Ornamental stick-fighting

UK -- A 66-year-old mother of five originally from Belfast, grabbed an ornamental wooden stick (called a shillelagh) from her wall, shouting "Are you ready for me?" before swinging it at two men, who burgled her home after claiming to be from the water board.

The feisty woman told police the men were frozen to the spot as she grabbed one by the neck and lashed out at them, before shouting to neighbours for help. The men fled and made off in their van with her purse and a sum of cash, but were arrested after police chased them down.

The woman said she hoped that her bravery would inspire other elderly people to defend themselves."I shouted at them and I started hitting them. I think they realised then that they had picked on the wrong person," she said.

"They thought I was an easy target, but I am not soft. I grew up in Belfast and I've got five children and 17 great grandchildren. I won't be pushed around. "I don't think I was brave," she said. "I just didn't think about it. They were trying to rob me and I was going to defend my home."

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Hazards at work, 39

Australia -- A 48-year-old woman punched a 26-year-old male nurse in the face and repeatedly struck him with her walking stick on December 8, 2003 because she was irate about having to wait for hospital treatment, a court has heard.

The hostile woman wanted to be seen "immediately" when she arrived at the Royal Brisbane Hospital's psychiatric ward about 2:40pm.

However, the woman was left to wait and as the nurse emerged from one of the wards she yelled out "you Scottish bastard". "The complainant had an Irish accent," the prosecutor told the court.

The accused then struck the nurse's face with a clenched fist before repeatedly hitting him with her black walking cane as if it were a baseball bat. She was yelling obscenities ... he was walking backwards trying to stop the blows, calling for security.

He was fearful because she wouldn't stop. She was eventually brought to the ground before others helped restrain her.

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No push-over

An 82-year-old Seattle man whose walking stick was damaged when he struck a younger man who witnesses say had doused him with lighter fluid is getting a replacement cane from the Seattle Police Officers' Guild.

Gus Jones responded to the January 31 attack by smacking his assailant with his cane. Police say the attacker then ran over to two women, doused them with lighter fluid and lit a match, singeing their coats and one woman's hair. The women were not seriously injured.

The older man survived the ordeal with just a cut to his ring finger. His cane, however, was bent in the attack and rendered unusable.

"Maybe if he didn't take the action he did, more people could've been hurt," a police spokesman said. "He was going to fight back -- he wasn't going to be a passive victim."

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No sugar-cane

...This was the real thing - strong cane-fu :-)
I sincerely hope this intruder got a headache that will lasts a long time.

Story:
Pennsylvania -- In Derry Township a 70-year-old woman fought off an intruder with her cane.

The woman says several nights ago a strange man broke through her screen door and made his way through her front door.

The elderly woman came face-to-face with the would-be robber in her doorway.

What happened next, he probably did not expect. The intended victim hit him in the head with her metal cane. The suspect took off after being hit. The woman was not hurt.

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More 'cane-do'

The attempted mugging of a senior citizen shortly before noon on Monday failed after the intended victim fenced off his shotgun-wielding attacker with a cane, according to a Greensboro Police Department press release.

83-year-old Robert Flynn was walking when a dark-colored car approached. A man inside the car asked for a cigarette, at which point Flynn said he did not have one. The attacker then exited the vehicle, pointed a shotgun at Flynn and demanded his money.

Flynn struck the shotgun with his cane and ran around the vehicle. The attacker again approached Flynn with the shotgun, prompting the man to batter him about the head and shoulders with his cane. The suspect retreated to his car empty handed and fled.

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Lady, you're nuts!

A would-be robber picked the wrong victim April 18 when he knocked a 59-year-old woman from her scooter in Saveland Park, Milwaukee.

The woman was taking an afternoon cruise in the park to feed the birds when a man approached her and demanded money, according to police.

She said she didn't have any. The man told her he wasn't leaving empty-handed. Perhaps assuming her mode of transport made her an easy target, he struck the woman in the face, knocking her from the battery-powered scooter.

Bad move. The woman struck her assailant in the knee with her cane before landing a swift knee in his crotch.

With the man writhing on the ground, police said, she doused him with pepper spray. He reportedly ran from the area screaming, "Lady, you're nuts."

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Cane-do

At 91, North Logan resident Carmen Boss diligently exercises her mind and body. Although she could probably outrun many men and women decades her junior, Boss recently decided to use a cane.

"We'll all have a cane in the morning," the northern Utah woman said after attending Combat Cane - a senior-citizen safety class.

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