Quarterstaff

a long, stout pole, caarried for personal defense, and sport, in England. The English swordsman, George Silver, said the staff should be as tall as the user’s outstretched finger tips, when he lifted his hand above his head, and as thick as a wrist. The quarter staff was so called because, when being used, the first hand gripped the staff a quarter of the way from the bottom, and the second hand gripped it at the mid-point. Although a simple, “commoner” weapon, the staff was truly fearsome in the hands of a master, so much so, that Silver felt it was superior to any form of sword, used alone, or with a buckler or dagger. The shortstaff eventually became known as the quarterstaff, and could vary in length between 6 feet to 9 feet, while the longstaff would be around twelve feet in length. The English shortstaff fighting system was a composite of quarter-staffing and half-staffing. The former took its name from the fact that a quarter of the length of the staff was held between the hands with the tip of the weapon pointing directly at the opponent. The latter from the fact that half the length of the staff was held between the hands, with the hands being held equidistant from each end of the staff. Half-staffing, because the staff was held at right-angles to the body, was for close-in fighting, whereas quarter-staffing was used to fight at longer range . Ironically, thanks to theatrical performances and stage combats of the 17th - 19th centuries, what we think of as "quarterstaffing" is really "halfstaffing."