Sick of posts that say stuff like "all mobility aid users should weaponize their mobility aids"
hey man, I can't do that! I need to bring m
I think OP brings up a very good point here: if your mobility aid is obviously dangerous you can’t bring it places you’ll need to go. That said this isn’t the end of the story.
As a practitioner of HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts; using historical weapons from Europe) there are actually a lot of writings on using things like canes and chairs for self defense/offense. For example there was a several year streak in London where walking staffs were the most deadly weapon. When these books and treatises were written they weren’t adding spikes or barbed wire to these things.
I am pretty much a full time cane user due to my hEDS and POTS. I will not use it for a little bit but I end up unstable and in pain afterwards, I mainly do this for exercise/practice. So I have been very interested in learning how to use a cane in this way, as well as seeing how other, similar, aids have been used throughout history.
While not all of these forms of fighting are useful for all mobility aid users, such as full time wheelchair users or some forearm crutch users, there’s a surprising amount of people it will work for. For example, I’m currently reading a treatise by a man who is partially blind, that is his term with modern vocabulary we would call him legally blind, and he is good enough at fighting to be considered one of the most amazing swordsman and cane fighter. (It should be noted that he did not have access to glasses and mainly navigated the world tactually)
The only real requirement is that the aid should be built from a single piece (not any of the foldable kinds) and be of sturdy materials: metal, solid wood, etc. While I recognize that this does exclude a fair few mobility aids there’s still a fair few this works for: canes, rollators (though lifting them into position for fighting might be untenable for some people), forearm crutches (if used like a Roman forearm blade, again some may not be able to do this), and even some leashes for service dogs (used as a rope dart) to name a few. There are probably more in forgetting but it’s a lot.
The key thing about all of this is that you don’t have to add scary spikes that might make the TSA balk at you, you can just use a normal looking mobility aid to do the same thing. It should also be noted that most courts consider mobility aids to be part of the person using them for the purposes of assault charges; if someone touches your mobility aid in a way you don’t like, that’s assault and you can respond in kind. That isn’t legal advice and there’s still ‘appropriate force’ president to consider but twapping someone who is grabbing at your cane, especially maliciously, isn’t out of question for a normal reaction, and being good at doing so is preferable.
Ok, cool Beth, but what do I do with this info?
There’s a little part of this post that’s me trying to get more disabled people like me into a sport I love but I can’t do so without some caveats. Not all HEMA clubs are built the same and some can be downright nasty, please look up any club you consider joining and maybe ask a physical/occupational therapist before launching into a contact sport. If it’s not in your interest then that’s also fine, there are several forums that post book recommendations for learning cane fighting or uses of a chair in WWII fighting (what rollators are great for).
If you’re a cane user, there are actually custom canes that you can order that are especially made for fighting (that aren’t objectionable enough to be confiscated by anyone who does security) but also just getting a cane made from a hardwood works. The website https://canemasters.com has a great selection and a really nice custom ordering system.
Cane Masters is the leading retailer of custom walking canes, sticks & walking staffs. Our products are handmade, fashionable, and made with
I wish I had more for other forms of mobility aids but my research is limited, if you have more sources for this stuff please comment/repost with them. If that’s not your style my dms are always open for cool fighting stuff!
Doodling some bird fighting poses with canes and swords. I started out translating old photos of forms, and then Justin showed me some with his Chinese broadsword.
Irish blackthorn shillelaghs. The term shillelagh (thonged stick) has a very murky past. It’s not known exactly when people began calling walking sticks and cudgels shillelaghs. Originally, shillelaghs were made from oak, with the forest of Shillelagh in county Wicklow being the largest supplier of wood. After rampant deforestation in Ireland, walking sticks and cudgels found themselves being made from other materials, primarily hawthorne, hazel, and blackthorn. Shillelaghs were used not only as walking aids, but also to settle disputes between individuals and factions. Faction fighting was rampant in the late 18th century and early 19th century, but became almost nonexistent when the Famine set in. Sticks used for the purpose of fighting or simply known as “bata”. Today, almost all genuine shillelaghs are made from blackthorn. Some are called loaded sticks on account of them having molten lead poured into a hollowed out area of the knob in order to increase the striking power.
Waterloo Sparring Group on the 14th was pretty great.
I went with variety of weapons over just longsword, but when I did fence longsword I kept with the “Versetzen Like Cap Wants” plan. I’m not sure how much I can attribute to this tactic, but I felt like I was fencing quite securely and with less timing/distance games than previously. Also, after Russia it was interesting to be told I needed to lower the power I was hitting with.
I do wonder about doing a better job of keeping fencing within the “pistes” - often it seems back-pedalling until your opponent is too close to other fencers/the mirrors to safely attack them, then attacking when they halt, is a strategy. Or I just get pissed off when I stop fencing and get lunged at...
I also actually enjoyed sabre. Well, broadsword vs sabre. Nylons weren’t too heavy for the knackered elbow. I focused on staying tight and making good cuts that wouldn’t threaten the tennis elbow. Seemed to be as good as my sabre ever gets, quite a few nice transitions between attacks.
I also did two dussack rounds and three with bartitsu canes. I was trying to use very different strategies, despite them both being one handed short-medium weapons. In dussack I was working on Vor-Nach, and also on integrating kicks. I wanted to focus in the cane-fighting on entering into grappling, and on maintaining flow between attacks. That said, I wasn’t using the “moulinet-as-guard” as much as I’d like to.
I also did a round of rondel dagger using the cold steel trainers. Really good stuff, even if facing a lefty threw half the techniques out the window. I had a scissors-lock at one point, except he just transferred the dagger to the other hand and stabbed me up...
It’s kind of a shame I’d promised myself I’d sort out some of the overdue housework, because there was a post-training birthday meal. I sneakily lost two hours cleaning time to getting a coffee and pie with them before sneaking away before the vodka came out...
