FeaturesThe golden age of women's stickfightingA recent letter in ‘MAI’ quoted Jim Gannon’s all-time legends of the British Stick-fighting world. I was honoured to be listed, but at the same time the list was exclusively male. Women have been competing since 1992, but none were listed. Having been instrumental in getting the women to compete I thought it was time to refer back to what I would call the ‘golden age of women’s stick-fighting’.
After this false da wn the real birth of the women’s competition was in February 1994 at the 1 st Midland Area Championships held in Kettering and was the first tournament that I hosted. It was to be a catalyst in many ways. First it introduced two of the greats of women’s Stick-fighting to the sport: Anne-Marie Wright and Donna Ibbott. Secondly it cemented women’s Stick-fighting competition. Back in those days I hadn’t learnt that men and women need to be motivated differently and a mistake in the way I worded the invitation to compete led to an intense rivalry between Anne-Marie and Donna. What I could never have known was how competitive these two were and how one careless comment would spark the following 2 ½ years rivalry. At that first event there were three women who took part: Anne-Marie, Donna and a girl called Mel from Northampton. In those early days in the case of three fighters they would draw for the bye into the final and Anne-Marie was lucky enough to get it. That meant Donna was up against Mel – a tough fight, but Donna took the decision. The final was now Anne-Marie against Donna and the luck of the draw proved to be a poisoned chalice for Anne-Marie. Having already had one fight and a win under her belt Donna had got rid of any nerves. Anne-Marie went in cold and couldn’t get the start she was hoping for. The result was a win for Donna. This was the start of a rivalry that would last for over two years and lead them both to the 1996 World Championships in Los Angeles and a twist that neither of them could envisage. At this point it would be prudent to give some background to these two extra-ordinary competitors. Donna Ibbott came from a sporting background having competed in horse events earlier in her life. As a result of the horses she had managed to break both wrists four times before she took up martial arts in 1993. She was in her mid twenties, married and partner in the rowing business that she and her husband ran. Anne-Marie came to martial arts a little later at the age of 28, although she had done some karate and Muay Thai. A struggling, single parent with two young boys Anne-Marie also began training at my club in 1993. By the time of their first competition they had only been training for 6 months – 6 weeks of which had been specific Stick-fighting training. Their next tournament was to be the British Championships held in Luton in November 1994. This tournament was to see the debut of the third member of the golden trio, Cindy McGrath. Cindy had begun training the same night as Anne-Marie in September 1993, but had missed out on the February event. By this time other girls had begun to compete, most significantly Gabi Best of Rapid Arnis, London. Gabi was to take the single stick title, beating Anne-Marie in the final. Anne-Marie had her first success though beating Donna in the double stick final. Donna took third in the single stick, Gabi having beaten her in the semi-final.
Nations represented in the women’s divisions included Ireland, Germany, Finland, Britain and, bizarrely, the USA. Anne-Marie and Donna swept all before them meeting each other in the single and double stick finals. Two close battles saw them sharing the honours – Anne-Marie took the single stick title and Donna the double. The following month of April saw Cindy McGrath take her first major steps towards the 1996 World Championships when she won the 2 nd Midlands Area Novice Championships. In June of ’95 the Luton Open was held and, with Donna absent through injury, Anne-Marie showed how far ahead of the ame she was by winning the single stick and double stick titles and taking the fighter of the day award. Cindy was runner-up in the single stick and another UFS fighter Diane Scarratt took silver in the double stick. Whilst all this was going on there were background rivalries to compete with any Manchester United –Arsenal clash. Rapid Arnis had been formed in 1993 under the leadership of Pat O’Malley and John Harvey and had quickly cleared up in most Stick-fighting divisions. During 1994 my club, Unified Fighting Systems, had begun to assert itself and by November 1995 the animosity between Rapid Arnis and UFS was known to all in the Eskrima world. The British Championships of 1995 would bring all of this to a head. I took a team numbering 35 people, the largest one club team ever and, I believe, a record that stands to this day. This was more than all the other teams combined. Although we managed to beat each other out at various stages during the day by the time of the finals UFS was well represented. I came up against Lee Banda in the welterweight single stick final and Neil McLeod in the double stick final. Neil beat me onvincingly, but the fight with Lee was a real battle. I had beaten him in 1994 and he was out for revenge. At the time we weren’t the best of friends, unlike today, and a bad tempered affair went his way. In the women’s competition the single and double stick finals came down to the two old adversaries – Anne-Marie and Donna. The single stick final was a tight affair that could have gone either way, but went to Donna. The double stick final was a surprise to most as that also went to Donna, many felt that it shouldn’t. Some voiced their opinion that Anne-Marie suffered that day due to her association with me. Cindy McGrath took bronze in the single stick competition. It left a nasty taste to take to the World Championships in 1996 held in Los Angeles. This was to be a historic championship for a number of reasons. To begin with it was the first world finals held outside of the Philippines. It was also to be Richard Bustillo’s last involvement with WEKAF, as it was for many others. By now politics was almost as explosive in the UK as it was on the world stage. Both Pat O’Malley and I were vying for the presidency of WEKAF(GB) and our relationship deteriorated at almost every squad training session. By the time we got to the US in June ’96 nobody really knew what to expect. With the form they had been showing all three women on the team were good bets for medals. Of a 17 person team I had trained 10 of them, including me. I was British Team Captain. But politicking had continued apace. When the vote came for the presidency of WEKAF(GB) was given to Pat, whilst I became Vice President. Anne-Marie had been WEKAF(GB) Secretary for two years and continued in this post and was given the post of Central Director. Cindy and Donna stayed well out of this fight. At the weigh-in came the ironic shock that led to the greatest triumph for the team. The three girls had been expecting to compete in the same division as they had domestically and in the Europeans. However, at world level there were more divisions and Donna, Cindy and Anne-Marie were kept apart. The big battle for the single gold now became a three way event; the big rivalry had launched us to a possible three World hampions. It also helped to spur the girls on even more. Now none of them could bear to lose. What if the others won? The ’96 World Championships began in explosive style with the first three fights all being in the women’s divisions. Cindy was first up and won. Anne-Marie then had the biggest challenge, up against the ’94 World Champion from the US, Jackie Kulp. A hard won victory went to Anne-Marie. Donna completed the rout. The rest of the world sat up immediately. Who were these British girls who were competing at their first World Championships? On the second day the world found out. In quick succession, at the tail end of an amazing three day event, the gold medals headed towards the UK. Cindy McGrath was up first beating Kris Suson of the USA. Within seconds of that final ending Anne-Marie was outclassing Christine Pepper of the USA. No sooner had that battle ended than both Cindy and Anne-Marie were in Donna’s corner cheering her on to victory against Bettina Wenger of Germany. After 2 ½ years of battling, cursing, travelling and pushing each other to greater heights the great rivals had both prevailed. The awards ceremony began the three golden girls sat together draped in Union Jacks waiting for their names to be called. Once they had gone up to the podium and been announced World Champion they were all back on the bleachers together sitting and chatting, the tensions of the past already fading. Pat had his worst tournament ever at this Championship, but would return to glory in the Philippines two years later. I flunked my final against Michael Hanstein of Germany never to achieve my goal of being world champion, but twice taking silver. After the tournament Cindy retired from competition. Donna competed for another year before retiring as the 1997 European Champion. Anne-Marie fought once more in the first of the newly formed BEF (British Eskrima Federation) league events held in Rushden, Northamptonshire. After being World Champion the lure of competing longer left her and she retired after this event. The great rivalry and the ‘golden age’ had come to an end. Anne-Marie’s last fight was a victory over Lucy Bracken, later to become Lucy O’Malley when she married Pat, and a World Champion herself. Donna was also to retire after beating Lucy at the European Championships in Spain in 1997. Lucy would go on to dominate the sport before retiring some years later. These days ng is at the top of the tree. What has been missing over those following years is the rivalry that drove Anne-Marie and Donna to the top of the world and pulled Cindy along with them. All three were different fighters. Cindy was light and quick. Anne-Marie had great footwork and superb technical skill. Donna had strength and a great game plan. There hasn’t been anything like it since they retired. Just as Coe, Ovett and Cram dominated middle-distance running in the ‘80’s so for a short time did these women bring great drama to Stick-fighting in the mid 90’s. What do they do today? Cindy has her own business which has continued to grow since it was formed in 1996 following that world championship win. Donna works with her husband Andy, also with their own business and raising a family and Anne-Marie has chosen a different path. She went to college and retrained gaining qualifications in computers and psychology and has moved into the corporate world. It would seem that becoming World Champion does alter you forever. All three are mothers and would probably see more importance in seeing their children grow up to be successful and happy than those far off competition wins. As for the other part of the great rivalry, the politics, these days everything is much calmer. Pat, John and I see each other regularly and tell old stories and laugh about how intense we used to be. It was great to be part of those amazing days and a real privilege to see the girls compete. It wasn’t always easy to live with, but it was a thrill to be there. Thanks Anne-Marie, Donna and Cindy – the golden girls. Author Date written |
Stick-fighting as a sport goes back to 1989 in the UK when Bob Breen took a team to the first WEKAF World Championships. Women didn’t compete at any level until Julie Gabriel and Patsi Harradine fought in a local tournament in Cambridge in 1992. Then they disappeared, never to compete again.
This success for Anne-Marie, and disappointment for Donna, propelled them towards the 1995 European Championships which were held in Ballymena, Northern Ireland. During this time (November ’94 to March ’95) Donna made the decision to train in Rapid Arnis under John Harvey. The idea of three people (Anne-Marie, Cindy and Donna) all trying to compete in the same division from the same club with me as club coach didn’t appeal to her. Although I understood, I was disappointed and the rivalry between Anne-Marie and Donna intensified. The result of this was an elevation in their technical skill. By the time we began British Team training in the January of 1995 all sparring sessions became even more intense. Their standard accelerated at an astonishing pace. By the time we got to Ballymena we knew that the British Team had two potential European Champions.| Home | About us | History | GM Diony Cañete | GM Danny Guba | Percival Pableo | Ermar Alexander | Contact us |
