
A quarterstaff is a middle ages England variant of the staff (stick) weapon, consisting simply of a long shaft of wood, usually oak, hawthorn, hazel or ash (tree). The weapon's name comes from the way it is commonly held: one hand at the center of the staff, and one hand halfway between the center and one end. The quarterstaff was the usual weapon employed in medieval English trial by combat. The length of the quarterstaff varies, from around the height of its wielder at about 1.8m through to a 2.5m longstaff described in George Silver's 16th century fighting manual. Certainly the weapon became shorter and lighter during its revival in self-defence schools in Victorian era England, when it was also used as a sport fencing weapon. In the latter case, quarterstaff fencers wore protective body armour derived from other sports including sabre fencing, boxing and cricket. The quarterstaff is a crushing weapon, much like the Club_(weapon), but its weight distribution is even throughout its entire length. Sharpened or fitted with a metal head, the quarterstaff easily becomes a spear or other pole weapon. More generally, the staff being a very simple weapon to manufacture, it has a long history of use, and a wide cultural dispersion. The staff is a traditional weapon of many Asian martial arts. In Japan it is often referred to as the ''bo (weapon)'', or in shorter 130cm version as the ''Jo (weapon)''. It was historically a common weapon in England, where it features in the Robin Hood legend as the favorite weapon of Little John. In France savate, the staff and the techniques of using it is known as the grand canne. There are also many (farm)tools that can easily be used as or quickly converted to a staff. This made it a weapon of choice for people who were not allowed by law to carry weapons, such as in Japan, where weapons were for the samurai only. Moves include many different forms of blocks, thrusts, strikes, and sweeps. Techniques of quarterstaff: * http://ejmas.com/jmanly/articles/2001/jmanlyart_mccarthy_0901.htm * http://ejmas.com/jmanly/articles/2001/jmanlyart_a-wp-w_0901.htm * http://ejmas.com/jmanly/articles/2002/jmanlyart_scouts_1102.htm ==See also== *hanbo *Stick fighting ==References== * Silver, G. ''c''. 1599. ''Paradoxes of Defense''. Mêlée weapons
"Shepards ''(sic)'' used to have one with a sort of cup on one end of the staff, making the staff useable as a catapult..." Is there a source for this information? The traditional notion of a shepherd's staff has a crook at the end. This sounds like a confused notion of Biblical stories where shepherds carry a sling, which is entirely separate from the staff. User:Ortonmc 21:22, 18 Mar 2004 (UTC) :Obviously wrong. User:Sverdrup 21:28, 18 Mar 2004 (UTC) == Hold Up. . . == My jujitsu ''sensei'' says to dive the ''bo'' into 3rds, should i change the page? --Rey
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Quarterstaff
A quarterstaff is a middle ages England variant of the staff (stick) weapon, consisting simply of a long shaft of wood, usually oak, hawthorn, hazel or ash (tree). The weapon's name comes from the way it is commonly held: one hand at the center of the staff, and one hand halfway between the center and one end. The quarterstaff was the usual weapon employed in medieval English trial by combat. The length of the quarterstaff varies, from around the height of its wielder at about 1.8m through to a 2.5m longstaff described in George Silver's 16th century fighting manual. Certainly the weapon became shorter and lighter during its revival in self-defence schools in Victorian era England, when it was also used as a sport fencing weapon. In the latter case, quarterstaff fencers wore protective body armour derived from other sports including sabre fencing, boxing and cricket. The quarterstaff is a crushing weapon, much like the Club_(weapon), but its weight distribution is even throughout its entire length. Sharpened or fitted with a metal head, the quarterstaff easily becomes a spear or other pole weapon. More generally, the staff being a very simple weapon to manufacture, it has a long history of use, and a wide cultural dispersion. The staff is a traditional weapon of many Asian martial arts. In Japan it is often referred to as the ''bo (weapon)'', or in shorter 130cm version as the ''Jo (weapon)''. It was historically a common weapon in England, where it features in the Robin Hood legend as the favorite weapon of Little John. In France savate, the staff and the techniques of using it is known as the grand canne. There are also many (farm)tools that can easily be used as or quickly converted to a staff. This made it a weapon of choice for people who were not allowed by law to carry weapons, such as in Japan, where weapons were for the samurai only. Moves include many different forms of blocks, thrusts, strikes, and sweeps. Techniques of quarterstaff: * http://ejmas.com/jmanly/articles/2001/jmanlyart_mccarthy_0901.htm * http://ejmas.com/jmanly/articles/2001/jmanlyart_a-wp-w_0901.htm * http://ejmas.com/jmanly/articles/2002/jmanlyart_scouts_1102.htm ==See also== *hanbo *Stick fighting ==References== * Silver, G. ''c''. 1599. ''Paradoxes of Defense''. Mêlée weapons
Quarterstaff
"Shepards ''(sic)'' used to have one with a sort of cup on one end of the staff, making the staff useable as a catapult..." Is there a source for this information? The traditional notion of a shepherd's staff has a crook at the end. This sounds like a confused notion of Biblical stories where shepherds carry a sling, which is entirely separate from the staff. User:Ortonmc 21:22, 18 Mar 2004 (UTC) :Obviously wrong. User:Sverdrup 21:28, 18 Mar 2004 (UTC) == Hold Up. . . == My jujitsu ''sensei'' says to dive the ''bo'' into 3rds, should i change the page? --Rey
See other meanings of words starting from letter:A | B | C | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | T | U | V | X | Y | Z |
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