I see advertised time and time again in self defense schools about using a cane as a weapon, but I rarely see anyone using a cane these days. It doesn't make sense to me to learn tactics for a weapon that hardly anyone carries, but it did get me thinking. I see senior folks walking in subdivisions every morning, and most of them are carrying a good sized sturdy stick. This isn't something I see every once in awhile, either; literally I see some stick carrying old dude with an angry look on his face at least once a week, and I have to say that if I were a scumbag, it would be a deterrent. I'm a physically capable individual with no doubts that I could overcome someone twice my age if they were unarmed, but I would be hesitant enough to attack a potential Korean war veteran with a nasty case of untreated PTSD and a treated hickory stick.
So, what about stick tactics?
A lot of Philippino martial arts schools use the stick as a way of training for the knife. They claim that learning the stick will transfer to the knife very easily.
ReplyDeleteThat may or may not be true but a lot of folks think so.
I got some experience in both (I'm no master) and I can see the commonalities but I don't think it's the same. Then again I carry a small collapsible baton (it carries my keys and I can use it as a flail) along with my gun and folding knives.
As to the cane, it doesn't work at all like the smaller sticks but whenever I'm in an airport, I think that it would be really nice to have a big stick when on a plane.
Terry
I've thought about a collapsible baton as well. On a plane the only weapon that I will have is my Wilderness belt with its steel buckle -- that should leave a mark.
ReplyDeletei always thought the koga was a really cool concealable ninja like tool for self defense. i have one of the S&W self defense pens which function about the same way. when all else fails the rear naked choke hold is always a good standby.
ReplyDeleteMy sensei teaches his sword class with long sticks. He told me that the movements to avoid getting cut by a sword are very applicable to modern street fighting if somebody is coming at you with a blunt weapon. Many of the movements for shorter weapons are very much the same as for longer ones, and therefore defense against them is very similar.
ReplyDeleteI heard it said that Musashi, considered Japan's greatest swordsman, got bored of duels with swords and instead went up against swords with sticks. He bashed in quite a few skulls before he died of old age.
"I've thought about a collapsible baton as well. On a plane the only weapon that I will have is my Wilderness belt with its steel buckle -- that should leave a mark."
ReplyDeleteTried to bring my collapsible baton/keychain with me on a plane (pre 911) and they forced me to check it.
I wear the same belt pretty much everywhere with exactly the same thoughts as you :-)
Still looking for something extra though.
Terry
Drew -- I've thought about the SD pens as well, but have heard that the TSA won't let them on planes.
ReplyDeleteAndy -- Sword tactics seem like a good place to start; most of the sticks that I see people carrying are around three feet long, which would match pretty well for size.
Terry -- The baton will get you arrested these days. Oh, how I yearn for pre-9/11 security!
The Clue Meter: But will it replace shuffleboard?
ReplyDelete