Back in 2003 I had posted on the Eskrima Digest about how we used curved sticks as a training device to insure proper structure, body angling, and footwork. As a byproduct, we became good at being able to counter and deal with curved weapons. I was first introduced…rather painfully, to this tool/weapon back in the mid 1990’s by Guro John Daniels. It is a curved hardwood stick with a small padded ball on the end (not very padded I might add) that he got from his former training partner Dave Minden. It was straight for the first ½ to ¾ of the stick length and then curved out. It wasn’t a real tight curve like on a cane, but more of a gradual curve. If you held the stick straight up, the end of the stick would be pointing away from you/towards your opponent….basically like a traditional Native American Ball Club. It is an excellent tool to use to make sure that you are using proper footwork and body angling. In and of itself it makes a great weapon. Like a hard wood flat stick, tip of an Eskrima stick (for thrusting), elbow strike, or Teep, it concentrates power at the point of impact. It can also be used for hooking, stripping, and close range Punyo strikes.

JD would often use it to test our roof blocking movement/countering structure which resulted in immediate feedback if it wasn’t done correctly. The ball on the end of that stick would come around your stick and clock you. For example, if your opponent strikes with what’s generally referred to as a standard angle 1 (forehand) strike, and you just put your stick up to block, without proper footwork/side stepping and body angling, you will get clocked. The end of that stick will come around your countering structure. It’s also an indicator that if you can’t deal with that, then you’re not likely to be able to handle a full power strike against a heavy stick either.

After that posting on the Digest in 2003, I started calling them Minden Sticks after Dave Minden who came up with them back in the 1980’s. He was very good at coming up with unusual training tools and ways to train. According to Todd Ellner who contributed to those Digest postings and has trained with Dave: “Dave Minden has always been a very innovative teacher. He took the FMA and Muay Thai in strange directions and a lot further than most people ever thought of. He also had the sense to get out and stop teaching martial arts when it wasn't fun anymore.

I trained with him in the early to mid 90s. He was using the curved sticks as a training aid for a number of things then…… His students could hit terribly hard and accurately. I remember once when they were working out at a local JKD teacher's school. They were Thai kicking the bag and kicked it so hard and so quickly that they tore it out of the ceiling! A lot of it is due to the interesting and effective training methods he kept coming up with.”

Bottom line: It’s a great training tool to test your structure in a number of different ways, and it’s an effective weapon on its own.