Reviews

Reviews

This book, I believe, not only offers a logical and progressive structure for developing pole arm prowess, but it also gives an excellent structure for any martial artist looking to systemize a martial gate previously passed along as a form or drills set.

After my first read of Master Varady’s book on staff fighting, I found myself compelled to study the staff form offered in my lineage which I had previously felt unnecessary–as I was now a sword-and-spearman. This realization was not so much as for myself, but as an instructor and a teacher. I was convinced through Master Varady’s progression and structures in this book, that his method offered me a means to build and supplement an otherwise isolated form and drill into a life long practice.

Master Varady has presented an excellent method for providing students with the necessary components to learning the both the art of expression found in the practice, but also the method of application when relying on principle for survival. And instead of focusing on a system or style, he has chosen to provide us with the tools to develop competence at all stages of our exposure.

I believe any instructor with a staff skill included in their system, or looking to add a staff form to their practice, should embrace this book and its training methods with open arms and wide eyes. Master Varady’s “The Art and Science of Staff Fighting” lays out a clear outline from first picking up a staff to putting a knife onto the end of it. Providing the necessary steps towards competence, while also offer teaching a method for preservation of the student’s relationship with their art,
the future of the Staff can now be universally embraced as a goal and art, no matter what style or form you study.

~夏崇义（Xia Chongyi）
Wudang Zhengyi Daoist Disciple,
26th Generation Wudang Longmen Pai Disciple,
16th Generation Wudang Sanfeng Pai Instructor,
  Head teacher at Wudang Swordsmen Academy, Wilkes-Barre, PA, USA
  http://www.wudangswordsmen.com

Just finished reading "The Art and Science of Staff Fighting" and found the book to be very well written, and inspirational. Throughout the book, Joe mixed in his personal life experiences with his techniques quite smoothly and I found it very insightful learning about other cultures and how they used the staff.

I’ve been training in Western Martial Arts for almost a decade and I found the information very useful. The techniques are easy to learn and if you use the pictures as a guide, you’ll understand them quickly. What I really appreciate is the way Joe demonstrates how to make training equipment and use them properly. There was one year when I was training for a tournament and it sure would’ve been nice to have some training equipment nearby instead of fighting the air. The book is awesome and if you ever loved fighting with a staff, this is the one for you.

~Charles Carfagno
Live Steel
Pottstown, PA

Dear Joe, thanks for sending me your work. It looks awesome. While I am by no means an expert on staff fighting – far from it – I can tell from the structure and pictures alone that you know your game and that you are a true martial artist. The book has a particular feel of determination and martial discipline about it, that I miss with not a few publications on close combat. It is well-structured and the photo sequences are clear and, what is rare with stills – capture a sense of flow and power. As an instructor and researcher of historical European swordsmanship, I like your cultural cross-references, which help to understand that it is universal concepts that make martial arts work, regardless of period or region. I am sure that tips on particular exercizes and equipment will be much appreciated by practitioners. Great work, keep it up!

~Roland Warzecha
Dimicator Martial Arts School for Historical European Combat with Sword and Shield
Hamburg, Germany
http://www.dimicator.com/

Sensei, I have to share my reaction to your book. I'd seen excerpts and been impressed, but this is something more...
For my entire martial arts career, I have had an instinctive aversion to most weapons training, for three reasons.

1 - I think that there is an inherent insanity of in training with weapons that are unlikely to be available, impractical or illegal to possess or to carry openly. (This covers most blades more than 4 inches, many traditional kobudo weapons and all swords.)

2 - The inherently deadly nature of even a stick has sometimes put me off. I am not confident that I would chose to kill, and not confident enough in my skill to use a stick except with full force. Thus, I feel more control using my hands and feet.

(Note - This is a hesitancy, but it has not prevented be training harder with tambo than with any other weapon. I feel that tambo offers practicality and control, and easy availability. In my Kidsafe classes, I teach stick on the theory that the best defense against a stick is to know how to use a stick.)

3 - As a former foil fencer, who experienced S.C.A.-style medieval combat (though I never trained seriously) I've always felt that quite a lot of what the Asian arts teach of non-bladed stick (e.g. staff) fighting is not only unproductive, but outright wrong for real combat. Like point sparring, I felt that stick drills had the potential to drill the -wrong- set of reflexes.

That was THEN.

Months ago, when I saw your training montage video for the stick championship, I immediately realized that in your effort to develop a fighting and training strategy, you had thought through and resolved EVERY one of my reasons. You had resolved the impracticality in your grand strategy, and built a training system that was coherent and productive. I shared as much with my Kidsafe students, and told them that staff was due for a revival in our school when you finished your book.

But The Art and Science goes SO FAR BEYOND my expectations that I had to sit down and write.

Pretty much EVERY weapons "manual" that I have read or reviewed makes clear that mastery of a weapon is a lifelong path, and I agree. But pretty much EVERY one of them teaches a very few basic skills, and says, etc....etc.....

But YOUR manual actually outlines in detail, a lifetime (or at least several years) of specific training towards the goal. Moreover - It focuses on not only technique, but principles at EVERY level, and also on an overarching philosophy. I could easily see this as a book that I will need to buy several copies of as I wear each one out.

Not only will I be the first to buy one when you find a publisher. I'm planning on ordering a dozen,and considering it a part of students' Green Belt test to buy one. If (unlikely) you are unable to find a publisher, and find yourself seeking to self-publish it, I would be willing to support that effort as well, and would be honored to invest in the project. This book needs to be shared!

In the meantime - training starts now.

~Chris Baglieri
Black Belt Instructor
Clark, NJ