Insight for Non-staff users Twirling the staff Fucntional vs Entertainment

[JowGaWolf]

In an different thread I touched on some basic staff fighting techniques and how some systems do it and other systems don't use big swings. And it made me think of people who twirl (flower their staff).

From a fighting perspective I have not seen any functional use beyond 2 or three twirls. If you want to quickly increase the distance or distract then I can see use for it. It's intimidating and it catches people by surprise. There are also twirls where you are initially redirecting a blow and then following through into a strike which makes it look like twirl. In terms of striking another object, I don't know how strong everyone's wrist is, but there's no way mind is strong enough to fend off a two hand swing of a staff. I'm assuming it's the same thing for most humans which is why we never see people use it for this purpose even though some people will teach it that way.

Keep in mind that non of this is taking a dig at other systems. This is just something to think about in order to help you determine which is functional and what isn't. A good example, is "showboating" in boxing. It's a distraction and not a functional technique of boxing. Martial Arts have similar things. The video below shows the problems that one will have with trying to use twirling a staff with the purpose of defending against strikes.

By the way, that video was the first time I've ever seen someone do spear form with a child on their back.

My thoughts on this is that the more twirls that happen the less functional it will be. At some point you'll need to counter with the weapon and the sooner the better.

Here you can see the single and double twirls being used. The most important thing to keep in mind is that the wrist has to always keep a structure that will allow you to continue to hold onto your staff when someone strikes it.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

This is why a staff is called "2 heads snake". If you hold the staff at the 1/3 and 2/3 positions,

- you can hit with both ends.
- when you release 1 hand, you can swing 2/3 distance to the other side. If you miss, you can switch hand, jump in, and hit with the other end again.

 

[Deleted member 39746]

Arent there many diffrent sorts of "twirl"? Like the one i think of when i use it dont think i can see much fighting apllication, just seems like a cordination/grip/wrist strength thing.

But the last thing you want in a fight is to do exercises in it as thats just sapping the energy you need for fighting the person.

Ah the type of twirl i mean or a close version of it is in the first video, that to me just looks like exercising, the application of that would look MUCH diffrent to how you do it there. That does look pretty much soley for the purposes of attribute building.