of styles have their own, different numbering systems, so that my number ten is your number eight, and your number ten may not even exist in my style. Confused yet? GM Estalilla devised a straightforward, easy-to-understand method for describing any type of strike. An “underleft” means it is an under-

hand blow delivered from your left side. In other words, it is a low backhand strike aimed at the opponent’s right hip or knee.

Although GM Estalilla typically trains with an underleft strike aimed at the opponent’s right hip, I prefer to target the opponent’s right knee. In my thinking, I can strike the opponent’s knee, calf, shin, and ankle with my stick with little risk of him grabbing it, or blocking it with a short weapon.

If he does bend or crouch to try to grab or block my stick, I am prepared to follow up by blasting his head. Furthermore, if I take out his knee, I help prevent him from rushing in and trying to tackle or disarm me.

The Drawbacks of Blocking By meeting the attacker’s underleft by colliding into with a matching underleft, this collision sends the attacker’s stick backward. GM Estalilla calls this force-against-force style blocking a “meet.” Unlike the short light stick, which can easily be braked and redirected by the wrist, the big stick tends to stay in motion, building momentum as it travels. The struggle is to maintain control of the long, heavy stick. An opponent who blocks your stick brings it to a halt, even if just for a second. GM Estalilla exploits that impact to redirect his stick.

The defender blocks the underleft by meeting it with an underleft of their own.

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Strike #3: Overleft Now that the defender has blocked your underleft, sending it backward, you will add to that rebound off the opponent’s stick, whipping your stick up into an overleft strike.

An overleft strike is an overhand strike that comes from your left side, delivered at 10 or 11 o’clock.

Briefly recapping, you thrust, and that thrust is knocked down to your lower left. From the low-

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er left quadrant you launch a low backhand strike (an underleft) to the opponent’s knee. He counters by clashing with your stick, knocking it backward with an underleft of his own. You will go with the momentum of your stick, circling up to a high backhand strike to the right side of the opponent’s head as you step forward with your left foot.

One application of this sequence is to throw the underleft, striking the opponent’s knee, then whipping the strike up to his head with an overleft, especially if he tries to reach down to block or grab your stick at his knee. The underleft could also be what GM Giron called an inganyo, or feint. Throw the low backhand to his knee to bait him to stoop down and reach, then snap the stick overhand into his head.

For these backhand strikes—underleft and overleft—GM Estalilla often uses what I call “assisted oar grip,” a technique also employed

by GM Giron. Imagine you are in a rowboat holding an oar. Both hands are palm-down, close to each other at the far end of the oar/ stick. In assisted oar grip, your left hand assists the backhand strike by pushing against the stick with the open palm, fingers pointed upward. Why not just grasp the stick with two hands as though you were swinging a baseball bat? The original Filipino immigrants who

brought the Filipino martial arts to the US, sometimes referred to as the “old men’’ or the “manong” (an Ilocano term of respect for an older male), were blade conscious.

They were aware that the stick was a stand-in for the ubiquitous machete of the Philippines. Although you can firmly grip a baseball bat or stick with two hands, you cannot do that with a one-handed machete—you would cut your left hand, if you gripped the blade, because there is no room for both hands on the handle. However, you can use the left hand to push against the dull back of the machete blade, which is exactly the technique used by GM Estalilla and GM Giron, even if it is applied to the stick.

Defending the Overleft The defender blocks your overleft with his matching overleft while stepping back with his right foot.

GM Estalilla practices this form with blocks to illustrate classical Filipino martial arts and blocking,

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which helps the form to flow. My contribution here is for the defender to block the underleft with an underleft, but to merge with the overleft. “Merge” is Maestro’s term for going with the opponent’s strike as opposed to blocking it.

From the underleft block you will parry the opponent’s overleft by coming up underneath it with an underight aimed at the opponent’s stick or hand. You will need to turn your stick-bearing hand from palm-down to palm-up. This parry, merging with the overleft, does not interrupt the flow of the form, because the attacker will swing his stick over as he steps forward with his left foot.

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Strike #4: Underight To summarize briefly where we are at in the form, your right foot was forward and you stepped forward with your left foot as you struck with an overleft, allowing the stick to swing freely. When handling the long, heavy stick, you learn to go with its momentum rather than constantly fight it. Also, when you have your right foot forward and execute an overleft, you must be careful that your stick does not hit your own forward leg, so you move to get that lead foot out of the weapon’s path. This is even more potentially dangerous if you are armed with a blade.

You are now standing with your left foot forward, and the knees slightly bent. The stick has swung down to your lower right. You will now strike the opponent’s left knee or hip with an underight. This is an underhand blow from the right side that strikes the opponent at four or five o’clock.

The defender will block the underight with a matching underight of their own. This sequence illustrates the dangers of blocking: when you meet an underight attack with an underight of your own, there is the natural tendency of the opponent’s stick to slide up your stick to your hand, or to careen up into your body or face. For the purposes of the drill, we meet force-on-force, but in real life, you

are better off withdrawing the targeted leg or hip while striking downward to merge with the opponent’s strike.

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Strike #5: Overight Using the rebound of the collision of both sticks meeting at the underight, you will now flip the stick up to attack with an overight, which is an overhand blow delivered from the right side, striking the opponent’s head or neck at one or two o’clock. Once again, you are in danger of hitting your own lead left leg, so you withdraw it. Stepping back with the left foot not only keeps you from accidentally hitting or cutting yourself, but also

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allows the stick to swing freely, so that you are flowing with its momentum rather than fighting it.

In my training with Maestro, the defender blocked the overight with an overight of his own. My contribution is to suggest blocking the attacker’s underight, which sets up the overight—only instead of blocking the overight, merge with it. You go with the attacker’s overight by coming up underneath it with an underleft, hitting the attacker’s stick, hand, or forearm.

Because the attacker is stepping back with his left foot, merging does not interrupt the rhythm of the form.

Strike #6: Vertical As you strike with the overight you pull your forward left foot backward. Let the stick swing freely, letting it flow downward toward your lower left. Rather than trying to stop the stick, let it continue to loop upward. Bring the stick down overhead with a vertical strike, hitting the opponent’s head at twelve o’clock.

The key to blocking the vertical strike is to move offline, meaning to get out of its path. Some styles want to get right under the vertical, and hold up the stick parallel to the ground. GM Estalilla’s octagon diagram has a horizontal bar at the top, but this is not used for blocking. What you want to do is to move toward your left, striking with an overleft, deflecting the stick so that it does not hit its intended target, your head.

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Strike #7: Radical Radical is GM Estalilla’s term for an upward thrust that moves upward from six o’clock into the opponent’s groin, gut, or solar plexus.

When you strike with the vertical, you let the stick flow. Instead of trying to stop the stick, you let the ground stop it. Immediately bounce up from the ground and into a radical strike. If your stick is made of bamboo, rattan, or the modern polymers, it will spring up off the ground. However, if your stick is metal or solid hardwood,

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you will have to redirect it and propel it yourself once it hits the ground.

The defender will counter just as he did against the center thrust— intercept it at a slight angle by chopping downward. It is important to angle off to your left, which gets you out of the way of the opponent’s radical upward thrust, and also moves you toward his back.

Flow with the Big Stick

Bambolia

The sequence moving from the overight, looping into a vertical, followed by a radical thrust bouncing up from the ground illustrates a key trait of the big stick. With the short stick, you can suddenly brake it and switch directions.

With the heavier big stick, you must learn to go with the flow, to give in to the stick’s momentum. If you watch GM Estalilla in action, you see that a crucial element of controlling the big stick is not in the movement of the wrist or forearm, but the shoulder.

Continuing with the Abridged 15 form, at this point in the anyo, we are introduced to the bambolia method, pronounced “bomb-bowlyah.” This term is derived from the Spanish verb bambolearse, meaning “to reel or stagger.” The idea is that you hit the opponent so hard that he is sent staggering, reeling from the blow. In the bambolia style, you grip the stick palmsdown slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.

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Strike #8: Horleft To review, you struck with an overight while stepping back with your forward left foot to let the stick move freely. The stick traveled a loop downward to your left side, then continued in an arc over your head, where you brought it straight downward at twelve o’clock. You allowed the vertical strike to hit the ground and bounced it back up into the opponent’s midsection. The defender countered by chopping downward, knocking the stick to your left side.

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You will now strike with a horleft—a horizontal backhand strike traveling at nine o’clock from your left side, aimed at the opponent’s right arm or his torso.

The defender stands in middle guard. The right leg is forward and bent, while the left leg is behind you, and also bent. This stance is deeper, with a greater bend at the knees. The right hand rests at the hip, grasping the stick several inches from the butt end, which lies outside of the leg. The stick crosses the body, coming to a point

under your chin. The left hand grasps the stick palm-down, several inches from the forward end.

To block the horleft, the defender moves the tip of the stick outward.

This is a very strong block, which uses the hip and thigh to anchor the stick.

Counter to the Horleft This is a classic bambolia counter, the rematse, which is Spanish for “to rivet, drive home,” or “to hammer home.” Most Filipino styles block the horleft strike by plac-

ing the left foot forward, which some practitioners call “facing the attack.” However, GM Estalilla puts his right foot forward, which serves to anchor the stick and also provides a barrier that he can use to stop and to strip the opponent’s weapon. To execute the rematse, block with the vertical bambolia block on your right side, stopping the opponent’s stick. You will now dip the upper end of your stick, held by the left hand downward, hooking the opponent’s right wrist at the notch formed by his forearm

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and stick. Twist suddenly to your left, counterclockwise, pulling up and back with the left hand while snapping forward with the right hand. The action of your left hand and your stick jamming the junction of his hand and stick jerks the opponent’s stick forward, possibly stripping it out of his grip because the end of the stick is blocked by your forward leg, straightens out his arm and yanks him forward off balance. Simultaneously, the action of your right hand drives the end of your stick into his chest or face.

Strike #9: Horight Let us say that you fail to strip the opponent’s stick in the rematse counter to his horizontal left backhand strike. He pulls his stick through in preparation for a horight, a horizontal forehand blow delivered from his right side.

As he draws his stick through, the right end of your stick is striking with an overight butt—you are hitting with end of the stick that extends from the right hand. GM Estalilla calls this a kulata, from the Spanish culata, for a rifle butt.

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So, you held the stick with both hands palm-down, and blocked with the stick held vertically, then dipped the upper end near the left hand downward, to hook and strip the opponent’s stick. As they draw their stick back to the right, this creates a half beat, an intermediate hit, that you can deliver with the right hand’s end of the stick, which is already in motion.

Hit the opponent’s face with the right end of the stick, then continue that motion to execute a vertical bambolia block against his horight.

The right hand is up, and your left hand is down. Step forward with your left foot, and repeat the rematse, only this time, the right end of the stick dips down to hook the opponent at the juncture of his hand and stick. Rip the stick out of his grasp by suddenly twisting clockwise, yanking your right arm back and striking his back or head with a left butt.

In training the form you and your partner will typically just defend the horleft and horight strikes with vertical bambolia blocks.

Strike #10: Horleft Thrust The attacker strikes with a horleft thrust. This is a backhand thrust from the left side. Your right hand is on the left side of your body with the fingers of your fist facing upward, holding the stick with the tip forward in preparation to thrust. This thrust is somewhat awkward, so the left hand assists by pushing on the butt end to aid with the thrust. This technique is more appropriate for a blade with a thrusting tip than a blunt-ended stick.

The defender is now standing with both hands holding the stick vertical at the left side, right hand upper-most. You must be aware that a common follow up to the backhand thrust is to drop the wrist suddenly, turning the thrust into an underleft strike, so be prepared for this counter. The defender will let go of his stick with the left hand, bringing the lower left end up and then down in an arc, striking vertically in a line that will intercept the attacker’s stick even if he quickly switches to an underleft attack. This is a merging defense.

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The Essence of Kabaroan Most Filipino martial artists will associate the long stick and the Ilocano style with a long-range method called larga mano, which is Spanish for “long hand.” (This term is often corrupted to “largo mano.”) In larga mano, the practitioner stays out at long range, using his reach advantage to hit the weapon hand. The larga mano stylist is wily and elusive, always slipping just out of reach as you try to get close enough to hit him, and he is nailing you as he fades away. GM Giron was a master of this technique.

Surprisingly, GM Estalilla did not do larga mano at all. He always spoke dismissively, saying “you could do the old hit-the-hand,” as though that was a simpleton technique. The core of Kabaroan is not to move out or to stay at long range. The essence of Kabaroan is to move into the teeth of the opponent’s attack. You encroach on his space, crowding him, or in Filipino, he is gipit.

A crucial element in Kabaroan is not just a knowledge of technique, but character, having the boldness to move into an attacking opponent. Most men who fight are afraid

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of getting hurt, so they hang back, feinting, pawing, and swiping, but the Kabaroan man will charge in, not like a mad bull, but fearlessly with superior technique. Instead of clicking, clacking, and twirling sticks, the Kabaroan stylist moves to end the fight decisively.

If you go to YouTube and look up Fabrizio Filograna’s video, “Kabaroan Eskrima: The Art of the Barons,”1 you see GM Estalilla demonstrating and Guro Filiograna performing bambolia style Kabaroan. You will note that the video is not rehearsed but it shows free sparring, and Guro Filograna captures the essence of the Kabaroan method. At 1:25 in the video, he very effectively merges with his opponent’s strike.

When I first saw Irish stick fighting I was surprised by how similar it is to Estalilla Kabaroan. Irish stick fighting as taught by Sifu Glen Doyle has a similar strategy, that of hitting or blocking at long and middle range before closing in with the stick held in staff/bambolia grip to deliver punishment up close.

1 https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=2u0PfsrALe8

Strike #11: Horight Gore As you throw the horleft thrust you step forward with the left foot as the left hand now comes to grab the other end of the stick. You now stand left foot forward and hold the stick with both hands palmdown, bambolia style. Your aim is to hook and rip with the forward end of the stick near the left hand, attacking at three o’clock from your view. Maestro calls this a suag, an Ilocano term describing a

bull hooking, tearing, and thrusting with its horns.

Defending the bambolia strike is tricky. If the defender merges with the strike, parrying the end of the stick to his right, the attacker can roll with this parry and attack with an overight butt. The defender is better off staying to the attacker’s outside (i.e. toward his back) and striking the attacker’s forward left forearm.

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Strike #12: Underight Gore

Strike #14: Overight Butt

Draw the stick back and launch another goring attack, this time coming up from underneath at a four or five-o’clock angle. If the opponent blocks downward, it is easy to flow into an overight butt.

Flowing with the overight gore, step forward with the right foot and deliver an overight butt, meaning you are hitting with the butt end of the stick near your right hand at one or two o’clock.

The defender will block as he did previously, moving to the attacker’s back and striking against his lead left forearm.

Defending this is tricky. If you block the overight, the attacker can pivot the stick to deliver an underleft or overleft butt. The best counter is to merge with the overight butt with a backhand horizontal strike/ parry. For the purposes of the drill, block the overight butt with a matching overight butt while stepping back with your left foot. Open the fingers of your right hand to keep them from getting hit.

Strike #13: Overight Gore Draw the stick back and attack with another gore, this one an overhand attack coming down on the opponent’s face or clavicle at a one or two-o’clock angle. If the defender blocks upward, roll with his block and come back with an underight gore. If he parries or grabs the tip of your stick, pull down with your left hand as you throw an overight butt. The danger of bambolia strikes is how easily and quickly they flow from one into the other.

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Strike #15: Overleft Butt Step forward with your left foot as you deliver an overleft butt, hitting with the end of the stick near your left hand at 10 or 11 o’clock.

The defender blocks the overleft butt with a matching overleft butt while stepping back with his right

foot. Open the fingers of your left hand to keep them from getting smashed.

This finishes the Abridged 15 as it was taught to me, but I need to add one more strike to give you a complete overview of the system.

Strike #16: Slam You have just stepped forward with your left foot and delivered an overleft butt. Now step for-

ward with your right foot. Hold the stick horizontally with both hands palm-down. Snap and shove the stick forward, driving off of your rear left foot. Strike the opponent with the portion of the stick between your hands. I have seen this attack referred to as a bar strike. Maestro calls this a barang.

(I have added this crucial strike to the Abridged 15 form.)

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The best way to defend against the slam is to get out of range by stepping back with your left foot.

The slam is one of the most useful techniques that I learned from GM Estalilla. It is one that can also be applied with the short stick. Most Filipino martial arts and many striking arts like karate, kung-fu, Thai boxing, and so on, try to stop an opponent by striking. A problem in combat is that there is both striking power and driving power, which is best illustrated by the double leg takedown of wrestling.

When an attacker bursts in and is driving with his legs, it is difficult to stop him just by striking, especially when he is in close where it is difficult to generate powerful strikes. Imagine an American football lineman in a three-point down stance, about to blast forward and tackle you. By the time you try to hit him, he is already on top of you. You can try to hit him as you are driven to your back, but those blows are likely to be ineffective.

However, by delivering a slam, you

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can counter the tackle with driving power of your own.

If you have a stick, any opponent will instinctively try to close on you to get inside of your striking range. How do you create space, regaining the distance you need to hit him powerfully? The slam is one of the few techniques that can actually drive the opponent back.

Imagine your car breaks down and you need to get it to the garage down the street. If you try to hit the car or kick it down the street, you will not get very far. It is only by driving with your legs that you will be able to move the car. The same holds true with the opponent who is in close—you can hit and even hurt him, but that does not get him off of you, which is even more critical when there are multiple attackers.

A problem is that in the martial arts, we typically train fighting at a comfortable range. We are squared off and ready to confront each other at fighting range. In real life, though, an antagonist will

often chest bump, trying to intimidate us, and fighting may flare up at nose-to-nose range. We may be ambushed, meaning that an attacker is right on top of us before we even know there’s a fight. In these situations the slam is a valuable tool.

Middle Guard Let us start by reviewing the low guard. The stick is held in the right hand just several inches from the butt end, and the tip of the stick lies on the ground right beside your right foot, which is forward.

Your right leg is bent, and your left leg is behind you, straighter but slightly bent. Both feet are pointed forward. The left hand is held at the chest.

The Pop-Up In order to transition from low guard to middle guard, GM Estalilla performs what I call the pop-up, which snaps the stick up from the ground to just under the level of the chin. When I first saw Maestro

do this technique, I thought he was bringing the end of the stick up by bending the right wrist and pulling up the forearm. The key, though, is to draw the right elbow back. By throwing the right elbow backward, the tip of the stick automatically levers up and into your waiting left hand, which is held palm-out at chest height.

The Snap Thrust Once you catch the stick at your chest you are in middle guard. The tip of the stick should be pointed straight at the opponent’s face.

The snap thrust is another very useful technique I learned from GM Estalilla. It is a technique that can be applied with almost anything, whether a short stick or a beer bottle. Let the tip of the stick fall forward, while at the same time extending your right arm to push the stick forward. At the moment the stick is parallel to the ground and your right arm is almost fully extended, you snap the wrist downward, whipping the tip

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forward. This is completely unlike the typical Filipino martial arts thrust, which is driven by shoving the hand forward in a straight line.

GM Estalilla often begins this thrust with the stick held vertically and the butt end at the right hip.

Years ago, my friend Ryan, a fellow student of Maestro’s, was struggling to teach the concept of the snap strike to a student of ours.

Suddenly it occurred to Ryan that this student, Marc, was a carpenter, so he explained, “It’s like hit-

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ting with a hammer.” Suddenly the lights went on in Marc’s head, and he instantly grasped the concept.

You see, when you hit with a hammer, you do not power the strike all the way through—you let the weight of the hammer do the work.

The wrist is relaxed, and a snap of the wrist sends the hammer head into the nail.

This is a powerful technique. It is deceptive because it is not immediately obvious to the opponent that a thrust is coming. All the op-

ponent sees (or does not see) is a small circle the diameter of a silver dollar hurtling toward his face.

The weight of the big stick creates a powerful impact.

Once, Ryan and I were sparring in GM Estalilla’s garage during lessons. We had made padded sticks by putting foam pipe insulation over hardwood dowels. In our sparring scenario, Ryan had the long padded stick and I had the short padded stick, so I was playing the role of the short-stick stylist. Just

as I started to burst in, Ryan hit me right in the mouth with the snap thrust, which was so fast, so direct, and so non-telegraphic that I was blasted before I could do anything.

My head snapped back, my eyes teared up, and I was stopped dead in my tracks. It was game over. If I had caught a hardwood stick to the mouth, the results would have been devastating.

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Countering the Center Thrust The pop-up move can be used to parry an opponent’s center thrust.

Snap the stick up, intercepting the opponent’s thrust at a slight angle. Now follow up with the snap thrust, which comes over the top of the stick into the opponent’s chest or face.

Another counter for the center thrust begins when your stick is on the lower left side of your body.

Strike with an underleft. The bottom of your right fist and the butt of the stick are pointed upward.

The moment your stick makes

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contact with his, your wrist snaps down clockwise, which sends the tip of the stick upward. Continue with a thrust into the opponent’s midsection.

The Tightened Arc The short stick can easily be redirected 180 degrees and spun in circles, but once the big stick gets going, it is difficult to stop. One secret to controlling the big stick and being deceptive with it is to tighten the arc. The stick is still traveling in a circle, but the arc has been “tightened,” so that it travels a short path.

Recoil Strikes Once at a festival GM Estalilla’s father was spurred by the crowd to spar against another Filipino stick-fighter. Ramiro Estalilla Sr. launched a strike, which the defender tried to block but could not. Estalilla’s stick continued, striking his opponent’s eye and blinding him, which was entirely unintentional. The senior Estalilla regretted that confrontation for the rest of his life. Maestro recalls going with his father to visit the man that he had blinded. Sometimes having the “world’s deadliest

martial art” and defeating your opponent in seconds is not as good as it sounds.

The technique that GM Estalilla’s father used in that tragic encounter was the recoil strike. To execute a recoil strike, throw an overight, but draw the stick back so that the tip traces a counterclockwise spiral. For the opponent who tries to merge with your stick (in other words, he counters your overight with an overleft), your stick will circle away from him and spiral up to his eye.

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The recoil strike can be done with almost any of the strikes. From an overleft, dip the stick down, retracting it, so that the opponent’s merging defense misses (that is, he tries to defend your overleft with an overight). The tip of your stick dips under his, and you circle clockwise up into an overleft thrust to the eye. You can aid this thrust by pushing with your left hand against the butt of your stick.

The key to shortening the arc is not in the wrist or forearm, but in drawing back your shoulder.

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Shortened Strikes This tightened arc works against an opponent who tries to block.

Strike with an overight, but draw the stick back. However, the stick continues forward into a thrust to the opponent’s face. For underleft and overleft strikes, shorten the arc by drawing the shoulder back.

Once again, even though you draw the tip back, the stick continues forward, and you direct it into the opponent’s face.

GM Giron told me about a friendly sparring match he had at a public gathering, against GM Angel Cabales of Serrada Eskrima. GM Cabales wielded a short stick, while GM Giron used the long stick of the Ilocano style. GM Giron knew that Angel would try to hit his hand, so every time he threw a strike, he would draw it back just as GM Cabales attempted to hit his hand, causing the short stick to hit the middle of his long stick. By shortening and thrusting, you are able to hit the opponent on the offbeat.

The Killing Blow Of all the techniques, this one is the most essential. This is the core of Kabaroan. Suppose we start with short sticks and do singko teros, or “five strikes,” commonly used in the Ilocano style. You block the opponent’s overight with an overight, his overleft with an overleft, his underight with an underight, his underleft with an underleft of your own, and chop down at a slight angle against his center thrust. Repeat the drill, only this time you are not wielding

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a 26-inch stick, but a stick 36 inches long. You will find that every time you block you are hitting him in the head or body, even if you are not trying to.

With the short stick you generally must block the attack and then counter with an attack of your own, but the greater length of the Ilocano stick enables you to block and hit the opponent at the same time.

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Now that you are aware of this principle, repeat the drill, only this time concentrate on hitting the opponent every time you block.

Even better, do the drill again, only this time merge with his strikes.

Against the opponent’s overight, you merge by using an overleft.

The stick starts on the left side of your body in a backhand position, and GM Estalilla also pushes with his left hand against the back of the stick. So, you blend with the opponent’s attack and hit him in the back of the head.

Once, Ryan, Maestro, and I were in the grandmaster’s garage, when several of his relatives were visiting. Upon seeing Maestro demonstrate this technique one of them commented, “That is the killing blow.”

but if I aim to intercept his stick on a line that will strike his head or body, it does not matter what he does—he gets hit anyway.

Against the opponent’s overleft you merge with an overight or a high horight, hitting him in the head.

Against a horight GM Estalilla steps forward with his left leg and hits the opponent’s head, continuing downward in a straight line.

Against a horleft he steps forward with the right foot, strikes the opponent’s head, and continues straight down to block.

A related principle is one I call “cutting through.” It is important that you are not aiming for the opponent’s stick, but are striking in a line that will hit him. Suppose the opponent strikes with an overleft; if I aim for his stick, that strike could be a feint, I might miss, or he might suddenly change direction,

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REFINE THE SYSTEM

GM Estalilla always encouraged me to “refine the system,” which is to advance the art through innovation. Here are my contributions.

Fulcrum Strike One difficulty with the big stick is controlling its momentum. Throw an overight. Let the stick loop in toward your lower left, but meet the stick with the left forearm or outer bicep. Push forward, causing the arc of the stick to tighten. Redirect the stick forward in an overleft.

The Catch Throw an overight. Let it loop to your lower left, only catch the stick near the tip with your left hand so that you are now in bambolia grip.

Continue this motion to strike with an overleft butt.

Both of these techniques are good against an opponent who plans to hang back to let your strike pass by, then rush in.

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The High Guard GM Estalilla typically fights out of the low and the middle guard, with either the tip of the stick on the ground or the stick held across the chest. I believe there is another option.

Maestro explained to me how the men in his village always took machetes with them when they went out into the jungle, because snakes were a constant hazard. In the village, the machete was carried in the crook of the left arm, with the dull back of the blade against the arm and the edge facing upward.

But once you got into the jungle, you carried the machete with the dull edge on your right shoulder, cutting edge upward, prepared to chop down in an instant. Why not use this as a fighting stance?

Real Sinawali Maestro and I did practice sinawali, which comes from a Tagalog word meaning “to weave.” Typically, sinawali uses two sticks, but we did the simplest sinawali pattern, the single sinawali, using just one stick. Facing your partner, you each hit overight and the sticks clack together at twelve o’clock.

The sticks continue counterclockwise and downward in an arc, then meet with a mutual underleft at six o’clock. The sticks reverse direction, now traveling clockwise in an arc to twelve o’clock, where they meet with an overleft. The sticks continue clockwise and downward, then meet with an underight at six o’clock. Reverse course, traveling counterclockwise back up to an overight at twelve o’clock, where the sticks meet and you repeat the pattern. It may help to picture the stick starting at six o’clock and looping counterclockwise all the way around the clock to six o’clock, then reversing direction and retracing to six o’clock in the opposite direction.

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This pattern is similar to the Abridged 15 form, which strikes from underight to overight, and underleft to overleft.

Go through several repetitions of the pattern. A concept of GM Estalilla’s is that every time you block him, the momentum of his stick is halted, even if it is only for a moment. GM Estalilla uses that moment to redirect his stick. Once the sticks meet at twelve o’clock, instead of continuing in the circle, Maestro drops his stick down vertically, hitting the opponent in the head and continuing straight down to block the strike at six o’clock.

GM Estalilla also breaks the pattern when the sticks meet at six o’clock with an underleft. Instead of arcing upward, Maestro twists his wrist downward, popping the stick up, and thrusting upward into the opponent as his left hand checks the opponent’s weapon arm.

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Countering the Double-Stick Opponent I used to think that the fighter with two sticks has an advantage over the fighter with just one stick, but GM Estalilla explained to me that the sinawali stylist can only hit with one stick at a time. Sinawali practitioners also use shorter, lighter sticks. If the sinawali stylist strikes with an overight, you merge with it, moving to his outside (i.e. his back) and hitting him in the head. Game over. It is also possible to meet his overight vertically and drop the stick downward to counter his underight with the other hand. The long stick is able to shield more of the body without moving.

Why Sinawali?

Sinawali is not a Kabaroan method, because the long stick is difficult to handle two at a time, and little is gained from doing so. You can only develop full power with one big weapon, so adding a second weapon only weakens your strikes.

Once, Maestro was teaching a seminar in Hanford at Sensei Tim Evans’ school, when someone got hit in the nose while practicing sinawali. Fortunately, the injury was not serious, but double sticks take up a lot of space, and when you have double long sticks, you need even more space, which is difficult to manage in a seminar full of students.

If you are teaching complicated sinawali patterns with two sticks, then with single staffs, followed by techniques with two staffs, or a staff and a long stick, it may fill time during a seminar, but I fail to see how it advances Kabaroan.

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The Kabaroan Council In the early 90’s, Ryan and I proposed forming a Kabaroan Council, to be headed by GM Estalilla and his two top students, Master Lino Espejo and Master Ed Planas, both of whom are tremendous martial artists in their own rights, in addition to their expertise in Kabaroan. As black belt students of Maestro, Ryan and I would also have been members of the council.

The sole purpose of the proposed Kabaroan Council would be to support GM Estalilla and promote Kabaroan. The council would centralize authority in Kabaroan, verifying those who are genuinely certified. It would devise a curriculum for seminars, as well as set standards for uniforms, training, and certification. The council would catalog Kabaroan techniques so that there would be one standard.

The council was proposed before the Internet became what it is today, so the council would create a website and serve as a contact point for those interested in Kabaroan. A Facebook page would be established, and other social media would be used to promote GM Estalilla and Kabaroan. The council would publish a newsletter, and perhaps arrange a yearly get-together for those who practice the art.

Unfortunately, the Kabaroan Council never came to pass, and I believe that the system has suffered for it. I feel that I must set the record straight by documenting the core of Kabaroan as it was taught to me by the grandmaster himself.

The following is a picture of Ramiro Estalilla Sr. (in the hat and tie) taken in the southern Philippines circa the 1920s. I had the photo restored for GM Estalilla.

- Darrin Cook

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Toby Cowern @tread.lightly.14

STICKS BRANCHING OUT Toby Cowern

MANY ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE will rightly address sticks in the martial arts and self-defense context. I want to widen the scope a little and consider sticks, staves, and similar on a broader front, which I would classify more in the realm of personal safety.

I’m approaching this not only from the martial perspective but also, and extensively, from the survival instructor’s viewpoint, which I work in extensively.

In the historical record, and even in some modern-day areas, we can see sticks carried and used extensively in hunter-gatherer and herding societies. It is quite fascinating to look at the logic behind

this not only for an understanding of legacy but also to see what is still valuable and applicable in today’s living.

I’ll highlight four of the many predominant reasons why people still carry sticks. Typically, we need to think more about staff than stick as most carried are on average approaching 2 meters (6 ft) in length or more and typically 2½ cm (1 in) or more in thickness. Our four reasons are: 1. Stability 2. Investigative / Assistive tool 3. Direction indication 4. Protection

Stability

1

They are visible in the modern landscape. Canes, crutches, and variants thereof abound to assist people with varying mobility problems. The more undulating the terrain, the more use a staff becomes to everyone, whether it be in general ascending or descending of terrain, all the way through to specialized techniques in higher-risk features, such as crossing rivers, illustrated here:

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The specific environment will largely influence what size the staff is to be and its use. Of note and interest, here in the Far Northern climes, staves are used year-round, but far more heavily in the winter.

As a ski pole, historically, the Sami used just one long pole, as opposed to the more generally accepted use of two shorter ski poles.

Investigative / Assistive Tool

2

Peeking under rocks, reaching into holes, and separating dense foliage all present potential hazards in many regions due to the animal threat. Snakes, scorpions, and smaller or larger animals possibly mean that reaching and treading where you can’t see is not a good idea.

Depth-checking water or snow levels as a vital part of reading the terrain is also greatly assisted with a good staff. Even to reach those places out of arm’s length, knocking fruit from a tree, or pushing a piece of rope onto a branch to secure shelter or similar is all com-

pleted more efficiently and safely—these are two hugely important factors for constant consideration in all environments—with staff in hand.

Finally, our staff often purchases a significant mechanical advantage for various manual tasks when used as a lever, brace, or anchor.

As a stake, it can offer a supportive and stable platform, still in use today for widely varying tasks, and often seen in the employment of optics (rifles, telescopes, etc.).

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Direction Indication

3

From the humble, but practical sun compass:

To the elongation of more than just the finger—meaning the staff, in general, can be used to more accurately point out a specific direction or place to look in, minimizing the danger of misunderstanding:

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To the extremes of precise utilization for specialist tasks, as in the case of a tracking stick:

Our staff offers a vital and widely varying means of expression and communication, both historically and now.

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Protection

4

Here, we segway back to the bulk of discussion and employment of sticks in this issue.

killed with sharpened staves. No mean feat when considering all factors!

If we drift away from pure self-defense, though, where we are typically thinking of a human threat, we can see in terms of buying distance from an alternative (such as animal) threat, where a staff is a huge bonus.

There is a litany of accounts of fur trappers dispatching kills in the traps using sticks (bludgeoning) or sharpened or modified sticks as spears to penetrate vital organs or pin an animal in place to be dispatched by other means. We can even take a brief glimpse of the incredible development of the bow released from the form of a stick and the substantial progressive step that meant for our hunter ancestors . . .

Historically, many indigenous rites of passage revolved around killing a particular animal (usually an apex predator) in a certain way (typically with staff or spear). Here in the North of Scandinavia, even up to the turn of the 19th century, (brown) bears were hunted and

So, our humble stick usage always has, and ever will be, only limited by our imagination. Still, a glance into our past often offers some incredible examples to look into and spend some time learning.

- Toby Cowern

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Mark Davies @Tactical.Edge.Boss

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THE STICK: MAN'S OLDEST TOOL AND WEAPON, AND ITS USE BY THE UK SPECIAL FORCES Mark Davies

IT IS VERY LIKELY THAT THE stick was man’s first weapon. In today’s era of high-tech weaponry, many people may be surprised to learn that the humble stick still plays a role today. As a trainer within an element of the UK Special Forces (UKSF), I look in this article at the stick from the viewpoints of: a bush-craft tool, a hunting tool, an improvised weapon, and an actual baton, such as the ASP.

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UK Special Forces: A Quick Overview UKSF comprises a variety of units, both regular and reserve. One of the things that make UKSF reserve units unique is that the members must undergo the same selection process and meet the same requirements as their regular counterparts, just spaced out over a much longer period of time. UKSF reserves have a very challenging operational tempo, with members being used by the regular units, as well as being deployed on operations as units in their own right.

UKSF consists of the following units: the Army has the 22 SAS Regiment based at Credenhill, the 18 Signal Regiment which provides specialist communications support for UKSF, the Special Forces Support Group who provide specialist infantry support to UKSF operations, the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing, and the Special Forces Flight 47 Squadron, which is comprised of RAF and Army Air Corps and provides air mobility for UKSF. The newest addition to UKSF is the Special Reconnais-

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sance Regiment (SRR), which is tasked with specialist covert surveillance and reconnaissance.

There are two Reserve Regiments, with the 21 SAS recruiting from the south of England, and the 23 SAS drawing from the north of England and Scotland. The Royal Marines have the Special Boat Service, which also has a reserve unit.

The History of Combatives Training with UKSF We can start off by looking at the use of the baton as a weapon in UKSF with World War II. William Ewart Fairbairn taught the use of the baton to British special units during this time. Fairbairn advised using a stick between 18-24 inches in length and one inch in diameter. The Fairbairn method bears a great deal of similarity to the older Lamb Baton Method. It is a predominantly two-handed method, as opposed to the single-handed grip we see in the Filipino systems. The stick training Fairbairn provided to Commandos, Special Air Service (SAS), Special Operations Executive (SOE), and so on, was very much “last-ditch” com-

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batives for when the soldier’s normal weaponry is not available for whatever reason, or where killing must be performed silently, and a knife is not available. The methods that Fairbairn taught were very simple and basic. The combatives taught in World War II had to be methods that could be taught to the thickest farmer from Norfolk or Ghillie from the Scottish Highland, and they had to be capable of being taught very quickly.

Fairbairn himself enlisted in the Royal Marines when he was just 15 years and 10 months old after convincing a recruiter to falsify his age.

In 1907 he was posted to Shanghai, which at the time was a very hazardous posting, being probably the most corrupt and dangerous city in the world. Upon leaving the forces, Fairbairn joined the police force. While out on a patrol, Fairbairn was ambushed by Triad members and was left for dead, requiring months to recover. When he returned to the police force, he worked with other legends such as Anthony Sykes and Dermot O'Neill, and trained in the martial arts with a variety of nationalities

and cultures. He was also heavily influenced by the jujutsu of Jigoro Kano. Fairbairn rose through the ranks of the Shanghai Municipal Police Force, eventually becoming the head of their training and tactics development. Documents show he was personally involved in somewhere between 200 to 600 violent incidents involving a variety of armed and unarmed situations, usually involving multiple combatants. This basically provided Fairbairn with a laboratory in which to develop and fine-tune his methods.

Fairbairn and Sykes returned home to the UK at the beginning of World War II. They were tasked with training a variety of special units such as the Commandos, SOE, SAS, and the covert side of the Home Guard. The first “Special Training Centre” (STC) was at Lochailort, with a “Combined Training Centre” also based at Inverary.

Achnacarry near Spean Bridge was also activated for use as part of the training and holding wing of the STC at Lochailort, but eventually the decision was made to centralise training at Achnacarry.

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Eventually Fairbairn was sent on special orders to STS-103 “Camp X” in Canada, where he taught spies and resistance fighters. Fairbairn then moved on to the OSS “Area B” facility in Maryland, where he worked with Colonel Rex Applegate teaching combatives to elite elements of the US military. At the end of the war, Fairbairn received the “Legion of Merit” at the request of “Wild Bill” Donovan for his outstanding performance and services. After World War II, Fairbairn continued to teach his methods at the behest of various governments and agencies. He continued to teach his methods until he passed away in 1960.

Fairbairn’s methods are still relevant and used in combatives training today. Sadly, as the Cold War progressed, combatives training fell out of favour with the British military. Senior officers felt that it had no real place in the mass battles that were envisioned to take place should the Soviets roll across the continent. They saw mass tank battles and infantry being used, engaging at relatively long range.

As a result, most units ceased to practice any combatives training on an official level. Even the elite Parachute Regiment and Royal Marines practiced very little in the way of combatives. The only units

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that really still trained in these methods were the elements of the UK Special Forces. The experiences of many soldiers in the Falklands campaign should have shown senior officers that there was still a need for close-combat training, as there were many incidences of bayonet use and hand-to-hand fighting during the battles fought there, but nothing changed.

The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan ended up proving the need for combatives training, though.

The change to more urban warfare, house clearance, fighting in close confines, high-value target apprehensions, and so on, showed a greater requirement for better Close-Quarters Battle (CQB) skills. A good example of this can be found during the clearing of cave systems in Afghanistan. Members of UKSF found themselves engaging enemies at extremely close range, often in the dark, in environments where firearms were not ideal. They were using hand-tohand fighting, entrenching tools, knives, and even improvised weapons such as rocks, in their engagements. Specialist operations that involved removing high-value targets from vehicles without the use of lethal force also showed an increased need for better combatives training.

Selection and Survival Training UKSF members are trained heavily in combat survival and bushcraft.

The training regimens differ between the different units, and especially so between the regular and reserve units, but all of the recruits will do a great deal of it. After the endurance phase of selection, recruits will do a “jungle phase,” which is particularly testing for most people, as the jungle is prob-

ably about the most difficult environment to fight and survive in.

UKSF have a long history of jungle warfare, having operated heavily in Borneo and Malaya (i.e. Myanmar, Malaysia, and Singapore). During these conflicts, the regiments built up a massive amount of knowledge and expertise whilst conducting long-range patrols that would stay in the jungle for extended periods of time.

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During the jungle phase, the recruits learn how to use branches to create “A Frames” to allow them to sleep off the jungle floor. They will learn how to fashion a variety of traps for both animals and humans. Those who pass the Jungle Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTP) and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) training will move on to “employment training” and do the Army Combat Survival Instructor Course. On this course, the recruits learn Combat Survival skills that they may need whilst operating in Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols, or in a worst case scenario, where they have to use escape and evasion skills for real.

These will be tested during a very testing Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) exercise during the final phase of selection.

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During survival training, the humble stick can be found getting used in a variety of different ways. A variety of traps can be built using sticks and cordage (either brought, scavenged, or fashioned).

Here we have a couple of examples of simple traps to snare small game.

The stick can be used to fashion fire-lighting implements—probably one of the best known being the fire-bow pictured here. These age-old fire-lighting methods can be invaluable to a soldier in a real-life escape and evasion scenario.

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Weapons such as bows can be built if needed. I know some “old and bold” members who served in Malaya and Borneo who took great pleasure in building bows and hunting with bow and arrow, even learning from local indigenous tribesmen how to create poisons to make their arrows more effective.

Fishing and hunting spears can also be made, and obviously these also have an anti-personnel function if need be. All of this can be put into use during the final phase of UKSF selection which is an es-

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cape and evasion exercise. Recruits are dressed in old combat kit and great coats, and basically dumped in the middle of nowhere after being thoroughly searched for contraband. They have to navigate to certain points where they must meet “handlers” and “agents,” and evade capture by a hunter force.

The final part of the exercise is a gruelling 36-hour resistance to interrogation test.

The Modern Combative Use of the Stick My role for the last couple of decades has been the development and implementation of Close-Quarters Combat training with an element of UKSF. When we approach the use of the stick, we are really looking at it combatively from two slightly different viewpoints: from the viewpoint of improvised weapons for use in a SERE-type of scenario, and actual baton combatives using an ASP or something similar. Contrary to popular belief amongst civilians, your normal SF soldier is not a super-duper ninja warrior who is skilled in a myriad of deadly martial arts systems. Time for Close Combat training is very short due to the small number of blokes in a unit and the generally insane operational tempo found in UKSF units. UKSF reserve unit members very often find themselves as “fulltime reservists,” and can be away constantly on operations, training courses, or exercises.

Because of the constraints on time, combatives training must be simple, effective, easy to retain

and maintain, and something that many people never think about; it must consist of methods that can still be executed even when the soldier is in less-than-optimal condition and health (trust me, if you have been living on worms and tree roots after being on the run behind enemy lines for three weeks you will be in less-than-perfect nick), which eliminates quite a lot of the more athletic MMA/UFC-type of methods seen elsewhere. Bear in mind that I also have to keep what I am writing here very general, so that I do not break non-disclosure agreements or give away anything that could harm operational security.

So, let us begin with the “improvised” side of the coin. I group this down into short-stick methods (from pen to rolled-up magazine in size), baton methods (regular baton or escrima-stick-type dimensions), and staff or spear methods for longer sticks. For the short-stick methods, we base our training on reverse-grip knife technique. This suits the short stick down to the ground due to the emphasis on the “point” found in reverse-grip knife, and the actual physical methods I

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teach have been heavily influenced

by Master-at-Arms James A. Keating’s influence and his Drawpoint methodology. The basic format I use is to drill the trainees in a small core number of entries and responses against the basic lines or quadrants of attack. We are big fans of using limb destructions, as they cause pain and trauma on the first beat of an engagement, and cause some “observational or orientational bounce” that allows the combatant to press home their attack and destroy the opponent.

We work combinations of strikes on focus pads to develop speed and power, and work on a great deal of scenario training with the situations being performed in the correct “context” to maximise the trainees’ retention of the training.

Once trainees are proficient with the methods being taught, we begin adding in some of the fog of war, introducing stress, additional stimuli, noise, light, and so on. The idea here is that the soldier should be able to pick up a pen, bottle, scissors, flashlight, rolled-up magazine or newspaper (the good old Millwall brick), and be able to nat-

urally employ it as a force multiplier in combat. Keeping this type of training as close as possible to edged weapons training also helps a great deal where training time is in short supply.

When we are working on the midlength stick, we use a combination of FMA methods and the old Fairbairn methods. The reason I do both is that the Fairbairn methods do not work so well with modern collapsible batons like the ASP, but are simple and easy to learn and apply with everything from a crowbar to a short branch. The training format is similar to that described above. We drill the recruits in “actions on” against the common lines of attack, so that defence becomes second nature.

We drill striking with the weapon using pads and shields, so that the trainees learn to develop speed and power, and work on scenario training utilising the weapon against both unarmed and armed attacks. The emphasis during this training is on ending the threat as quickly as humanly possible. The final layer of icing on the cake, so

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to speak, is once again to introduce some of the “fog of war” and inoculate the trainee to working their combatives under duress.

Long stick is really a SERE-based skill. I draw heavily from bayonet training as well as from sibat and jo staff methods. A spear is a fairly easily fashioned tool that can be used for fishing, hunting, and also as a weapon that gives the holder the advantage of reach.

An obvious component of all of this training that separates it from your normal civilian training is in the training of ambush methods and the emphasis on the use of lethal force.

Our members are issued ASP-type batons when they undertake certain roles. When we are training specifically for the use of this type of baton, the emphasis is no longer on the use of lethal force. If our members are for instance performing the apprehension of a high-value target, then the baton may be used for breaching a vehicle window and aiding in the extraction of the subject through that window, and used in the vascular restraint of that subject. We train in the use of the baton using a framework that would be very familiar to anyone with a background in the Filipino arts, but we have

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stayed away from the method of training and employment used by the UK Police forces, of which I am very critical, as it very often fails due to its over-reliance on “witik” type strikes to muscles, which even a half-determined attacker will simply brush off.

So, even in an environment where soldiers have the best high-tech weapons and equipment, the humble stick and its training still has a valuable place, and will likely always continue to do so. I hope that you have enjoyed this look into the combatives training that I teach within an element of UKSF, and that within the constraints of NDAs, operational security considerations, and so on, I have managed to give you a small look inside this arena.

- Mark Davies

Marc "Crafty Dog" Denny @marc.denny1

DOG BROTHERS MARTIAL ARTS’ SEVEN RANGES AND STICK GRAPPLING

Marc Denny

Does Grappling Happen in Stick Fights WHEN OUR INSTRUCTIONAL series came out in 1993, one of the most controversial aspects was our use of BJJ-influenced grappling.

We heard things like, “You didn’t see that in the death matches in the Philippines!” or “Your grappling only happens because of your head and hand gear!”

The first assertion is in error. Grappling did happen in stick fights in the Philippines.

For example, I remember when GM Atillo of Balintawak Eskrima came to teach an evening seminar at the Inosanto Academy. One of the things GM Atillo was famous for was a fight in Cebu, which he lost to GM Cacoy Canete of Doce Pares.

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One of the first things he did was show us a copy of the rules for the fight the two had signed. One of the rules clearly stated, “No grappling.”

The question presented by this duel is both clear and obvious: if grappling does not happen in a stick fight, why the need for the rule?

The answer was this: GM Cacoy was a black belt in judo and had blended his judo with his Doce Pares Eskrima into a system he called Eskrido with the last two letters being the last two letters from the name judo. The other eskrimadors of Cebu knew of his skills in bringing judo to bear, and so, in search of a test of Balintawak Eskrima vs. Doce Pares Eskrima, it was agreed to exclude grappling from the fight.

The next thing GM Aillo did was show us a picture from the newspaper the day after the fight wherein GM Cacoy had him bent over in a reverse headlock while whacking him with the stick.

“You see! He cheated!”

In short, I think this story clearly shows that grappling can and does happen in stick fights, even at the highest levels in the Philippines.

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So, this brings us to the other major criticism in this regard of our fighting: “Your grappling only happens because of your head or hand gear! Without them, you would be defanged with ‘hand hits’ and ‘stopped shots’ to the head and face!”

Of course, in many of our fights, particularly with less experienced fighters, this is quite true!

That said, our hand gear is far lighter than many appreciate. Indeed, we now have many fighters whose gloves are leather with no padding whatsoever.

Broken hands are not rare at Dog Brothers Gatherings of the Pack®.

It should be noted that this usually does not stop the fighter from continuing.

So, why then wear them at all?

The answer is to protect the hand from being "cheese-gratered" on the opponent’s fencing mask.

Concerning the fencing masks, the first thing to note is that they are masks, not helmets. While they do diminish the impact to the head, people can and do get dropped.

Concussions do happen. As a result, people quickly learn to protect their heads.

What our gear does mean, however, is that the fighting part of the learning process can be undertaken and survived to the point where one has the genuine ability to fight without any gear at all.

Of course, this is more dangerous than would make sense for a combat-sport ritual fight, but the proof is in the pudding: One can regularly see skilled fighters in Dog Brothers fights entering into and establishing grappling as part of the fight without getting hit.

(For the record I do note that Top Dog, Salty Dog, and I were all willing to do so when the UFC approached us about being a special event between the semifinals and the finals back in the early days when its format was "Eight men enter, one man leaves." Concerned about the potential for political backlash, the UFC backed off with a gracious letter saying we were “just too extreme for the UFC": https://dogbrothers.com/ufc-letter/) Doing this has two parts—getting to the stick grapple and knowing what to do when there.

Let us look now at the first of these.

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Getting to the Stick Grapple As a fighter and a teacher, I developed what I call "the seven ranges of weapon fighting."

In the West today, most Filipino Martial Arts systems and styles teach the concept of range by breaking it down into the three ranges of largo, medio, and corto.

These are usually translated as "long-range," "mid-range," and "close range." For most teaching purposes, these three ranges suffice.

In the early days of my Dog Brothers path, I noticed that many people with highly developed skills were not showing them when they fought. Indeed, they often looked a little different from rather untrained fighters. Often this led them to doubt themselves and the art.

I began to think about this.

What I realized was that most people train in two-man drills and that the drills are principally in either medio or corto range, yet when the fight starts, it starts outside of largo and most people, beyond trying to be quicker and/or more powerful, haven’t a clue as to what to do out there or how to get to the ranges where their skills lie in composed balance. Thus, often, little or none

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of their cultivated skills show up in their fighting.

This thought was the beginning of the understanding that led to the seven ranges.

It was, and is, my great fortune to have been trained by some of the greatest FMA teachers such as Guro Dan Inosanto and others.

From them I learned to appreciate that some schools in the Philippines organize their teaching methodology around more than three ranges. For example, a cover story in Inside Kung Fu magazine in the early 1980s showed Guro Inosanto demonstrating much more than the three generic ranges.

Similarly, in my very brief but valuable training with Grandmaster Ramiro Estalilla of Kabaroan Eskrima, I have been exposed to a concept of range very different from that of the three generic ranges.

I mention these examples because I wish to make it clear that, although the Dog Brothers Martial Arts expression of seven ranges may be distinctive—and we hope, of value—there is no claim that it is the only one with more than the three basic ranges, nor is there a claim that it is better than those with three.

So, let us look at them. Two of the seven ranges lie outside of largo/medio/corto, and two lie inside. These ranges do not bump up against each other like bricks; instead, rather like the links of a chain, they overlap. Understand, too, that this is all only "a manner of talking" and should not be taken too literally. To use the JKD metaphor, once the canoe gets you across the river, you do not need to carry it on your back as you continue on your way. Fights are dynamic, and in the application, the ranges blend freely.

Stick fighting hurts.

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Snake Range As I studied and was hit by Top Dog over the years, I have come to appreciate that he has a unique way of moving before contact is made, both in stickwork and footwork, that distinguishes him from all other fighters I have seen, even ones trained in the same system as he is (Pekiti Tirsia).

Recently I have come to attribute this to his time in high school playing the sport of lacrosse. If I have my history right, lacrosse was an already well-established sport amongst the Native American Iroquois Confederacy at the time that the English first arrived in North America. In a rare moment of historical accuracy in a Hollywood film, this was acknowledged in one of the first scenes in the movie Last of the Mohicans wherein at a settlement the Native Americans can be seen with sticks with a small net/ basket at one end playing a game in the field.

The game today is played principally in the schools of the northeastern states of America, but in the last few years, it is beginning to spread further.

In its modern sport incarnation, the players wear a helmet with a mask that is something like a

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hockey helmet. There is upper body protection similar to, but decidedly less protective than, that of American football. There are elbow pads and gloves similar to those of "street hockey" (i.e. dramatically lighter than ice hockey). The game allows strong frontal checking and use of one’s stick to strike the stick of the man with the ball to knock it out of its basket. The protective gear is for the errant strikes that are a normal part of play.

Players with the ball learn to "cradle" a continuous movement of their stick to protect it from being hit—or if the stick is hit, to protect the ball from being knocked out of the basket while running/crashing through the opposing team towards the goal. Cradling is also used to fake defenders into committing too soon, thus enabling passes to teammates or shots on goal on other lines. The speed of the game at the high school, university, and now professional level needs to be seen to be truly appreciated.

My theory is that the evasive and crashing running of lacrosse done in conjunction with the cradling motions of the lacrosse stick is the origin of Top Dog’s distinctive stick movement in the range before contact is made.

The fencing masks are not helmets; KOs are possible.

Anyway, I like putting nicknames to things, and to the sinuous, flowing quality of Top Dog’s stick movement, I put the name, the snaky stick. The term has nothing to do with snake disarms. This is the Filipino Martial Arts after all, and consistent use of terminology is prohibited! Haha.

In DBMA, we define The Snake as “the skill of moving your stick to protect your hand, hide your intent, create your opening, and mask your initiation.” Although the starting point is based upon what Top Dog does, we also draw upon the movements of several other quality fighters as well. No one structure, even that of "the best," works best for everyone, and

no one structure solves all problems.

The material of the Snake range in our curriculum also includes how to analyze and solve your opponent’s structure. If you can quickly recognize your opponent’s structure and already know its underlying strengths and weaknesses, you have fewer choices to make and hence can react more rapidly and confidently.

It is also important to remember that there are times in a fight, as well as situations in the street, that one wants to avoid engagement and to keep the opponent(s) away. The development of this skill is also part of our curriculum for Snake range.

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Weapon Range Weapon range is still outside of largo. It is the range where the weapons strike each other—the shorter the weapons (e.g. pocket knives), the less relevant this range. In your basic stick fight, depending upon the dynamics, this can be a critical range in the hands of a fighter who understands it, but even then, not necessarily so.

However, when the weapons are longer, it is likely to be essential.

For example, when two men of roughly equal skill face off with staves, it is probable that the weapons will make contact with each other before anyone is hit.

Within weapon range, there are three basic sub-categories: meet the force, merge the force, and follow the force. The meaning of meet and follow are obvious enough; but then there is to merge.

My awareness on this point was triggered by Grandmaster Ramiro Estalilla, whose fascinating Kabaroan system has many longer weapons, some of which are projectile weapons.

A merge is, as we use the term in DBMA, where the force of my strike on my opponent’s weapon is approximately at an angle of 90 degrees to the line of force of his

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strike—i.e. halfway between meet and merge. The purpose of a merge is to knock your opponent’s weapon off course and disrupt his control of it to create an opening for your follow-up strike. There are even angles where the mere impact on the weapon can accomplish disarms. A scientific understanding of this range can open the door to a composed, balanced entry into the hitting ranges (largo/medio/ corto) and is very valuable.

Now let’s take a look at the ranges inside of largo/medio/corto.

Clinch/Standing/Grapple Exactly as it is named, this is where both fighters are tied up while standing. As defined in DBMA, corto can be a similar distance, although it is usually a little bit further; it has a very different dynamic. There, apart from the possibility of trapping, the fighters are not holding on to each other. Here, by definition, they are.

In Real Contact Stick Fighting, almost all entries to the clinch/ standing grapple are on the high line. To try to shoot low from the greater distance of a stick fight is to expose the top or back of one’s head to a full-force stick shot. Because of the requirements of coming in with one’s head protected,

the arm positions of the tie-up are often somewhat different from empty-hand standing grapple.

There are important differences in the dynamics as well, as anyone who has gotten cracked in the head with a punyo (butt strike), thrust in the belly, whacked in the third leg with the stick, "fang-choked" with the stick, or thrown with the stick, can attest.

Furthermore, in a stick fight, it is not uncommon for a standing grapple to open out back into the striking ranges. These differences do not change the fact that the skills of a stick-fighting standing grapple must be on top of a good base—though it may be tempting to do so as you explore what can be done with the stick, you ignore the empty-hand standing grapple game at your peril.

Greater fighting measure and different dynamics of the fight due to the weapons

Hand is a major target.

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Ground Grapple The name is self-explanatory. In the next section of this article, we will examine it more closely.

As a teacher as well as a fighter, it has been my experience that this concept of "seven ranges" is of great practical use. A fighter trained in these additional ranges and their integration will have both the skills and understanding of these ranges. He will not be baffled at how to get to where his largo-medio-corto skills apply. He will have a more composed mind and a more definite sense of mission of how to get into these ranges technically and with the composure necessary to make his opponent feel "the wrath of the rattan." Similarly, when the fight gets tied up, he has the skills and understanding to respond more fluidly and spontaneously.

The ability to integrate these ranges is key. For this, in DBMA, we have "the triangle from the third dimension." The three points of the triangle are: the weapons, the limb, and the head/body.

To apply the concept, we have three basic modalities: •

Combinations

•

Attacking Blocks

•

Occupying Strikes

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All three of these require a high level of integration of footwork and weaponry; typically, in what we call the "one for one" relationship, for each strike or block with the stick, there is also a step. For those who like to impress themselves and others with how they can blaze with a stick, this means they will have to slow down the speed of their stick to the speed of their fee and can be extremely challenging to the ego—people are confronted with the fact that they are not as good as they thought they were.

Techniques for closing tend to be on the high and mid-lines.

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The Stick Grapple Perhaps it will be of interest if I begin with a bit of history: The Dog Brothers came into being in 1988. Though this was well before the BJJ revolution, at my suggestion, grappling was allowed.

Previously, Top Dog,—the "Fighting Force" around whom we coalesced—had avoided it for fear of scaring prospective playmates away. At 6'4'' and 215 pounds with a background as a defensive end for Columbia University football and a background in lacrosse, this was a legitimate concern! However, with the “After Midnight” group at the Inosanto Academy from which the bulk of the original Dog Brothers came, we had a group that psychologically was up to it.

Our thought process was that what we did was a fight that starts with sticks, not a stick fight. It would have been artificial to rule grappling out when our experience was that it happens. As Top Dog would say, “There’s no way around it; it just does.”

However, for the next couple of years, except for Top Dog’s discovery of the fang choke, we did not have a clue as to what we were doing. Carl Franks, a student of Relson Gracie of Hawaii, had fought with

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us in 1987 and 1989 at the Inosanto Academy, and I had seen what was then the underground Gracie footage. So, when Chris Hauter (now a 5th degree under Rigan Machado) introduced me to the Machados (nephews of Carlos Gracie) in the summer of 1990, I was ready to act.

As the oldest and the smallest of the three of us at the core of the pack (Top Dog, Salty Dog, and me), it seemed to me to be a good idea.

Without telling anyone, I went off and began training with the Machados. In this pre-BJJ era, the results were as electrifying for us as the UFC was soon to be for the unarmed martial arts world. Top Dog was impressed and began with the Machados, too. (I also introduced Guro Dan Inosanto to them. He went on to become a black belt under Rigan Machado).

Salty Dog, however, was bummed.

Once on the ground, the stick can be used to hit, for leverage, and for choking, often provoking unsound reactions that a MMABJJ fighter would never otherwise do.

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In 1990, three years before the UFC, Marc began training BJJ with the Machado Brothers, principally with Rigan Machado, and brought BJJ to Dog Brothers Real Contact Stick Fighting.

There was no BJJ in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1990. So with the goal of surfing over the grappling wave coming at him, he built on his base as an instructor in Muay Thai under Ajarn Chai Sirisuite by going into krabi-krabong, the military weaponry art from which the sport of Muay Thai is derived. Building on his natural talents, he became a man against whom it was formidably challenging to close. His lead in this was to become an important strand in our fighting.

DBMA stick grappling is like a game of pinball where three balls are released at once. If you pay too much attention to one ball, you lose track of the others and down the chute they go. Similarly, in stick grappling, there are the three simultaneous games of kali, emp-

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ty hand, and stick grappling; and just like that pinball game, you can rack up some huge scores if you can keep track of all three. You can use kali to make your opponent make a jiu-jitsu mistake that you finalize with stick grappling. Conversely, you use jiu-jitsu to make him make a kali mistake. For example, if the man is in your guard and seeks to post as an initiation to a pass of your guard as he would in empty hand, play kali and just crack him in the elbow with your punyo and bring him to you, where you can play stick grappling and choke him with the stick. A stick-grappling guard can be very aggressive. It is exhilarating and a good game for an older fighter to have in his bag of tricks.

Is this FMA? I leave that for others to say, but in my humble opinion, the FMA has always integrated foreign influences—its “open architecture mindset" is an important reason why they are so good! For example, the espada y daga (sword and dagger) strand of the art was heavily influenced by the Spaniards. So, while I recognize the validity of the question, “Is it still real FMA if you bring in BJJ?” I feel that it is if you do so in a way that builds upon the core understandings of the art.

- Marc Denny

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*The following article is an edited transcription of the Stickmata Talks interview conducted

by Mahipal Lunia as part of The Immersion Foundation's Stickmata Lab (2019). To listen to the origianl interview, visit: https://soundcloud.com/theimmersionfoundation/sets/stickmata.

DOG BROTHERS MARTIAL ARTS AN INTERVIEW WITH Marc Denny

The Beginning of Dog Brothers Martial Arts I MOVED OUT TO CALIFORNIA in 1982, where I began training at the Kali Academy of Guro Inosanto and sifu Richard Bustillo, and trained for a few years with Paul Vunak. I continued my training with Guro Inosanto’s Academy and met Eric Knauss around 1985 or 1986.

I have been training in the Filipino arts because they resonated more with what I was looking for as I grew up in a dangerous time

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in New York. I remember that one time three junkies were chasing me on the elevated subway in the Bronx at three o'clock in the morning. I was looking for skillsets that were relevant to that, and Guro Inosanto’s book1 had inspired my imagination. When I met Eric, I could say that here is where I am going to really test and adrenalize my art, and be true in my path.

1 Dan Inosanto, The Filipino Martial Arts as Taught by Dan Inosanto (Know Now Publishing Company, 1980).

I wanted to know whether I knew anything. Therefore, we began doing hard sparring, and I brought Eric up to the Inosanto Academy with me. This was about 1986.

There, we formed the “After Midnight" group, doing hard sparring.

I had been Paul Vunak’s partner in Panther Productions’ 1988 Jeet Kune Do instructional videos.2 I went to Panther again, we struck a deal, and pulled together a bunch of people from the After Midnight group with a few additions: Arlan Sanford and Phil Gelinas.

We set up three consecutive days of fighting to get footage for the Panther instructional series. It was a powerful experience fighting for three days in a row. Day one, we were sparring. Day two, somewhere along the way, we stepped through the door into what I think can fairly be called fighting, and on day three, a deep end. That was around 1990, and the series came out in 1993.3

2 https://www.vunak.com/ jkd-concepts-panther-series 3 https://dogbrothersgear.com/ products/rcsf-volume-1-power

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This was around the time when the Ultimate Fighting Chanmpionship (UFC) came out. They were looking for a special event around 1994-95 to go between the semifinals and the finals and they approached us about it. In the end, they turned us down for being too extreme— we have the letter for that on our website.4 That, however, led to me having a friendly conversation with Art Davie. When the UFC abandoned the “eight men enter, one man leaves” format and went to individual fights, they needed judges.

I wound up being a judge at UFC 10. It was supposed to be held in Upstate New York. But due to legal issues, at the last minute, we were down in either Mississippi or Alabama. The night before, I was sitting at the hotel bar next to Tank Abbott. He had been suspended from fighting because he had beaten up Pat Smith, one of the fighters in UFC 9. Tank looked at me and said I was in good shape and asked if I was one of the fighters. I said, no, I am just one of the judg4 https://dogbrothers.com/ ufc-letter/

es. He asked why they made me the judge, and I said that there is a stick fighting group that I have.

And he said, “Well, ain’t got your sticks with you now.” I was very aware of that. As I got up to go, and as I was walked behind him, I remember thinking that I could hit this man three times before he would even notice it. His animal vitality was tremendous.

There are moments in life where you meet people like that. It is good to use them as a place to go in your training, when you are thinking about how, if I really had to fight someone like that, how would I go about it? There are people out there that are very dangerous, and very hard to hurt.

How and What Dog Brothers Martial Arts Can Teach First, you need to test yourself in the adrenal state. That is where understandings are revealed. The most powerful learnings in life are those that happen to us when we are adrenalized. When it is really a fight, you are in a different part of your brain than when you are typically learning something in a regular martial art class.

For example, the drills of the Filipino arts are tremendous. But if you do not have the fighter’s understanding of them, then you do not really know how to use the drills for good effect.

We did a documentary about Grandmaster Leo Giron,5 who used his art against the Japanese in World War II, that appears in the Grandfathers Speak DVD. It contains also some footage that Guro Inosanto gave us access to, where you see the first and second bolo battalion training. They were Filipinos who signed up with the American armed forces to go and help liberate the Philippines and the army was very impressed with their combat skill. The army even provided the units with machetes and bolos. Normally the army does not bend for anybody, but these guys were seen as serious.

Grandmaster Giron talked about how, in the jungle, they would have a three-point formation: one in the tip, and two to the sides.

As the Japanese came through the 5 https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=khRQcZc-jgs

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jungle at night, it was very hard to see. The Filipinos had a machete in one hand, and a pistol in the other.

They only used the pistol as a last resort, because they did not want the muzzle flash to give away their position.

You evaluated your performance: “I miscalculated this time, I actually hit the bayonet. But I cut his arm off at the triceps, and I send this guy to finish the kill.” There was a different understanding. When somebody like that is training, he does not need to bang himself up.

He is going out on a patrol: he cannot have a trigger finger that is not pulling smoothly. He cannot have his grip weakened because he got dinged up with hard sparring. You need to be intelligent when you are training with weapons.

In the case of the U.S., I think the situation was different. We did not have the fighter’s understanding.

I think where our Brothers fit in, is that we have this way of doing things that has certain unique features because it is a weaponry fight. You cannot have the values of a ring—the idea of, “I keep going until the referee pulls me off.”

There is no way that any referee on this planet can stop you from doing lasting damage, if the fighter is not restraining themselves.

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When you say “no judges, no referees, no trophies,” you do not submit yourself to the judgment of others.

You extract the meaning from the experience that others think is irrelevant. You remain responsible for your behavior in the adrenal state. This is the essence of our Brothers’ credo. The whole body does this; the greater the dichotomy, the more profound the transformation—“higher consciousness through harder contact.” You must activate your watcher and your warrior, your fighter, your adrenal state, whatever you want to call it.

That is what enables us to have no judges, no referees, no trophies.

We are not doing it to score a win for the adulation of those watching. We are witnessed by our tribe; we are not entertaining the Colosseum. It is not gladiatorial.

This is how we can do what we do.

One rule only: be friends at the end of the day. Our goal is that no one spends the night in the hospital, and that everyone leaves with the same IQ with which they came.

Only you are responsible for you.

The idea is that we are preparing each other to stand together, to defend our land, women, and children. If we go too hard on each other, break each other—our unit— when we go out to defend our land, women, and children,

we are the weaker for it. On the other hand, if we do not test ourselves hard enough, and we are soft, we are again weaker than we otherwise could be. Finding that balance, it is a very Daoist thing.

Going equal measure to activating your watcher and your doer, and to have that balance, then you can act with wisdom and morality and consciousness, should you ever have to step out of the ritual space into the space that I call “Die Less Often.”

Real Contact Stick Fighting in Today’s Society I am a big fan of Dr. Carl Jung. One of the points that he made is that, throughout the world, in different pre-modern societies, young men needed an initiation ritual where a boy does not become a man without some sort of testing. The testing must have had danger and it could not be administered by his father. It was administered by the old man of the tribe, so that the

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boy ascended to manhood within the tribe. In today’s modern world, this element tends to be missing.

We can say that gatherings of the Dog Brothers are a place for males who have that drive, who have that energy—which not all do. Going on a bit of a tangent, in the last thirty years, we have seen a thiry-percent decline in the testosterone levels of the American male. This is a worldwide phenomenon due to all the things in the environment that affect the endocrine system.

But for those men who do have that drive, and there is a question that they need to answer; there is something they need to find out.

When someone is going out to fight for the first time, they can have all kinds of mental chatter.

We have the parable of “The Cherry” for newcomers. I say to them, “do you remember the first time you had sex? Yes. So, were you any good at it? Well, truth be told, no.

Have you gotten better since that?

Yes.” With that state of mind it is possible to go out there with a learning state of mind, not with the fear of it revealing that, after all, it turns out they did not have it.

Then there are guys that just like

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to fight, and it is a good time, and an honorable way to do it without all the hierarchical stuff that goes on with most fighting.

There are four types of aggression: territory, hierarchy, reproduction, and in the case of humans, predatory criminal behavior. Most martial arts are about young male ritual hierarchical combat. With hierarchical combat within the tribe, the loser should not be lastingly damaged. That is what young males do: let us compete in boxing, kickboxing, judo, jiu-jitsu, wrestling, MMA. There are rules, and we will compete. This produces a filtering where they see how high he can go. But once he has discovered how high he can go shooting for a championship, what is the point? Life moves on.

In the Dog Brother way, you are walking as a warrior for all your days. When troubles arise, you are someone who can step forward to defend the land, women, and children. It is a lifelong thing, as the way I conceive of it. You are not filtered out when you lose, you just find somebody else to fight with.

You can keep doing it. By removing that whole hierarchical mind-

set out of it, interesting doors are opened.

In the beginning, we were an allmale group, but today there are women as well. It took us a while to find our way about that as it was a big change. Lonely Dog, Benjamin Rittiner, was our tuning fork, our North Star in this. The idea of men fighting women seemed unhealthy. He was able to articulate it in a way that I felt comfortable with and that everyone resonated with: the men would be pacing the women. Now, we have full Dogs that either choose “Bitch” or “Cat” as their moniker. That is considered a form of Dog Brother—it is equal.

The Seven Ranges of Combat Nowadays, the way most Filipino systems teach distance is through three basic ranges: largo, medio, and corto. In largo, you can hit the hand; you are looking to “defang the snake.” That is the way you fight in a weapon fight. In medio, you can hit the head or body, and if you have a single weapon, your empty hand—your checking hand, or your live hand—can hit and it can grab. In corto range, you can

hit with the butt of your weapon and you can reach the head and the body with the checking hand— i.e. both hands can reach the body.

In prior times, there were systems that had more than those three ranges. But as the art was brought to the U.S., that was too nuanced and things were simplified.

I have been around some outstanding training. One of the things that propelled us and that we brought to the Dog Brothers was a sense of doing this stuff really well, but questioning whether we could fight with it. Why do you not know? When we started fighting, why were we not seeing the training in the fighting? Why do people who are really great, when they get into the fight, become no different from some guy who was just swinging hard?

It occurred to me that a lot of the training assumes certain ranges. For example, sumbrada6 train6 A continuous flow of in-turn attacks, blocks, and counter-attacks with a stick in many styles of Filipino Martial Arts. See the interview with Mark Mikita, "Sumbrada and Cuentata" in Part 2 of the present volume, for further insights.

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ing assumes medio range, hubud7 assumes corto range, “thrust on tapping”8 assumes somewhere in between the two. Different systems have different names, but all these forms of training that isolate a range produce a very high level of skill and are very relevant, but if you lack the understanding of how to get there, you cannot get there.

The distance is much further than where, for example, a MMA fight would start. The reach of the weapon, it is a really long way you have to go before you get close.

The only person I saw who had an understanding of how to really do this was Eric, "Top Dog." His foundation was Pekiti Tirsia.9 But he also brought with him two other things, which I think are very important. One, he was a defensive end for Columbia University football. For somebody to be a defen7 A drill for trapping and countering a trap in many styles of Filipino Martial Arts.

8 A drill for stick-thrusting and countering them in Pekiti Tirsia.

9 A style of Filipino Martial Art. See the article by William McGrath for further information.

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sive end—while he was 6'4'', 215 pounds—there is a certain personality type that is comfortable with contact, which was cultivated by the football experience.

The other thing that he had was that he played lacrosse. It is a Native American game with a stick that curves at the end. They put some webbing there so it forms a basket, and there is a ball or rock that they throw around. Historically, it was a ritual way of settling disputes between tribes before the white man came. Today it is a sport played principally in the northeast in Canada. There is something very similar to a football helmet, but lighter; their shoulder pads and chest pads are similar to a football player, but lighter. There is a fair amount of contact; bumping into each other is a part of the game.

There is a defensive stick, which is six feet long, and then a shorter, one-handed stick, which is the attacking stick. They run around in a very agile manner with a lot of bumping allowed. You are also manipulating your stick with the ball in the basket at the end, and the other guy is trying to whack at it to knock the ball out of it. Play-

ers learn to be very deceptive with their stick.

What Eric had that no one else did, was that he was used to really running around with a stick in his hand and moving it. He also had the contact attitude from the football, and he had the Pekiti Tirsia training. Before contact was made, he was already very purposeful. What he did with the stick was different as well. At that point, when the rest of us were asked to do carenza,10 it was blocking and hitting, blocking and hitting, but Eric had these sinuate movements between the blocks and the hits.

None of us had that.

He had a different footwork, and that defensive-end “time-to-crashnow” attitude. He was always using his movement and his footwork, in which he was incredibly coordinated and agile for heavyweight.

He would choose the moment of contact, because you could not corner him with his movement,

10 A free-flowing form of solo practice in many styles of Filipino Martial Arts that is similar to shadow boxing.

but he could choose when to impose contact with you. He dominated the crash in motion.

What he was really good at was roof-block to a five,11 something Pekiti Tirsia developed very well.

With most people, you see a basic caveman strike (strong forehand strike over the shoulder) win the fight. In an adrenalized state, the human animal will do this “mango smash” with a stick. Look at videos of riots, news clips of humans having clubs in their hand— it is that strike 95 percent of the time. For Eric, that was telling him where you are, and it did not matter how hard you swung, because he understood the roof-block. He went there, and thrust in the belly, which made you bend over, and then he grabbed you by the head and threw you to the ground.

So, the first distance is controlling the moment of contact. If there is a stick, I call this snake range. Then there is weapon range, where bubbles collide, sticks picking it up.

11 Blocking your upper left quadrant followed by an upward thrust with your stick.

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Then the empty hand comes in in the medio range. There is the punyo (butt of the stick) to the head on the way to grabbing the head.

There is the corto range, and now there is a clinch, something past corto range. Then it would go to the ground.

As Eric is teaching, he is just standing there. But when he was fighting, he was moving through the ranges. It occurred to me that the key was the integration of the ranges. But in order to do that, I have to slow down my stick to the speed of my feet; the speed of the fight is the speed of the feet. Somebody can go really fast and strong and you can foil all that by moving away from the range. It is the interaction, the integration of the weapon movement with the footwork that is the speed of the fight.

If you are playing this game, you know that you want to be getting into the closer ranges. If you want to move out in the outer ranges, that is a separate game. There you are playing the largo game, which can be valid. This is how I got to the theory of seven ranges.

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Stick Grappling I first saw the Gracie footage around 1986. It was a copy of a copy of a copy of this underground footage. We were already allowing grappling in our fighting, but we did not know what we were doing. Chris Haueter introduced me to that and I needed to make that part of what I could do. Chris introduced me to the Machado brothers and I started with them in the summer of 1990.

The Machado brothers revolutionized martial arts for a lot of people, and certainly for me. Arlan had normally just kind of bullied me around the field. Punong Edgar Sulite had given me the stick strategy for his game. His structure is brilliant, so simple, so insightful. Edgar told me to keep my hands higher. Before, Arlan had me trying to figure out whether to go up or down. Punong guro said I could just keep my hand higher and with that, the grappling range was achievable. When Arlan grabbed me by the head, as he used to do, and threw me to the ground, as he used to do, now I knew that was an error, because now I was on

my back. In that way things turned around. One of the things along the way that I am proud of is that I brought Brazilian jiu-jitsu to Dog Brothers fighting.

It is very different from MMA, though. It is like playing a game of pinball, where you got three balls bouncing around all at once. You got the empty-handed striking, you got the grappling, and you got everything that is with the stick, either in the grappling or in the striking context. Someone in their guard, they would never extend their arms. But if you are working with the staff with abanicos (fanning-like strikes), which everyone thought do not work at all, they are really relevant at stick grappling range. You can make them reach out and give you that triangle, give you that armbar. It changes things.

The whole jiu-jitsu thing was a very good experience for me and my fighting. I only went as far as brown belt, because of my interest in things Dog Brother and then with what I call “Die Less Often.”

I just did not have the energy for that much mat-time plus the other things that I was doing.

I think I did my best fighting as a double-stick fighter. I was not bad with a staff, either. I showed Benji “Lonely Dog” the staff and he has developed a lot of very good things.

But the double-stick opened a lot of doors for me.

Elements of Dog Brother Training Dog Brother Martial Arts started out as being about Real Contact Stick Fighting. That term was our way of contrasting ourselves with the tournament Filipino Martial Arts, which was using the term full contact. My original mission was to “walk as a warrior for all my days,” and to solve problems like I had had earlier in my life—i.e. the street crime in New York and in other dangerous places.

For example, in the late 1970s I had just graduated from college, and I had an open semester before going to law school. A friend of mine and I spent a semester in the Mexican University improving my Spanish.

When the semester was over we were traveling down in southern Mexico and Guatemala in my old beat-up car. We picked up these two American girls who were kind of clueless, wandering around.

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We were walking with the girls, both of whom were blonde, wearing shorts, braless, sort of like hippies. That meant prostitute in the local criteria. Four locals had been drinking and decided there were four them and only two of us and therefore the girls were going to go with them. There was a big fight that wound up in front of the police station, where the only policeman on duty ran away. I intimidated the men to back off with my belt buckle, because it was like brass knuckles, and so they ran off saying, “Let us go to the car and get a pistol.”

We ran to the town square and said to the cop there that these guys are after us and they got a gun. When these guys showed up, he thought they had a gun, and he only had a screwdriver because he was a transit cop. So, he ran away and we barricaded ourselves in the police station, which was about the size of my office. The locals were trying to bang down the front door when the cop came back and I opened the door. He pushed the locals aside to clear the doorway, and we were going out the back window as the police arrived in force. We got thrown into state prison for three days. There is also an adventure there.

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This is the kind of stuff that propelled me and what I was looking for in martial arts. I remember there were these four guys. They got car antennas and coke bottles.

All I got was the belt buckle. I got my buddy who did not know jack diddly about fighting. How does this go?

I kept this in my mind as I had a dream realized. The Filipino Martial Arts promised that the empty hands were like the movements of the weapon. But why are we not seeing that? There was a big heated debate on the internet: Filipino

Martial Art melodrama soap opera. People said that FMA was too deadly. The MMA guy in this particular group was saying that it is just because you cannot do it and that it does not work.

like them athletically, not even if I were younger. I started doing the things, and sometimes they worked. Here, I started developing my approach, and that was the origin of Kali Tudo.

A year or two after I retired from fighting in 2000, I was invited to the Raw Gym, which was a very strong MMA gym at that time.

They had several first-rate fighters—and then there was me, at that point in my early 50s. But Rico found me intriguing and they adapted their physicality to mine.

I had nothing to offer to people

I think the reason that I was doing it and other people were not was that I have a willingness to go different ways. Most people have not tested their Filipino Martial Arts skills in the adrenal state. At that point most Dog Brothers were fighting with a single stick. I think that was also another area where I had influence as I brought some science to the double-stick, and showed what could be done with them.

Double-stick opened my understanding of the triangular footwork. If you are fighting single-stick, it is hard to find the triangles as most people want to keep the weapon side forward. As a right-hander with my right foot forward, I could only do triangles that start and finish with the right side forward. But if I have a stick in each hand, I have four times as many triangles: start right, finish right; start right, finish left; start left, finish left; start left, finish right.

It is hard to integrate single-stick movement into empty hand, but

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it is easier when it is double-stick.

That is why I think it occurred to me to do it, where it had not occurred to other people. It gives a small but distinct and highly important advantage in real-world situations—what I call “Die Less Often”.

The humor and the meaning of the name are clear. If you are in that kind of a situation, sooner or later, it will not end up well. This is the reason we try to live in a way where we do not wind up there.

But if we are there, if you only have one idiom of movement, your reaction time is shorter. You do not have time to identify, and then download separate empty-hand or knife idioms of movement. You may not have the time to discern whether there is a knife. You may be caught off guard, or ambushed.

If you only simply have one idiom of movement, regardless of what the weapon is, something happens.

There are some things I have been working on for the “Die Less Often.” For me, it started out of a conversation that Peyton Quinn and I had with Don Pentecost. Payton was the author of the Bouncer’s

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Guide to Barroom Brawling and one of the key people in the founding of the reality-based self-defense movement.12 He developed, with a handful of other people, what is today known as the Redman bullet suit and that concept of training.

Payton invited me to watch what he was doing. There is this big burly guy next to me. It was the final training exercise where the people who had trained for a week were going through their big test against the bullet man. He was watching all this and goes, “I get it—hese people are the victims.” I thought that is not the kind of answer I had expected. I introduced myself. He introduced himself as Don, Don Pentecost.

I realized I was talking to the author of Put ‘Em Down, Take ‘Em Out!: Fighting Techniques from Folsom Prison,13 which is an under12 Peyton Quinn, Bouncer’s Guide to Barroom Brawling: Dealing with the Sucker Puncher, Streetfighter, and Ambusher (Paladin Press, 1990).

13 Don Pentecost, Put ‘Em Down, Take ‘Em Out!: Knife Fighting Techniques from Folsom Prison (Allegro Editions, 2016).

ground classic, like a little booklet. Don had been in prison, and had strong opinions about martial arts—basically that it was toilet paper, and that this is how you really do it.

We sat down for a cup of coffee for a couple of hours. The conversation got deeper and deeper. At one point, I asked what technique he used. You do not start a conversation with somebody like that with a question like this, but it got to the point where I could ask him that. The essence of his answer was that there is no technique: you steel yourself up, you pump them until he is dead, and then you bind your wounds.

That was a moment of satori for me, because I realized I had nothing for that. I had outstanding training, but I lacked a certain understanding. What was it that I was missing? I went to set myself to solving that and out of that came my development and the “dog catcher.” It is not just the hand position, but it is also the footwork and the framing: how do you set it up to narrow your choice reaction

time? Then you start getting into the theory of the fence.

The way I like to go about things is primal probabilities. First, if we are stick fighting, can you deal with “mango smash” or a caveman with a backhand strike. Can you handle that? That is what you are going to see first. If you cannot get past that, all the skill in the world does not matter. Once you can handle that, now you start finding where you can express skill at the higher levels.

When it came to anti-knife, the threat was not going to be a guy from a sophisticated Filipino knife system. It was going to be thugtype, prison-sewing-machine attacker. My friend Dogzilla, a federal corrections officer, has been a great help to me. He leads the special events team; these are the guys who have to drag somebody out of a cell and work as a team when there is a riot. For him, kali is what gets him through the room when a riot goes down with a room full of men who are looking to grab, rape, and/or kill him—and not necessarily in that order.

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Dogzilla would come to the class with questions like, “Marc, how would you deal with a guy who is 5’10'', 240 pounds, and really muscular—e is naked and covered with soap, and he has a razor blade taped up in his teeth, and he wants to bear-hug you and rip up your throat?” I would ask him, “What happened at work today?” He does not think of himself that way, but Mike is a deep guy. Having people like that to help me understand certain things has been very important in the development of the “Die Less Often” material.

Kali Tudo Tudo in the name is a reference to Brazilian vale tudo, meaning “anything goes.” The original vale tudo rules of the UFC allowed headbutts, punches to the groin, and stomping on somebody who was on the ground. People who put themselves on the line in that kind of context produce “Darwinian” results: things that do not work do not last.

At the same time, there are certain core assumptions in that mindset: it remains a male hierarchical fight,

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and that is not the essence of Dog Brothers Martial Arts—at least not as I could conceive of it. When the UFC first came out, Royce Gracie was kicking everyone’s butt and the strikers were looking very bad and clueless. A lot of male ego was being hurt there and people said things like, “Well, I would not let them grab me, I would just stick and move,” or, “You would not be like that in a street fight against more than one person.” Rorien, Royce’s brother, had a column in Black Belt magazine back when martial art magazines mattered, before the internet. He had a column where he stated that, “You cannot fight one person. What are you worried about more than one?”

But there is an answer and it is this: we got weapons. That is how you fight more than one person.

Rorien’s answer was, to me, in the mindset of the male-ritual-fight. It is a total fight, it is a real fight, and anyone who can fight that way is going to be a serious player in any kind of real fighting—absolutely.

But it is also going to leave gaps in the game. It is going to create

things where an inferior fighter who just has a knife can win.

In the first Die Less Often DVD we were doing force-on-force training.14 Gabe Suarez taught a certain kind of a draw and other things about the gun in close quarters where there is a fight in order to get to the gun. That is where I came in and showed some anti-nesta, and there is the beginning of the “dog catcher” coming out in public.

There was this black belt over at Higgins school, wearing a “Tap or nap” t-shirt. He came up to me, watching the force-on-force training. He says, “Could you just do a double leg takedown?” “Let us find out.” I got the permission to use the footage: he got the double leg takedown—but he also got stabbed several times. In reality, he would have died. He was so confident in his ability; you will do in the adrenal state what you have tested in the adrenal state.

It is important to have that MMA vale tudo. As we are looking for reality, it is not MMA, it is not NHB,

it is vale tudo that we are blending with the kali—hence the punny name. That is where we adrenalize our skills, thinking about things that are no longer allowed by the MMA rules. Simple example is the guard position: in vale tudo, the guy inside the guard is going to use his legs to drive a humongous headbutt to the chin. That is not allowed in the UFC, so the way people play guard now can get knocked out like that—all those wonderful guard games get done-in in a flash.

What we are looking to do is to have our adrenal experience be one that keeps us as conscious as possible of the potential realities of street fighting. Passing the guard and getting the side control: great thing in MMA, but in the street with multiple players, not so much. If he bear-hugs you in MMA, that is a stupid move. You are going to trap his arm and get a shoulder lock, or an armbar. On the street you cannot get up, as his friends run up and kick you in the head, because he has got you hugged.

14 https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=XXBRXK1DG1Q

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We have a bias against certain positions. We want to install throwdown over takedown. We want to install tactics and strategy for defending your bubble. We do not have to close to win the fight; often the win in the real world is just keeping people off of you. One person and more than one person are different in the way of thinking.

WalkingLlike a Warrior for All Our Days in Today’s Society There are many ways to articulate the principle, and I do not want my way of looking at it to be the only way. Someone else might have a different way of getting to the same result. I do not want them to feel they have to articulate it my way. When I first read Guro Inosanto’s book, it really inspired me to see how the old men were capable, even in their senior years. I saw footage of Nano Accosta moving at 89. You are that at that age. There you have a great master.

Even more moving are stories that do not concern a great martial arts master. I have a newspaper clipping from many years ago where an 80-year-old Filipino of 125 pounds and his wife of 50 years came home to find a teenage burglar in the apartment. There is this old Filipi-

542 | The Book of the Stick

no guy who just happened to have a pipe behind his front door. He picked it up and whacked the kid with the pipe, put a hold on him with it, and held him until the police came in.

At 80 years old, he truly was a “warrior for all his days.” In the picture with the article was an outside staircase. He is standing there very proudly with his pipe resting on handrail of the stairs, and his wife is next to him. Very proudly, her hand is resting on his shoulder.

To goal is to walk through life like that, even when you are old. That is something that I aspire to.

When I teach people, I teach all levels and I work with everybody.

Some guys want to get themselves to where they can fight someone.

Some are already fighting; they want to become a better fighter. Some like the practical side of things. I will start with injecting the kali. Someone who is doing MMA is looking for some slick stuff that they can use that people will not see coming. I can help you.

For someone who is more of the “walk as a warrior for all your days” kind, we are integrating how we use sticks, clubs, and impact devices, weapons of various sorts,

improvised or purposeful, in a reality-based scenario, in a “Die Less Often" context. Where do knives fit in with that? Where do guns fit in that?

There is also a military facet. When I was in Jordan, we were working on the integration of gun and knife. That is a less common skillset for civilian purposes. All of these things are interesting. Why are you here? How may I help you?

It is a different path, but I like it.

Leaving a Legacy I have given thirty years to the Dog Brothers. My title within the Dog Brothers is the “guiding force.”

Eric was the fighting force around whom we coalesced. Arlan was the silent force; he did not talk much, but he was very much part of the founding. I have kind of been the Johnny Appleseed of it, apart from my fighting. When Eric and Arlan were gone, I was the flagship fighter for a number of years.

There are all the people that I have trained who are now Dog Brothers, the people I have trained to become teachers in their own right.

Benjamin has done a wonderful job and got established in Europe—he is outstanding. In Canada there is Sled Dog, an original Dog Brother,

who is the natural guiding force there.

This past year, we have been getting things in order with the American clan. Mark O’Dell, “Fu Dog,” is going to step up to my position on the council of elders representing the American tribe, and I am just going to be the guiding force.

The council of elders also includes Dogzilla, just because he is wise.

My idea is that less and less attention is required from me. It is now time for other people to be handling things that I used to handle.

I want this to outlive me.

A tribe has been born. I think it is a very special tribe. It is something of deep meaning to those of us in it. It is something hard to express, but it is very powerful. There is Dog Brothers Martial Arts. I am proud of the people that I have brought along to the guro level. There is also the work with law enforcement and the military. I have had people tell me that I have made a difference. That is something. Our country is in challenging times and there are some dangerous places requiring dangerous men, and if I have been of help to them, that too has great meaning to me. Yet, the adventure continues.

- Marc Denny

DOG BROTHERS MARTIAL ARTS

· Marc Denny | 543