PITTSBURGH — There's probably an off-color joke about “Irish Karate” written somewhere on the shirt, but on a foggy, gray Saturday March morning, everyone at the martial arts hall is smiling twice, wearing green. No one was wearing one.
Most of Bujinkan Dojo, a small workshop in a former tile factory in the city's East End, was steeped in ancient Japanese culture. Sharp shurikens were framed on the walls, along with tapestries of samurai warriors and a large hand-painted reenactment of a “crying dragon” that members once saw while visiting a Buddhist temple about 105 miles west of Tokyo.
But on the mat, more than a dozen people were brandishing thin, knotty pieces of wood, like the kind of sticks a waddling leprechaun might use.
Welcome to Battle Shillelagh.
Instructor Brian Fine told the students: “You can't just stand there or you'll hit your head.”
Sillyrags date back more than 1,000 years and traditionally originate from the village of the same name in County Wicklow. These are usually made from the hard, flexible roots and root ball of blackthorn shrubs. Thin shillelaghs were traditionally used as walking sticks and self-defense, while thicker, heavier ones were often called clubs or clubs and were used by club personnel. Think Walter “Monk” McGuinn from “Gangs of New York.”
Today, the Shillelagh often appears as another colorful symbol of Ireland – Boston Celtic rely on it – but dojo owner and Combat Shillelagh founder Brent Erlewine believes that it is He said it also represents pride and defiance.
“Sure, it was a cane or something to ward off stray dogs, but there was a time when Irish farmers were under British rule and all weapons were banned. '' said Erwin, 55. “It became a way to hide in plain sight and practice swordsmanship with a stick.”
Erlwein, who lives in Pittsburgh and works in the technology industry, said traditional oriental martial arts from Japan, Korea and China are well preserved and recorded in history. This is why there are thousands of martial arts dojos in the United States. Many of Ireland's traditions, including Gaelic, were outlawed under British rule. The island's deadly famine and resulting exodus left millions of Irish people dead or fleeing to distant shores with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
But Erlwine said there were specific forms of martial arts in Ireland, from specific boxing techniques to collar-and-elbow wrestling. Bōjutsu, known as Bataireach, had all but disappeared by the 19th century.
“It was mostly passed down from person to person and was lost for a while,” he says.
Daniel Canagy of Philadelphia, who teaches traditional bare-knuckle fighting as Wolfhound Martial Arts, first became interested in the old Western martial art in 2001 when he saw a swordsman match at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire.
“Every country, every culture is under attack and needs to protect itself, and some countries, including Ireland, have come up with their own ways,” he said.
Mr Canaghy said that in large-scale brawls between Irish families and towns, commonly known as “sectarian fights'', a shillelagh or two would have been seen flying around, along with brass knuckles, stones and other violent objects. Told. Some of it was brought to the United States, as seen in “Gangs of New York.”
“There's a reason they're called the 'Fighting Irish,'” Kanagy said.
In Pittsburgh, Arline began formal training with Silly Rag in 2016 and began offering courses in 2019. He teaches in dojos and online, and is heading to Ireland later this month to teach a Silly Rag class in County Wicklow. That trip includes a visit to a fifth-generation Schiller rug manufacturer.
“We have students in 40 states and 25 countries, so it’s been a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s starting to come back in Ireland as well.”
Most of Ahlwein's early students became instructors, as did Fine. Fine had experience with firearms and was looking for an alternative method of self-defense.
“I was looking for something that had nothing to do with sports,” he said.
For Nick Carrington, an instructor in an Irish sweater and newsboy cap, shillelaghs are a passion.
“Once I got the Schiller rug, it was like the heavens opened,” he said.
Bōjutsu techniques look like a game of angles, stepping back and forth to avoid and land blows. The stick is used to block or attack, but the slightest mistake can result in Shillelagh's club hitting your ribs, inner thighs, or even your knuckles.
Because actual combat requires helmets and thick gloves, everything in the dojo is done in slow motion. There's probably blood on it.
“We're doing it slowly to train the brain,” Erlwine says. “If you go too fast, you’ll miss the angle and get popped.”
Many of Sillag's techniques can also be used with an average wooden cane, or even a “tactical” umbrella, Erlwine said. Many other everyday items, such as pens and expensive flashlights, also have tactical variations. At Bujinkan Dojo, all students take self-defense classes. While it's generally acceptable to carry a Schiller rug around as a walking stick, using a Schiller rug to fly on a plane or ride to a Steelers game may be a case-by-case decision. It would be helpful if you had a doctor's certificate.
One of Earlwine's students this Saturday morning was John Cheatwood III, 44, of Pittsburgh. He spent years training in traditional Japanese styles at a dojo and took shillelagh classes to add further specialization to his skills. He is a teacher and is smaller than most of the men in his friend group.
“I wanted to be able to protect myself if I went out and got into trouble. And I wanted to be able to help if something happened at school,” he said. .
Mr Cheatwood, 44, underwent a DNA test with a Nigerian and was found to have some Scottish and some English. He says it probably stems from slavery.
“That's another part of me that I'm discovering,” he said, “and I think this is as well.”
