Miscellaneous Modern Stick Usage.

[arnisador]

Santa Fe artist's work screams of injustices (http://www1.abqtrib.com/albq/fe_books/article/0,2668,ALBQ_21237_4475246,00.html)

This is a story on a photo book of the horrors in Rwanda and Sudan ("Africa: The Holocausts of Rwanda and Sudan"). The story itself is quite depressing. However, I wanted to comment on this small part of the story:


Niemeyer's photographs in Sudan tell the story of people - many of them slaves - eking out an existence in a harsh, arid land. We see young boys and girls carrying automatic weapons, prepared for combat with forces from the north. And we see men going into battle armed only with sticks, hoping to retrieve better weapons from fallen enemy soldiers - or their own comrades.

We watched an episode of Conquest recently. It discussed stone-age weapons, starting with the stick and progressing to the club, etc. In this day and age, though, there are still people going into battle armed soley with sticks.

There is a slide show of four images here (http://web.abqtrib.com/slideshows/africa/); the third one shows a young boy with a rifle.

[arnisador]

Speaking of stick usage in armed conflicts post-firearms, we watched the "Trench Warfare" episode of Conquest tonight. They showed trench knives, of course, but indicated that there were also medieval-style clubs used in the trenches, and even demonstrated a person invading (with others) an enemy trench with a rifle in one hand and a spiked club in the other. Is this accurate? I'm sure it happened sometime, somewhere, but they made it seem as though club usage was common in WWI trench warfare.

[seibukan]

Speaking of stick usage in armed conflicts post-firearms, we watched the "Trench Warfare" episode of Conquest tonight. They showed trench knives, of course, but indicated that there were also medieval-style clubs used in the trenches, and even demonstrated a person invading (with others) an enemy trench with a rifle in one hand and a spiked club in the other. Is this accurate? I'm sure it happened sometime, somewhere, but they made it seem as though club usage was common in WWI trench warfare.

It looks like there was some club usage. This site would be the place to find out moore (has a nice edged weapons section too)

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=93561&highlight=trench+club

http://forum.axishistory.com/files/spiky_trench_club_full_view_470.jpg

[arnisador]

I knew of trench knives, but not trench clubs! It's amazing to me how late in the technological era the stick remains a viable and used weapon.

Welcome to the site, by the way!

[JohnJ]

How bout the simplicity of the Sudanese Freedom Fighter knife methods...Jab, Grab & Stab. Can't get any easier to master and very functional to say the least.

[arnisador]

Dhaka put under siege, streets turn battlefields (http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/06/12/d6061201011.htm)


tick-wielding opposition activists exult after 'capturing' a police wrecker at Kanchpur as cops watch helplessly during 14-party's Dhaka Siege programme yesterday.

[arnisador]

An article on Islamic Law in Indonesia discusses (http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10713FE3B5B0C728CDDA10894DE4044 82) the application of the rattan cane in judicial punishment.

[arnisador]

Brazilian Indians storm mining complex (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061018/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/brazil_cvrd_indians)



SAO PAULO, Brazil - Indians wielding war clubs and bows and arrows stormed an Amazon mining complex, shutting it down in an apparent demand for more compensation from the world's largest iron ore miner, the company said Wednesday.

[arnisador]

Poisoned Arrows vs. Machine Guns (http://select.nytimes.com/gst/tsc.html?URI=http://select.nytimes.com/2006/11/14/opinion/14kristof.html&OQ=_rQ3D1&OP=6f6b4cbdQ2FRk2FRfVeQ22Q22fRQ7C99.RQ5CQ5CRQ5CURQ 22Sz%29zQ22%29RQ5CUjezVfQ22qP8fdQ2A)




Almost every male you meet in Chad over the age of 12 carries a homemade bow and a quiver of arrows, just in case they come across marauders with machine guns.Only a preview online, but the article goes on to state that most people carry a bow and arrows and "[m]any also carry spears and swords" for protection against the rifle-carrying attackers.

[arnisador]

Accompanying the copy of this story (http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/11/18/palestinian_efforts_to_reach_unity_deal_may_face_d elay/) in my local paper (Terre Haute, IN) was a picture wherein a "Palestinian uses a slingshot to throw a stone at Israeli border police". I would estimate the length of the slingshot to be about 4 feet.

Again, I am amzed at how often 'primitive' weapons are used in third millenium conflicts.

[arnisador]

Police in Tijuana issued sling shots (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070123/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/mexico_tijuana_police)



The police department has issued about 60 slingshots to officers in the violent border city of Tijuana, where soldiers confiscated police weapons two weeks ago on allegations of collusion with drug traffickers.

Municipal police spokesman Fernando Bojorquez said Monday that the slingshots, along with bags of ballbearings, were given to officers patrolling areas of the city visited by tourists.

Tijuana's police force of 2,000 officers has been without guns since Jan. 5, but some patrol alongside armed state police.
The photo caption begins "A Tijuana city police officer, who did not want to be identified, displays one of numerous slingshots that were distributed to police..."

[arnisador]

Wife uses branch, pen to fight off lion (http://www.redbluffdailynews.com/news/ci_5101407)


Nell Hamm first saw the mountain lion when it had her husband's head in its jaws.

The lion pounced on Jim Hamm at the tail end of a 10-mile hike in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park Wednesday. The 70-year-old man was trailing behind Nell when the big cat attacked, pinning him face down on the trail.


His 65-year-old wife did all the right things. She approached and screamed at the lion. Then she grabbed a branch and began beating it on its back. "It wouldn't let go, no matter how hard I hit it," Nell said in an interview at Mad River Community Hospital Thursday, where her husband was in intensive care recovering from surgery.


Jim, who was trying to tear at the face of the cat, told Nell to grab a pen from his pocket and stab the cat in the eyes. She did, but the pen broke.


"That lion never flinched," Nell said. "I just knew it was going to kill him."


Nell picked up the branch again and this time slammed it butt-end into the cat's snout.


In the version I read in my local paper (a shortened version appears at the end here (http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article2190042.ece)) it said:


"Jim was talking to me all through this," Mrs Hamm said. "He said, 'I've got a pen in my pocket and get the pen and jab him in the eye. So I got the pen and tried to put it in his eye, but it didn't want to go in as easy as I thought it would."

[arnisador]

A slingshot (http://slinging.org/) site, with a forum for slingshots and also "Other Primite Weapons" such as the spear, bola, chackrum, knive, sword, bow, atlatl, whip, blowguns, axe, boomerang, siege engines, etc.

[arnisador]

Seen on Yahoo!.

[lhommedieu]

There was a great picture in the New York Times (front page) last week of a Palestinian boy using a sling against Israeli army soldiers a hundred yards away. The boy was siloetted against a wall of flames in the background and he was just about to hurl his stone.

I couldn't find the original picture but here's something similar:

http://www.catholicconvert.com/Portals/0/SlingPalestinian.jpg

I'm sure that I wasn't the only one who thought about the biblical reference brought up by the picture.

Best,

Steve Lamade

[arnisador]

Gary student pulls medieval weapon (http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007704200533)


A 15-year-old girl who allegedly swung a medieval-style weapon at a teacher, striking a student who intervened, told police she was tired of being picked on.

The Lew Wallace High School freshman swung the mace -- a spiked ball and chain attached to a wooden stick -- at a teacher Thursday morning, said Gary Police detective Sgt. Darlene Breitenstein.


The teacher wasn't hit, but a 19-year-old student who intervened was cut on her hand.


"It's heavy, and it's metal and it's sharp," Breitenstein said. "I took the weapon to the detention center for the judge to see."

[arnisador]

91-Year-Old Uses Cane To Fight Off Attacker (http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/news/13506246/detail.html?cnn=yes)



A 91-year-old man was attacked on the street this week, but he used his cane to fight back.

Lincoln Johnson, of Lawrence, said he is bruised and sore from Tuesday's attack.

Johnson was sitting with a friend along a Lawrence walkway when a man came at them wielding a piece of concrete as a weapon.

[arnisador]

Resident's hammer puts end to attack (http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070905/LOCAL18/709050418/-1/LOCAL17)


Police say a 59-year-old Indianapolis man used a hammer to fend off a man trying to rob his Near-Eastside home Monday night.

[...]

Boyce had a number of tools near his bed. When the suspect noticed Boyce waking up, he struck Boyce in the head with one of the victim's nail guns, police said. Boyce rolled out of bed and began fighting with him.

Boyce, police said, grabbed a hammer from his toolbox and struck the intruder in the head two or three times.

[Carol]

91-Year-Old Uses Cane To Fight Off Attacker (http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/news/13506246/detail.html?cnn=yes)

The beauty of walking canes? You can bring them on airplanes.

Never be without your sticks. ;)

[arnisador]

Yes, they can be "hidden in plain sight" as the saying goes!

[StixMaster]

That is so true thats why I want a cane made of 'bahi'. Good cane and good weapon.

[arnisador]

Several pictures in the 9/11 NYT showing riot sticks being usedin Pakisatn:

Pakistan Edgy as Ex-Premier Is Exiled Again (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/11/world/asia/11pakistan.html)

[arnisador]

Bolivians retake airport from national troops (http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/printedition/saturday/chi-boliviaoct20,0,2754112.story)


The picture in this paper showed men with clubs who had re-taken the airport from soldiers. From another source (http://www.kansascity.com/news/world/story/325082.html):


RESIDENTS TAKE BACK AIRPORT FROM TROOPSSANTA CRUZ, Bolivia | Armed with clubs and waving provincial flags, thousands of residents of Bolivia’s Santa Cruz province seized control of the country’s busiest airport Friday from troops sent in by President Evo Morales. The troops had been ordered to the airport Thursday after workers threatened to block flights that did not pay landing fees to local officials but instead paid the national airport authority. Planes continued to land and take off Friday.

[arnisador]

Lots of pictures in the paper recently showing riot sticks being swung in Pakisatn the past few days...in a quick search I only came up with a non-action shot:

[arnisador]

I've been seeing lots of pictures in the news about Kenya that show men with sticks (including what are obviously boards taken from a structure) and machetes.

[arnisador]

The use of clubs (and machetes) in Kenya continues:

Helicopters swoop to save Kenya refugees (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080129/wl_nm/kenya_crisis_dc)


Kenyan military helicopters swooped over machete-wielding crowds terrorizing hundreds of refugees in a lakeside town on Tuesday against a backdrop of spiraling violence in the east African country.
[...]
a mob of about 600 people brandishing machetes and clubs at members of another tribe.


The slideshow here (http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Kenya-Elections-Naivasha-Kikuyu-tribe-members/ss/events/wl/123007kenyaelections/s:/nm/20080129/wl_nm/kenya_crisis_dc#) has many pictures of machetes and sticks being waved. Obviously, they're also being used.

[arnisador]

In addition to the panga (machete), apparently there's a traditional regional stick weapon:

[arnisador]

Slingshots and bows adn arrows (a traditional weapon (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080126.KENYA27/TPStory/TPInternational/Africa/)), too:

[tellner]

The knife, the big knife, and the knob-stick are the fundamental traditional weapons of Man from Swaziland to Saskatchewan.

[tellner]

It looks like there was some club usage. This site would be the place to find out moore (has a nice edged weapons section too)

Trench maces were important weapons in WWI. The German version, a two to three foot stiff coil spring with a spiked ball on the end, was later turned into a police and self defense weapon and is one of the distant ancestors of the ASP police baton.

[arnisador]

and the knob-stick are the fundamental traditional weapons of Man

Yeah, but this was given a particular name which unfortunately I did not write down--I just didn't know a weapon by name from there as I do know jo and dan bong and baston and such. That's what caught my attention!

[scubamatt]

In the picture with the bows (previous page of this thread) those are slings not slingshots. Slingshots use elastic bands for power, those are slings which use rotation.

That is still a great photo, though, because modern use of slings is very rare, and very inaccurate unless you've trained a long time with them. On the other hand, a sling that size/length, hurling a stone that size, is more than capable of killing an unarmored man out to around 100 meters (and with a lead ball, out to 200 meters). I spent most of a year training to use a sling, because of my interest in military technology (and I'm in the SCA). I could routinely hit a man sized target at 50 meters, and I could hit the same target at 100 meters more than half the time. I used golf balls at a driving range - ammo was cheap, the targets well marked, and the safety factor was adequate. With more practice and lead ammo, I feel quite sure I could kill a man at those ranges using a sling.

The Greeks and other ancient cultures had regular troops who specialized in the sling (they trained them from childhood), and combined them with skirmisher infantry to brutal effect. The sling was easy to manufacture, and easy to resupply, but required extensive practice for accuracy, and they could not be used in dense formations - this is why the bow replaced it over time. Manufacturing lots of bows could be done by government sponsored militaries, required less training to be effective, and could be fired in mass volleys by closely spaced archers (multiplying the shock effect of arrows).

[arnisador]

In the picture with the bows (previous page of this thread) those are slings not slingshots. Slingshots use elastic bands for power, those are slings which use rotation.

Ah, thanks! I think I knew the distinction at some level but never thought about it.

[arnisador]

Seen on MT (modern bow usage):
http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/16033/master/1/?page=1

[arnisador]

Khirbet Susiya Journal (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/world/middleeast/24settlers.html)
Cameras Emerge as a Tool in a Conflict Over Land (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/world/middleeast/24settlers.html)


...Muna Nawajaa, one of the two wives of a Palestinian shepherd from Khirbet Susiya, used a handheld video camera to film what appeared to be masked Jewish settlers viciously beating members of her family with clubs — images that have since been broadcast by news networks all over the world.

[arnisador]

Thai leader orders protesters ousted from airports (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gXtkIJGFlHXR5qT3LIG2olEVZyFQD94NF1O00)


But even before the announcement, protesters at the international airport donned goggles and helmets, and first aid stations handed out surgical masks in anticipation of a police raid. The group's "guards" were patrolling the area with slingshots and metal batons. Many also carry concealed handguns.

Thai protesters seize police officer as tensions at Bangkok airport standoff escalate (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-as-thailand-political-unrest,0,1556189.story)


In downtown Bangkok, about 20 soldiers — unarmed but wearing flak jackets and carrying batons and shields — were posted near Victory Monument, a roundabout that hosts a station of the city's elevated transit system.

Eh, having batons isn't exactly being unarmed, but I suppose I know what they mean.

My point in this thread remains---it can still pay to know how to use a stick in this world!

[arnisador]

Some stick and sling usage in the current Greek riots:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/12/2008_greek_riots.html

[arnisador]

Bikers brawl through Australian airport; 1 dead (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090322/ap_on_re_au_an/as_australia_biker_brawl)


Warring bikers brawled through Australia's largest airport Sunday, beating one suspected gang member to death and brandishing metal poles "like swords" as they rampaged through the main domestic terminal in front of terrified travelers.

Police said a group of suspected gang members was ambushed as they disembarked from an airplane.
[...]
"They came running through picking up the big metal barrier poles and swinging them like swords at each other," witness Naomi Constantine told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

"I saw one of the men lying on the ground and another man came up with a pole and just started smashing it into his head," she said.

[chiangmaiheadman]

during the airport takeover in Bangkok, members of the UDD were trained by former Thai army general to use staves for self-defense and for a possible attempt to forcibly remove PAD from the airport.

[arnisador]

Riot club by Thai police against protesters:
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Prime-Minister-Thaksin-Shinawatra/photo//090413/481/dae4c9096bff43b7822d9e9cc1d377fb//s:/ap/20090413/ap_on_re_as/as_thailand_politics;_ylt=AuTujjIGCtMVM.XgDoDZ7h39 xg8F;_ylu=X3oDMTFhcnY2bjZqBHBvcwM1BHNlYwN5bl9yX2p1 bXBfcGhvdG8Ec2xrA2F0aGFpc29sZGllcg--

[chiangmaiheadman]

The other day I was in a roadside stand I found and purchased a stick weapon known as a com faq. It is an ancient Thai weapon about 14 inches long. it is 4 sided like a table leg and is made of varnished teak, is taperd and has a lanyard to make it easier to retain. About 20 years ago many people carried these weapons in rural areas for defense, and their used to be a tv show here called Com faq about a com faq expert who fought gangsters. There were some good sequences of people training to use the com faq, though the show itself was ridiculous. In one episode gangsters were firing at the hero, and he was batting the bullets away with the com faq.

[arnisador]

Eviction Notice (http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=0dd1c978-d9d0-4b3a-9c62-50d948cf228c)


A police officer uses a power tool to open a gate as residents fight back to prevent officers from enforcing an eviction order to the public tenement building Tuesday in Makati City, south of Manila, Philippines. The residents violently resisted the eviction, claiming they will be denied residency once the building is developed into a new condominium.

[arnisador]

Golfers arrested after fighting off gang attempting to steal clubs (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/5310445/Golfers-arrested-after-fighting-off-gang-attempting-to-steal-clubs.html)

A group of golfers have been arrested on assault charges after allegedly fighting off a gang who attempted to steal their clubs. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/5310445/Golfers-arrested-after-fighting-off-gang-attempting-to-steal-clubs.html)



According to reports, the players were about to tee off on the fourth hole of the course in Bromley, Kent, when they were confronted by a group of teenagers brandishing planks of wood.

Despite the group threatening to attack them if they did not hand over their golfing equipment, the golfers apparently fought back. An eyewitness, who did not wish to be named, said: "Everyone had a weapon and they were just trading blows.



"The golfers stood their ground, though.



"I guess because they had their clubs as protection."

[arnisador]

Father-of-four beaten to death after confronting teenagers outside home (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/5306623/Father-of-four-beaten-to-death-after-confronting-teenagers-outside-home.html)

A father of four, Craig Wass, was beaten to death after he confronted a group of drunken teenagers outside his home, just two weeks before his wedding. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/5306623/Father-of-four-beaten-to-death-after-confronting-teenagers-outside-home.html)


Mr Wass, 39, was attacked with a brick, golf clubs and pieces of wood in the frenzied beating on a quiet cul de sac.



The youths launched their attack just a few yards from Mr Wass's home in Loxley, Sheffield, after he came out of his house at 11.30pm on Saturday night and asked the gang to be quiet.
[...]
She said: "He just came out of the house to tell them to be quiet and they started beating him up. One had a golf club and another had ripped a plank from the fence.



"Then I saw one of them pick up a brick and he just hit my uncle at the back of the head. He fell down in the road an didn't get back up."

[arnisador]

Lots of baton usage against the voting protesters in Iran:
http://matthewchrist.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/iran-photo.jpg (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://matthewchrist.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/iran-photo.jpg&imgrefurl=http://matthewchrist.wordpress.com/2009/06/14/irans-electoral-drama/&usg=__CGV4u9UyqbSBD9NZE8gnil9rekg=&h=500&w=531&sz=96&hl=en&start=2&um=1&tbnid=U-f03mldUYie7M:&tbnh=124&tbnw=132&prev=/images%3Fq%3Diran%2Bbaton%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%2 6client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DG%26um%3D1)

[arnisador]

Milwaukee mayor wounded after being hit with pipe (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_milwaukee_mayor_attacked)


Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett was in the hospital on Sunday after he was attacked by a person using a metal pipe as the mayor and his family left the Wisconsin State Fair.

[arnisador]

Railroad tiesused in an apparent gang assault (graphic video):
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=fb1_1254077314

More details:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/09/28/chicago.teen.beating/index.html?iref=topnews

[arnisador]

Don’t kill me (http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2009/07/dontkillme/)

Can we trust new weapons that are supposed to be non-lethal? (http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2009/07/dontkillme/)

[Darrin Cook]

I'm interested in this thread because I've been collecting these kinds of incidents and will include them in my blog.

Here's one (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gu8CjiPr7OKsALcRcn1gfCC2VQXwD97SUFS82).

A 17 year old band member was walking to school one morning when two muggers attacked her from behind. They tried to grab her coat and demanded money. She punched one in the nose, kicked the other in the groin, and then began beating them with her marching band baton. Both men fled the scene and are being sought by police.

[arnisador]

Police Beat Back Massed Climate Protesters (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/science/earth/17climate.html)


COPENHAGEN — Police officers fired tear gas and wielded batons on Wednesday to beat back hundreds of demonstrators outside the global climate meeting here, as a police spokesman said 250 people had been arrested.

Note how the lefty and righty have actually interlocked arms and crossed sticks due to the crowding:

[arnisador]

Ex-Marine Kills 300-Pound Bear With Log (http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3306263)


The Incident Is the Latest in a String of Bear Attacks (http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3306263)



Realizing his sons could be killed, Everhart grabbed a log and threw it at the bear's head, striking and killing him.


"I forgot all about pots and pans and picked up whatever I could to try to distract, fend off, do what I could to get this bear away," Everhart said.

[arnisador]

Clashes: Iranian opposition supporters fight with police

(It looks to me in the left that a protester is using a police baton against a policeman.)

[arnisador]

3 women caned in Malaysia for adultery (http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/02/17/malaysia.adultery.caning/?hpt=T2)


The women were struck with a rattan cane.

[arnisador]

Continued Looting in Chile in Aftermath of Earthquake (http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/americas/Continued-Looting-in-Chile-in-Aftermath-of-Earthquake-85940832.html)

895 (http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/americas/Continued-Looting-in-Chile-in-Aftermath-of-Earthquake-85940832.html)


Caption:

People stand outside their homes, guarding them from looters in Concepcion, Chile, 01 Mar 2010

Looks like they have lead pipes?

[arnisador]

Miami airport screener accused of attack after jeers at genitals (http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/06/1617423/miami-airport-screener-beats-co.html)

A Miami airport screener, agitated at continued ribbing after colleagues saw his body parts in an imaging scanner, attacked a colleague, police said. (http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/06/1617423/miami-airport-screener-beats-co.html)



A Miami International Airport federal security screener has been arrested for allegedly using an expandable police baton to beat up a co-worker.


The source of their conflict, police say: daily ribbing about the size of the screener's genitalia.
Screener Rolando Negrin's private body parts were observed by his Transportation Security Administration colleagues conducting training on the airport's full-body imaging machines.



Months of joking culminated on Tuesday night, when Negrin attacked co-worker Hugo Osorno in an employee parking lot, according to an arrest report.


Negrin ``stated he could not take the jokes any more and lost his mind,'' said the report, made public Thursday.


The agitated screener forced Osorno to his knees and made him apologize before whacking him on the back and arms with the baton, according to the report.


Leaving aside the make-your-own-joke part of this story...are security screeners actually issued batons? If so, are they trained in their use?