The Reality of Stick Strips

Playing with stick strips can be fun and it can help you to better understand the mechanics of angles, force and leverage. I have personally witnessed demonstrations where Instructors pulled off stick strips at speed using deceptive feints and bating setups.

But IF, hypothetically, you somehow ended up in a stick vs stick situation (expandable baton, walking cane, umbrella, broken pool stick, tire iron, rolling pin, etc.) would a stick strip really be a realistic option? If you say yes then there are a couple of things you may want to consider:

1. Stick strip demos typically involve some cooperation from the assistant by either stopping their weapon arm momentarily or intentionally moving their weapon arm slower. You won’t get this type of friendly compliance on the street.
2. Stick strips typically require the performers to be at either close or medium ranges. The closer you get the more difficult it is to see things.
3. There is typically very little, if any, footwork used during stick strip demos giving them a kind of unrealistic static look (dead) rather than a realistic dynamic one (alive).

Targeting the hand from the longer range offers:

1. A good reactionary gap for better reaction time to attack stimulus.
2. Helps you to better see the fast moving hand and weapon in flight.
3. Easier to maintain with athletic footwork whereas the closer range often invites a grab or a clinch opportunity.
4. If you do find yourself in clinch range you can use the base of your stick to strike and then break contact moving back out to a longer range.

For those who would argue that the stick can be used at close range for locks and chokes I would agree…to a point. However, the primary purpose of a stick is to deliver blunt force trauma and that is best achieved from a distance just outside of contact range. At close range you essentially take away the optimal design capability of a longer impact weapon and turn it into a shorter palm stick. My advice is to never willingly pass up an opportunity to damage an adversary’s weapon hand! Be safe out there my friends.

KA©️S: Keep All Options Simple!