Apart from a few late imports, wooden staves or sticks disappear from the printed instructional record of 18th- and 19th-century German martial arts literature.
There’s only one example of a wooden weapon being used in a more or less organized combative context in the early 19th century:
The Ziegenhainer walking stick.
And even this leaves something to be desired… Continue reading
Posted in 19th Century, Armory, fencing, singlestick
Tagged german stick fighting, jena, mensur, stoßmensur, stockfechten, stossmensur, thrust mensur, ziegenhainer
Yes, we know. We really shouldn’t. We’re spoiling you rotten.
But heck, you just might learn something! Today, we’re giving away your free access to Rouen, France-based master of the stick, staff, kicking boot and fist Leboucher’s 1843 manual.
We can afford such generosity because someone else’s already paid for putting it online… Continue reading
Posted in 19th Century, fencing, Images, Library, singlestick, Stick Fighting
Tagged la canne, leboucher, stick fighting, stockfechten, Théorie pour appendre a Tirer La Canne
It’s all well and good reading the foreign imports of fencing and fighting manuals published in the United States in the 19th century. Especially the one or two stick and staff fighting books.
But the Yanks knew their way around a stick all by their lonesome.
Dashiell Hammett includes a great fight scene in his 1924 short story “Nightmare Town”… Continue reading
Readers of The Lazarus Smile will no doubt remember that it was F.C. Christmann, Professor of the Art of Fencing and Member of Several Academies, who started the whole darn mess by handing Ernst Moritz Arndt a stack of classical manuscript scraps. But unlike the Byzantine cascade of events that find their preliminary end in the Sherpur Cantonment Cemetary in Kabul, his self-defence advice is straightforward… Continue reading
Posted in 19th Century, fencing, Saber, singlestick
Tagged Baron de Marbot, Brigadier Gerard, Christmann, deutsche selbstverteidigung, Flashman, hiebfechten, lazarus smile, mainz income, Saber, säbel
There are more Oktoberfeste in the United States than in Germany. More Highland Games in Canada than in Scotland. And Irish stick fight fighting?
Apparently, the old blackthorn is being plied vigorously, anywhere but Ireland…
(picture pilfered from irish-stick-fighting.com) Continue reading
Posted in singlestick
Tagged irish blackthorn, irish stick fighting, shilelagh, singlestick
Thanks to the U.S. Naval Academy, Maryland can claim a number of famous fencing masters who left instructional manuals to posterity. One of them was the Belgian Antoine J. Corbesier. He may not have been original. But he was influential enough to have a couple of ships named after him.
Includes link to FREE, complete text of his Broadsword Exercise! Continue reading
Posted in 19th Century, Cutlass, fencing, Foil, singlestick
Tagged broadsword, corbesier, cordelois, Cutlass, foil fencing, naval academie, naval fencing
Over at Deutsche Hiebfechtkunst, we’re compiling a repository of cinematic evidence regarding the various methods of European Cut Fencing. Check it out—and point out more to us!
Posted in 19th Century, 20th Century, fencing, Saber, Schläger, singlestick
Tagged cut fencing, fencing, glockenschläger, Hanns Heinz Ewesr, heavy saber, hiebfechten, Horst Wessel, korbschläger, mensur, saber fencing, sabre, säbel, Student von Prag, Terrone
Posted in 20th Century, fencing, singlestick
Tagged escrime français, fencing, la canne, stick fencing
Posted in 19th Century, fencing, singlestick
Tagged singlestick, stockfechten, wickerwork basket
Trotz seiner heutigen Populär-Identifikation mit nationalistischen Strömungen ist das Hiebfechten der deutschen Studenten fest in europäische Traditionen eingebunden.
The Secret History of the Sword 