canary island stick fighting

Discussion in 'Western Martial Arts' started by Tommy-2guns..., Jun 1, 2007.

  1. Tommy-2guns...

    Tommy-2guns... southpaw glassjaw

    I have found a nice long video about the canary islanders martial art of Juego del Palo, here is a historical record of how matches were fought-

    it is said this art is going through a revival,which isnt too suprising giving the rise of national martial arts systems becoming more popular, for instance french combat cane, stick fighting from british manuals studied by WMA groups and more and more groups studying irish Bata, i think soon native wrestling and weapons systems are going to become popular again, as eastern martial arts are not exotic anymore, they are common-place everywhere you go, now it is people in armour with western weapons and wrestling which isnt often seen which i feel will become the more exotic and desireable fashion in martial arts, and thats no bad thing.

    Torriani wrote, "When two Canarians went to duel, they went to a special place established for this purpose. It was a small enclosure with a level, raised stone platform at each end. Firstly they each stood upon a platform, armed with three of the smooth throwing stones they call tahuas, and also with the stick called magodo or amodeghe. Then they dodged the stones as they were thrown, skillfully twisting their bodies without moving their feet. Next, they stepped down and fenced with the staves, each one trying to gain advantage over the other, as is our custom also."

    from the the video, i infer that its more of a game nowerdays than an art,although it has obvious combat roots, the slenderness of the sticks i imadgine are indicative of the desire to not harm training partners more than of any value to efficiency in fighting.

    Its interesting to note that a similar style called Jogo do Pau which is said to have been used in guerilla warefare against the french during the napoleonic wars which brings some comparison with styles of FMA.

    anyway, enjoy the video and try to ignore the music,it will make your ears want to die.

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=xwHR8dMWRiU&mode=related&search= heres some competetive footage of the art.

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=yww1puQC1AY&mode=related&search= here th fighting is done with more stout staves on par with a Bo staff,however what remains to be seen is weather this is the traditional art or an eastern martial art.

    enjoy.
     
  2. KuKulzA

    KuKulzA Taiwanese independence!

    so how much was the Canary Islands influenced by Spainish and how much by Africans?
    it is always interesting to find influences from Europe and Africa, please where the term martial art doesn't seem to ring a bell.. but infact where there is war, and a need for technique, there is the beginnings of martial art
     
  3. TheVigilante

    TheVigilante New Member

    There was a book recently published on Jogo do Pau, you can get it on amazon. Not sure if it has any stuff on the Canary Island arts, but may be worth a look anyway.
     

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