
Enjolras, Canne de Combat – probably the one we have the most canonical evidence for him practicing, as he uses the Rose Couverte move at the barricades with his carbine and drives back attackers. I always liked this as a means for him to interact with Grantaire, who includes use of bâtons (usually translated as singlesticks) among his talents.
Just bringing this one back. We see quite a lot of references now to Grantaire being adept at “singlesticks”, referred to in the English translation. In the French, he’s a “bâtonniste”. The two disciplines are similar, but not quite the same. Bâtons were used at this time in the emerging discipline of Canne de Combat, which had evolved from fighting techniques used by young men in the cities using their canes as self-defence.
Grantaire is often described as a “boxer” – the line in French is “la savate et le chausson” – this refers not to boxing with the fists, but rather with the French martial art of Savate, a type of kickboxing. Originally introduced by French sailors, it developed closely alongside Canne de Combat, and the two are interlinked.
As referred to above, there is also textual evidence for Enjolras using these techniques – indeed, he must be quite adept at them to be able to use the Rose Couverte move to keep an entire onslaught of attackers at bay as he guards the retreat to the Corinthe.