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WABUKAN Arsenal · Staffs and sticks · Southeast Asia

Baston (rattan stick)

The rattan stick of eskrima, about 70 cm long, often used in pairs (doble baston). Rattan is light and does not splinter.

Baston (rattan stick)
Baston (rattan stick) WABUKAN illustration

Also known as

baston · yantok; olisi; garrote; cane

Origin and history

The rattan stick is the training and fighting tool of Filipino martial arts (arnis, eskrima, kali). Arnis was declared the national martial art and sport of the Philippines in 2009, and stick fighting is practised in competitions with and without padding.

Martial arts that use it

Arnis · Eskrima · Kali

Construction

A rattan stick of about 70–75 cm and 2.5 cm in diameter, often scorched with patterns; rattan cracks and frays instead of splintering. Padded sticks are used for sport sparring.

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?

Many systems train with two sticks at once (doble baston), weaving patterns called sinawali after a woven mat.

More weapons

Silambam staff Knobkerrie / induku Asa (tahtib stick) Lathi Gatka soti and farri Quarterstaff

Sources

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

  1. Wikipedia — Eskrima
  2. Wikipedia — Arnis