Quarterstaff 101

by **Jynx** on September 29th, 2012, 4:16 pm

The 23rd of Spring 509
Northern Reaches

OOC :

“Today I will teach you to use the quarterstaff,” Quince said. Jynx looked at Hannah. She nodded but said nothing. The martial arts master selected two long poles from a stand at one end of the dojo. He tossed one to Jynx, who caught it easily enough. It was about eight feet long and four inches in diameter. It was surprisingly heavy. Quince continued.

“These quarterstaffs are made from the wood of an ash tree. Other woods work too. Bamboo is an especially good choice. Begin with one end of the staff touching the ground just in front of your right toe.” He demonstrated as he spoke. “Hold it with your right thumb and forefinger, like this. Let the upper part rest in the hollow of your shoulder. This is your basic 'ready' position.”

Jynx imitated him and found that the staff did indeed rest comfortably, requiring almost no effort to hold.

“The quarterstaff offers several advantages over unarmed combat,” he continued. “The main one being that it gives you range. You can strike from outside your opponent's hand-to-hand range. It also gives you leverage. A strike with a quarterstaff can cause a great deal of pain and injury, almost without regard to where you hit your opponent. It also provides a number of defensive options, which we will explore later.

“The staff also offers some advantages over the more lethal weapons, such as swords. First, anything even remotely resembling a quarterstaff can be used as one. It's easy to find and easy to make. Second, it enables you to disable an opponent without resorting to deadly force.”

This last point was a puzzling to the Kelvic. In his view, if he had to engage in combat at all, it would be combat to the death. But Master Quince took a different view. He believed that one should always employ the least amount of force needed to subdue an opponent. The logic behind this idea escaped Jynx, but since Hannah also held to this view he made it a goal to learn how to disable as well as how to kill.

“From the ready position,” the master continued. “You can 'engage'. To engage means to assume a stance in which you are ready to attack or defend, depending on what the situation calls for. I will demonstrate and then you can try it.

“Move your left foot forward and bend the knee until it is directly above the instep of your foot. Now bend your right knee a bit and let your weight move mainly to that back leg. Keep your body straight up-and-down. At the same time, bring the upper section of the staff across your body and take hold if it with your left hand about two-and-a-half feet from where your right hand rests, grasping it from the underside. Your right hand will now be on top of the staff and your left underneath. Keep both arms bent enough to enable you to push the staff away from your body or pull it toward your body. Notice that my left hand is at shoulder height and my right hand is at waist height. This is your basic engaged stance.”

He returned to the 'ready' position. “Now do it with me.” He stepped forward with his left leg and bent both knees enough to give his body some spring. At the same time he brought the top half of the staff across his body to his left hand and grasped hold of it. Jynx followed the moves, although somewhat awkwardly.

“Now reverse that to get back to the 'ready' position.” Jynx did this. “Now let me watch you practice. Assume 'ready' position.” Jynx placed the end of the quarterstaff on the ground directly in front of his right foot and let it cradle against his shoulder, holding it with his thumb and forefinger.

“Assume 'engaged' position!” Jynx stepped forward with his left foot and bent both knees, at the same time bringing the staff down to his left hand. “Left hand shoulder height,” said Quince, moving Jynx's hand a bit. “Right hand waist height.” Jynx moved his hand to the correct position.

“Ready position!” Jynx moved back to ready position.

“Engaged position!” Jynx moved into the engaged position.

“Ready position!” Jynx moved to the ready position.

“Engaged position!” Jynx moved to the engaged position.

“Good,” the master said. “Now I have a matter to discuss with your mistress. You will stay here and practice moving back and forth between those two positions 100 times. Then you may rest for a few minutes and do it another 100 times. Continue doing that for two bells.”

He and Hannah left the room. Jynx began his practice. It was monotonous and surprisingly tiring, but he kept at it with dogged determinism. By the time his master and mistress returned, switching back and forth between the two positions was second nature.

by **Jynx** on September 29th, 2012, 4:17 pm

OOC :

The next day he learned how to “change”, which was a way to move from left foot forward to right foot forward along with the appropriate change in position of the quarterstaff.

“Assume engaged position!” Quince ordered and Jynx complied, moving smoothly into the by now comfortable position. “Bring your left foot back and move your right foot forward. At the same time, rotate the staff so that the right hand is even with your right shoulder the the left is even with your waist. You will find that this forces you to reverse the grip of both hands so that the left hand is now on top and the right hand below.” Jynx tried this a few times, moving back and forth between a left-leading stance and a right-leading stance.

“This needs to become second nature to you,” Quince said. “Because it allows you to both defend and attack from either side.”

Jynx spent the next two bells switching back and forth between the two “engaged” stances. In the end, two things had happened. First, he was able to move back and forth so fast it was almost a blur. Second, he developed and broke numerous blisters on the palms of his hands. He returned to his mistress' home with bloody hands but he was pleased that his mistress was pleased with his progress.

“Master Quince has trained many Kelvics in unarmed combat and quarterstaff combat,” she said. “His students are highly valued as body guards.”

by **Jynx** on September 29th, 2012, 4:18 pm

OOC :

“There are seven basic attacks,” Quince said. “And a defense or guard against each. Today I will teach you the first attack and its guard.” Jynx had wrapped his hands in cloth to protect them from further damage.

“Engage!” Quince commanded. Jynx put his left for forward, flexed his knees and held the quarterstaff with his right hand at waist height and his left hand at shoulder height. While practicing the previous day he had noticed that the two-handed grip neatly divided the staff into thirds.

“The first attack is to the right side of your opponent's head.” he demonstrated as he spoke. “It's a two-part move with both parts happening at the same time. Straighten your left arm like this.” He was standing close to Jynx facing him. As he straightened his left arm, the upper end of the staff swung toward the right side of Jynx's head. “At the same time, raise the lower hand to the same height as the upper hand.” This had the effect of leveraging the staff so that it lightly tapped Jynx's right temple. He returned to the engaged position. “Do properly, the staff will snap forward and strike your opponent's head quite hard.” He repeated the move so fast that Jynx didn't realize what was happening until he found himself on the ground. Master Quince had literally knocked him off his feet with the lightening-fast strike. Quince extended a hand to help Jynx to his feet.

“Sorry about the strike, but I wanted you to know how effective a quarterstaff strike can be.” Jynx was convinced. He was still trying to regain his sense of balance and alertness. The blow had nearly knocked him unconscious.

“Now I'll show you how to defend against that attack,” he continued after giving Jynx a few moments to recover. “The guard is formed by pushing your upper hand across to the right until the staff is perpendicular and just clear on the shoulder. The goal is to intercept the incoming blow on the upper part of the staff.”

He had Jynx practice the first attack against him while he demonstrated the defense. They did this for several minutes and then switched roles, with Jynx defending against Quince's attack. They spent the next hour attacking and defending in no particular order, which forced Jynx to be ready to both attack and defend at all times. By the end of the practice session, Jynx had received a number of blows to his head and shoulder, as well as several to the fingers of his left hand. Not surprisingly, he never did manage to hit Quince.

by **Valkyrie** on October 1st, 2012, 10:16 pm

Jynx :

You Will Be Collected if Worthy

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and we can figure it out.

Completed Quarterstaff 101