Self Defense with a Walking Cane
75Walking Cane Self Defense, part 2
Picking a good Cane for self Defense
What is a good Cane to carry for self-defense? There are many types of canes available but In my opinion, the most versatile and legal is a sturdy all wood cane. An all-wood Cane is legal to own and carry. There are sword Canes available with steel blades in the shaft. They are 100 % illegal and will get you in legal trouble if found with one in your possession. The best type of wood cane has a curved Horn or handle section, The horn can be used for striking and hooking. The Horn should be large enough to wrap around a neck or at least a 6" inside Dia. The Horn can be slightly open for hooking or slightly closed for trapping. Some Combat Canes have carved gripping areas for pulling and stylized and sharpened horn tips for attacking soft tissue. As far as wood, youhave several choices. For strength and lightweight, it's hard to beat a 1 to 1/8' Dia solid Rattan Cane. American Hickory is another good choice, very strong although some feel heavy. Cocus Wood,some times called Golden Wood is an Asian Hardwood, slightly lighter and very strong. This is a very popular choice for strength and reasonable cost. A sturdy, all wood Cane is entirely legal to carry and use. Its primary purpose is a walking aid for balance and stability. It is prudent to not refer to your Cane as a Combat Cane or fighting cane or stick. If an aggressive party approaches you, You want to appear as an innocent bystander to anyone in the vicinity. If you use your Cane as a walking aid, you should cut it for proper fit. Standing erectly with your Cane in supporting hand, your elbow should be slightly bent. Measure twice and cut once. If you don't use it for support, leave it long.
DEFENSIVE CANE 1-BASICS DVD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MerEA2XWoDQ
DEFENSIVE CANE 2-STREET TALK DVD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MerEA2XWoDQ&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL236061E8BC385D8D
ESCRIMA SCRAPER VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/user/AncientDragon1944?blend=2&ob=5
DEFENSIVE ESCRIMA STICKS DVD
http://www.youtube.com/user/AncientDragon1944?blend=2&ob=5#p/a/u/1/yJ5_8bp6_EY
DEFENSIVE FLASHLIGHTS, STICKS & KUBOTANS
http://www.youtube.com/user/AncientDragon1944?blend=2&ob=5#p/a/u/2/fqB2wLlyZfg
CANES, STICKS AND DVD’S
http://www.defensivecane.cdavisgroup.com/
FIREARMS TRAINING IN MA
Birds Head Crook
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Hi Lyle
Hickory or Oak are good choices for Canes. I think Hickory might have an edge over Oak strength wise but it is heavy. For strength, White Oak over red Oak. but with all those choses, you need to look at the Cane grain and look for knots and defects. Picking a wood Cane is like selecting a good baseball bat. You look at the grain, degree of dryness and freedom of knots. Many Bats are made with Ash, Hard maple (not red or silver), and Hickory but I don't think Oak. Hickory bats are supposed to be the hardest to break. I have done informal testing swinging my Canes two handed around a large Oak tree. I can break my Crocus wood Canes around the tree but my Rattan Cane did not break. I like my hardened 1"Rattan Cane best and it's fast. Lastly, In practice, you should probably not be defending yourself by swing it like a Bat. You can utilize many good movements with Rattan Hapkido style Cane. Click the link for a Cane demo.
Thanks
Ancient Dragon
Hi Ancient Dragon, thanks much for your reply. I will use that info. I have some skill with this sort of thing as I earned a 1st. degree black beltin chinese kenpo and did a lot of Filipino stick stuff, but that was over 20 years back. Today I am disabled and have been told by the doctors to use a cane or two ski poles to walk,so the cane would fit nicely. I have a 1" rattan cane,and maybe that is the one I should carry. I know speed, power, and accuracy is important. I wonder if a white oak cane free of the defects that you mentioned would be best? Thanks Again, Lyle
i have personally found the very best cane wood to be mimosa wood. extremely strong and super lightweight. a great tool for support or defense.
Greetings all
I havn't seen a Mimosa wood cane and would like to hold one in my hand for a comparison. Wood canes are of course a natural product and each one has to be examined for grain and defect. My hapkido canes have a large loop ranging from approx 5" to approx 6". Some of the loops are slightly open and some are slightly closed. Again, each one has to be selected for its purpose. A 5" loop cane will fit tightly around the average neck and good for trapping. A slightly larger open one is good for snaring. Ancient Dragon
Greetings all
I havn't seen a Mimosa wood cane and would like to hold one in my hand for a comparison. Wood canes are of course a natural product and each one has to be examined for grain and defect. My hapkido canes have an large loop ranging from approx 5" to approx 6". Some of the loops are slightly open and some are slightly closed. Again, each one has to be selected for its purpose. A 5" loop cane will fit tightly around the average neck and good for trapping. A slightly larger open one is got for snaring.
Ancient Dragon
I am a Filipino stick fighter, choose a cane that is no more than 16 oz, controllable with a single wrist, otherwise it's just a plebeian's club. Canemaster's Golden Wood (cocus) is a good weight.
Greetings Pham. Your input is appreciated. A light Cane is great unless it Breaks. I sell Crocus wood Canes also but my favorite is my hardened Rattan Hapkido cane. It weights approx 14 oz and much stronger then Crocus wood. I swung my Cane two handed like a baseball bat against a Oak tree and it did not break.As a philipino stick fighter,you would be fast with it. I will be releasing two DVD,s soon. Defensive Escrima and Defensive Flashlights and Kubotans. Thanks, Charles
Greetings Jeanie
An all-wood Cane with straight or curved crook handle is generally considered legal. The Cane should look like it is primarily designed for balance and stability. Weighted metal knobs and aggressive pointed crooks may put you into legal problems. Hidden sword blades etc are definitely not legal. Rattan is an excellent material, as you say, light and strong. A straight Cane is not as effective for self-defense. A Hapkido style Cane with a larger crook is still legal but it also can be used for hooking and trapping. A Hapkido style crook will be large enough to fit around a neck for effective (and painful) self-defense moves.
Thanks for your interest
Charles
Interesting idea! :)
Greeting Chris
I have been interested in the Martial arts for years and practiced with traditional weapons. Staff, karma, Sai, Escrima sticks etc. Its great practice but in my opinion, not that applicable on the street. You certainly can’t carry those weapons on the subway :-). I have been working on applying some of those techniques to a stout Hapkido style Cane. Simple movements can be effective with a cane. As an older guy, a cane also does not look that out of place on the street.
A cane is useful in other areas too you can reach that light switch that can be a pill to go after drop something a cane allows you to reach it position it for quick retrieval. When the door is closing the cane can quickly be placed in front to hold it open with minimal effort. If a dog comes barking you can simulate a strike and that dog knows this can hurt better go back to the poarch allows you time to get your knife in hand too JIC you need to deal with threat more. What I love about the cane for a weapon is you have it all the time and your first strike appears to be a high strike but goes around your head and into their ankle with bone shattering results. Gets them into retreat hopefully where you can direct where they retreat places like movng traffic.
Greetings all
that move that you mention, Head fake and reverse to ankle sounds like a rotunda move from escrima. Many Kali/escrima single stick moves cane be applied with your Cane, Crooked or straight.
BTW, I completed the two instructional DVD,s mentioned above. DEFENSIVE ESCRIMA STICK and DEFENSIVE FLASHLIGHT, STICK AND KUBOTAN. They are geared for the average person without years of MA training.
Good hub. Someone called this Cane Fu.
Greetings
Thanks for the compliment. I would rather my methods not be called Cane Fu. I teach basic methods for the average person. There are many acomplished martial artists that introduce a cane into their style and in my opinion make it more complicated. I am waiting for "Tai Cane Do" with a picture of a acomplished martial artist doing a flying side kick while holding a Cane.
Simple and direct is good.
My Husband, Mr.Ron makes the finest light-weight and almost indestructable walking sticks/defensive weapons you have ever seen. He is an experienced 6 degree black belt in Taekwondo. He swears by Mimosa wood because of it's light weight and strenth. His stick is 56" inches tall and 1 1/4" at top and 15/16" at the bottom, and probably weighs less than 1 pnd. This weight is especially good for a female and also for self-defense.
It is stonger than hell, and easy to strip. Native in Arkansas. He is happy to give advice on this process.
ron.riddell@yahoo.com
My Husband, Mr.Ron makes the finest light-weight and almost indestructable walking sticks/defensive weapons you have ever seen. He is an experienced 6 degree black belt in Taekwondo. He swears by Mimosa wood because of it's light weight and strenth. His stick is 56" inches tall and 1 1/4" at top and 15/16" at the bottom, and probably weighs less than 1 pnd. This weight is especially good for a female and also for self-defense.
It is stonger than hell, and easy to strip. Native in Arkansas. He is happy to give advice on this process.
ron.riddell@yahoo.com
My wife did not allow me to edit the post. : ^ Please delet one post and know it's 6th degree... also 1 lb. It is true. I haven't deliberately attemted to break my 15 year old stick; I don't think it would break. It would certianly "twang" my hands. Mr. Ron
Very interesting
I have not seen Mimosa wood. It sounds like it would be good for escrima sticks also. I have swung my Rattan Canes like a bat against a Oak tree and it didn,t break. Would Mimosa wood be that strong? Can you form a crooked end on it? You should post a picture or two.
Thanks
Ancient Dragon
You make a great point about some Cane's being illegal. Many people think that a cane is a cane. However, if a cane is actually a sword it is no longer a cane it is illegal. Anyways, an all wooden cane gives you all the necessary defense you need providing you with striking and distance abilities. Thanks good hub! Thumbs up..
Thanks for the kind words. A sturdy fire hardened Rattan cane is a awesome (and legal) self defense tool. I swung mine like a base bat two handed at a Oak tree and it did not break. Speaking about legal Defensive tools, a Flashlight or sturdy ice scrapper can be geat also. This is where some Escrima training will help a lot.
Thanks again
Ancient dragon
Someone commented that their rattan cane bent. That is normal. As you put your weight on it, it will flex a bit, absorbing the shock of impact. My friend turned me on to rattan canes. He has tried many and greatly prefers the rattan. As mentioned above, the rattan cane will flex on impact and not be destroyed. Supposedly, you can bend them into a circle without damage. Perfect for support or self-defense use. Light and inexpensive, too!
Yes, all Rattan canes have some flex but be carefull of the real cheop small dia Rattan canes. They can be too flimsy to use for walking. My Rattans are a full 1 1/16 Dia or more. Mine are fire hardened also to make them harder and stiffer. I went throught a couple of sources before I got a good one.
I love these walking sticks! I used to sit with my Granddaddy when I was a kid and watch him carve all day. Such a beautiful art,regardless of how simple or how intricate. Thanks for sharing... walking canes for sale
That is an great memory and having that ability is inded a beatiful art. For those of us that don,t have that skill. I have a associate that creates beautiful hand crafted canes of Oak, Ash and hickory. real heirloom canes.
Lyle Smith 3 years ago
Very Intresting. I must use a cane for walking. The rattan cane bends and apperars too light, but can move with speed. I have an oak cane that seems just about right, but I wonder if a hickory cane would be best because of it's ability to flex slightly where oak would snap and break. Hickory is supposed to be the strongest wood in the US.
Thaks, Lyle Smith