Video: Modern Agonistics Stick Fighting Interview
White Yoda and the Stick of Power:
Interview with James Lafond on Modern Agonistics Stick Fighting
Modern Agonistics is not a style, art, or system in much the way jeet kune do was not meant to be a style by its founder, Bruce Lee.
Lafond, along with friend Chuck Goetz, picked up a stick in 1998 with intentions to mimic the activities of ancient boxers.
“I was a boxer a couple years away from my last fight at the time. I was researching boxing history and found that Egyptian boxers used to fight with sticks. So I said ‘Hey Chuck, do you want to beat each other with sticks?’ “
And thats how it began, 19 years ago but has since evolved to, in essence, deevolution. “Experimental archaeology” as Lafond calls it essentially became shedding the inessentials for a more practical and useful form of weaponry.
In fact, like the aforementioned founder of jeet kune do, James has completely abandoned the forms and katas used by the main stream stick community citing the practice is counterproductive for his training.
Currently relegated to coaching due to various injuries, James Lafond has compiled a record of 449 wins, 171 losses, and 53 draws.
Most participants of Modern Agonistics have been males in their late teens to early twenties, however there have been some female fighters as well as fighters significantly older than the median competitor age.
Despite the seemingly barbaric nature of modern agonistics stick fighting, there have been no serious injuries from the sport in its near 20 years existence.
Check out the full interview below.
