The stick has been used in various forms as a walking / climbing aid, tool or weapon since the beginning of mankind. The knowledge about the production and correct handling of a simple stick is slowly being lost in our modern world. For shepherds, farmers, hikers and hunters, a good stick is still a versatile and valuable piece of equipment.
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| Giuseppe Cerri 1854 |
Still today we can find self-defense techniques with the walking stick all over Europe. With a length of 80 - 90 cm it is known by many names, e.g. as the Irish Shillelagh, the Canne in France or the German Ziegenhainer. Mostly the stick is used with one hand, similar to saber fencing. In the more rural areas, a longer stick (Bastone pastorale ) is more common, in Germany called the ”Treiberstock” (driven-hunt-stick),or “Marschierer” (marching stick) known elsewhere as a simple shepherd´s stick or just hiking stick.
The use of this stick as a weapon still has an unbroken tradition in the Mediterranean region, some of the world's oldest surviving stick fighting styles can be found here. In Italy it is named after the respective region (Bastone Pugliese, Bastone Siciliano or Bastone Napoletano etc), similar styles are the Portuguese Jogo do pau or the French stick fighting (Baton).
A few enthusiasts have preserved specific methods to this day and there are still small local groups that have maintained their own style of stick fencing. The roots of the techniques are found in European sword fighting. In contrast to the principles and techniques of the nobility, well documented in numerous writings by fencing masters from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, these arts were only passed on orally. Therefore, only a few reports in books, artistic representations in pictures, or old songs and poems remain as historical proofs.
Not until the sword had disappeared from everyday life in society, the use of sticks and knives found their way into the fencing halls of Europe, and so, written instructions appear in the 19th century. The fencing masters took over and analyzed techniques of the lower class and created self-defense systems, that were supposed to protect the "decent citizen" (Savate / La Canne…Bartitsu ..Defense de la Rue).