The Martialist: The Magazine For Those Who Fight Unfairly

Stick to Sword to Knife, Part 1

By Phil Elmore

WARNING! Sticks, swords, and knives are inherently dangerous. Do not carry illegal weapons and do not attempt to use a weapon for self-defense if you are not trained in its use. The Martialist cannot be construed as legal advice. The staff of this magazine cannot be held responsible for any misuse of or errors made with weaponry.

In my Escrima and Kali training, part of the Syracuse Wing Chun Academy curriculum, my instructor(s) often focus on techniques that translate directly from weapon to weapon. I am speaking of the stick, the sword, and the knife. These implements have specific natures that vary, but the general principles with which they are applied are universal.

Certain techniques translate from stick to sword to knife with ease.

The first five angles of attack and defense can be used in training and in fighting across these three categories of weapons. (Mike Janich's Martial Blade Craft program focuses on the "five cardinal blows" of Filipino Martial Arts, for example.) There are some simple defensive counters that should be incorporated with these five angles as well. In this article we'll look at these, as well as discuss a couple of "ready positions" you might use if you have the luxury of trying to deter an assailant with a show of your readiness to use force.

THE FIVE BASIC ANGLES

ANGLE 01: DIAGONAL RIGHT The basic angle one strike is a diagonal chop or slice across the opponent's body, starting at the neck/shoulder area and traveling across the torso from your right to your left. It doesn't get much more instinctive than this. This strike includes all logical variations on this diagonal, upper-to-lower motion.
ANGLE 02: DIAGONAL LEFT Angle two is the backhand return of angle one, traveling diagonally from your left to your right from the opposite side of the opponent's body. Again you start from the shoulder/neck area and travel down with your chopping or slicing motion. This strike includes all logical variations on this diagonal, upper-to-lower motion.
ANGLE 03: HORIZONTAL RIGHT Regardless of the level at which this strike travels from your right to your left, it is essentially horizontal. (If it becomes too vertical it becomes an angle one variation.) The target is some portion of the opponent's side, rather than across his or her torso.
ANGLE 04: HORIZONTAL LEFT Regardless of the level at which this strike travels from your left to your right, it is essentially horizontal. (If it becomes too vertical it becomes an angle one variation.) The target is the some portion of the opponent's side, rather than across his or her torso.
ANGLE 05: STRAIGHT THRUST Regardless of the angle at which the tip of the stick hits the opponent's body, any thrust into the opponent is an angle five strike. Follow-up angle fives are withdrawn before each subsequent thrust.

READY POSITIONS

LOADED (LIVE HAND GUARD)

Any cocked-and-ready position of this type is a "loaded" position. Whenever the stick is withdrawn from before the body, the live hand comes forward to guard. This is very telegraphic – it would be surprising if this position did not turn into an angle one or angle three strike, for example – but can be used to announce your willingness to use force.

FORWARD GUARD

This sensible guard places the weapon between you and the opponent. You can, if you wish to try, consciously angle the tip towards the opponent's eyes on the theory that this will make your weapon a little harder to track. Parries and blocks are easy to perform from this position, as are dipping thrusts.

LOW (ACROSS LOWER BODY)

Those who favor backhand strikes may employ this low guard, in which the stick (so low it is out of the shot here) is held across the body to be brought up in an angle two or angle four attack.

BASIC BLOCK OR PARRY

HIGH GUARD The high guard (sometimes called the "high wing") is a deflection. The supporting hand is used to check. The attack is generally to the head or neck.
ANGLE 01 BLOCK & CHECK Any angle one or angle three attack can be met with an angle one block and check. The body drops for lower strikes.
ANGLE 02 BLOCK & CHECK Any angle two or angle four strike can be met with an angle two block and check. The body drops for lower strikes.
PARRY RIGHT When meeting an angle five attack, a simple scoop or deflection to the side will neutralize it. Moving the stick from upright to pointing downward, and hitting the incoming thrust, can be accomplished through the whip of the wrist called a witik in FMA.
PARRY LEFT This is the same motion, but to the opposite side of the body.
PARRY RIGHT VARIATION Whip your wrist to the opposite side and you're still accomplishing the same thing – parrying the incoming strike.

Master these techniques and you have the foundation for rudimentary but effective stickfighting. It won't have a lot of fancy flourishes, but it will work. More importantly, it is translatable to the sword and to the knife.

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