been reading up on the various forms of stickfighting around the world and stumbled across a reference to irish cane-fighting. anyone know anything about this? my girlfriend and i both practice kali and (as she's irish) we're curious about an irish stickfighting art. she suggests that just braining someone with a shelalegh doesn't count!
I think this will get more replies over in the Western MA forum with Louie, so over it goes from Weapons
Irish Bata.... Hi ats, Ken Pfrenger, who is a MAP member, is one of the leading researchers on this subject so while we await his input here's a few links.... http://mywebpage.netscape.com/neohemas/neohemas.html http://johnwhurley.com/hurleyframeset-2.html http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/4933/westernarts.html Check out previous MAP WMA discussions on Irish MA.. Louie
shillelagh The most noticible feature between kali (and a lot of stickfighting systems based on swordplay) and Bata is that the Irish held the stick more or less in the centre of the stick, hitting with both ends!!! Louie
nice. i've been reading up on the kalis illustrissimo system of FMA and this also goes into some depth about hitting with both ends of the stick (holding it in the middle). I suppose you can't always guarantee you'll get to grab your weapon just how you like it. i've been taught to consider the possibilities of gripping the stick relatively high anyway, great for leverage in locks and for using in close quarters. I'm still a relative newcomer and there's a hell of a lot still to learn concerning grips etc. very, very interesting though. Is the irish stickfighting still taught? any footage online? books you can recommend?
Hi ats, Got a private message from Louie concerning this thread Good to hear of your interest. There is not one way the irish fought with their sticks and while it was definitely a martial art in the original sense of the word it was not doified like says some of the things folks think of as martial arts nowadays. For the most part most people who are practicing this art are doing it as a recreated art from period sources and research. There is Glen Doyle in Toronto who is doing his families style but it differs greatly from what most of the source we have tell us....not that it is not authentic but it is very stylized and not an example of how the stick was generally used. So as a result unless you are in Toronto or an area where there is a group doing this in it's reconstructed form there is not much of a chance of finding a teacher. As for books....not much on how to actually use the weapon. You could join the yahoo group I run devoted to the study...we have some vid clips in the files section: http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/bata I would also be happy to answer any question you have, either here, on the list or via private message or email. IMO braining someone wiht a shillelagh counts very much
that's fantastic. we stumbled across a reference somewhere about "irish cane-fighting" and were immediately intruiged. i'm really interested in any and all applications of stick fighting arts and this is really fascinating. my girlfriend and i are based in the northeast of england (currently learning kali), and were curious about any places we could visit to learn more. i'll check out that link. thanks for the help
