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Cane-Do Attitude
By Jennifer Goodwin, San Diego Union Tribune
June 21, 2009
A heart condition and bad back led John Tipton to start using a cane. Carrying it felt like an admission of weakness to the strapping, retired Marine gunnery sergeant – until he signed up for “cane fu fighting,” that is.
“Thwack! Thud! Whomp!”
One by one, Tipton and seven other students jabbed, swung and clobbered a dummy with their canes during a Tuesday evening cane fu fighting class at an Encinitas martial arts studio.
“You start swinging the cane around at someone, trust me, they're going to move out of the way,” urged instructor Giuseppe Aliotta, a kempo and kung fu expert.
Move over, chair aerobics. Seniors and people with disabilities looking to get exercise while learning to fight off purse snatchers are taking self-defense classes using their canes as a weapon.
Officially called the American Cane System, cane fu fighting is catching on at retirement homes and martial arts studios across the nation. In the process, the classes are helping to transform canes from a sign of physical decline into one of empowerment.
“I can carry it on a plane, a train or in an automobile and still feel secure,” said Tipton, 52, of Oceanside. “It's great exercise. It keeps my joints loose, my back loose and gets your heart pumping. Instead of sitting at home with the cane, you can get out with it and exercise.”
Vicki Kingaard attended the class on her grandson's urging. “I live alone and I think he's been a little concerned about me,” said Kingaard, 61, of
Clairemont.
Though she doesn't need a cane, she's planning on purchasing one to keep by her bedside. “I think before the class I would be screaming and running if I had an intruder,” Kingaard said. “Now, I would whack him. You don't feel as helpless.”
Canes have a long-standing, though largely unknown, place in the martial arts tradition.
Many martial arts styles use sticks as weapons, from nunchucks (two sticks held together by a chain), which are used in karate, to staffs used in kung fu and kali. Other martial arts incorporate sticks as less dangerous stand-ins for swords during practice.
But unlike a sword or nunchucks, canes are legal to carry in public.
“It's the most practical weapon you can carry,” said Aliotta, 35, a married father of three young children who met his wife, a dentist, while in China where they were both studying martial arts.
Though Aliotta had studied the cane as part of his kung fu training, he learned techniques tailored for the elderly from Mark Shuey, a 62-year-old taekwondo and hapkido expert who lives near Lake Tahoe.
Hapkido experts learn to defend themselves with whatever is at hand – umbrellas, chop sticks, keys and canes.
About 15 years ago, Shuey began to develop cane fighting for the elderly after his father refused to use his cane outside because it looked “geriatric.” After hearing news reports of sexual assaults on elderly women who carried canes but didn't know how to use them to fight off their attacker, Shuey began developing his American Cane System.
He consulted with physicians and physical therapists to develop moves that could be used by people with limited range of motion or balance issues.
In 2000, he formed the Cane Masters International Association, which now has 3,500 members. Its cane fighting method has also been accepted by several influential martial arts councils, governing bodies that set standards for various martial arts styles.
Though any cane is better than no cane, aluminum or pine canes typically sold in drugstores aren't optimal in battle. Instead, he recommends canes made of hardwoods such as hickory, ash or oak, which he sells for $15 to $350 on his Web site,
canemasters.com.
“Everybody thinks a cane is a crutch,” Shuey said. “But it's a very nasty weapon in the wrong hands. It's a billy club with a meat hook that you can take anywhere in the world.”
Aliotta began studying the martial arts as a child in New York with three brothers named Francesco, Vincenzo and Sinibaldo. “My grandmother said, 'With names like those, there's not going to be any basketball or soccer,' ” Aliotta said.
Since beginning cane fighting demonstrations in senior and assisted living centers six months ago, several have asked him back, including Atria Senior Living in Encinitas, which has offered the six-week class several times to its residents.
“At first, they would throw their cane off to the side and say, 'OK, teach me some self-defense,' ” Aliotta said. “And I'd say, 'Let's go get your canes. That's what we're going to use.' ”
Between daily chair aerobics, Wii bowling and weekly scenic drives, Florentino Arreguin, 90, made time for cane fu fighting.
A former middleweight boxer who fought more than 100 bouts in the 1930s, Arreguin figures he could do some damage if he hit someone with his cane.
“For an older man to fight a younger man, you're better having a little bit of knowledge,” Arreguin said.
The San Diego Police Department doesn't endorse any particular form of self-defense, said Detective Gary Hassen, who has taught classes on personal safety. But learning cane fighting may help make seniors be more aware of their surroundings.
“If you haven't practiced screaming, practice while you're in the car with the windows closed,” Hassen said. “One of the best defenses is a loud scream. It can be as effective as a punch.”
During the class at Aliotta's West Coast Martial Arts Academy, eight students slipped off their shoes and bowed before stepping onto the mat.
After some stretching and warm-ups using the cane for balance, they got right into striking the dummy.
Tipton, who has had two heart bypass surgeries and degenerative disc disease, has recovered somewhat and could probably get by without the cane.
But he feels better having it nearby.
“When I have my cane, I feel more confident,” Tipton said. “When I don't, I feel kind of lost.”
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