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Irish Stick Fighting
For Fun, Fitness, and Self-Defense
THE WHISKEY STICK FACTION
Doyle Irish Stick Fighting (nicknamed Rince an Bata Uisce Bheatha, or "Dance of the Whiskey Stick") is a devastatingly effective two-handed combative system developed well over 200 years ago by the Doyle family in Ireland. This system was brought to Canada in the early 1800s via a Doyle who settled in the rough and tumble landscape of the Atlantic's Newfoundland coast.
The Whiskey Stick Faction is named out of respect for the history of the Doyle system.
The originator of the style was a pugilist from the Doyle family living in the west of Ireland, who was hired to “put things right between families” and sometimes guard illegal businesses or even distilleries (this gave rise to one of the rumors that originated the term ‘Whiskey’ in the nickname of the style). He applied his boxing expertise to the existing art of stick fighting and changed the standard one-hand grip of the bata to a two-hand grip and Rince an Bata Uisce Bheatha was born. While most Irish styles used one-handed methods (much like fencing), the Doyle style evolved from a one-handed long-range style to a much more aggressive "close-quarter", two-handed style.
The art of stick fighting was passed down from generation to generation, each father passing his techniques and nuances of style onto his sons. As most of the stick fighting styles eventually became extinct in Ireland (due to sociopolitical changes, access to other forms of modern weapons, etc.), the Doyle system was practiced, guarded, further evolved, and passed on through the Doyle family residing in Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula.
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