Sword-fighting class blends Eastern, Western methods

Douglas Bailey of Canby
combines Celtic skills found
in original manuals with
Okinawan Shito-Ryu tactics

Thursday, January 13, 2005 The Oregonian
by CHRIS EHRLICH 
OREGON CITY -- As people swim laps at the Oregon City Swimming 
Pool, a group meets in a nearby room to become warriors. 

In a class offered by the city's parks and recreation department, Douglas 
Bailey teaches students the nearly lost martial art of Celtic sword fighting, 
as well as the more widely taught unarmed movements of Okinawan Shito-Ryu martial arts. 

Bailey, 41, also contrasts Eastern and Western cultures in the class and even recites 
a bit of poetry. 

"I needed something to kind of stir me up, but I also needed something that was kind 
of spiritual development, too. It sounds corny, but I was hungry for something," said 
Ryan Brown, 37, a chef from Sandy who has taken Bailey's class since fall. 

"It's just a ton of fun," he said. "I feel a lot more centered -- you feel better about 
yourself." 

Bailey, who lives in Canby, said the purpose of his class is to educate people on one 
of the many forgotten Western martial arts and connect Celtic people to their heritage. 

"There are too many people putting on a kilt and picking up a stick and pretending 
when the texts by the masters are still there. There's no reason this has to be a part 
of history," said Bailey, who is part English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish. 

Bailey's class is accredited by the Association for Historical Fencing, said Jeff 
Richardson, an association board member who lives in Ashland. 

Historical fencing is generally based on original manuals found in major libraries such 
as the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum in Las Vegas or the British Library, Richardson said. 

Modern fencing, on the other hand, focuses less on traditional technique and more 
on tournament scoring rules. 

"Doug's doing a great job up there," Richardson said. "Historic fencing is not taught on 
a wide level as a whole -- although it's growing -- so when you specialize in Celtic stuff in 
particular, you're basically making it that much more rare." 

Manuals on Celtic martial arts date as far back as the 1300s and detail sword-fighting 
techniques, Richardson said. Celtic fencing techniques used by the Irish, Scottish and 
Welsh in battle were shaped by sword-fighting tactics used throughout Europe. 

Bailey studied Celtic martial arts with books, on the Internet and under the direction of 
historical fencing masters. 

"I definitely have a passion for this," he said. "It's not a competition-oriented class. It's 
all about learning." 

Replicas of weapons used in class 

Since Bailey's class began last fall, many area residents with both Celtic and non-Celtic 
ancestry have enrolled. The class has drawn as many as 30 students, and two nine-week 
sessions began this week. 

Replicas of Celtic weaponry are used in the class. They include a quarterstaff; a 
wooden stick, 6 feet to 9 feet long; a claymore, a two-handed sword with a 5-foot 
wooden blade (steel blades are used by advanced students for cutting exercises); a 
Lochaber ax, a 6-foot wood pole with a leather ax blade on top; and a great stick 
or walking stick, a 5-foot wooden pole. 

Students in the class wear a variety of equipment such as kilts, fencing jackets, masks, 
gloves, kneepad and leather armor over their forearms and collarbones. Only the most 
advanced students spar and wear shields. 

Classes generally consist of stretching, blocking, punching and kicking, as well as sword 
footwork, solo sword drills, and two-person drills with prearranged strike-and-defend 
movements. 

As a student of the Eastern martial arts, Bailey placed third in fighting in traditional 
Japanese karate at the 1987 USA Karate Pacific League Championships in Portland. 
He now uses Okinawan Shito-Ryu martial arts to teach his students unarmed fighting 
techniques to compensate for the lack of detailed writings on historic Celtic hand-to-
hand combat. 

The physical movements of Celtic sword fighting and unarmed Okinawan Shito-Ryu 
martial arts are almost identical, Bailey said. 

"The geometry and physics don't know any racial or cultural boundaries -- only people 
do," he said. 

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