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{{Short description|Type of martial arts using wooden sticks}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2012}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
[[File:Eskrima.jpg|thumb|Two people fighting using sticks]]
'''Stick-fighting''', '''stickfighting''', or '''stick fighting''', is a variety of [[martial arts]] which use simple long, slender, blunt, hand-held, generally wooden "sticks" for fighting, such as a [[gun (staff)|gun staff]], [[bō]], [[jō]], [[walking stick]], [[baston (weapon)|baston]], [[arnis]] sticks or similar weapons. Some techniques can also be used with a sturdy [[umbrella]] or even with a [[sword]] or [[dagger]] in its [[scabbard]].

Thicker and/or heavier blunt weapons such as [[club (weapon)|clubs]] or the [[mace (bludgeon)|mace]] are outside the scope of "stick-fighting" (since they cannot be wielded with such precision, so sheer force of impact is more important), as are more formed weapons such as the ''[[taiaha]]'' used by the [[Māori people]] of [[New Zealand]], and the ''[[macuahuitl]]'' used by the [[Aztec people]] of [[Mesoamerica]] in warfare.

Although many systems are defensive combat techniques intended for use if attacked while lightly armed, others such as ''[[kendo]]'', ''[[arnis]]'', and ''[[gatka]]'' were developed as safe training methods for dangerous weapons. Whatever their history, many stick-fighting techniques lend themselves to being treated as sports.

In addition to systems specifically devoted to stick-fighting, certain other disciplines include it, either in its own right, as in the [[Tamil culture|Tamil]] martial art ''[[silambam]]'', or merely as part of a polyvalent training including other weapons and/or bare handed fighting, as in [[Kerala]]'s ''[[kalaripayattu]]'' tradition, where these wooden weapons serve as preliminary training before practice of the more dangerous metal weapons.

Stick-fights between individuals or large gatherings between sub-tribes where men fight duels were an important part of the anthropological heritage of various cultures{{original research inline|date=April 2016}}. On tribes such as the [[Surma people]] of [[Ethiopia]], ''donga'' stick-fighting is an important cultural practice and the best means of showing off to look for a bride, [[Nudity|nude]] or nearly so, and their more warlike neighbors, the [[Nyangatom people]], who fight duels bare-chested, the aim being to inflict visible stripes on the back of the adversary, using not plain staffs but sticks with a flexible, whipping tail-end.

==Styles==
[[File:Quarterstaff line drawing - Project Gutenberg eText 14315.jpg|thumb|An artwork depicting stick fighting]]

Traditional European systems of stick-fighting included a wide variety of methods of [[quarterstaff]] combat, which were detailed in numerous manuscripts written by masters-at-arms. Many of these methods became extinct but others adapted and survived as folk-sports and self-defence systems. Examples include Portugal's ''[[jogo do pau]]'', the related ''[[juego del palo]]'' of the [[Canary Islands]], France's ''[[canne de combat]]'' or ''la canne'', Poland's ''palcaty'' and Italy's ''scherma di bastone''. Giuseppe Cerri's 1854 manual ''Trattato teorico e pratico della scherma di bastone'' is influenced by masters of the Italian school of swordsmanship, [[Achille Marozzo]] and perhaps [[Francesco Alfieri]].

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]].<ref name="Marien, 2010">{{cite web|url=http://www.fullcontactmartialarts.org/bartitsu.html|title=Bartitsu}}</ref>

In the US during the early years of the 1900s, fencer and self-defense specialist A. C. Cunningham developed a unique system of stick-fighting using a walking stick or umbrella, which he recorded in his book ''[[The Cane as a Weapon]]''.

[[Singlestick]] was developed as a method of training in the use of [[backsword]]s such as the [[sabre|cavalry sabre]] and [[cutlass|naval cutlass]]. It was a popular pastime in the UK from the 18th to the early 20th century, and was a [[fencing at the 1904 Summer Olympics|fencing event at the 1904 Summer Olympics]]. Although interest in the art declined, a few fencing coaches continued to train with the stick and competitions in this style of stick-fighting were reintroduced into the [[Royal Navy]] in the 1980s by commander Locker Madden. The art continues to gain a small following amongst the martial art community in the UK, Australia, Canada and the US.

[[Latin America]] also has its share of martial arts devoted to stick-fighting, including [[Venezuela]]'s ''[[juego del garrote]]'', [[Brazil]]'s ''palo do Brasil'' and ''[[Maculelê (dance)|Maculelê]]'', [[Trinidad]]'s ''[[calinda]]'' and the South Americans' ''Eskrima Kombat''.<ref name="SouthAmerican Martial Art">{{cite web|url=http://www.eskrimakombat.com/|title=Eskrima Kombat}}</ref>

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 [[Diospyros blancoi|butterfruit tree]] and may be wielded singly or as a pair.

==See also==
{{Portal|Martial arts}}

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*[[Angampora]]
*[[Banshay]]
*[[Bataireacht]]
*[[Bōjutsu]]
*[[Canne de combat]]
*[[Gatka]]
*[[Juego del palo]]
*[[Jūkendō]]
*[[Jōdō]]
*[[Kalaripayattu]]
*[[Kendo]]
*[[Kenjutsu]]
*[[Krabi–krabong]]
*[[Kuttu Varisai]]
*[[Mardani khel]]
*[[Quarterstaff]], British historical stick fighting weapon
*[[Shillelagh (club)]]
*[[Silambam]]
*[[Silambam Asia]]
*[[Tahtib]]
*[[Thang-ta]]
*[[Varma kalai]]
*[[World Silambam Association]]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQR1FdYYwYc Matrague (Algeria)]
{{Div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{Martial arts}}
{{stick fighting}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Stick-fighting| ]]

[[br:Bazhata]]

Stick-fighting - Revision history

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article