The History of The Modern Shillelagh Project - Edmonton Chapter.
                                            
The Vancouver, British Columbia chapter was formed in 2006 in association with the original founding members from Alberta.  Sharing a common interest in years of martial arts training it was an easy transition for the Vancouver "Pacific Tiger Clan" to welcome this new style of bata (stick), fighting.  However it was the history of Shillelagh and the ideals of The Modern Shillelagh Project that really drew us into the fold.

The shillelagh (sometimes referred to as a cudgel), is properly pronounced "shahll-AY-luh" and means "walking stick" or "cane" in Gaelic.

Shillelagh gets its name from from an oak forest in county Wicklow, Ireland. The Shillelagh forest was known as being one of the best areas that oak could be obtained from and a club cut from an oak was known as a "sprig of shillelagh".

From a young age Irish boys were exposed to the traditions of the bata and began their training in this native martial art of Ireland.  It became a right of passage for young men as they grew out of adolescence and were able to carry a shillelagh of their own.  Many young Irishmen practiced with the stick regularly and constant sparring was needed to develop good enough skill to face an opponent in conflict.

While the stick was carried by the Irishman most everywhere he went, it was usually only at the fair, wedding or wake, where it would be used if a fight broke out.  Different Factions were sure to be present at these gatherings and would often end up fighting one another.

Fights with the shillelagh were not always on a large a scale, some conflicts were more personal in nature between individuals and often bata fighting was done simply for sport.  The shillelagh was usually held towards the lower third of the stick and was snapped out with the wrist rather than swung like a club.  These sort of shillelagh fights were admired as exhibitions of skill, where people were never badly hurt because the shillelagh itself was never too heavy.  It is from this concept that the Modern Shillelagh Project was born.

Though for us at The MSP much of our focus in training with the shillelagh is about bata fighting, the true roots and meaning of this ancient Irish culture are not just about this.  Training the art of shillelagh is said to be synonymous with tradition  and really about about home and hearth.