masters of the Italian school of swordsmanship, Achille Marozzo and perhaps Francesco Alfieri. The French system of la canne is still practiced as a competitive sport. A self-defense adaptation of la canne developed by Swiss master-at-arms Pierre Vigny in the early 1900s has been revived as part of the curriculum of bartitsu. In the US during the early years of the 1900s, fencer and self-defense specialist A. C. Cunningham developed a unique system of stick-fighting using a walking stick or umbrella, which he recorded in his book The Cane as a Weapon. Singlestick was developed as a method of training in the use of backswords such as the cavalry sabre and naval cutlass. It was a popular pastime in the UK from the 18th to the early 20th century, and was a fencing event at the 1904 Summer Olympics. Although interest in the art declined, a few fencing coaches continued to train with the stick and competitions in this style of stick-fighting were reintroduced into the Royal Navy in the 1980s by commander Locker Madden. The art continues to gain a small following amongst the martial art community in the UK, Australia, Canada and the US. Latin America also has its share of martial arts devoted to stick-fighting, including Venezuela's juego del garrote, Brazil's palo do Brasil and Maculelê, Trinidad's calinda and the South Americans' Eskrima Kombat. Sticks and staves of various sizes are common weapons in Asian martial arts, in which they vary in design, size, weight, materials and methodology, and are often used interchangeably and alongside open-hand techniques. For example, eskrima or arnis of the Philippines uses sticks traditionally crafted from rattan or from butterfruit tree and may be wielded singly or as a pair. See also Angampora Banshay Bataireacht Bōjutsu Canne de combat Gatka Juego del palo Jūkendō Jōdō Kalaripayattu Kendo Kenjutsu Krabi–krabong Kuttu Varisai Mardani khel Quarterstaff, British historical stick fighting weapon Shillelagh (club) Silambam Silambam Asia Tahtib Thang-ta Varma kalai World Silambam Association Matrague (Algeria) References br:Bazhata