BIG STICK cancels RAPIER?

Recently we looked at what happens when I go with just a parrying dagger against a rapier. Now let's add a STICK! Previous fight: • Rapier Vs Dagger: Hope...
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#stickfight #fencing #swordfighting

[@jws5984]

British government representative here. Thanks for bringing "sticks" to our attention. Stay tuned for the blanket ban.

[@FirstLast-wk3kc]

Oh sh...

[@rezlogan4787]

I believe the UK might already have walking stick laws. They’ve been tyrants for awhile. It’s kinda their thing.

[@sihilius]

@@FirstLast-wk3kc Wait till they find out bout chairs, glas bottles and stones.

[@FirstLast-wk3kc]

@@sihilius even bottles?! What I'm gonna sit upon?!?!

[@sihilius]

@@FirstLast-wk3kc I dunno. Maybe beer cans or a microscope?

[@Skallagrim]

That's a good idea, and some great sparring right there! This relates to an idea I've had on my to-do list: Off-hand parrying stick plus buckler, with whatever single-handed main weapon... Should be quite effective.

[@windwalker5765]

I actually did something like this with an OC I created for a fantasy fanfic. He is a mage, so his _primary_ weapon is a magic staff, used at range. The staff has a large handguard, basically a buckler built in at the middle. When the character has to fight hand to hand, he uses a side sword, with the staff for defense.

[@Intranetusa]

The stick deflections reminds me of the metal hook shields of the Han Dynasty (gou-rang) and African shields that have long poles extending out of them. Both seem be capable of performing similar types of deflections. Skallagrim has at least one video about the hook shield so it'd be interesting to test it out some more.

[@guycoolSpore2]

That's just another Gou-Rang, Skall. Also, half-swording lightsabers.

[@Skallagrim]

@@guycoolSpore2 Yes, it is bascially an improvised Gou-Rang. But I'm thinking full-sized staff, to cover your entire left side.

[@guycoolSpore2]

@@Skallagrim I was aware that you would be aware. I hope it didn't come across as too serious.

[@michaelfuson4490]

Watching Mat fighting with the stick and dagger, makes me think those techniques would also apply to using a sword cane, historical. Since they had relatively short blades and what is essentially the scabbard would be held in the off hand..

[@Divine_Serpent_Geh]

Yeah cool observation. One of the reasons why I think (if they were legal) Cane Swords would be the best blade for modern defense. It’s a stealth weapon and you essentially have to weapons, one for block/banging, and the other for turning your enemy into shish kebab.

[@freestatefellow]

Hoooray more rapier shenanigans! This really contextualizes the video from about a while back where you read accounts of Tudor court hearings. Turns out a walking stick and a dagger are a fairly good defense against a post-pub violent encounter.

[@benjaminstevens4468]

That was hardly surprising, just the stick, is not too shabby, in the hands of a practiced opponent.

[@TheSpanishInquisition87]

I bet a bigger stick would work even better. I'd like to see what happens quarterstaff vs. rapier.

[@althesmith]

There were such matches. The results historically seem to have been highly in favour of the staff fighter.

[@Dannyboyefc]

Quarter staff vs most one handed swords should win.

[@rustyknifelover4463]

Love the Staff

[@leoscheibelhut940]

I had the same thought.

[@beepboop204]

lets turn those sticks up to 11!

[@ponod]

Matt is a terrifying fencer wow

[@FirstLast-wk3kc]

He really is. He's so fast and etc...

[@buffoonustroglodytus4688]

His penetrative powers are enormous. Truly a rapierist to be reckoned with

[@Braunheim]

I love it. St. Cuthbert approves your use of the cudgel.

[@ShepherdsSheepdog]

The Warder Jearom was the greatest Blademaster who ever lived. He had defeated thousands of men in battle, and was only defeated ONCE- by a farmer with a quarterstaff!

[@nc1906]

Is that true? Kind of similar to Musashi's experience if so.

[@miketraskalle]

Wheel of time

[@benjaminstevens4468]

@@nc1906 it’s true in the context of the infinite multiverse theory. Unless of course you consider the Wheel Of Time series to be a credible historical source!

[@yamiyomizuki]

​@@nc1906 there's no credible record of Musashi loosing to a staff though.

[@freestatefellow]

Right after a sickly Matt Cauthon beats the two princes of Andor senseless.

[@PXCharon]

"You can do that with a Swiss Army Knife or a kitchen knife" *The Home Office has entered the chat

[@Primalintent]

Our mutual friend Mansa Myrie told me about how common sticks were as parrying devices in African fighting styles. I even employed a short spear and parrying stick against a friend using an arming sword and boss shield and it was far more effective than expected

[@oscaranderson5719]

was thinking that. isn’t there a style of shield that has a stick for a boss grip?

[@badideagenerator2315]

The "2 halves of a spear" style

[@catocall7323]

Like he said, the major issue would be hand cuts.

[@burnsboysaresoldiers]

I am fairly new to your channel but as a history teacher and a soldier I love it. Its like a bladed weapons version of Forgotten Weapons

[@knate44]

I don't know how effective it is at a competitive level, but it's a lot of fun for sure! I'm an SCA fencer and I sometimes go stick and dagger as a training tool, it's a fun way to encourage a newer rapier fencer to bypass my defense while staying out of dagger range, or conversely to teach about closing in to help them with spacing.

[@jesuizanmich]

this reminds me of some African shields and things like the Chinese hook shield. I can see why they exist. A stick is surprisingly versatile at defence. All it needs is a shield boss on the hand.

[@darienthevolcanoman8624]

In Ilocano kabaroan and Nguni stick fighting, a staff is used as a training tool for a medium to large shield. It’s fascinating to see something similar on a smaller scale be so effective. It’d be great to see more shield staff sparring with different combinations. Testing varying lengths of shield staff paired with different one handed weapons could be used as the basis for some fun historical match ups. Shield staff and axe vs saber, shield staff and spear vs halberd, and shield staff and short sword vs bayonet seem like historically plausible match ups. But in general, I think shield staff could be a decent training shield for whatever era you want.

[@Intranetusa]

The stick deflections reminds me of the metal hook shields of the Han Dynasty (gou-rang) and African shields that have long poles extending out of them. Both seem be capable of performing similar types of deflections.

[@christopher7539]

Big stick energy!

[@davidrhode7019]

I used to study an Okinawan karate style called RyuTe. The style taught weapons as well as unarmed combat, and I had the opportunity to learn the bo (full-sized staff, typically around 6') and tanbo (short staff - technically anything around 3' or less; mine were a bit over 2' long). There is also a jo staff, which is typically around 4' long or slightly longer. My sensei wasn't trained in that weapon, so didn't teach jo kata, but one of my fellow students learned the basic kata at a summer training camp, so I had an opportunity to observe the technique. The jo style was reminiscent of katana techniques, with the added benefit of being a bit lighter than a katana, and being able to shift your grip around the weapon similar to how you would use a bo staff. Supposedly, the jo was developed as a response specifically to swords. Although a bo staff can certainly be used in a spear-like fashion, and has better range than a sword, if a swordsman were to get inside your guard, it would be easier to defend yourself with a weapon of similar size and greater speed. That is the gist of what I recall being told at the time, anyway. The upshot of this story with regard to your experiment is that the jo staff is similar in length to your 'walking stick' analogue, but was meant to be used in two hands, not as a supplement to a dagger; and furthermore, could be used either with a sword grip or a staff grip interchangeably.

[@QuentinStephens]

Great video. I found it interesting that during the early fights you were holding the stick at about the 1/3 point and gradually moved to halfway.

[@brightlord-ov7cm]

The beautiful thing about big sticks is that you can whittle them into sharp pointy sticks.

[@darrinrebagliati5365]

And people wonder why almost all my characters have an iron shod quarterstaff. Robin Hood and Little Johns first meeting taught me well!

[@phatfencer1746]

Ohh!! Love seeing you try all these different things! Keep up the great work!

[@LandCrow]

Would have gone a lot different if the rapierist had a dagger too.

[@scholagladiatoria]

Agreed. But come on, I've only got a knife and a stick against one of the best dueling swords invented!

[@The_true_Joe_mama]

​@@scholagladiatoria Now try it unarmed

[@seriousmaran9414]

I just wrote a scene in a story, rapier vs small sword and dagger. I rationalized that neither had a good enough advantage to win. Looks good enough to me.

[@barbarossarotbart]

That reminds me of Thorin Oakenshield from the Hobbit (the novel, NOT the movies). He got his named because he used a thick branch of an oak as shield after his original shield broke.

[@marcelOberauer]

The movie also explain that he got his nickname after using an oaken branch as shield.

[@barbarossarotbart]

@@marcelOberauer Sorry, but that piece of oak did not look like a branch but more like a log.

[@BM-rd4ms]

Stick is friend!

[@markkodryk829]

When you think that a guy with a walking stick has an injured leg.

[@brittakriep2938]

I , Brittas boyfriend, am german and born in 1965. In 1970s it was in my then more rural region not uncommon, to see older, but not disabled men, with a tradtonal crook or root handle cane Often the Stick was in right hand and in left hand a rope with a large dog.

[@carloparisi9945]

I'm happy you tried the stick and dagger, I was suggesting this very combination in my comment under the other video and I'm happy you had the same idea. I would have used the stick like a sabre, so less running to do, but then you would have to count a stick blow as point which is less clear than a dagger stab.

[@benway23]

Thank you for your work.

[@nevisysbryd7450]

Being able to do something with each hand independently is a massive advantage.

[@lady_draguliana784]

Frying Pan and Filet Blade!

[@KlausBeckEwerhardy]

At minute 3 I was thinking about changing the hands - so stick right, dagger left.

[@watcher314159]

This is one of the reasons I think sword canes are probably the way to go if you want to use swords in a modern civilian context. Regardless of blade length (though for various reasons (mostly related to adaptability to cramped quarters like vehicles, buildings, and grapples) I'd advocate for a borderline dagger/shortsword length), you have a decently long bludgeon and parrying device to go with your blade, all packaged in a relatively portable and innocuous/socially acceptable guise.

[@Bikewer]

There’s a scene in the opening of Dumas’ Three Musketeers where young D’Artagnan gets trounced by some villagers with staffs…. He laments that “swords are for fighting swords, not sticks”.

[@toddellner5283]

several styles of fencing including Zulu stick fighting use a center-gripped long stick in the non-dominant hand

[@knate44]

It is also a very good form of exercise lol

[@-RONNIE]

Thanks for the good video ⚔️

[@chasecarter8848]

I'd like to see a one handed club and dagger vs rapier, but using the club in the primary hand. It's a parry, but if you get a chance you might just wreck the rapier.

[@TheCaniblcat]

I guess Teddy Roosevelt was right... Speak softly and carry a BIG STICK. 🤠

[@darrinrebagliati5365]

My dad taught me that as a kid, then I grew up 8in taller than him! Now it's harder to walk softly, but my stick is still bigger!!

[@TheFlyingMage]

I guess it's safe to assume that the scabbard part of the sword cane (or any scabbard for that matter) could be used like that. But I don't think I've ever heard about it.

[@Adventureruler]

That just looks like a pain in the ass for the dagger weilder, EVEN WITH THE STICK

[@TimmyB1867]

Having done a fair bit of bo, and a bit of single stick, I was curious as to why you opted to choke up on the stick to the half point, rather than give it and yourself a bit more reach. But using it as a shield makes sense. I think, based on my experience I would have opted to defend with the dagger, and strike with the stick, but what you had in mind seemed to work just as well, and perhaps better. Shame there's most of a continent, and a small ocean in the way, I think I would get a great deal of enjoyment out of playing 'training dummy' for you.

[@lcrow3104]

Its about how good you're maintaining the bind, your sticking skill

[@thebobbytytesvarrietyhour4168]

So I've used rapier and stick against a variety of rapier and secondaries in the past, and I've found that gripping the stick by the base and using it basically as a long finger has worked quite well. The stick will always have more bind presence at the end of it than the other sword will and it opens up some very interesting options with manipulating your opponents weapon. Maybe worth trying for yourself?

[@b.h.abbott-motley2427]

Pedro de la Torre supposedly developed his two-sword style by using a stick in his left hand in a moment of need. This suggests that he held it close to the base, like one holds a sword. (This was the 15th century before rapiers existed.)

[@animistchannel]

You still needed a longer stick, so you could force him to defend or parry at range. As it was, you were stuck always reacting instead of being able to initiate, which kept him in a safe and solid first strike role. If he had to worry about getting jabbed in the face (not fatal but distracting and/or debilitating), he would have had his blade much more out of position/momentum much more often. Even something light like a narrow rattan bo would make for a big advantage (maybe 150 centimerter) and you could hold it at the 1/3 point instead of center on.

[@williambreazeal387]

Wonderful stuff! Much appreciated! Very much like a Han parrying shield but lacking hand protection and hooks. Also similar to some African parrying shields.

[@b.h.abbott-motley2427]

Yes. The dedicated versions seem significantly better in a fight because they protect the hand & may offer additional features like hooks & spikes. The simple stick or walking stick has the advantage of convenience & practicality. Against a rapier that only thrusts, perhaps the simple stick is almost as good as the dedicated versions. It is lighter & thus nimbler.

[@liambrooks2330]

Hold the stick further down in the strong hand and your dagger in the weak and give yourself some more space Matt

[@peterjaimez1619]

Criticism, I hope is constructive, you don't have to be Thibault, (famous Spanish school master) to know that in this case you turn to the side of the parrying weapon, out of the reach of the 🔪 knife. You did in a very linear fencing way, you need to practice using a circle 😇 Cheers

[@b.h.abbott-motley2427]

Thibault also knew how to cut with a rapier, which could be useful here.

[@jm9371]

Love this series! Watching experimental HEMA combos with pros is the tops.

[@WhatIfBrigade]

Fascinating. A cane and a parrying dagger is probably a more practical and affordable combination for carrying around in daily life as well. No reason a coachman or other attendent cannot wear a parrying dagger and carry a walking stick.

[@farkasmactavish]

"Get stick, stick good," continues to be Shad's one and only solid take.

[@PalleRasmussen]

I seem to recall he was good on castles once as well.

[@jonasbarka]

​@@PalleRasmussenI think he still is. I just think most of his videos are too long winded. Even when the subject seems solid, I often don't finish them.

[@ChaohsiangChen]

The only thing that is better than a stick, is the boomstick, which is still a stick, but can go boom.

[@PalleRasmussen]

@@jonasbarka I stopped watching. It seems to me that he has his head up his own behind, do not cite sources, and do not take well to criticism.

[@dashcammer4322]

@@ChaohsiangChen Big boomstick on wheels > castle.

[@funwithmadness]

The way I'd attempt this would be to hold the dagger in my right hand (since I'm right handed) but hold the stick more like a katana; meaning with both hands. It might be a bit awkward at first, but I think it could be done. I have sparred in a similar configuration with a spear and small mace so I know it's possible. Anyway, you'd have more power and control of the stick. Plus, with the dagger in the lead hand, its quillions would offer a bit of protection. The tactics would likely be the same, though you might be able to give your opponent a good whack to the head before gutting him with the dagger.

[@williamarthur4801]

Could not help remembering the scene in Dick Lester's 'three musketeers' where D'Artagnian, having drawn his sword is beaten senseless by Rochefort's men armed with clubs and sticks.

[@dashcammer4322]

I'd always figured he thought that the sight of the drawn sword would intimidate them, but if he'd drawn it and immediately attacked. We say the same thing about pistols - if you're going to draw it, you'd better start shooting it at the threat within about a second; it's not a protective talisman, it's a weapon.

[@101Mant]

It comes up in the books, at one point they hide from from some people armed with cudgels becuase they say they will just smash their rapiers.

[@roberth721]

Of course, they did strike him from behind while he was trying to engage Rocheforte.(I think the spelling is right)

[@Corey_Lee_Slater]

A stout stick.-I've been thinking of tying a rock to one, maybe a flashlight as well, -detract from the look, but the CaveMan's Survival Club is worth the $$$. Thanks for the share. -AND the renewed inspiration.

[@shanhur4562]

Daffy's buck and a quarter staff would be awesome

[@jakeandthebowtie]

I briefly did some Budo, focusing on the use of a Japanese staff to fight sword It's pretty effective

[@MarshOakDojoTimPruitt]

thanks

[@3.k]

So, walking cane with dagger inside it is! 😃👍

[@robertdeland3390]

Yea, well the most common combination that I see in my collection of books from the 16th and 17th century, especially Cappo Ferro, is Rapier and dagger. Note the guy with the stick had use of both hands.

[@weylins]

Now i want to see Bataireacht (shillelagh) versus any of the rapier styles

[@EvilWeiRamirez]

That's interesting that he was using it with the grip on the middle. I would have moved my hand back to 3/4 length. I don't know that it would have been better, but it's just my instinct. I love the fleche though. That's different because the extending hand would be behind instead of in front, as usual. I wonder how that would trip my feet up.

[@UrielsJunkDrawer]

Interesting, how about staff or 5ft walking stick?

[@Leftyotism]

This is why you should always carry an umbrella. It's also good against the sun by the way!

[@bradolfpittler2875]

I wish its possible for someone to make a recorded sparring like this again. Except try combining a bucler and stick for the defending hand (similar to the zulu stick fighting system) while weilding a knife or whatever short weapon on the attacking hand.

[@skeletorlikespotatoes7846]

Quarter staff fighting is absolutely incredible

[@aesberghearth4123]

Coming from an Arnis background, now looking into Bartitsu style - I can't help wondering how you might have done with the stick in your strong hand and the dagger in the off hand.

[@Heyrock]

first thing - damage fiingers, that hold the stick second - vary directions of attacks to exhast the dagger-man once you have a superb weapon - make full use of it

[@Leftyotism]

Fun watch! :D

[@kevinmorrice]

if it had a walking stick handle on it, could it be used it to hook and also push the blade

[@pixelfairy]

"All you need is a parying device" And years of specialized training.

[@shinjofox]

Could explain the popularity of sword canes.

[@robertb8673]

This reminds me of african shield and spear techniques. The kind of shield that are basicly a stick with a anthilope skin on it.

[@sawyere2496]

Try holding the staff by the top end, you can still block with it and thrust with it like a spear in overhand

[@ssths]

I think you wouldve done even better with the dagger in lead hand. Id have gone lead hand close, rear hand extended, and used the rear hand stick like an escrima stick to parry and punish attacks, then come forward, and extend the lead hand for extra range for the thrust. youd have to adopt a sort of diagonal stance, and youd need good limberness to be able to pivot for offense and defense. but if you could, i think you could be more formidable. I could be right or wrong about this tactic being better. this is all armchair theory, of course. great content as always.

[@steemlenn8797]

Both the humble stick and the big stick with a pointy end are generally underestimated.

[@stevenoconnor3256]

This would probably be more successful if you had a second stick. It's better when the secondary weapon has some reach. Basically, you're doing kind of a karate Blitz. The stick is the pairing weapon. You hold it out in front to block or feint and you blitz in with the knife. Especially using a sideways stance as the weakness of having two weapons in general is the thrust down the middle. I always found it better to use two swords this way. They don't interfere with each other cuz you're focusing on the thrust and keeping them apart.

[@PillarOfWamuu]

Really fun to see some sparring. Wish you would upload more.

[@scholagladiatoria]

We definitely will! It doesn't get great view count, but I know that it's really useful and it's fun for us to do.

[@PillarOfWamuu]

@@scholagladiatoria Its just really neat to see all the theory you talk about applied.

[@jessesmith7553]

@@scholagladiatoria unfortunately there just doesn't seem to be an easy way to film sword sparring so it's visually interesting and you can actually tell what's happening.

[@javierpatag3609]

TBH, Matt, when I first saw the thumbnail of this video, I was expecting you to try the HEMA version of Miyamoto Musashi vs. Sasaki Kojiro, using a fighting staff to negate the rapier through range.

[@user-li9ys6vd1w]

Have you ever done any experiments with terrain such as around corners or in thick trees? I'm curious at what point a longer weapon becomes a hindrance.

[@Maatdrummer1]

If you had a short sword of any type with a cutting edge, and he wouldnt have gotten six.

[@beepboop204]

how would you use a cloak + dagger?

[@starkparker16]

My boss jogs with a stick. People get shot and stabbed every few days in this lovely southern town but everyone leaves him alone.

[@cthulhupr]

How would a stick fare vs a cutlass?

[@ObsydianShade]

Shad will be delighted!

[@AngryArchaeologist]

From watching these experiments, it seems that a major disadvantage of the dagger and dagger/stick is that you have to expend a lot more energy relative to the rapier to achieve a favourable result. Rapiers are very efficient at what they do, requiring much smaller movements.

[@asa-punkatsouthvinland7145]

Should try using dagger left handed & striking with the stick in the right hand

[@LuxisAlukard]

First, I think that panting and losing breath is showing how much these sparring matches are exhausting! Second, what if one use a cane as a sword in his right hand and dagger in his off hand? I know a stick is not as kighty as some people believe and it won't damage your opponent as much as a stab from a dagger, but if you are trained to use sword and dagger it seems to me that more natural option is to replace sword with a stick, as opposed to replace sword with a dagger and dagger with a stick. Cheers!

[@quietprocess7403]

So a stick is a good defensive tool which makes sense but length of blade seems to be huge factor in actually passing it to get in.

[@stcredzero]

I started to wonder, why the guy with the rapier wasn't hacking away more at the hand on the stick?

[@KMShinobiFox]

Apologies if someone else has already commented about this, but I wonder how things would change if you reversed those two weapons? That is to say, what if you held the dagger in your non-dominant hand (assuming you're right handed, Matt), and the cane in your dominant hand? And rather than hold the cane in the middle, hold it closer to one end to increase its reach? That way, one could use the dagger primarily to parry and control one's opponent's rapier with its quillons, and use the cane to strike at their hand before closing in for a strike to the head?

[@Sgt.Sas.Squatch]

Matt: I could be mistaken, but I think gripping the walking stick mid-stave and in your off-hand is a disadvantage. I believe your parrying ability and the distance of your hand from your opponent would improve if you wielded it like a rapier and dagger (stick held near the base in your strong hand, with the dagger in your support hand).

[@b.h.abbott-motley2427]

Donald McBane specifically instructed to hold one's scabbard or cane in middle with the left hand & parry by batter. So what Matt Easton does in this video is an established historical technique. Fiore de'i Liberi's manual shows holding cudgels by the base, but they're not simple sticks & couldn't easily be gripped in the middle. (They're also quite large in the illustrations. I'm not sure what to make of that.) Augustin Chambon manual for sabre & steel scabbard shows the scabbard held by the base. In the 15th century, Pedro de la Torre supposedly developed his two-sword style by using a stick in the left hand in a time of need. This implies that it was held by the base like a sword but isn't clear. The historical evidence thus suggests that it's martially valid to hold a stick in the middle or by the base. Now, I'm not aware of a source that covers stick & large parrying dagger together like Easton is doing here. It'd be good to experiment with different grips & hands.

[@vedymin1]

Idk..would it work if you would use a dagger as a parrying device ? (its in some ways quicker and has lugs to trap with, it is a bit short tho, true that, so you might get a cheeky stab in the leg or hand) and have a stick held by one end ready to whack, to get as much range and hitting potential ? Couse you always struggle for range and have to ram in to start utilizing the dagger, if you tried to hit him in the hand with that stick, as its the closest thing to you, would that work ? x) To me range is a greater advantage to have and a dagger is better to block with couse the enemy is doing all the work of getting close enough to hit you and at that distance the dagger is enough to intercept the incoming blade. Next time two daggers against a staff xD

[@Barberserk]

Matt is sweating buckets. :D

[@josephlucas4024]

This video makes me interested in seeing how a Japanese tanjo or some other stick weapon would do against a rapier.

[@kaoskronostyche9939]

More cool content. Thank you. Question: Is there anything in Rapier treatices which include the notion of striking the rapier down and then stepping on the tip? Since Rapiers are so long seems to me that might be a possible tactic. Thanks again for this. Cheers! Interesting how little time it takes for you guy to start breathing hard, etc.

[@scholagladiatoria]

Yes that could be done - it is shown in longsword treatises, not sure about rapier.

[@kaoskronostyche9939]

@@scholagladiatoria Thank you for the reply. Be well.

[@jerrymacklow1452]

Would it be worth trying with the stick in the right hand instead?

[@DONJUILIO]

Wow, I love the real time explanation, however what would happen if he had anything in his other hand? maybe a cooking pan?? But as always thank you sir...

[@snakeoveer1046]

Let us suppose you had a ~5 foot staff. Would it be better to fight with it two handed or pair it with a dagger?

[@BlackSoap361]

Bring a stick. And a friend with a stick.

[@benjaminblakely3421]

There is an excellent big stick vs rapier scene in the Baroque Cycle by neal stephanson

[@saibabu4842]

Explain sward vs bow staf