Why train with weapons part 1

Published: Tue, 02/03/26

Updated: Tue, 02/03/26

When I first started training with Ivar Hafskjold in the Autumn of 1992 Ivar had recently returned to Europe from Japan where he had reached a very high level of training in traditional Japanese Martial Arts. Ivar probably could have done quite well for himself had he set up a Budo school teaching the systems which he had learned in the orient. However, it was his family tradition of Stav that he wanted to teach and he felt that the expertise he had gained from his Japanese teachers gave him the knowledge and skills he needed. I also remember Ivar saying that the Japanese styles did teach essential principles of martial arts. However, the long and involved Kata which were taught made learning a slow and complicated business. Stav, Ivar believed, could be much simpler and would provide a more direct route to discovering the fundamental principles of martial arts.
I began training with Ivar and I discovered that Stav broke down to three basic elements. First, the sixteen runic stances for breath, posture, and mental focus. (Call it a form of meditation if you wish.) Secondly, the striking or cutting on the lines of the ‘Web of Orlog’ and these are the cuts which will cleanly cut or split a log of wood or a stick of bamboo. Indeed the Japanese will perfect their sword cutting by slicing tightly wrapped mats or single stalks of green bamboo. Thirdly, drills with which to learn and practice an understanding as well as application of the five principles of Stav. Ivar also had a second Dan in Aiki-Jutsu, the combat form of Aikido, so he could certainly teach effective unarmed combat. Indeed we had some fun learning such skills from Ivar. However, Ivar had come to the conclusion that weapon training was the most direct route seeing the lines of the web. Indeed, traditional Japanese schools see
disciplines such as Ju-jitsu as being unarmed applications of the skills and awareness learned through Ken-Jutsu (sword fighting skills).
So, we used the boken (literally bo or stick, ken, or sword), the wooden training version of the traditional Japanese two handed sword, as the attacking weapon. Also, the Jo, or short staff (usually reaching from the floor to the armpit of student) for defence applications of the five principles. As I recall there were three cuts with the sword on the Hagl lines and four basic exercises with the Jo. Using these basic skills we were able to practice five simple drills which were apparently derived from moves Ivar had been taught as a young man in Norway.
I would practice most days with my Jo staff using a cut off tree branch as a target for striking. As a result I developed a high level of dexterity with the staff.
As we progressed in Stav training and practice I also grew curious about the European weapons which would have been used in previous times. Ivar said that there would have been nine traditional weapons which his family would have used. These could be classified as: The staff (similar to a Jo but usually a little longer, say shoulder height), the spear (a little longer still, temple height with pointed head), the axe (navel height and in various configurations), Cudgel or walking stick (hand height), the sax, basically a European version of a machete, the tein, effectively a stick a little longer than the forearm, the long bow, and the throwing hammer, (a real life version of Thor’s hammer, and yes it does come back to you when you throw it). You may have noticed that I have so far counted only eight weapons. Ivar was always a bit vague on exactly what the 9th weapon would have been, it might have been an antler tein, or just a
knife. For a while it became a bit of a running joke that we were still looking for the ninth weapon of Stav. If two or more of us were in, say, a hardware or kitchen equipment shop one of us would pick up a slightly dangerous looking object and announce that they had found the 9th weapon of Stav, resulting in great hilarity amongst the initiated, and the total bafflement of anyone else within earshot.
Being a practical sort of person who likes making things I constructed training versions (and sometimes live) versions of these various devices. However, over the decades I have come to the conclusion that all you need for training is four robust sticks with rounded corners and a well finished surface, These could be cut from a hazel coppice or chopped down broom handles, it doesn’t really matter. The lengths will correspond to staff/spear, axe, cudgel, tein, and a wooden or rubber training knife can be useful too for self-defence and five principles knife defence training. These sticks don’t cover the projectile or throwing weapons but that is subject for another time.
You can of course spend a great deal of money buying real versions of ancient weapons which may well be made to a very high standard. If you have the spare money and you like to collect such artifacts then go ahead. However, training with such exotic equipment is highly problematic from a safety point of view and usually not very relevant to the principles of martial arts. Also, if you use a sword or battle axe, even for justified self defence, you are likely to get yourself into a whole world of trouble. But a stick is just a stick.
On the other hand some will argue that since possessing and using weapons of any kind can be legally problematic in modern Britain it is better to only concentrate on unarmed combat skills. I would suggest that this is as much a mistake as thinking that arming yourself with a sharpened halberd is a good strategy. I would suggest that there are three good reasons for basing your training on weapons and then deriving your unarmed skills from what you have learned with weapons. Here is a brief list which I will expand upon in my next post:
1. Humans are tool using animals and unarmed combat actually makes as much sense as tool less DIY, implement less gardening, or spanner free vehicle maintenance.
2. Weapon training educates the body in functional posture, structure, and coordinated movement better than any other method I am aware of.
3. Working with the four sticks will give you the foundation for using any weapon, will give you a much better chance of defending against a weapon attack because you understand how weapons work, and enable you to use your opponents body as your weapon as the distinction between armed and unarmed combat effectively dissolves.
If you would like to see a brief demonstration of training with the cudgel/walking stick please visit here https://app.screencast.com/nB6c4OlurM0aK You also get a glimpse of the rather lovely site where we are holding the Stavcamp again this year.
Regards
Graham
PS If you are interested in seeing how these ideas work in practice then please come to:
My Monday classes in Beverley https://www.iceandfire.org.uk/selfdefence.html
To the Salisbury course on March 21st https://www.iceandfire.org.uk/salisbury210326.html
Stavcamp in Lincolnshire on the 4th to 6th of September https://www.stavcamp.org/
Graham Butcher
21 Beaver Road
Beverley East Yorkshire HU17 0QN
UNITED KINGDOM

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