Bâton français (French Long Stick)
Two-handed chestnut cane about 140 centimetres long, the second weapon of the French discipline canne de combat and bâton. It is contested only in the form of duo.
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Organisation & Competition
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About Bâton français (French Long Stick)
Bâton is the second weapon of the discipline Canne de Combat et Bâton, run by the French federation FFSbf&DA. According to the 2026 sporting regulations, the federal bâton is a tapered chestnut cane of 130, 140 or 150 centimetres by height, reaching the armpit, weighing 250 to 500 grams. It is held with both hands, with the front hand in pronation. According to the federation, the strikes of the bâton are the same as those of the canne, only two-handed, and so are the lunges, turns and dodges. The teaching booklet Cahier n°10 (2005) allows only the demonstration bâton one more horizontal strike, the coulissé, and one thrust, the piqué. According to it, Maurice Sarry extended the pronated front-hand grip to all techniques of the federal bâton in the seventies of the 20th century. It is contested only in duo form, and the exchanges, according to Cahier n°10, are very controlled and not decided by hits. The sporting regulations also recognise a longer bâton de l'école de Joinville, 155 to 170 centimetres long, with a gripping part (manchette) of at least 25 centimetres. It is named after the military school of physical education in Joinville-le-Pont, which the teaching booklet of the canne and bâton committee calls the cradle of instruction in the French bâton in the 19th century.
History
The military Manuel de gymnastique, approved by the Minister of War on 26 July 1877, divides the physical training of the army into five parts, the fourth being boxe française and the fifth bâton and canne. According to it, the canne is only a derivative of the bâton, its lessons apply to the canne as well, and the bâton is learned first because it trains both arms with a heavier cane. The canne and bâton committee's teaching booklet Cahier H (2018) calls the military school of physical education in Joinville-le-Pont the cradle of instruction in the French bâton in the 19th century. According to it, the school bore the name école normale de gymnastique de Joinville le Pont from 1852, école normale de gymnastique et d'escrime from 1872 and école supérieure d'éducation physique from 1925. Between 1852 and 1939 it trained military and civil cadres of physical education, and the bâton peaked in that period and has survived to this day in connection with savate and canne de combat.
Read more
Green (Martial Arts of the World, 2001) describes the bâton as a cane 64 inches long that developed from the walking cane and the badge of authority of certain officers and noblemen, and was taught to riders as a defence against the lance when without a horse. Cahier n°10 links the pronated front-hand grip with the techniques of the German heavy sword recorded by Talhoffer in the 15th and 16th centuries, and distinguishes it from the French military techniques of the bâton from the end of the 19th century, from the civilian bâton taught by Louis Leboucher and Larribeau, and from Hébert's method of 1915. The English Wikipedia says the bâton derives from the movements of the medieval longsword and a longer rural staff.
How it differs
Per the federation, bâton strikes match canne strikes, only two-handed, so it is natural to learn both weapons together. Cahier n°10 says the basic parameters of the strikes are the same except for the grip. The federal bâton differs from the Joinville one in length and grip: the federal one is guided without manchette, the leading hand at the butt, the Joinville one is longer and held with manchette.
Technique
According to the federation's website, the federal bâton is somewhat heavier than the canne, about 300 grams, reaches the armpit, usually 140 centimetres, and is held with both hands in pronation. The sports regulations set 250 to 500 grams and guiding without manchette, the leading hand covering the butt of the cane. Cahier n°10 from 2005 gave about 400 grams. Green writes that, unlike the quarterstaff, the bâton is held with both thumbs pointing toward each other and the front hand in pronation. The longer Joinville school bâton is, per the sports regulations, straight and chestnut, 155, 160, 165 or 170 centimetres by build, 350 to 700 grams, and is guided with a manchette of at least 25 centimetres. The length is chosen so that the cane reaches between the nose and the upper edge of the forehead, that is, the federal bâton length plus 25 centimetres. Cahier H lists as basic attacks brisé, croisé tête, enlevé, croisé bas, latéraux, piqués pointe and talon, coulissés and revers tête, and requires mastery of three distances. Moulinets join two strikes, vertically or horizontally. The military Manuel de gymnastique of 1877 and 1888 set the length of the cane so that, held vertically in front of the body, its upper end reached the tip of the nose, and prescribed a hazel or alder rod 2.5 centimetres in diameter at the thicker end.
Training
The Manuel de gymnastique divides bâton instruction into simple strikes (4 lessons, 22 exercises), compound strikes (10 lessons, 10 exercises), attacks, parries and ripostes (2 lessons, 4 exercises), and the salute and bout. According to the manual, soldiers trained in groups with instructors in two ranks. When exercises with the bâton or canne were used only for stretching, the manual said it was enough to limit oneself to a few selected lessons. Cahier n°10 gives canne and bâton one technical progression with the same degrees of pommeaux.
Competition
According to the federation's sports regulations, the duo is the only form of competition with the bâton. Technical mastery and style are judged, and any force is forbidden. Cahier n°10 describes bâton bouts as highly controlled exchanges in which hits do not decide, and the bâton as an essentially demonstration discipline. Among the federation's four experimental official competitions are the Tournoi de Bâton, bouts in the federal or Joinville bâton, and the Internationaux de Canne et Bâton, a competition of club teams open to foreigners in canne, the federal bâton and double canne.
Today
Today the bâton is taught with the canne in the Canne de Combat et Bâton discipline of the FFSbf&DA federation and competed in at canne de combat events. The Cahier H teaching booklet on the Joinville bâton was issued in 2018 by the Comité National de Canne de Combat et Bâton, which the federation dissolved at an extraordinary general meeting on 13 April 2024 and replaced with a national commission. The French Wikipedia says this committee developed the federal bâton and organised its competition practice.
Did you know
Green says the bâton is sometimes wrongly called grand bâton or moutinet. The military Manuel de gymnastique of 1877 took the bâton as its basis and considered the canne a derivative of it, not the other way round. The federation's sports regulations of 2026 themselves state that their part on judging canne and bâton does not apply and that Memento n°10 of 2018 and Cahier I of 2024 apply instead.
Frequently asked questions
How long is the French bâton?
Per the sports regulations the federal bâton is 130, 140 or 150 centimetres long by height and reaches the armpit. The Joinville school bâton is longer, 155 to 170 centimetres.
How does competition in bâton work?
The only competitive form is the duo, judged on technical mastery and style, without the use of force. According to the federation's training booklet, the exchanges are very controlled and are not decided by hits.
What is the bâton de Joinville?
A longer variant of the bâton, 155 to 170 centimetres, with a gripping part of at least 25 centimetres. It is named after the military school of physical training in Joinville-le-Pont, which the training booklet of the canne and bâton committee calls the cradle of bâton teaching in the 19th century.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.