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Stick-Fighting is a type of martial arts which uses a hand-held long slender wooden stick for fighting. The 'stick' can be a staff, cane, walking stick, baton or similar. Includes variations such as singlestick and da canne de combat.

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The styles of stick fighting developed as a form of safer training rather than wielding heaver and more effective dangerous weapons, but also as a self-defence when lightly armed. Sticks of various sizes are common weapons in many Asian martial arts.

Stick fighting battles are usually in the form of one-on-one duels, using a single stick held in the hand. Many of the early forms of stick fighting are not currently practised, having fallen out of favour when fencing became more prevalent. The French system of la canne is still practised as a competitive sport, as is singlestick mainly as a training method for the sport of fencing.

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Types of Stick-Fighting

• Canne de Combat — a French martial art in which opponents battle each other inside a ring with a cane in one hand.
• Singlestick — a martial art that uses a wooden stick, which began as a way of training sailors in the use of swords.
• Silambam — a traditional Tamil martial art from India which mainly uses a bamboo staff.
• Bataireacht — is a category of stick-fighting martial art from Ireland.
• Tahtib — Egyptian traditional stick-fighting martial art

Similar Sports

• Kendo — a form of Japanese martial art that originated from kenjutsu, which includes fighting using bamboo swords.
• Kalaripayattu — the kalaripayattu martial art of India includes fighting with several kinds of sticks.
• Fencing — competitors face each other and attempt to touch each other with the tip of a thin sword.
• Arnis — the national martial art sport of the Philippines which emphasizes weapon-based fighting usually with a stick or cane.

Related Pages

• La Canne, or Canne de Combat or French stick fighting, was a demonstration sport at the 1924 Olympics.
• Another stick-fighting sport, Singlesticks, was once an Olympic event.
• About Martial Arts
• Complete list of sports
• The Encyclopedia of Sports