Staff Fighting Technique

The name "quarterstaff" is first attested in the mid-16th century. The "quarter" probably refers to the means of production, the staff being made from hardwood of a tree split or sawn into quarters (as opposed to a staff of lower quality made from a tree branch).[3]

Staff Fighting Techniques Gw 2

One of the best ways to sharpen and improve your stick fighting skills and techniques is through regular sparring exercises also called "stick sparring." To accomplish this you will need a skilled and trustworthy training partner, lightweight rattan sticks and lots of protective gear. You will also need a room that will allow the both of you to move around freely without running into windows, doors or other objects.

What follows is a list of stick fighting techniques from my book, 1001 street fighting secrets. It is my hope that you can employ these techniques to improve your odds of winning a fight. When you are done reading these guidelines, you might want to also look at my street stick fighting DVD.

Sticks and staves of various sizes are common weapons in Asian martial arts, in which they vary in design, size, weight, materials and methodology, and are often used interchangeably and alongside open-hand techniques. For example, eskrima or arnis of the Philippines uses sticks traditionally crafted from rattan or from butterfruit tree and may be wielded singly or as a pair.

The French system of la canne is still practiced as a competitive sport. A self-defense adaptation of la canne developed by Swiss master-at-arms Pierre Vigny in the early 1900s has been revived as part of the curriculum of bartitsu.[1]

Staff Fighting Techniques

George Silver, an English fencer who wrote two books (1599, 1605) including lengthy sections on staff fighting does not use the term "quarterstaff", but instead calls it a "short staff" (as opposed to the "long staff"). Joseph Swetnam, writing in 1615, distinguishes between the "quarterstaff" of 7 or 8 feet (2.1 or 2.4 m) in length and the "long staff" of 12 feet (3.7 m).[5]

A modified version of quarterstaff fencing, employing bamboo or ash staves and protective equipment adapted from fencing, boxing, and cricket was revived as a sport in some London fencing schools and at the Aldershot Military Training School during the later 19th century. Works on this style were published by Thomas McCarthy and by Allanson-Winn and Phillips-Wolley.

USE DIFFERENT TYPES OF FIGHTING STICKS If you want to improve your overall stick combat skills, its important to have your and your training partner practice with a wide range of sticks.  If your finances permit you, workout with: long sticks, short sticks, light sticks, heavy sticks, balanced sticks, unbalanced sticks,cumbersome sticks, makeshift sticks, wooden sticks, and metal sticks.

The position with one hand held at the quarter and the other at the middle of the staff is not found in these early modern manuals, but it is described in the quarterstaff manuals published in the late 19th century, e.g. McCarthy (1883): "both hands should be 2 feet 6 inches [76 cm] apart, and the same distance from each end".