Singlestick

Singlestick

U.S. sailors practice with the singlestick circa Spanish–American War
Also known as	Single-stick, cudgels
Focus	Weaponry
Hardness	Full-contact
Country of origin	Kingdom of Great Britain
Olympic sport	Yes (1904 Summer Olympics only)

Singlestick, also known as cudgels, refers to both a martial art that uses a wooden stick as well as the weapon used in the art. It began as a way of training sailors in the use of swords such as the saber or the cutlass.Canne de combat, a French form of stick fighting, is similar to singlestick play, but is more a method of self-defense with a walking stick.

The singlestick itself is a slender, round wooden rod, traditionally of ash, with a basket hilt. Singlesticks are typically around 36 inches (91 cm) in length and 1 inch (2.5 cm) in diameter and thicker at one end than the other. It bears approximately the same relationship to the backsword as the foil to the small sword in being a sporting version of the weapon for safe practice.

The original form of the singlestick was the waster, which appeared in the 16th century and was merely a wooden sword used in practice for the backsword (see sabre), and of the same general shape. By the first quarter of the 17th century wasters had become simple clubs known as cudgels with the addition of a sword guard. When the basket hilt came into general use about twenty five years later, a wicker one was added to the singlestick, replacing the heavy metal hilt of the backsword. The guards, cuts and parries in singlestick play were at first identical with those of backsword play, no thrusts being allowed (see Fencing).