If knives were mostly the province of criminals, and were presumably used sometimes to threaten & rob honest citizens who might have a stick in their hand, do either of the extant Bataireacht schools have much stick v knife material? Are there stories about such scenarios?
I have read a good few stories of self defence situations happening but no techniques I am aware of that focus on such things. Faction fighting was its own beast and trained as such.
Here in the US it's guns. As a veteran and absolute Second Amendment supporter and somebody that carries a gun everyday I hate how the Democrats have made the judicial system a joke. We have people shooting each other left and right and then they get a slap on the wrist. Nobody has respect for firearms or even their fellow brothers or sisters
Your thoughts on those that seem to be promoting a Bata and knife method....Bata in the primary hand and knife in the other...similar to the Espada Y Daga methods of Filipino Escrima or European Sword and dagger methods? I've seen a couple of schools that say they teach ISF promote those methods.
Quite the opposite I am saying the likelihood of a knife and bata is extremely unlikely to have ever been a thing this is looking at it from a cultural standpoint as well as the references we have
Yes sometimes it rains alot then no rain, then we get ice&snow for winter then we wear shorts and sandals new years day, yes the weather is always crazy here...lol
Good video. It's not difficult to improvise a knife; all that's needed is glass or metal with a decent edge. Your remarks about the faction fighters not wanting fatalities is very interesting. It seems as if they wanted a "pressure valve" of controlled violence, and didn't primarily look at the stick as a means of personal self-defense (although it doesn't rule out that aspect either). With that observation, it makes sense why the idea of using athletics as a replacement for faction stick fights was propagated.
Thanks Nathan, great video. I don't think the knife was ever a part of Irish fighting culture until modern times --post famine, probably between crimean / boer war and 1st world war where knives became more common and easily available. Sure, you would use whatever you had available, but why have a knife / scian historically, if you can have an axe or sword or spear. The luxury of a scian was the preserve of the wealthy. Then, the english did not outlaw log weapons, they outlawed all weapons so why have a knife on your person--it makes no sense for the avergae guy or girl. A walking stick / cane / staff makes much more sense to me. Keep the assailant at a distance. Also stick fighting as in faction fighting was a pressure valve, no different from when a kid today is encouraged to join a gym, take up boxing / bjj or the like, to blow off some steam. Sure, sometimes there was more to it, but most often I think that's all it was originally. I think sometimes we just want to hit someone or something, but very few of us want to kill. I also think we often make these things much bigger / grander than they actually were. I read recently about Cornish wrestling where at the monthly fair every young man (that's what it said) was encouraged to have a go, some were more skilled than others, some trained at it, some it came naturally to, and others (me) would have been useless. Same with probably with every other old style / regional wrestling / stick fighting... prove your manhood etc. I have no doubt that is how irish stick / faction fighting came about. Young lads having a bit of craic with a stick, the use if a knife would have intriduced a risk of serious injury or death. If you get a good whack with a stick you can withdraw from the fight, lick you wounds and fight another day, if you get a good incision with a knife, well ... enough said.😂😂😂😂
Can I guess that when you work with the scian, you reconstruct using rondel and messer sources as guides? Do you do any reconstructions of Irish combat from the pre-viking iron age?
I dont train with the Scian in any real martial context I spend most of my time working with the Irish stick and most knive material I have studied are modern ones. As for pre viking there are no sources I am aware of.
I believe there are manuscripts detailing the Scottish use of the Skien and Dirk, likely these forms would have been different than the Irish form, though likely closer than those for messer and rondel as they are at least using the same implement.
How long would it take the average person, practicing the moves at home too, to learn to protect themselves in a better manner than just swiping a cane and hoping for the best?
On your own you can get the movements down within a few days for some basic strikes and blocks but without a resisting partner to train them you won't really know if they work and your doing them properly.
