OT: for local Walking Stick fans

ddean

ddean

Joined
Mar 26, 2002
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The "Walking Stick" Method of Self Defense, 1923
http://www.the-exiles.org/manual/lang/lang.htm
"This manual was written in 1923 and purports to a method of self defense that does not require previous training and can be practised by men, women and children."

"This manual has a long and convoluted story as to how it got here, it was originally found by Mr. Ralph Grasso and was passed to Joseph P. Sullivan who then passed on the manual to the most excellent Kirk Lawson, thanks to the generosity of all of these people it is currently available for download in a pdf format. We hope soon to be able to also present this as a html document to enable viewing on line. "

Haven't looked at it myself, but wanted to pass on the link while I had it on-screen.
Interesting source having a good library of materials:
http://www.the-exiles.org/
"The Exiles is a company of Western Martial Artists concentrating on the hand-to-hand fighting techniques of Western Europe during the medieval and early renaissance periods. We are .................."
 
:D using a walking stick for self defense...wow thats new does it work against people who aint afraid of bugs,how about junebug kung fu...he he he
 
Thanks Dean!!!!:D
If I ever get to where I can stay awake long enough to read much of anything I will check it out as well.
Sounds really interesting.:) I hope there's not much exercise to do because I can't even begin to do the exercises, let alone the real work on the videos, I got along with my Combat Cane.:rolleyes: :( ;)
 
DOH, hits self upside the head, head getting sore from so much of it lately.:rolleyes: :( :)
The point I was gonna make is that my walking stick that's also a Flute, made from real Oklahoma River Cane, and covered with rattlesnake skin and has about a 2" ball glued at the mouthpiece end should make a formidable striking stick if need be.
I've been thinking I need to glue a solid piece into the bottom end for added strength as all that covers it is a standard cane tip.
Which reminds me, I need to replace it again. The last one has really been good. My Brother Flynn gave it to me and I put it on down at his place in Tuscon just a tad over 2 years ago!!!!:D
Wish they all lasted like that!!!!
It's a black one that has a steel washer embedded in the rubber underneath the tip itself.
I haven't been able to find any like it.
And if you don't think you need a cane tip just try walking on slick hard floors such as terazzo!!!!:p
 
Flutemaker - If you ever have the occcasion to go against an old man with a cane, be sure to have protection for your knees, elbows, collarbones and cojones. If he has worked with it, he can break any of them in less than a second. Cane fighting isn't new. It is as old as sticks and hands.
 
Seconded Walosi's post. staff and stick is fought all over the world for milenia. The Irish, the Normans, Africans, English, Filipinos, Japanese, Chinese, Polynesians, (can't continue this exhausetive list--too long!). Even sticks fer throwing, which is the forerunner to the boomerang.

Keith
 
Thanks for the link, ddean, and for including the link to the Exiles. I really want to know when the manual is available in HTML as I find the PDF format tedious to work with.

I've carried a walking stick or cane for years, tho' I don't need one yet, when traveling, going into deserted wilderness areas or a questionable area of the city. With frequent threads concerning the legality of carrying knives in different countries, I always feel a bit of comfort in the fact that I don't know of a single country where you can be arrested for carrying a cane (tho' there may be one somewhere).

Most people have no conception of how effective, even lethal, a properly used stick can be for self defense. I love knives, but in a dicy situation, especially involving more than one potential assailant, give me a good stick any time. You remember what Clint Eastwood said in one of his older westerns (Pale Rider, I think), after thoroughly thrashing 3 or 4 (5?) bad guys, "Nothin' like a good piece of hickory". :p
 
Yep, sticks rule. They, like stones, are often overlooked by the authorities, and almost always at hand.

After spending decades throwing things, I think that the stone is the all around best hand-cast projectile:
Cheap
Plentiful
Mass weapon
Needs no manufacture
doubles as a club
Easy to use and perfect
Other hand cast objects that are bladed or point ussually need to hit with the blade, due to the lighter mass. A Pool ball though is gonna do damage based on its mass. (Certain tribes in the rain forest still hunt with hand thrown rocks, which have a ribbed edge to them--will incapacitate/stun large game with an accurate throw, kill small to medium game).

Add the stick to the kit, and yer ready to travel, (the stick having trillions of uses (walking, testing ground or water levels, as a crutch, weapon, splint, lever/prying/lifting tool , fishing rod, carry assist tool, ladder, and so on).

Add a knife and a rope and you can do just about anything.

So, Sticks-n-stones might break bones, but the price will never hurt thee.


OT now, i know. I wuz a ramblin'
 
....are a little vague as to the actual origins of stick fighting, but one theory says it was the afternoon of the day in whch Ogg and Glurg discovered you could get girls with them. The morning was taken up with other pursuits :rolleyes:
 
A Pool ball though is gonna do damage based on its mass. [/B]
Click to expand...

You may have seen one of the Steven Segal movies, in which, during a bar room brawl (all of them against him, of course) he picked up a pool ball, put it in a bar towel, gave it a few twists and, Voila. Gives a whole new meaning to the old bar of soap in a sock trick.

Here are a few links that some of you may find interesting, if you don't already have them:


http://ejmas.com/jnc/jncart_barton-wright_0200.htm
http://www.quarterstaff.org/about.html
http://ahfaa.org/wsfftimeline.htm
http://www.canemasters.com/products3.htm
http://www.getacane.com/wood.htm
http://www.sticks.org/stickmakers.htm
http://walking.about.com/library/weekly/aa021598.htm
 
I forgot this really cool one on Irish stick fighting:
http://users.telerama.com/~ysidro/batafaq.html#Gen

Here's an excerpt from their FAQ:

"Q: What's this list all about?

This list is devoted solely to the study of Irish martial traditions, focusing on the Faction Fighting and cudgel play of the 19th Century. Irish wrestling and Boxing traditions are also among the welcome topics."
 
Originally posted by ichor ............. Clint Eastwood said in one of his older westerns (Pale Rider, I think), after thoroughly thrashing 3 or 4 (5?) bad guys, "Nothin' like a good piece of hickory". :p
Click to expand...
Let's see........movies & sticks.........
maybe late 60's, sheriff with a bat size stick?
Buffurd T Pusser, if I recall correctly?
Bet there was a quote from that movie too.

And, did Billy Jack character ever use a stick?
I just remember his kicks.
 
Originally posted by ddean
Let's see........movies & sticks.........
maybe late 60's, sheriff with a bat size stick?
Buffurd T Pusser, if I recall correctly?
Bet there was a quote from that movie too.

And, did Billy Jack character ever use a stick?
I just remember his kicks.
Click to expand...

Walking Tall 1&2. I don't recall if Billy Jack ever used a stick but in one of the movies (the second one, I think) he was hit with one, right in the forehead (wooden sword. boken?).
 
Pool ball in a nasty stinky sock, if the ball the get im the smell will.:D :p :barf:

Though as far as sticks go, you can keep the hickory, Ill bring my kamagong sticks.:D :eek:
 
Originally posted by Federico
Though as far as sticks go, you can keep the hickory, Ill bring my kamagong sticks.:D :eek:
Click to expand...

Will do.:D
But I may change my mind.....;)
What is Kamagong? Is it a species of wood and if so can/will you elevate our knowledge of it?:D

My walking stick made from the Oklahoma River Cane that is also a Flute isn't all that strong as a weapon as is, But wrapped and glued with some kind of skin, or thread it becomes much, much stronger and is quite hard to bust.
Being incredibly light it has the advantage of being outrageously fast!!!!
It probably wouldn't go well stick to stick, but most other folks carrying a walking stick or cane usually carry them to help them get around and not as a primary weapon.
That designation belongs to the knife somewhere about my person. Most people who get cut unexpectedly don't want anymore and usually try to escape as quickly as possible, even someone intent on possible harm or robbery as they're generally cowards and not desperate people anyway, such as their intended victim.
I know I would be desperate and especially if my Barbie was involved!!!!:eek: :grumpy:
 
Yvsa kamagong is just the filipino word for Macassar Ebony. The official national wood of the Philippines. Once saw a nice real fancy article, describing how they select and harvest the stuff, including how they had to girdle the tree for a couple of years, but fir some stupid reason never saved it. Anyways there's something about a nice and dense kamagong stick, that says bone aint a match.:eek: Though I dunno how well it work fer flute purposes, and the prices for raw kamagong here in the US is plain ridiculous.:(
 
Originally posted by Federico
Though I dunno how well it work fer flute purposes, and the prices for raw kamagong here in the US is plain ridiculous.:(
Click to expand...

Thanks Fed!!!!:D
I have played some Flutes made from exotic hardwoods, Bubinga and Purple Heart, and they sounded beautiful.:eek: as "eek" in a good way.;)
It's my dream someday to make myself a Flute from Mpingo or African Blackwood like the Absolute Best Clarinets are made from, but I don't know if I will ever find a piece suitable or reasonable in price enough to do so. You can read about it here.
But a man needs at least one dream in his lifetime that's really difficult to attain, ainnit?;)
The possible problem I foresee is finding a piece of Mpingo wood that hasn't already been cut for another instrument as an ndn Flute is usually made from one piece of wood drilled almost through or a piece of wood that's been split and then had the air chambers either routed or hand carved out and then glued back together.
I can see a way to make one from multiple pieces of wood, but it would mean a really good wood lathe would have to be at hand.:(

Trying to make a walking stick/Flute from a solid piece of wood, have to be split, would be a daunting task, but it could be done.:D
Strength requirements would definitely mean a strong hardwood would be needed as the grain of even hardwoods is a lot different from River Cane and/or Bamboo!!!!
Hmmmm, perhaps, just perhaps a good excuse to find a really nice piece of Sycamore.:D
Sycamore isn't really a hardwood as such, but has a grain that doesn't really have concise concentric lines like other woods have and so is really dayumed tough!!!!
And Beautiful as well!!!!:D

Hmmmm, raises another question..... Which would be the best khuk for roughing off the outside after carving the sound chambers and glueing it back together?
Perhaps Multiple Khuks, yea, that's it!!!! Multiple Khuks!!!!:D
 
Hi Gang: Haven't posted for a good spell but the antennae went up at the walking stick topic.
About five years ago, an older (yeah, even older than I am) Maine Guide brought me a couple of maple sticks he'd 'harvested' from an old forest fire burn up on the Canadian border. These had grown up and out of protected places under rocks and such, with a natural 'curl'. A solid 1-1/4"_1-1/2" maple shaft with 17-19 years or so of very fine un-compromised growth rings is a very strong stick indeed. Peeled and stained, and with a bit of finish, they make stout handsome walking sticks. Since I've got a condition where a stick is a welcome adjunct for any walk, I welcomed my pal's gift. He's been constantly on the lookout for them for me since, and I have a fine assortment of 18 now, plus I've given away a half dozen as gifts. I've branched out into apple and oak a few times, too. Each stick has its own unique character, with many of the handle (root) areas suggesting animal forms.
No 'manufactured' stick, cut with saw and lathe, can come close to the natural strength and heft of 38 ins. of natural Maine hardwood with all the growth rings uncompromised and intact.
With respect to defensive use: two brief stories: Bangor International Airport (yeah, sounds funny to me, too) has a very strict security staff. Especially since 9-11, when one of the hijacker/terrorist groups was spotted there. I've been eyed, stopped, and given goings-over, but never have they questioned my stick. (I'm carefully not to carry one with any metal in it, at times like that.)
Now picture this: crowded bus in San Francisco. Three 'yung studs' board, and start making loud and distasteful nuisances of themselves. I just rapped the stick hard on the floor of the bus, twice, and gave them a significant eyeball, and they suddenly found a degree of gentility. If they hadn't, I have confidence that I could have made things unpleasant for them. For a good basic technique of the stick, which I've used for a very long time going back to my military service in the 60's, I recommend the stick fighting section of 'Cold Steel' by John Styers. My copy of this book is an original from Leatherneck Publishing, but I have seen a reprint offered in many places, and Amazon must have it.
 
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