Something I wrote many years ago:
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THE EXPERIENCE OF THE STAFF (r)
by Punong Guro “Crafty Dog” Marc Denny
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"This is this. It’s a Big Stick. Not a sword, not magic wand, it’s a Big Stick—probably the first weapon, the first tool that we picked up when we fell out of the trees."
Allow me to begin with a small story. My very good friend Michael DogZilla Tibbitts is (retired now-- Marc) a federal prison guard who is responsible for running a large kitchen staffed by inmates—an intensely weapon rich environment to say the least full of people with nothing to do for the next 20 years. One day he came in one day and described to me a big institutional type mop. “How would you fight with this?” he asked.
("What happened at work today Mike?"
Well there was this heroin dealer and a gangbanger , , ,)
"This may be the only thing I may have to move me through a room full of men and out the door when they are looking to kill me or make me pregnant or both.”
It bothered me to say that I didn’t have a good answer to his question. Thus began a trail that has been fruitful for me.
Due to its tribal combat origins, one of the premises of the FMA is that the odds will be uneven. The phrase “moving through a room full of men” has stayed in my head ever since then, perhaps because it is the modern American equivalent of the origins of the FMA? I cannot say, but this phrase is a touchstone in my path.
And to go with that premise is one of the key promises of the Filipino Martial Arts -- that the training will enable one to improvise with what one finds in the environment in moment of need. And often that something will be of a size, weight and nature that it requires two hands to handle—a big stick. Good skills in this area keep the promise of the FMA of being able to fight one against many. The surge of interest in NHB (i.e. No Holds Barred a.k.a. Vale Tudo -- this must have been written in the early days of the UFC) this past few years is great, but the one-on-one tactics and techniques of young tattooed testosterone troglodytes dressed for the beach in honorable one-on-one combat on a padded surface may not address the problems of a prison guard trying to get home to his family that night or of citizen trying to deal with a mugging attack while walking past an empty lot or abandoned building in the Bronx. However, the ability to handle a mop or a 2x4 or length of pipe may do just that.
FIT, FUN & FUNCTIONAL
In Dog Brothers Martial Arts we express an important concept with the alliteration “The Three Fs: Fit, Fun, and Functional”. The idea is that to be an effective martial artist one must be healthy and fit. To do the training, it must be fun-- it must be satisfying and enjoyable else it will not be done for long, let alone for life. And to have motive, it needs to be functional. Seen in this light, the staff can offer wonderful training. The triangle of the three Fs yields good results in all areas for the length of one’s life, not just the youth of the young competitive male.
FIT
The training of the staff develops good body alignment, a healthy spine and a supple waist capable of generating good power with weapons, arms, or legs.
A teacher of mine makes a very interesting point about the origin of certain elements of yoga. His research has led him to consider the possibility that the self-help exercises of the infantry in the army of Alexander the Great of Greece that were done with their spears became the basis of a lot of the yoga positions.
The hypothesis is an interesting one. The image is of a 325 BC foot soldier, setting off on foot for a couple of years of conquest with only what he can carry. Imagine: he does not have a horse; he must carry his weapons and armor, his clothing for all weather, his first aid supplies, water and so forth; he must be able to march for distance for days on end and then be ready to fight. From this experience self-help and self-healing wisdoms were developed. Indeed, it is curious to note that the philosophically pacific practice of yoga has a whole series of postures known as “The Warrior Poses” which are identical to that of one of the series of spear assisted poses of the army of Alexander the Great.
Modern life is very destructive of the health of the waist, lower back and hips. When one takes these spear poses with a staff a deeper understanding of the intended alignment of the yoga postures is triggered—the straight line of the staff informs the body of true alignment and cleanses the body of the twists and blockages brought about by a life of desk chairs, car seats, sofas, and toilets. This is one part of the fitness element of staff. The body is ready to receive the martial training.
With the back and hips as well as the shoulders aligned and opened the body is ready for serious power work-- the development of the torque of the spine, lower back and hips. This staff work also promotes rotational strength of the shoulder girdle as well as the ability to project power (through weapon, arm or leg) from the waist. Many martial arts call for good waist power and the power training with the staff is a good way to develop this important attribute.
FUN:
The specifics of staff training will be left for another day. The idea is that the cultivation of technical skills should be done safely and enjoyably.
FUNCTIONALITY: THE WEAPON
A: The Weapon itself:
One of the promises of the Filipino Martial Arts is of being able to pick up what one finds in the environment and get busy. Speaking frankly, when a martial art expands beyond its homeland there is always the danger of valuable elements being left behind or not taking root due to arriving on shores infertile to particular elements. In the Philippines the staff is part of many systems, yet here in the United States the truth is that many FMA practitioners only train with one handed sticks, either singly or doubly—and often the training is almost exclusively with light sticks.
Training exclusively with light one handed sticks presents certain limitations. For example, the snappy motions of a light stick might not apply with a short length of telephone cable. And the environment will often offer weapons that are of a weight and length that require two hands. When the hands are next to each other, like with a baseball bat, it is usually called “dos manos” (from the Spanish for “two hands”). This is the Big Stick. As the weapon becomes long enough to require that the hands some or all of the time have a space between them, we consider it to be a Staff. The sharper the point, the more the qualities of Spear enter in the equation.
Within the category of staff, we organize it in terms of idioms of movement. A “light staff” (e.g. a four to five foot rattan staff) will have different idiom of movement than a similar length of two by four. The two by four does not readily allow for the hands to slide around in order to adjust the hold according to the exigencies of the moment. It is harder for the wrists to “turn over” than with a round staff. A pipe might yet have another idiom of movement than either of these. A staff six foot or more will probably be moved differently than a four foot one. And a mop/broom/rake will be handled differently yet.
B: The Testing:
Since my vision of the Dog Brothers back in 1988, the Dog Brothers have been about honesty with oneself. When it came to staff, I confess to more fear than usual. After investigation by the early UFC as a potential special event, our stickfights had been turned down by it as “just too extreme” (see a copy of the letter on our website), I knew of my injuries from over 10 years of stickfighting, and yet here I was looking to fight with and against a yet more powerful and dangerous weapon. I was already 46. Was this a bridge too far?
Part of the process of stepping out on the field of a stick fight is to be honest with oneself about what can happen and accept it anyway. “Bahala Na.” To step out on the field in ignorance or in denial of the potential consequences is not bravery; it is stupidity. Delusion when it comes to one’s skills leads to damage to one’s body. The intensity of the crucible of the fight produces honesty with the self.
The better one’s skills, understanding, preparation and spirit, the deeper one can go into the transformational experience of the fight. There are few things that will put you in the present as when you get a stick buzzing by your head. In that moment, you decide just which self it is you really wish to defend, and realize which selves are false. It is a very interesting moment.
I reflected and decided I wanted this Experience.
In order to prepare myself to fight with a four-foot staff at the next “Gathering of the Back” (which is our semi-annual event) I went to my teacher, Guro Dan Inosanto and asked for help. He went to his cabinet, and got out some WEKAF headgear (this is the type used in tournaments) and two padded five-foot staffs from the rack. “Lets spar” he said. “Hit me as best you can.” And hit him I did, , , , about one for every 12. Same result the next time too. To be taken apart by a great teacher is a profound experience with its own honesty. “This is this,” says the staff as it whacks you in the head, and again as it cracks you in the hand. No time for theory. No time for words. The mind goes silent. Pet ideas, theories, tricks, techniques all must ruthlessly be screened by the filter of “WHACK!” My students noticed a difference in my staff sparring immediately and in my staff fights I got what I came for. What more can one ask?
FUNTIONALITY: THE STREET
The movements of one against many are different from those of one on one with the same weapon or against a different weapon. With the understanding of the weapon that comes from fighting with it and against it, we can return to the training and with honesty and genuine comprehension train to prepare for the days that may come.
Woof,
Punong Guro "Crafty Dog" Marc Denny
