When you don't have a sword...

[iglazer]

This is an interesting little article on using a walking stick for self-defense. I like illustrations as well. It provides a good lesson in what to do if attacked by a Victorian English gentleman.

[Linda Heenan]

My husband collects things old and interesting ..... now where is it? Ah, yes - one ebony walking stick with elephant head handle. Now all I need is an irate senior citizen to try this with *grins*.



I often chat to the head of the local Senior Citizens Centre, and she does have a walking stick at age 86. But in her young and sprightly days (aged 84), she tells a story of how she fended off two young men who were intent on making off with her handbag in Sydney one day.



Her club had invited someone up to do a self defence course and she had found reason to use the skills. She took great delight in describing how she resisted letting the bag go for long enough to counter and kept leg contact with the one behind, so she would know where he was when she was ready to stamp on his foot.



Then, suddenly letting the bag go, she poked the guy in front in the face. The result was he fell and hit his head on the pavement. She had immediately stamped on the other guy's foot, hard enough to break it. Then, leaving two strong young attackers quite disabled, she collected her handbag and left the scene.



"Didn't you call an ambulance?" I asked.



"No," she replied, with a wicked grin. "That's what they intended to do to me, so I left them there and went to get a cup of tea."



All that, without her walking stick. I think she'd be positively lethal if she read that article. Incidentally, she said the self defence course had been something to do with Tai Chi.

[Scott M. Rodell]

Great Link, thanks ion...



One of the best things about carrying walking sticks is they are perfectly legal while being extremely effective.



A good friend of mine who studied shaolinquan & other arts quite seriously in Taiwan also had a medical condition that caused him to sometimes require the use of a cane. One day in the NYC subway, he was standing alone on a subway platform when a group of young thugs came down the stairs & immediately swept around him in a circle. It was obvious what was coming, but before they could launch into their pre-attack taunts, one was on the ground from a broken collar bone. Soon, others were withering in pain on the floor from smashed knees etc. He took off between the hole in their ranks & they didn't chose to follow.



Its pretty easy to adjust one's sword practice to using a cane. Just target bones that break easily & cause structural damage. The collar bone is the best. Usually the duifang about to be hit covers his head expecting that is your target. Also, you have to remember swords cuts & canes hit. Therefore the movements from the sword form have to be adjusted, of course pi & other short energy cuts will work just fine as is.



The easier way to understand how to use your sword like a cane is to get a 1 1/2" dowel & find an old tire. Mount up the tire at torso height so that you can hit it & whack away. You'll notice that your cane bounces off, where as a sword would obviously cut in or thru. Train using your cane to employ that bounce to move on to the next target. For example, the bounce back from a downward blow to the shoulder/collar bone area can to redirected quite quickly to the floating rib. Anyone who isn't quite high on PCP will go right down from that combo.



Anyway, I hope no one ever has need of this, but just in case, train diligently...