British Quarterstaff Association TV Clip

[Kartoonkid95]

Actually, it's a buck-and-a-quarter quarterstaff. But I'm not telling him that.

[xXxDiukexXx]

if this was against jodo (jojutusu), I think the jojutsu would win...

[RevNTheogen]

Btw not actually saying the shins are a viable attack in fencing, was just making a point.

[RevNTheogen]

@deanowaterz in boxing there is nothing stopping the other guy punching you in the face, only your skill and the knowledge that he is trying to punch you in the face. In fencing there is nothing stopping the other person thrusting to your shins except the ..... It is the same in any sport if a layman can see an opening, a journeyman will have spent hours and hours making sure he knows what to do whe confronted with his most obvious weakness

[TamerlanKuzgov]

that's good fo the street situATIONS..just take stick and...

[Magician12345]

wow that chick has an anoying laugh

[earlymusicus]

I want to learn that! Even though I'm a woman and I'm living in the U.S. I've always been crazy about Robin Hood and my brother and I and our friends used to act out Robin Hood stories when we were little.

[dean0waterz]

i just don't understand what stops the other guy from aiming for your hands, pounding your fingers to pieces and beating you to death when you drop to the floor and howl in pain?...

i know if some guy swung a 7 foot pole at me and caught my fingers between that and the 7 foot pole i was holding then that would be game over for me boy, real quick - i dont even care.

ive had my fingers hit with a lot less than that and it hurts a-plenty so that's all i'd do - aim for his hands then kill him.

[psychedashell]

@dean0waterz You move so the stick takes it rather than your fingers, you practice to do it every time you train and it becomes an instinctive shift of your hand or the staff, but in a gentlemanly duel it was probably considered undignified to strike for your opponent's fingers just like it's undignified to knee your opponent in the nuts in boxing. You keep the thing moving so your fingers are hard to hit, try to knock their weapon off to the side and bash their skull.

[dean0waterz]

@psychedashell ohhhhhh...you know what, that's actually really interesting to know? so its like part of the rules of conduct and what not?...

well i'd surely fail that part.

all my fights would be over crazy quick after i beat that suckers hands to shreds, quickly kill him and then run like the wind, far away from there ; P

[psychedashell]

@dean0waterz I think you're underestimating how hard it would be to attack the fingers of somebody who practices, but hey, any gameplan is better than none.

[dean0waterz]

@psychedashell hmm, this may be true...i would probably die i guess. but i would call him a bitch and so on first.

[SwordsmanMercenary]

Awesome! I have always liked the Robin Hood stories, if I ever get stationed in Britain I'm looking Y'all up!

[bootsandsaddles]

There are women in other quarterstaff groups. English ones. This group is obviously "British" and not right.

As has been said, women have fought and led. King Alfred the Great's daughter for one. These men are insecure, and why not. Each to their own.

[kozushi]

I have read the English 16th-18th Century fencing treatises of Silver, Swetnam and Wylde, and the contents of the video match with only the half staff techniques, which were not the primary techniques of the staff. The staff was held with the back hand at the butt and the front hand about a foot above it, as do the Jogo de Pau staff players still in Portugal.

[kozushi]

I have read the English 16th-18th Century fencing treatises of Silver, Swetnam and Wylde, and the contents of the video match with only the half staff techniques, which were not the primary techniques of the staff. The staff was held with the back hand at the butt and the front hand about a foot above it, as do the Jogo de Pau staff players still in Portugal.

[EquusFerrarius]

What are quarter staffs made from traditionally? I would assume a hard wood, but a bit of flex would also be good. Is there any technique to making one other than getting a long, straight branch and turning it?

[thiefinthenight33]

@EquusFerrarius traditionally quarterstaffs are made from light wood like ash, although bamboo works too. and they are supposed to be 8 feet long. you dont nessisarily have to stick to that though, mine is only about 5 feet and used to be a broom handle :)

its all about what you are comforable with.

[EquusFerrarius]

@thiefinthenight33 Thanks.

[lordsummerisle87]

@EquusFerrarius

Why turn it?

[EquusFerrarius]

@lordsummerisle87 I always just assumed that is how you would make it a uniform shape.

[fucheduck]

can help your baseball bat twirling skills too, don't broadside your head.

[AthrenGlory]

Sexist pigs, these people are too much in tradition that they aren't willing to challenge it when it should be.

[Aikidobear129]

It was great watching a school that teaches Western Fighting Arts. Most Eastern style schools concentrate mainly on Kata. My school is one of the few , if not the only one that goes beyond kata and actually practices combat with the Jo. I've never been impressed with a student that can twirl his Jo around in a circle at the speed of light thinking he'd get away with it in any real life situation. Maybe Steve Segal- but no one else

Cheers!

[christopheclugston]

Occidntal arts have always been performance and result oriented and not bound to endless tradition.

Too much propaganda from the East. More duelling happened on European soil than in Japan, but most don't know anything about it.

[NarutoKyuubiSoul]

0:39

[theEasterling]

"we don't teach mixed sex groups"

[eddiedaskull]

yeah I agree.Why would you not enoy the company of women or allow them to have a play.

Historically when a village was raided Iam sure the women had to find some type of farm tool to weld around to protect their children.

perhaps he should have said"We none in the group so far"

even better "they are weclome to come"

[yutzwagon2]

Starwars-kid needs some lessons from these guys.

[JUMEK18]

Great!

[cardthrow18]

looks fun. i'd love to give it a go.

[ZenWolfDances]

Looks fun and all, but these days we know a lot about the way the English quarterstaff was actually used from the 1700s through the early 1900s. Why not make use of this research?

[whowantsabighug]

@ZenWolfDances But it's not as if people before the 1700s didn't have staves they fought with, the actual name and organised practice of it was more likely invented around the 1700s.

[ZenWolfDances]

@whowantsabighug - We have detailed technical records of how the English quarterstaff was used from the 1700s through to the early 1900s, via treatises and manuals produced during that period. Thus, I'm surprised that the British Quarterstaff Association doesn't make use of that information.

[outland2442]

this is interesting..makes me want to go and watch BrotherHood of the wolf again. Why do folks call the quater staff bokken? I have a practice samurai sword thats also referred to as a bokken.what gives.

[YenShisan]

The quarterstaff has never been called a bokken. Bokken 木剣 is Japanese for "wooden sword", which are also known as "bokuto" 木刀. In Japanese martial arts, staves are known as "bo" 棒. Quarterstaff is a term strictly referring to the European weapon. See the treatises of George Silver, Joseph Swetnam and Zachary Wylde for the true fight of the English quarterstaff.

[outland2442]

do the people you mentioned at the bottom have books?is that what The Treatises is?

[YenShisan]

The gentlemen I mentioned are English "Masters of Defence" who published treatises on martial arts between the 16th and 18th centuries. Their works describe the use of a wide variety of weapons. Google search their names and you should be able to find what your looking for.

[outland2442]

cool thanks.

[Rhodri80]

This was very interesting to watch. But aren't these guys doing half staff techniques. I thought quarter staffs were as high as you can reach plus the comfortable distance between your hands. The staff i thought was held at the quarter points ie. left hand 1/4 of the way up right hand half way up for a right handed man. Then you fence with hlf the length out in front and your oponent kept at distance.

[qstaffman]

Yes, these techniques are 'halfstaff'. This is a lot easier to learn to begin with. In fact anyone using a staff is likely to end up using both halfstaff and quarterstaff techniques. But a lot of what we teach regarding posture and stance is common to both.