Old stick

[alfanator]

Found this in the corner of an antique store, nice walking stick that has the balance of a sword. The knobs on the handle conform nicely to a 2 handed sword grip, with right palm over the inscriptions. Not sure what the writing says except for the Ming Guo (Republic Ear) part but i rather enjoy swinging it. Looks like some sort of root that was trained to have a twist right below the inscription. Perhaps a good substitute for when one could not carry a sword. Reminds me of a blackthorn cane.

Did the Chinese have a tradition of carrying sword canes like the Japanese did during the Meiji Period?

[Scott M. Rodell]

.. Not sure what the writing says except for the Min Guo (Republic Ear) part but i rather enjoy swinging it... Perhaps a good substitute for when one could not carry a sword...

Looks like it reads Min Guo Sanshi Er nian, Republic 32nd Year, which would be 1943.

Why not carry it, a cane is one the few weapons one can still openly carry without any problems...

[Dan Pasek]

Looks like some sort of root that was trained to have a twist right below the inscription.]

Some vines that wrap around branches or young trees can produce this ‘twisting’ appearance (I have found some on my ~5 acres of wooded land), thought I suppose that one could have trained the twist rather than having found it by chance.

It looks like a fantastic stick! Enjoy it.

Dan

[Nik]

I think it looks great too, but I am not yet in the age where I would walk with a stick. Although marching to the 50 ...

[alfanator]

Thanks for your kind comments. I will carry it around from time to time and on my walkabouts despite being under 40 and not really needing one. Hope to resist temptation to swing it while waiting for a cab on a Shanghai street corner

[J HepworthYoung]

A very beautiful find!

I walk with a stick all the time, I am 30 but have walked with sticks and canes whenever I felt like it since I was about 15 or so. They set rhythm so can set a pace and cadence and can provide another point of stability for hiking. I went hiking just the other day with an unhilted homemade wooden jian as a walking stick, it was handy and i got to practice some basic cuts along the way.

[xingyi24]

Do you have a closer shot of that stick's twist? Mr. Pasek is correct in that there are many trees that will develop such with a spiral shape from a vine, however, it looks like it's a rather tight twist, and there are people who groom growing trees to get odd shapes for the sake of woodcraft. The same characteristics can be seen in Japanese and Chinese bonsai, when a grower neglects the tree long enough that the wires used to train the shape of the tree are allowed to "cut" into the growth. You may want to look for an end to see if you have a branch, trunk or turning.

Additionally, I say carry it. Granted, when I do, it's because I don't want to fall over, and I'm not yet 30, but you'd also be amazed at how useful something as simple as a stick can become. You are right though to wonder if you will start developing drum major skills. I catch myself twirling my cane like a baton when I'm standing and thinking.

[alfanator]

Here is a pic of the twist. I am pretty sure it was trained on the vine to be that way. Someone took their time to make this old stick.

[Nik]

It's really a cool thing, Gandalf.

[xingyi24]

I believe you are correct. It was trained to my eye. It looks like they actually used cords of two different widths to accomplish this, to give you that wide gap, narrow gap pattern. A craftsman with an eye for nature had his hand in it I'm sure.