Many sosiedade looked like the sword of a powerful weapon, and only held by a knight. Ordinary citizens can not use swords, and they therefore elicits a variety of systems to be martial arts or fighting with bare hands or with tools everyday. Who menggenal muncur story about how karate in Okinawa (and the word "karate" means "empty hand" in Japanese) also find that the system comes along with kobudo, which includes techniques using machetes, Toya, tools made of wood for agriculture. With the tools and techniques, farmers or fishermen can fight, when needed, powerful samurai who occupy their homeland and use-samurai katana, spears and swords in the war. Masyarakyat also unusual in Portugal led to a system of self-defense using a cane herdsmen and farmers usually carry a cane everywhere, until a few years ago. This system is known as Jogo do Pau, the word "Jogo" means "technique" and "pau" means "stick", meaning 'stick techniques'.
In the XX century, in all places in Portugal, but mainly in the North, there are still people fighting sticks, both in the market and at parties to celebrate Saint-Santo Catholic. Sometimes one village against village to another, sometimes one person against another, sometimes one man against many. At that time there were many "puxador" (this word is used to call the fighters from the North) and the "varredor de feiras" (these people are "jogador" (fighters) known that back and forth to the markets and festivals to rile the other fighter, and, when won, showing that they are the best). Mestre Monteiro, one of the Fafe, tells about the time his father was a teenager there are two villages each day, Sunday go to Mass at a small church, and every man, young and old, carrying a stick, according to custom, and therefore the as they knelt at mass tonggkat look standing upright, higher than their heads. At the time of the Mass is finished, in the space near, the youth of the two villages is usually a fight, because the little things (throwing the words to a girl from another village, a man jealous of the girl he likes the way with men another man, angry because a multiplying of water from their fields) and they memecakan problems by fighting with sticks. But do not think any of them fight without rules. They follow a code of ethics that prohibits fighters hit men who do not carry a stick, or men who have fallen to the ground. The fighters are still used to tell a variety of old stories, such as for example about a man named "Manilha", which, when three men attacked him on the road, their opponent until he wins and menghilankan stick out of their hands and after that he was throwing his stick themselves to the ground.
And another story about a "jogador" best of the region-Porto, named Carvalho and worked selling buffalo, which in the market on 26-Anjeja village, near Aveiro, can hold its own against the group that attacked him, until he tripped and fell into ground. At that time the best attacker jumped to his side, ready to defend him, and said to his friends if anyone who wants to be fighting a brave fight with me first. In the literature can also find many stories about Jogo do pau, for example in the books of writers such as Aquilino Ribeiro and Miguel Torga. Start of Jogo do pau 30s began to disappear. There are a variety of reasons: the behavior of the police authority, which, for the people away from a fight battered, forbade the people to use a cane in the market place, many men migrated to cities or abroad, usually a lot of people start using the weapon- fire, and it makes people have no need to work hard to learn the technique for a lot of time to defend himself with a stick.
In Lisbon, they were already practicing Jogo do pau, ranging from the nineteenth century, with its own flow, which be developed in the gardens in the capital and in organizations such as Ateneu Comercial de Lisboa and Real Ginásio, which eventually turned into Ginásio Clube Português. The organization is now being taught. Two important flow emerged, with engineering and the social situation and history is not the same: "Ecola do Norte" (North Stream) and the "Escola de Lisboa" (Lisbon Flow) (which also dipraketk in the Ribatejo and Estremadura). This flow led to many new techniques and began to practice selfless struggle against many attackers.
Mestres or a warriors
During the history of the Jogo do pau, there are plenty of "Mestre" (warriors) are known in different regions of Portugal. We can mention a few: António Nunes Cacador Mestre, Mestre Frederico Hopffer, Júlio Hopffer Mestre, Mestre Joaquim Bau, Mestre Calado Campos and his son, Chula Mestre, Mestre Custódio Neves, Pedro Ferreira Mestre, Mestre Elias Gameiro, Mestre Nuno Russo, Mestre Manuel Monteiro , etc ... Mestre Pedro Ferreira (born March 26, 1915 - died 24 September 1996) is very famous because he developed his technique is very good, mengabungkan North Flow by Flow Lisbon, all the flow controlled by it. Mestre is a lot of teaching now, before they were also students Mestre Ferreira. Ian continued practice of Jogo do pau during his life, and the other fighters are still menggangap beliaun like a very good fighter until beliaun died. Ian is Mestre (Swordsman) in Comercial de Lisboa Ateneu school, until finally beliaun Tangun-handed responsibility to Mestre Manuel Monteiro, his bride.
Jogo do Pau began to organize themselves in the process of national Nivel at Mestre Pedro Ferreira attract fighters to set up an organization, in 1977, called the Associação Portuguesa de Jogo do Pau. Many schools and organizations are now organized in structures called Federação Portuguesa de Jogo do Pau to represent them. As a witness to both the technical quality of this system, we can mengkatakan in competition-open to struggle with Toya is happening in France in the 80s, with the participation of the martial systems of Japan, Vietnam, France and other countries, the fighter Portuguese absolute champion and they win every struggle they were engaged.