By Christopher Scott Thompson

Big cities in the 1700s were just as dangerous as they are today, infested by violent street gangs such as London’s Mohocks, Scourers and Hawkubites. A poem from that era reads:

For the threatened people of London and other large cities, there was a great need for instruction in the martial arts. At that time, gentlemen regularly carried walking sticks, partly as a mark of status and partly for self-defense. At the same time, there were many veterans of the Highland regiments who had experience with the broadsword, either on the battlefield or in duels between soldiers. Some of the first Western manuals on practical self-defense with the stick were written by Highland broadsword masters, applying the principles of their art to this everyday weapon.

One of the most famous manuals on the use of the Highland broadsword was written specifically to teach self-defense with the stick. The author was a retired officer of the Black Watch, and his manual was called Anti-Pugilism, referring to the superiority of the stick over the fist in a street fight:

Despite his intention of teaching self-defense for the street, the author goes on to give the rest of his instructions as if for the broadsword. He makes it clear that the two weapons were intended to be used in the same way. A few years later, the same manual was reprinted under the title of Cudgeling, but once again no distinction is made between stick and sword. However, another broadsword manual called the Art of Defence on Foot of 1798 points out that a stick should not be used exactly like a sword, because its edges are not sharp and a quick opponent can grab your stick and immobilize it, or hit you in the knuckles and disarm you. This manual describes the changes that have to be made in order to safely use a stick for self-defense, including adjustments to the stance and the parries.

In the stance called the hanging guard, the swordsman usually extends the sword arm completely, with the hilt high over his head and to the outside a little, and the edge turned upwards. The blade slopes diagonally downward to cross the body, and the point is aimed at the opponent’s body. This stance is too exposed with the stick, as the opponent can simply seize the end of the stick anytime he wishes to. Therefore in a cudgel fight the hanging guard must be taken differently, with the sword arm bent and the point withdrawn, allowing you to make powerful attacks while keeping the stick out of reach of the enemy. The left hand is held in front of the chest with the palm open, ready to be used if needed. If you parry an attack to your head from the hanging guard, you will usually hold the stick up above your head like a roof. This is called the St. George’s guard. If you parry to your left side, it is sometimes called an inside half-hanger, and to the right side is an outside half-hanger, but these are all just variations on the hanging guard and there is no real need to give them separate names.

There are two other primary guards in broadsword fencing. To take the outside guard, extend your sword so that your point is at the level of your opponent’s right eye, with your wrist turned outward, basket angled to the right as if your edge was aimed between four and five on a clock dial. Your sword arm should be bent rather than completely extended, and your sword blade should cross the body diagonally from the right to the left.

To take the inside guard, rotate your wrist so that your sword point is aimed at your opponent’s left eye. Now your edge should be angled to the left and aimed between seven and eight o’clock. Your sword blade should cross the body diagonally from the left to the right. Your left hand is held up beside your face with the palm open.

(These instructions are reversed for a left-hander.)

The parries in broadsword fencing are often taken very close to the hilt, sometimes even striking the basket itself. If you did this with a stick, of course, your hand could be broken. Therefore you must be sure to parry further away from your own body, and to keep your stick at a more horizontal angle during the parry. Deflect the opponent’s stick away with the force of your block rather than simply stopping it as you might do with a sword. This is especially important in the inside and outside guards. In the hanging guard, your stick will be angled downward already, so gravity will shed blows off to the side. But you must remember to keep your hand up high where it cannot easily be sniped at.

I have fought training bouts using a single stick with no hand protection, but by following these simple principles I kept my hand from being struck. However, a broken hand could easily keep you away from training for months, so you should always practice with safety gear.

Anyone familiar with the Filipino martial arts will be aware that the hand is a primary target in a stick fight. The author of Art of Defence on Foot described a simple method to protect the hand. This can be practiced as a drill with two singlesticks, fencing masks, and padded gloves.

Stand on guard while the opponent attempts to hit your knuckles. To prevent this, continually change between inside, outside and hanging guards, always threatening his face with your point.

Once you’re familiar with this, you can add slipping. This means to pull the target out of the way as he attacks it. If he tries to hit your hand when you’re in the inside guard, pull the weapon back all the way to your breast, then strike him on his right shoulder as he misses. If he tries to hit your hand when you’re in the outside guard, pull the weapon back to a little below your right shoulder, then strike just as he misses.

Even when faced with the threat of the stick, some opponents will rush straight in at you. Against an unarmed attacker, or one armed with a shorter weapon such as a knife, you can thrust forcefully directly to the body. This technique is illustrated in Anti-Pugilism, showing a gentleman jabbing his walking stick into the sternum of a charging ruffian. Bear in mind, however, that the law expects you to use only the level of force that is appropriate to the threat.

Against an opponent wielding a knife, a cudgel fighter would step out of distance or off the line of the attack and strike at the opponent’s weapon arm or head.

Against a rushing opponent armed with a stick, the cudgel fighter would take the parry and then apply one of several throws borrowed from traditional Highland wrestling. For instance, immediately after the parry is made you can thrust your left arm up between your crossed weapons from below, and twine your hand under his wrist and over his arm. Bear his arm down forcibly, then step forward and kick up his heel from behind while striking his face with the butt of your stick.

Just as in the 18^th century, the art of the cudgel is learned by studying the Highland broadsword. The footwork, striking method and strategy are almost entirely the same, so there is little point in studying the two arts separately. An experienced broadsword fencer can be turned into an effective cudgel fighter with just a few special lessons.

As unusual as it may seem, this is an art that was intended for both battlefield swordsmanship and urban self-defense, as early as the eighteenth century. Though there are perhaps more sophisticated stick-fighting methods in existence, part of the interest in cudgeling is that it is one of the oldest. The street gangsters of eighteenth century London had more to fear than the city guard. They never knew when an old man with a walking stick might turn out to be a broadsword master.