"The Cane as a Weapon"

[Tony Wolf]

I'd like to announce the re-publication, after nearly 100 years, of A.C. Cunningham's classic American cane defense manual, "the Cane as a Weapon".

Mr. Cunningham was a civil engineer and fencing master attached to the US Navy during the late 1800s and the early decades of the 1900s. His other works on fencing and self defense include a manual on "Sabre and Bayonet", published in 1906.

This expanded edition of "the Cane as a Weapon" includes over one hundred and seventy new, captioned photographs in addition to the twelve pictures featured in the 1912 original, to help modern readers put Mr. Cunningham's lessons into practice. The 2006 edition also includes a new introduction and bibliography section.

Mr. Cunningham's twenty-three lessons include grip and guard positions; the different types of attack and defence techniques; targets, feints, counter-parries and footwork; dealing with multiple attackers and "special cases" such as defending against an attack by a dog, or using a hat as an additional weapon of self defense.

"The Cane as a Weapon" makes a wonderful novelty gift or practical study guide for martial artists, self defense enthusiasts and history buffs alike.

Please see http://www.lulu.com/content/547629 for full details, a 10-page PDF preview, and ordering information.

Cheers,

Tony

[Allen Reed]

Originally Posted by Tony Wolf

I'd like to announce the re-publication, after nearly 100 years, of A.C. Cunningham's classic American cane defense manual, "the Cane as a Weapon".

Mr. Cunningham was a civil engineer and fencing master attached to the US Navy during the late 1800s and the early decades of the 1900s. His other works on fencing and self defense include a manual on "Sabre and Bayonet", published in 1906.

This expanded edition of "the Cane as a Weapon" includes over one hundred and seventy new, captioned photographs in addition to the twelve pictures featured in the 1912 original, to help modern readers put Mr. Cunningham's lessons into practice. The 2006 edition also includes a new introduction and bibliography section.

Mr. Cunningham's twenty-three lessons include grip and guard positions; the different types of attack and defence techniques; targets, feints, counter-parries and footwork; dealing with multiple attackers and "special cases" such as defending against an attack by a dog, or using a hat as an additional weapon of self defense.

"The Cane as a Weapon" makes a wonderful novelty gift or practical study guide for martial artists, self defense enthusiasts and history buffs alike.

Please see http://www.lulu.com/content/547629 for full details, a 10-page PDF preview, and ordering information.

Cheers,

Tony

Tony showed me a copy of this book a the Paddy Crean workshop.

I have ordered several copies. One for my library and others to sell at my school.

I also plan to use it at my school.

Allen

[Arnold Beever]

Hi Allen,

Just wanted to let you know on some other resources for using the cane/walking stick for defense.

http://www.ltspecpro.com/vdsc.html
This is a "Cold Steel" training video.

http://www.paladin-press.com/detail.aspx?ID=1410

http://www.paladin-press.com/detail.aspx?ID=1086

The above two publications are located at Paladin Press.

Thank you for posting about "The Cane As A Weapon". I will be adding this title to my collection.

[Bob Brooks]

Another excellent resource for we cane-iacs! Thanks Tony

Honourably,

Bob

[andy damms]

Hi Guys,
"The walking stick" method of self defence is availabel free on line, though of course you can purchase..( if you have trouble I can e mail my copy )
The original master Barton wight is at:
http://ejmas.com/jnc/jncart_barton-wright_0200.htm#EN2

I went to purchase the book then found shipping costs to the old world doubled the price...(slight cough..)

[David Halfpenny]

In Australia we have a guy name Craig Gemeiner who, aside from being a brilliant teacher, is also an expert in La Canne. He did a seminar for us recently and I am hooked. He has made some excellent La Canne videos (3 volumes now) which present the Vigny and Lang methods and include full speed sparring.
Here are some links. Buy them all and save!
http://www.savateaustralia.com/Produ...anneVideo1.htm
http://www.savateaustralia.com/Produ...anneVideo2.htm

While I can't find it at the moment, one of the university based savate schools (cambridge maybe) has a great video of a guy in a wheel chair whipping the butt of an able bodied guy with a cane.

Oh, by the way, if you are playing canes, get some rattan to do it. We killed more than half a dozen good hardwood sticks during our seminar.

Cheers,
David

[Arnold Beever]

Hi everyone,

In regards to the cane issue. Cold steel makes "combat grade" canes. I can't think of another way to describe them.

Check out the link below. I have the "City Stick". Nicely made, thick hollow fiberglass shaft with a stainless head and a rubber bumper on the end. Nice quality. The stainless end can be unscrewed and then engraved if you want.
They use the Walkabout XL predominately in their "Stun, Stagger, Stop" training video. The video shows them smashing cinder blocks and ripping through what looks like 1/8" wood panneling. Good video by the way, but expensive!

I would also recommend using "Blue" loctite on the head threads when you are no longer going to unscrew the head (blue loctite can be broken, not as strong as the Red loctite) You could probably use 2 strap wrenches to remove the head if you needed to.

http://www.ltspecpro.com/sticks.html

Have fun, be safe.

Arnold B

[Tony Wolf]

Further on the subject of cane defence training, the Sof-Stx company has a range of padded, crook handled canes - http://www.sof-stx.com/productCat22539.ctlg .

Tony

[Allen Reed]

Originally Posted by Allen Reed

Tony showed me a copy of this book a the Paddy Crean workshop.

I have ordered several copies. One for my library and others to sell at my school.

I also plan to use it at my school.

Allen

My copies of Tony's book arrived yesterday.

I found the book well put together.

The black and white pictures fit in well to the early 20th C. look of the original.

The only samll critique I have is that in some of the photo sequences it might have been easier to follow the action if the photos had been numbered.

Allen

[Tony Wolf]

Hi Allen,

thanks for the kind words. We have some other reviews online now as well - http://www.lulu.com/content/547629 - and a review coming up in the premiere issue of the new Western Martial Arts Illustrated magazine (two plugs for the price of one )

Cheers,

Tony

[Arnold Beever]

Hello Tony (and the rest of you SFIers),

Just received my copy of "The Cane as a Weapon" from Lulu today.
Review=
***Please keep in mind I have no formal Martial training. I offer this review on the quality of the publication and its printing.***
The paper is of a heavier grade than regular "Magazine" paper and semi-gloss, also the cover is even heavier. This is a paper-back publication. The book measures 8-1/2 x 11-1/8. The book runs 66 pages + 1 blank page. All pictures are in black & white, very clear and in focus, with good lighting showing all the detail you could want. The captions with each pic are very clear and understandable. Even the original pics are very clear and in-focus. The print is 1/8" in height very clear and easily read. The chapters appear to be in a very logical order for training. Though I have barely started to read this publication, it is an "easy read" (because of the above mentioned propereties) and this makes it very enjoyable.

Thank you Tony for updating and enhancing this very interesting publication.

Now onto Lulu.

I have never dealt with Lulu before, but would have no qualms about doing it again. My original order was "Oopsed" as they sent me the wrong publication. I contacted them via e-mail and within 24 hours they had contacted me back via e-mail. I e-mailed them the required information and within another 24 hours they had shipped out a new publication to me and an apology! Excellent customer service and very polite.

If any of you are interested in this publication, don't hesitate to place your order. It is well worth it.

Arnold Beever

[Tony Wolf]

Hi Arnold,

thanks for the review. If it's not too much trouble, could you add this to the reviews section on our virtual bookstore page - http://www.lulu.com/content/547629 ?

Please do let us know how the book works for you as an instructional manual. I'm particularly interested in how effective it is as a self-study guide for someone without a martial arts background.

Cheers,

Tony

[Arnold Beever]

Hi Tony,

Review added today. I will let you know about the training, will take some time though. Looks like I'm going to have to build a "Training Pell". lol.

For those of you wondering about measurements for a "useable stick", these are the measurements I found from the below website:

"1 meter or 39 inches in length and 20mm or 3/4 inch thick with an average weight of 1.0 lb".

http://lacannevigny.wordpress.com/a-pierre-vigny/

Thanks again Tony, this is a really nice book.

Arnold B

[Tony Wolf]

You're most welcome!

Just a note that while the Vigny and Cunningham styles agree on many points, they are at odds to some extent on guard positions and parrying methods. Vigny consistently advocates high guards to protect the weapon-wielding hand and all of his parries are performed with the hand higher than the tip of the cane, so that attacking weapons (sliding down the shaft) do not strike the defender's fingers.

Cunningham's two primary guards are low and his single-handed parries are closer to those of orthodox fencing.

Both men, very sensibly, often suggest executing the parry as a counter-cut to the opponent's hand rather than as a passive "block".

Also, the Vigny system is best learned with a Vigny-style stick, featuring a heavy steel ball handle.

Cheers,

Tony

[Arnold Beever]

Hello all you cane-iacs,

I guess it is time to add an update to this thread.

As I have stated above, I have no formal Martial training, so please keep this in mind.

Tony, would it be possible to add another chapter to your book, on "warm-up" exercises. Working with the cane, especially with the heavy ball end at the "swinging" end of the cane puts quite a bit of stress on the wrist/shoulder joints. A proper set of "warm-up" drills would be greatly appreciated by the uniniated. I am fortunate in haveing the Cold Steel DVD, "Stun, Stagger & Stop" and use the warm-up exercises from there.

Training is moving forward, slowly, but I am continually studying "The Cane as a Weapon", and working with my cane when I have the time. I have been asked quite often by strangers what I am reading, when they have passed by and glanced at the book/pictures. Although, they do look at me like "I'm a little mad" when I explain.

For those of you who would like a secure way to store/display your cane(s), check out this link for Lee Vally. These are good quality solid bronze.

http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/pa...,40431&p=40431

Arnold B

[Tony Wolf]

Hi Arnold,

thanks again for the feedback. I've been very happy with the response to the CaaW re-print.

I must admit that I hadn't thought of adding a chapter on warm-up exercises; basically, I'd assumed that anyone who took to using the book as a practical study guide was likely to be a practicing martial artist and that they would already be familiar with warm-ups. The sections that I added to Cunningham's text (the introduction and bibliography) were to provide some historical context for his work.

Perhaps I could add a paragraph or two to the introduction, pointing out that it's a good idea to warm up before training; I'd feel awkward about contributing an entirely original technical chapter to the book because it's really intended to be an interpretation of Cunningham's 1912 first edition, rather than as "Tony Wolf's guide to cane fighting"

In the short term, I'd suggest running through some of the basic techniques in slow motion, gradually applying more dynamic tension to the movements as your muscles begin to warm up.

Thanks for the link to the umbrella/cane display clips; they look very handsome indeed! Last year I made a display rack for my collection of antique canes and Indian exercise clubs, using bronze pool-cue clips.

Cheers,

Tony