To jab with a stick is to throw quick rapping shots with the end of the stick to the hands and head of your opponent. These can be forehands or backhands.
They can be used to line up a smash easily. The smash brings the target under the sweet spot of the stick rather than the end. The jab and smash in stick fighting are like the jab and straight in boxing, but thrown with the same hand.
Rap that hand and then smash it.
Feint a rap at the hand and rap the head.
Rap the hand and then rap the head.
Feint a rap at the hand to get him to move it to a zone where you have noticed him removing it to and then follow with a smash.
Rap the head, the hand and then his stick, for the jab sparring coup.
Power is put into the jab in three fashions:
1. The flexor muscle and tendon of the outside of the forearm
2. Engaging the tricep by extending the hand away from your body
3. By synchronizing your body movement with the jab, just as in boxing where you want to step in just as your punch lands, transferring weight to the floor through the target
Realistically the stick jab is not effective as a finishing blow. It is the foundation of the FMA fanning technique favorite for scoring points against WEKAF face cages, which ring out loudly under such assaults, alerting the judges to scored points. A tough opponent, armored or unarmored, will not be stopped by a stick jab.
The stick jab is your targeting system and also enables you to insinuate your will into the opponent’s rhythm, so that you might be the one to first break rhythm and score with something harder.
Jab sparring with sticks requires only light hand and light head protection, but also requires much self-control. When the jab lands you must pull it back as soon as it touches. In this way you train your opposing muscle to recover quickly and help set up follow on shots at the same time you are minimizing impact on your training partner.
Always try and score two jabs, with the first jab being at less than full speed and the follow on jab at full speed. If you can access a target through movement and hit it with a half speed shot than you are finding your range and timing, which is the clutch attribute of the duelist, and is also a requirement for retaliating in spontaneous survival situations.
“Victory” in light sparring, if you are of a competitive training mindset, is the act of scoring with a slower moving stick than your partner.
When you notice that you are speeding up you first shot back off and slow it down.
Begin this drill with 20 inch sticks then move up to 26-31 inch sticks.
Do not forget that this is primarily a target access and movement study. Speak freely to your partner without stopping, communicating excess contact levels, letting him know that you are about to repeatedly throw the same angle that your scored with so that he can drill it, that he’s putting too much into his first jab, etc.
In sparring we are each other’s coaches, with more coaching responsibility falling on a training partner as his skill level rises above his partner’s level. When you find yourself pulling ahead, don’t bask in it, but try to level up your partner so he can push you, instead of coasting while he flounders.
Relax.
Communicate.
Move.
Show control.
Stay on your toes and move.
If you grab a stick let it go—catch and release.
When you are open for a smash, deliver it, but let that stick fall dead and just kiss the target. This control method is useful in our next sparring segment Deadhand Stick Sparring.
