Canne
Also known as: canne de combat, canne d'arme
A slightly tapered stick of chestnut wood, about 95 cm long and weighing 100 to 120 g, used in the French sport of canne de combat.
Quick Facts
FranceAbout the weapon
The canne is the stick of the French discipline canne de combat, also called canne d'arme. It arose in France in the early 19th century as self-defense and was used mainly by the upper classes in large, dangerous cities such as Paris. Maurice Sarry standardized it for sporting competition in the 1970s. The sporting stick is made of chestnut wood, tapers slightly, and measures about 95 cm. A training stick weighs about 120 g, a competition one about 100 g. The technical base consists of six cuts, brisé, croisé tête, latéral croisé, latéral extérieur, enlevé, and croisé bas, and five lunges: avant, arrière, extérieur, balance, and grenouille. Related disciplines are canne défense, focused on self-defense, and bâton, a two-handed stick about 140 cm long. The modern sport remains affiliated with the Fédération de Savate Boxe Française. Canne de combat appeared as a demonstration discipline at the 1924 Summer Olympics. After the First World War, in which many practitioners died, it declined sharply; the techniques survived in a few clubs even through the Second World War.
Related weapons
- Variants: Bâton