why called quarterstaff?

[Guest]

This question will mark me as a real rookie here, but I am after all! The question is why is the english quarterstaff called a "quarterstaff".

My guess, based on the dictionary, is that with one hand gripping the center and the other half way from the center to the butt the staff is divided into "quarters" and that those "quarters" were used to discuss techniques.

I have looked around cyberspace and can not seem to get a straight answer. Maybe there is no real answer.

take care and thanks,
Brian

[scott adair]

Hi Brian,

I think I remember reading somewhere that the wood was 'quarter sawn'. The initial saw cuts on the tree split it into quarters. Then all other cuts were parallel or perpendicular to these original cuts. Suposedly this resulted in a staff with a more straight grain.

scott adair

[Stuart McDermid]

Hi,

I am a "quarterstaff guy". *g*

Sean is dead right that putting the forward hand on the rear quarter of the staff offers lots of reach. This is the way Joseph Swetnam advises to hold it.

Interestingly, he is the only master that does AFAIK. All the other masters I have seen advise you to hold the staff with the forward hand in the middle and the rear hand 3/4 of the way back down the weapon. This gives you a nice long butt on the weapon to either close with or to use in retreat when someone closes on you.
Cheers,
Stu

[Jake_Norwood]

I believe Silver advises both grips.

Jake

[JeanryChandler]

Yeah, it's called a quarter staff after the method of using it with one hand on the back quarter of the staff. This lets you take advantage of the reach much more effectively. One thing to point out, one of the most effective ways of taking advantage of this reach of the staff is to thrust. I haven't read much of the material from the Fechtbuchs yet but I've been doing sparring for about 20 years and I can testify, hard thrusts to the face (especially), neck, or stomach, in conjunction to strikes to the arms, shoulders, and legs are very hard to deal with and are what made these weapons so highly effective. There are some famous historical examples where men armed with a staff fended off multiple experienced opponents wielding rapier and dagger.

Easter Martial Arts sytles usually focus on Half Staff techniques, i.e. gripping the staff in the center like in one of those Star Wars movies. This is perhaps because EMA swords are often not as long. Half Staff is much more vulnerable to a weapon with good reach, but more useful very close in.

Generally, you want to start with a quarter-staff posture in the begining of a fight when at range, and then switch to a half staff posture when and if the battle transitions from outside to inside range. Your goal is usually to keep a shorter weapon - armed opponent at a distance as long as possible so you can make the most of your reach advantage, but if you can transition effectively like this you can do very, very well with a staff, (especially when wielding boffers in which it's not possible for the sword weilding opponent to actually hack the thing in half !) I have had a lot of experience on both using and facing staffs weilded in this manner, and I can testify, they are very effective!

JR

[Stuart McDermid]

Hi Sean,

Mr Brown uses Silver's principles to explain himself but looking at his actual techniques I see mostly Zach Wyld and other later sources.
Cheers,
Stu.

[Jay Vail]

Easter Martial Arts sytles usually focus on Half Staff techniques, i.e. gripping the staff in the center like in one of those Star Wars movies. This is perhaps because EMA swords are often not as long. Half Staff is much more vulnerable to a weapon with good reach, but more useful very close in.

The Okinawan systems of staff work focus on the grip of the half staff. Since most EMA weapons practitioners we see descend from the Okinawan kobudo tradition, we see a lot of half staffing.

The Chinese and Japanese, however, use the quarterstaff grip more than the half staff.

I used the half staff grip for years until my Vietnamese teacher introduced me to the quarterstaff and I have never looked back. I refuse to use the half staff grip now or to waste my time learning kata employing it. The quarterstaff always beats the half staff.

[Jay Vail]

One thing to point out, one of the most effective ways of taking advantage of this reach of the staff is to thrust.

Yeh. For years I practiced thrusts to the air or in sparring without actually hitting anyone with a stick thrust. I never had a lot of confidence in the thrust. Then I sparred with some SCA guys and I hit an armored guy with a thrust from my faux longsword, which had a foam tip. Even with the form and the guy's armor it knocked the wind out of him and he had to stop playing. So I guess that thrust works, eh?

[TimSheetz]

Hi guys,

The power of a thrust does make sense if you look at it thusly:

The mass of the staff + the mass of the individual holding it accelerated by the thrusting action, then concentrating all that force on a small surfac area. It is the small surface area that just makes it so powerful, IMO.

There was an incedne t about a year or so back Ithink, where a guy took an accidental staff thrust while wearing a thick gambeson, and ended up with a brkoen rib and punctured lung.

Best,

Tim

[JeanryChandler]

I didn't know that Japanese used quarter staff techniques as well but, it makes sense. As for abandoning half-staff, I think that may be a mistake. I strongly believe that it's a good idea to use quarter staff at range, and then transition to half-staff when in clench or very close quarters. When you are nearly face to face I believe half staff is much more effective at attack and defense. I would compare this to using a Long sword 'normally' when at max reach and switching to half sword when closing range.

JR

[Jay Vail]

Your thought about using half staff as an analog for half swording in close range has merit. I was writing about the fight at distance. At distance the half staff position has nothing to recommend it. It lacks reach, which is a very important characteristic. With the quarterstaff you can hit the half staffer before he has a chance to close with you. Also with the quarter staff you can use the butt end just as well with the half staff by sliding the grip the the other end of the pole, if you need to.

Interestingly enough, many quarter staff techniques are very reminiscent of the longsword . . . This was one of the reasons I was prompted to join ARMA after working under JC at a seminar a couple of years ago. The similarity convinced me he was on the right track toward the true knowledge.

[Webmaster]

Silver and Swetnam both offer advice about what to do with a staff when the range changes. Both advise, if I remember correctly, that whether you're closing or your opponent is (assuming you both have staffs), to grab or stifle the opponent's weapon (or body) with the left hand while stabbing him with the lower quarter of the staff in the right hand. One of them also includes advice on adjusting your grip for this purpose if the wrong hand is forward. I believe there is also some discussion about the disadvantages of the half-staff grip in one, and Silver does note that the longer the staff, the more the tail end causes problems when you start choking up toward the middle. Swetnam strongly advises that if you are fighting an opponent using two weapons (sword and buckler, dagger, etc.), don't let them close in! There are some other manuals with staff material that we don't have translated yet, but I suspect that they probably also address this issue.