Sword Cane instructional?

**265lbsfist** · Posted On: 9/26/2010 3:59am

Hi!

I tried searching for this topic but came up empty outside of instructionals for ordinary cane fighting.

Anybody know if there are any historic manuals or instructionals of any kind for this weapon?

**Petter** · Posted On: 9/26/2010 4:30am

I have no answer to your question, and my suggestion may or may not be good, but I offer it as food for thought: Do you suppose that a sword cane unsheathed might simply handle similarly to a smallsword? Perhaps instruction in smallsword would carry over well to a sword cane.

**265lbsfist** · Posted On: 9/26/2010 9:49am

From what I've seen in pictures of it the sword cane is more of a stabbing weapon than a slashing one. So it would be like a small unwieldy rapier really IMO?

That's why I think ordinary cane manuals are beside the point as they are more directed towards clubbing people with the sides rather than poking with it.

I was just curious really as I've seen it in some sweet movie scenes. :)

**SBG-ape** · Posted On: 9/26/2010 11:29am

Just to be clear: When Petter said "smallsword" he wasn't talking about a sword that happens to be small. The Smallsword is a specific weapon, used exclusively for thrusting. It's a later period weapon then the rapier. It's lighter & serves as the basis for the modern sport styles of fencing.

I agree that sword cane is probably not unlike rapier or smallsword fencing, although I'm really not sure how much practcal use the weapon ever saw. I'm more of a fan of simple cane fighting myself.

**265lbsfist** · Posted On: 9/26/2010 12:25pm

Ah...Ok. My bad.

Any small sword instructionals you can recommend or are they easily googlable?

**Permalost** · Posted On: 9/26/2010 2:04pm

For reference: a smallsword
http://www.trueswords.com/cold-steel...ms-p-1965.html
I imagine that any tip based fencing method would work well.

**DdlR** · Posted On: 9/26/2010 5:28pm

I've been looking for detailed info. on sword-cane techniques for years, but have always come up empty, apart from this brief note from the London Standard newspaper of September 19, 1891:

THE ITALIAN SWORD-CANE FENCING FAD.

The Italian sword-cane fencing fad is being introduced in London, although it is hard to see of what use it will be in a country where the possession of a sword-cane is a crime. The fencer uses the blade to attack, and the sheath to assist in defence. The sheath is held in the left hand, and the blade in the right. When standing on guard the sword arm is farthest from the enemy—an exact reversal of the rule in ordinary fencing.

That offers just enough info to get a decent sense of the style, assuming that the actual sword techniques are similar to foil or smallsword fencing.

Visiting the Royal Armouries museum in Leeds about twelve years ago, I saw a video re-enactment showing a mugger trying to assault a Victorian gent. As the mugger grabbed the gent's walking stick and tried to pull it away, he inadvertently revealed the hidden blade, and the gent promptly stabbed him.

One other point is that sword-canes definitely seem to have been looked down upon by "respectable" people during the 19th century, being associated more with assassination and street murder than with self defense.

**A.M.** · Posted On: 9/26/2010 7:13pm

It probably was a combination of basic foil fencing and parrying with the scabbard. I've seen alot of 19th century sword canes with triangular blades.
The only duel I have heard of where a sword cane was actually used was the great sandbar fight. You can read about it here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandbar_Fight

**TheVigilante** · Posted On: 9/27/2010 7:44am

There is a very brief chapter devoted to sword canes in George Dubois' DDLR book "Comment se defendre", but this is the only thing I've ever come across on the subject.

**Rene "Zendokan" Gysenbergs** · Posted On: 9/27/2010 8:25am

I don't think that there exist a manual for the sword-cane, it's really a niche weapon.

You can study 3 manuals:
- La canne manual for when fighting with the cane
- a smallsword manual for when the blade is live
- isn't there a Japanese Ryu of swordfighting that uses a Jo as a secundary weapon instead of the wakizashi?
IIRC that I've read about one such Ryu. So that manual for when you have the cane-shaft in your left hand and the sword in your right. I suspect that the cane techniques of La Canne will not be suited as if you have a live blade in your dominant hand.

$0.02