03 learning the French bâton step by step

The French call the fighting staff or quaterstaff a baton. It was taught in civil fencing halls as well as in military academies of course for martial purpose but also for physical education. Other countries in Europe has done it too. In Germany and Austria (aka the Austro-Hungarian empire) applied the French method of fighting with the staff but put on a little bit of their own. In Italy the Bastone a due mani was also taugth at military schools for the same reason. This method is introduced in the 19th century by Major Josef Feldmann at the KuK Theresian military academy in Wiener Neustadt, Vienna. Nowadays the old school use of the baton gets an revival in Historical fencing and HEMA. We used old instructional manuals and books to follow the instructions to bring life to those movements again. The instructional book Feldmann wrote and the knowledge is taken from is: “Leitfaden zum Unterrichte im Stock-, Rapier-, Säbel- und Bajonnett- Fechten.“ You will find a scan for free at the University of vienna :383010/methods/bdef:Book/view But if you need a English translation, use the one by Isobel Zijlstra, edited by Russ Mitchell. follow the link on Amazon: =sr_1_1?__mk_de_DE=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&crid=3DYLB07DRVCXG&dib=&dib_tag=seencing Isobels blog could be seen here: If you want to see more of the bâton in general we have a playlist which contains methods from other fencing masters as well We train at Mispeldorn in Aachen Germany HEMA or historical fencing according to F.C. Christmann. His style with the sabre is also based on the same striking mechanics so we feel very comfortable to show you Monstery method. Also we train bastone Italiano - traditional Italian stick fighting from Genova, which bridges the gap to the cane completely. See some of our books and translations here: If you want to join us, Mispeldorn is located in Aachen Germany We are one of the finest clubs for smallsword and sabre if you look for a different kind of weapon in HEMA. Maybe you are interested to join our study group for cane, staff and Savate or just come for a visit! #historicalfencing #hema #martialarts #stickfighting #lacanne