I had a most
unusual education on the Bando Stick form. A little bit here, a little bit
there and then a whole lot of practice. So I am far from the greatest expert.
But a little bit here, a little bit there and a lot of time working on what I
had mount up to something in any case.
But this is not
to concentrate on how I learned the form that I did. Rather it is to talk about the idea of the
stick technique itself.
Relatively basic
in concept. Sort of see man, swing stick
at man, hit man and man go boom.
But what appears
a simple strike with the stick is actually a much more variable event.
The stick itself
may be made of many materials. Wood and Rattan are but a few examples.
Perhaps for
practice rattan is simpler. Then the length of the stick varies by choice. It
could be 6” long, a foot long, 1 and ½ feet, 2 feet and so forth. The intended
use has more to do with the length involved, and of course practice with that
stick, It could even be a iron bar.
What you
practice with, becomes what is most familiar to you, But if you work a variety
of lengths, you better understand how to adjust to whatever is available in
reality. After all you control the vertical and horizontal how you will use
your training.
When used you
are taught there are 3 different striking surfaces in each stroke. Every stroke
can each be done as butt strokes. They can be each done as blade (or the length
of the stick) strikes. And they each can be done as tip strikes.
Thus when
learning and practicing the form we use, there are 3 different version in play
at every practice. You just have to be aware of the range of each strike for a
different useate.
Interior strikes
done with the butt. Extemely devastating when used in close range.
Interior strikes
done with the tip of the stick, resulting in very penetrating longer range
attacks.
Exterior strikes
done with the blade of the stick, for smashing, shattering effect.
Thus the Stick
form we use can be done 3 different ways, in fact becoming 3 different forms.
One with butt strikes, one with blade strikes and one with tip strikes.
Of course there
is a 4th way (and many versions) which mix up the strike being used.
In fact that is the most common version I use, where all 3 strikes are used.
Of course basics
should be touched on. And in fact there are no
basics, each of those strikes can conclude an attack.
We have a drill
of 12 strikes (other systems use similar drills striking in a different order,
or a different number of strikes, not the one we use). While we did it never
got around to filming it. All of those
strikes can strike on other angles from what is being practiced, in reality of
striking it can be very variable. But the set drill suffices for the building
of skill. I offer some thoughts on those drills in previous posts below.
Another variable
that can be addressed is using the stick in the form both in closed position
(where the stick is held parallel to the arm), and where the stick in the form
is in open position (where the stick is held away from your center). Thus there
are more possible variables.
We even had a 2
person drill for that (which came from our Sutrisno family training.
One person does a closed position high block
as the other person cuts down with the blade of the stick. There is contact
between the 2 sticks. Then the person blocking flips their stick from closed to
open position and cuts the blade down. The person who had initially struck
flips their open position stick to closed position alongside their arm, and as
the other stick cuts down, they then block up. And again there is contact with
both sticks.
Then faster and
faster the strike and counter goes on and on.
What is being
trained in skilled transition of the stick between open and closed position.
Thus the
training provides a great deal of variability in training.
Useful when
facing the unknown, you have answers for much from this training.
This is 3 of my
students who were brown belts using the brown belt version of our stick form,
The actual form is much longer, that is for dan study.
Subsidiary blog
posts
** ** ** ** **
** ** ** **
Bando form – The
Hidden Stick
Sticks and
Stones
A lesson in
Stick Training
No comments:
Post a Comment