Jogo do Pau means "stick fencing" or literally
"stick (or staff) game") is a Portuguese martial art which developed in the
northern regions of Portugal (Minho and Trás-os-Montes), focusing on the use
of a staff of fixed measures and characteristics. The origins of this
martial art are uncertain, but its purpose was primarily self-defence. It
was also used to settle accounts, disputes and matters of honor between
individuals, families, and even villages.
While popular in the northern mountains, it
was practically unknown elsewhere, and those who did practise it were taught
by masters from the north.The popularity of this martial art was partly due
to the demeanor of the northern folk, who valued personal and family honor
enough to kill for it. It was also due in no small part to the relative ease
of obtaining a staff as well as the versatility of such a tool: a staff or
stick was almost universally present, used as a support for the long daily
walks, to help cross the rivers, by the shepherds to protect the cattle from
wild animals, and so on. There are references to this martial art being used
by the guerrilla against the troops of Napoleon that were occupying Portugal
during the Napoleonic Wars.
Some believe that it was influenced by an Indian dance or Indian martial
art, which would have been imported and adapted in the period of the
Discoveries, while there are others who say that its origins are medieval
techniques of combat much similar to what is taught in the medieval book A
ensinança de bem cavalgar em toda a sela ("The art of being a good horseman
on any saddle") by Edward of Portugal (1391–1438). This seems more likely,
since the martial art developed not in the urban areas more open to foreign
influences, but in the most isolated mountain regions of continental
Portugal.
