[2] It bears approximately the same relationship to the backsword as the foil to the small sword in being a sporting version of the weapon for safe practice.

[3] The original form of the singlestick was the waster, which appeared in the 16th century and was merely a wooden sword used in practice for the backsword, and of the same general shape.

The players were placed near together, the feet remaining immovable and all strokes being delivered with a whip-like action of the wrist from a high hanging guard, the hand being held above the head.

Thomas Hughes's story Tom Brown's School Days contains a spirited description of cudgel-play during the first half of the 19th century.

[2] American President Theodore Roosevelt and his friend General Leonard Wood were said to be fond of this sport and that they used to emerge from a contest quite bruised from their rounds.

Indeed, their own fencing instructor Maître François Darrieulat was a veteran of the French Army, where singlestick was unknown but cane was mandatory for officers, and many other facts tend to point out that situation.

[6] With the introduction of the light Italian fencing sabre in the early 20th century, singlestick play became unnecessary and was subsequently neglected.