Portuguese jogo do pau (long stick) fighting in WW1

[DdlR]

YouTube - Jogo do Pau - Portuguese soldiers during World War 1

Archive footage of Portuguese soldiers training in bayonet fighting and traditional jogo do pau stick fighting drills at the beginning of the First World War.

Note that a modernized version of jogo do pau is still practiced in Portugal:

YouTube - Portuguese Stickfighting JOGO DO PAU

[Permalost]

neat bayonet training. Flying bayonet stab off the top rope.

[CoffeeFan]

Wow, nice find DdR. I wonder if there are any stories of the Portuguese actually using stick fighting during WWI.

[DdlR]

I don't know - chances are that soldiers would just have used any jogo do pau skills with their rifle-bayonets, if it came to that - but there are some reports of straight jogo do pau contests in this article: http://ejmas.com/jmanly/articles/200...costa_0203.htm

It took place in the fair of Porqueiróz. This was an annual fair, a gathering of merchants from all across the judicial district and from elsewhere as well. The people of different villages took their cattle and their fruits, and it became one of the best fairs of the Galiza at that time. Once, for an unknown reason, a dispute started between some merchants and two Portuguese who, living as neighbours in those lands, went to Porqueiroz together. The dispute started, as always, at the "hour of sticks." One of the Portuguese, upon seeing danger, cried out to his friend:

-"Oh brother! Together back to back " And like this, each one with his stick, they had defended themselves alone against their attackers. Over much time they had remained firm, in spite of the many aggressors; little by little, they got rid of their adversaries; some were wounded and others, faint-hearted. It is fitting that they triumphed, who alone had "undone the fair." Such was the superiority of their skill in Jogo do Pau.

[theotherserge]

what does "hour of sticks" refer to?

[DdlR]

Wild guess - it was a colloquial phrase meaning something like "the time of day when stick fights are most likely to break out". Maybe later in the day, when some of the young bucks have had a bit too much to drink ...

[Kokujin]

It is something that is still practiced in Portugal by some large groups, specially in the northern rural areas of the country where it was first developed. Historians say it was a way the shepperds used to defend themselves from bandits and even other shepperds and stuff, common folks used it in rural areas to settle disputes and even in market days and a way to vent some steam between the "young bucks". No one knows from where the techniquescame from, but since the chances of any type of asian influences are very low, I can assume it's a genuine portuguese martial art(?). But it's funny how different people from different corners of the planet reach the same conclusions and sport huge similarities when it comes to fighting.

YouTube - Jogo do Pau

YouTube - Jogo do Pau inferioridade numérica Nº1

[Whosthemaster]

Nice videos. I've always been curious to know more about this art.

[DdlR]

I believe that a Portuguese academic suggested that the techniques of jogo do pau originated in Indian stick fighting (lathi, silambam etc.) - it's possible, but there are numerous similar long stick styles indigenous to Europe (France, Italy, Canary Islands etc.)

[theotherserge]

the video of the seated defender vs standing attacker is a great demo! It is easy to look at the standng stickfighter's footwork and the seated defender's stickwork in counter.

I always wonder that demos like this aren't meant to show more than "wow, he's sitting down and still fighting."