The Four-Foot Staff

Most fighters think of the staff as a standard, six-foot-long pole with non-tapered ends. Of course, a staff can be any length from five-to-seven feet. Chongdo also has a four-foot-staff that provides the basis for many intermediately long improvised weapons.

The student (in black) readies the weapon in one of several ways.
	a. He can swing the staff like a sledgehammer, bringing his hands together to increase acceleration at the moment of impact, into the opponent’s collarbone. Or...
	b. He can thrust the end of the staff into the opponent’s face, head, or throat to check his advance.

The student can also crack the center of the staff into an oncoming hand to block it. Note that the likelihood is that the opponent will try to grab the staff (as opposed to punch a guy with a weapon), so the opponent’s move is a relatively low-velocity strike and easy to block.
	a. The student can uppercut the end of the staff into the ribs, staying outside of the attacker’s immediate reach. Or...
	b. The student can pop the attacker into the popliteal space behind the knee to “encourage” him to move further back. This will usually not result in a takedown since it’s easy for the opponent to recover.

And, at intermediate range, the staff can be swung like a longer staff to snap a strike into the opponent’s face or head.

Obviously, this is a small sampling of the many resourceful things anyone can do with a four-foot-staff. This could easily have been a section of EMT conduit, a length of 1-inch pipe or PVC, or a sturdy branch from the ground near a tree.