Liu-bo
Liu-Bo is an Italian martial art that has its origins from Sicily. The Sicilian name "Paranza" is the name of the staff and gave the name to this martial arts in Sicily.
History
The art of the paranza, that is the wielding of a staff to attack or defend, was handed on from father to son in Sicily. A lot of shepherds were masters of this art, and usually would challenge each other to resolve honor related questions. In these last years the rules have been codified by the CSEN (Centro Sportivo Educativo Nazionale) making it become an official sport in Italy.
Basic Rules and Information
The Staff
The staff is made of olive, bitter orange or sorbo wood and can be wielded with one or two hands.
Hittable body parts
The parts of the body that can be hit are the head, the neck, the shoulders, the arms, the legs. The chest is the only body part that can be hit with the point of the staff.
Match rules, points and information
Hitting the opponent in the groin will cause the disqualification of the fighter, meanwhile speaking, insulting, adopting a defensive style of fight will give a point to the opponent. A match can finish by disqualification, time limit or Clean Hit. In case of a Time Limit finish the winner is the fighter that has more points.
Hit
The hit awarded to a fighter when he hits the opponent to the legs, arms, chest and shoulders. One point is added to his score.
Clean Hit
The Clean hit is awarded to a fighter that hits the opponent to the head or the neck. After a Clean hit the fight finishes because in real "Paranza" fights a head or neck shot could knock unconscious or even kill the opponent.
Dressing
The fighter wears a helmet with ear protections, a shirt with stuffed protection on the chest, shoulders and flanks, Trousers with colored belts based on their degree, white socks and shoes with ankle protection. On the shirt near the left shoulder there is printed the Liu-Bo Coat of Arms. During a fight the two opponents wear one a red and one a white strip to distinguish each other.
Area of Competition
The area of competition will be of 8x8 metres plus 2 metres of protection area. The surface of fight will be delimited by a red strip of the width of 1 metre, being part of the area of fight.
Sources and Links
- Liu-Bo official site There are four languages available: Italian, English, French and German
fr:Liu-bo fy:Liu-bo gl:Liu-bo it:Liu-bo nl:Liu-bo pt:Liu-bo scn:Liu-bo simple:Liu-bo