Contact Stick Fighting

By jhines 2022 Self Defense 0 Comments

Two men in fencing masks circle warily in the center of a gym. Each holds a three-foot long rattan stick in one hand. A sudden rush and both are engaged in a swirl of weapons. The air rings to the sound and smell of rattan sticks striking each other and the duller whomp of sticks striking legs, arms and bodies.

This melee is engaged at full speed and full power. Punches aren’t pulled. When the grueling two-minute bout is over, both combatants display an array of bumps, bruises and welts. The fighters embrace and depart the battlefield as friends. Neither has been declared the winner or the loser. The idea of winning or losing is not what its about. This is the Dog Brothers way.

Dog Brothers takes their extreme system to another level of realism by fighting with sticks. Their octane testosterone is “Higher Consciousness thru Harder Contact”. It’s is based off of mixture of different Kali from Guro Dan Inosantos Kali to Leo Gaje Pekiti Tirsia to Brazilian Jujutsu. Their take is learn whatever you want but here is where you test it out to see if your “Kung Fu” is good.

The formulation was created by Eric “Top Dog” Knaus, Arlan “Salty Dog” Sanford and Marc “Crafty Dog” Denny who is the guiding force of the group. At the time back in the late 80’s there were full contact stick fighting tournaments around. However, these full contact stick combatants were fully suited with pads from head to toe which restricted movements and feeling.

Higher Consciousness Level
Dog Brothers took it to another level by only using a headgear and gloves with real rattan sticks. Didn’t matter what kind of headgear you wore, most opted for a fencing headgear. Really?, fencing headgear don’t have the proper safety cushion. DB approach was mobility and reality, with the lighter headgear it wasn’t really meant to protect you, but to remind you of the reality of getting hit on the head.

Beginners just starting out usually opted for the fully clothed upper protection until they gained more confidence in their skills. The downside to it is that the suit restricted the combatant movements.

Gloves was the same, you can use a fully padded type or just a baseball batting glove to enable you to grip your stick. Last, no other protection on your body if you desire. The less protection the better for the truth of reality of contact stick fighting.

DB could have made this into a padded pillow fight but then it would lose its meaning. The danger and risk are necessary to the trans-formative nature of the experience.

UFC
Dog Brothers extremeness was quite popular in the mid 90’s that UFC approached DB to promote full contact stick fighting in the “UFC”. However, after viewing a demo fight UFC felt it was too extreme for the television viewers, so it was passed.

Their method of training has also crossed gaps into the gunfight world when you have to fight to get your pistol out as you see below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLBXVAhm5CA

Dog Brothers main thing is:
“No egos, no refs, no trophies, just man vs man”. “There isn’t any suing each other” and at the end of the day “we’re friends“.

Want to learn more about Dog Brothers martial arts? go here.

Looking to get some Ammo, have a look below.

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