Best Wood for a fighting stick

E

ednemo

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Feb 12, 2004
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I was wondering what the overall opinion is, on the best wood for a fighting stick. I am looking for a wood that is extremely hard and maybe a bit heavy.

I have thought about hickory, ironwood, maple, oak, and ironwood. But as this will be a personal project made by me, I want to get the very best. Any recommendations?

Thanks,

-Ed
 
The relative hardness of woods is an important part of picking your next stick or baton; however, I would argue equal importance for weight and resistance to damage. Woodworkers, who know everything about wood from a "construction" viewpoint will disagree I think with the following statements, but I'm basing my comments on experience with sticks used as weapons.

Oak is a great bet, but it can be heavy in the hand. If you don't mind extra weight, it's a good all-around stick. Weight sounds great, until you find it slipping out of your hand or rolling loose--but if you're familiar with the weight of oak, you'll be fine. :)

Hickory is a lighter wood (in weight) than oak, but packs an awfully big wallop. An excellent material if you can find it in a straight length! Can be (but not always) knotty. Also highly resistant to denting. :)

Sycamore is also excellent, lightweight, and resists damage very well. A sycamore stick will last years, and will bust through anything made of rattan like it wasn't there. :)

Be careful with maple--not all are hard, and some can even chip quite readily. Rock maple, while popular for a lot of pre-manufactured batons, is light and hard, but can actually fracture readily with a good hit. :grumpy: Some types of maple can be very good, though, but can also be expensive.

With respect to our FMA readers, I do not like rattan. Rattan is inexpensive and flexible--just what the FMA community needs. It's too flexible for me, and every rattan stick I've gone through does a spiral fracture after striking non-rattan sticks. A great material for a Filipino weapon--but you're after hard woods, I believe. :(

I have no experience with ironwood and will defer to anyone who does. :confused:

Cherry is hard, but expensive and won't take abuse for long. :grumpy:

Most woods advertised as hardwoods ("Brazilian hardwood") might actually be composite of hardwood pieces glued together. While strong for general woodwoork, a combat stick made of these will bust apart after even light use. Obviously you'll be looking for something made of SOLID wood. :grumpy:

Obviously, other readers should stay away from softer woods like pine, willow, or balsa! :grumpy:

If you can, go to your nearest big box store. Take a look at the woods they have in stock, such the maple or oak. Obviously, you won't be using a 2 x 6 to make your stick, but you can get a great look at the unfinished nature of the wood. For example, take a look at how much warp there is in the longer boards. Warp suggests a wood that won't hold up well. Does the wood they have in stock have scratches and dings? You've found your local variety might not hold up for long without being dented and mottled. Rub your thumb along the grain. Is it smooth, or can you feel pronounced grain? Too smooth, and it's slippery. Too rough, and your hands will ache.

As I said above, the furniture makes and wood workers will shriek, but the above notes are made from 20 years of watching combat sticks break.

Are you making your own? Lathing it from a larger piece? Salvaging a straight piece from a fallen branch? Let me know--I'm curious about your approach and want to know a little more.

Let me ping FMK on this forum--he handmade his baton from (if I recall) sycamore, and it'll chew through everything.

FMK?
 
Filipinos traditionally favor kamagong (Filipine ironwood). I have a pair of these that I got through my old escrima instructor. They are heavy and hard.
 
Beech, hemlock and purple heart are good. They are not too light and not too heavy. They are quite hard and all very durable. If you're making your own, beech and purple heart are good choices because they check very little as they dry. I can't vouch for hemlock.

- Chris
 
MM said:
Filipinos traditionally favor kamagong (Filipine ironwood). I have a pair of these that I got through my old escrima instructor. They are heavy and hard.
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Very heavy and very hard, I do agree. I find that makes them slower than a lighter rattan stick. If you plan to use these to spar, Id stay away from the iron wood.
Id say rattan is the way to go. They are cheap, and more importantly, faster than any other wood because they are so light. Rattan has probably the best strength to weight ratio of all the above mentioned woods.
I too have some kamagong sticks and use them for solo training drills. It makes the rattan feel that much faster and lighter.
 
I have plenty of rattan sticks. They are much too light for a fighting stick. The kamagong sounds ideal. I have also heard good things about Hawaiian koa. I am looking to make a very custom stick. It will be 32" long with a custom shape I drew up (basically a straight design). So far it looks like I will be going with the kamagong. Does anyone have any info on Hawaiian koa?

Thanks for the replies.

Ed
 
Koa's expensive and I haven't found a supplier that can get good pick of thier stuff or have any when I have cash to buy it. I resently got some lignum vitae, that's really cool but the piece I bought was 3x3x24 and expensive. Too heavy and expensive to mack stick out of but I have other ideas...
Good luck and remember to post pics of what you come up with.
 
In a previous career, I was involved in tree removal. One tree that I had to take down was a sycamore. I was able to salvage a fairly straight 3-foot branch that was about 1-1/2-inches in diameter. I removed the bark and sanded it down.

It makes a great combat stick. It is heavy enough to not fly out of one's hands and light enough to be manuevered quickly. It is also extremely durable - I've had it since 1988 - and except for a few dents and dings it is still rock solid.
 
Ednemo,

This reminds me.

What diameter are you planning for the grip? I would recommend no smaller than 1-1/8" (28mm), probably keeping around 1-1/4" (32mm). Unless you have very large hands indeed, I don't suggest thicker than 1.5" (38mm).

If you taper slightly from the grip to the far end, you might be able to get a little more whip action, despite the harder wood.

In agreement with Saberman: try to document its manufacture for everyone. Sounds like a great project.
 
Roodog said:
If you plan to use these to spar, Id stay away from the iron wood.
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100% true. Kamagong is for combat. Rattan is for sparring. I do sumbrada with the kamagong because of the extra weight. I'd never spar with (or against) them.
 
Hai Ed,

I'm from Indonesia and practice Martial Arts. My top 3 fighting stick wood:

1. kaju besi (Iron Wood)
2. sono keling (Pallissander Wood)
3. kaju djati (Djati Wood)

For sparring I like Rottan because its cheap, flexible and tough.

Good luck,

Mano.
 
I made a set out of Lignum Vitae. Except for a mild secretion, they're as tough as some of the synthetic sticks. For sparring, I've had good results from kiln dried hickory and ash. Both turns very easily for stick making.
 
Sounds cheap but I just went over to my local home depot and cut a 1-1/4" broom handle down to 26". It's surprisingly light but hard ass hell. Put it in a vice and beat on it a bit to see if it would break and aside from some minor scratching it was fine.

I have no clue what wood it is but I really like it.
 
Watchful said:
I would recommend no smaller than 1-1/8" (28mm), probably keeping around 1-1/4" (32mm). Unless you have very large hands indeed, I don't suggest thicker than 1.5" (38mm).
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Watchful,

Why do you recommend no smaller diameter than 1-1/8th" ? Is this because this is going to be a hardwood stick ? Please forgive me for a newbie question. My current art is not FMA, but Wing Chun. My sifu has been teaching stick work based on Wing Chun principals; so I'm just beginning in stick work. I found the smaller diameter (7/8" to 1") to be easier handle.

Thanks,

Mark

_______________________________________
"Seven Times Down, Eight Times Up!"
Soke Shogo Kuniba

Mark
 
I have always wondered how you would adapt the Wing Chun principles to stick work. The stick is such a simple, cheap and effective weapon that it did seem a weakness of Wing Chun not to teach more stick work. Perhaps you could share a bit of what your sifu is teaching, so we can get the general idea.

Cheers, Acolyte.
 
You may wish to consider Osage Orange (Moraceae Maclura pomifera), quite hard and strong, not too heavy.

Cheers,
Charles
 
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