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WABUKAN Arsenal · Staffs and sticks · Africa

Asa (tahtib stick)

The long stick of Egyptian tahtib, about four feet of rattan or bamboo, used in a fight-dance shown since ancient Egypt.

Asa (tahtib stick)
Asa (tahtib stick) WABUKAN illustration

Also known as

عصا · asaya; tahtib stick

Origin and history

Tahtib is the Egyptian stick-fighting art, depicted on tomb walls at Beni Hasan (around 2000 BC) and kept alive in Upper Egypt as a martial game and dance. It was inscribed on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2016.

Martial arts that use it

Tahtib

Construction

A rattan or wooden stick (asa) of about 1–1.3 m; in the dance form (raqs al-assaya) a lighter cane with a hooked top is often used.

Basic techniques

Training

Stick and staff training starts with grips, stances and basic strikes and blocks practised in the air or on a target, then two-person drills at controlled speed. Many schools use rattan or padded sticks for sparring, with a helmet and gloves.

Safety

Wear a helmet with a face grille and padded gloves for any contact work; hands and fingers are the most common injuries. Check sticks for cracks and splinters and retire damaged ones.

Legality (general information)

Sticks, staffs and other impact or flexible weapons are ordinary objects in some countries and restricted weapons in others (several European countries, for example, regulate nunchaku, batons or weighted chains). Carrying one in public without a good reason can be an offence even where owning it is legal. Transport it in a bag and use it in the training hall. This is general information, not legal advice: check local law.

Did you know?

In tahtib the head is the main target, but the game is played with respect and control, often to music.

More weapons

Lathi Gatka soti and farri Quarterstaff Varapau Combat cane (canne) Cajado

Sources

Original WABUKAN text, written from these cross-checked sources (facts, not sentences).

  1. Wikipedia — Tahtib