Always hovering at the edge of maelstrøm’s martial content is the cultural heritage that surrounds martial arts. We participate in many community cultural festivals (such as the Pinoy fest this past Saturday), and even belong to a larger non-profit promoting the Southeast Asian Cultural Arts. As such, we love to learn about the arts from different places and celebrate the diversity of the martial arts world.
We’re happy to spotlight another art that many of you may never have heard of: Jogo de Pau. We were introduced to this Portuguese art through Luis Preto, who has taught a couple seminars at maelstrøm – bringing fascinating content to our club.
Jogo de Pau is a Portuguese combat and self-defence art that includes multiple and single opponents. It is most commonly known as a staff fencing system, featuring the 1.5m long staff traditionally made of Lotus or quince. The staffs are noted for having the striking and parrying tip thicker than the grip, with a sharp blade fitted for traditional combat use. The historical circumstances surrounding the origins of Jogo de Pau is not certain, though since Portugal became an independent territory by force during the 7th and 8th centuries, we can assume that the Portuguese have been well-versed in the combat arts for a long time. Luis’ blog has several fascinating accounts of medieval military encounters, all outlined in historical documents, where Jogo de Pau was most likely practiced.
The French staff combat system has similarities in its weaponry and technical content with Jogo de Pau, so it’s likely that the art is actually more of a central European combat system, rather than being exclusively Portuguese. This likely resulted from international cultural and military exchanges between Portugal and its neighbours throughout the centuries. Our friends at Academie Duello (which we recently profiled) would undoubtedly recognize the features of medieval battlefield oriented combat system in Jogo de Pau.
Though it is traditionally focused on multiple opponent combat, the development of the art by Portugal’s northern population has led to application of Jogo de Pau to single-handed walking canes and batons, as well as single-opponent combat with the staff. The northern schools of the art has since been consolidated by the current National Director of Portuguese stick fighting, and teacher of Luis Preto, Master Nuno Curvello Russo. He has also furthered the art by applying the art to shorter one-handed weapons. As such, it is a living art which, despite having strong medieval and renaissance roots, is still evolving through the efforts and promotion of dedicated practitioners like Luis Preto. The art is overseen by the national federation Federação Nacional do Jogo do Pau Português (FNJPP), which promotes the art using adapted weapons and protective gear.
Luis Preto has written several books detailing the history and techniques of Jogo de Pau. This includes a general book that is in a second expanded edition, its first edition already sold out! We hear that a third edition is in the works. The book is a general overview that focuses on outlining the historical origins, tracing the contemporary development and laying out the martial contents of the art. It also includes solid analysis of teaching methodology, something that is clearly dear to Luis Preto’s heart. Luis has written extensively about teaching in martial arts, and has offered many in depth commentary on how to train martial arts through books and articles.
Most recently, Luis Preto authored a book on parrying, which systematizes parries’ contexts and applications. This work includes numerous photos that help elucidate the management of parrying timing, defensive distance management and parrying visual strategies. Luis specifically writes about how to develop motor control so that training is more effective and enjoyable while learning the foundations of parrying. Concepts that will enhance the training of any martial artists!
If you’re interested in learning more, you can purchase his books here, take a look at his blog or his website.
This article is published under fair use and with credit.