Stick fighting
Tue, Mar 16, 3:06 PM (17 hours ago)
Hey, James,
A friend and I want to start a stick fighting club. How do we go about doing this? Gear/drills/sparring?
Tue, Mar 16, 3:48 PM (17 hours ago)
Should I just get this book and follow it?
Sincerely,
Baruch
Finally—after ten years we get this question!
Thanks Baruch.
Bro, after going to that Russian gym in IsrŠ°el and being punched in the face by those monster Russian heavyweights, stick-fighting is going to be so much fun!
Being a Bad Man in a Worse world is a good book but focuses on stick in only a fifth of it.
For technique and method you want Twerps, Goons Meat Shields.
Here at the site we have a free download that was also written as a start-up guide and a review of our evolution in Modern Agonistics.
Modern Agonistics
A Fighter's View of Experimental Archeology
2011
Available for free download at the Modern Agonistics page accessed via the tab at the top of this article.
Also, check out the videos on the modern Agonistics tag.
The basics of starting a stick fighting club are listed below.
Cups!
Getting stabbed in the balls is not a positive value.
Fencing masks.
Make sure you have an extra large, 2 large, a medium and a small.
Hands.
Find hockey or lacrosse gloves, used if possible for cheap. Do not try and use MMA gloves.
Sticks.
Get 3/4 inch to 1-1/4 inch rattan sticks that have the segmented skin of the vine showing for drills and bag work.
Buy 4 finished rattan, cheaper, less dense sticks that are between 1/2 and 3/4 thick to spar and fight with.
Length of stick should be 28-31 inches.
Use electric tape lightly on the end to minimize abrading the rattan on the mask and the skin with the stick.
Once sticks have to be taped up to repair them, demote them to back work and drilling sticks.
Do not pad the sticks. It makes them into clubs.
Once you have a number of taped up sticks and you have learned mechanics and time and measure, cut them down to 16-20 inch length and develop another sparring set.
For full speed sparring, get wiffle ball bats and have a good time. Also use these for training boys and office workers.
For club work, get the soft rubber children's bats and practice sparring with them.
For forearm development a year in, get aluminum T-ball bats for bag work.
You should have a punching bag to hit with your sticks.
You can hang a coil of rope made of 200 feet of half inch rope which is very good for weapon training.
Rake a level space for training to minimize ankle sprains.
You should train with knives from the earliest point. This is the most fun and sets your time and measure into development. Stick fighters who do not use knives lack control and versatility and confidence in mixed weapons confrontation, which is to say reality situations.
Knives should be made out of cheap children's coloring books and masking tape, folded and creased and taped to look like an oversized ruler which makes them about butcher knife length and shapes them like a wedge.
Your stick training should focus on foot work and stroke drills:
Bag work:
Slow motion, light contact sparring:
Full speed knife sparring:
Insert mixed and asymmetrical weapons as a final step for survival training.
Then, finally, arrange a meet and invite your ladies to watch you goon it up:
