The method the men adopt for settling their disputes among themselves is not unlike that of the women, but more systematic. They place themselves face to face upon a clear piece of ground, with their kutturus in their hands, and about half a chain apart. After the customary abusive preliminaries, the psychological moment arrives, when one man rushes at the other carrying his weapon in both hands behind his back, and, as he runs, preparing for a monstrous blow. When he reaches to within striking distance of his opponent, he pulls up short, and, with the momentum created by his run behind him, deals an awful whack. But the other man has placed himself in the defensive attitude, and, as the weapon falls, he springs forwards and upwards to parry the blow destined to crash upon his skull. The striker now retraces his steps and prepares to receive the onslaught from the opposite side. This procedure of alternate attack and defence continues until one of the men falls or both combatants are thoroughly exhausted. All through the fight, however, there is a wonderful display of power, agility, and chivalry, the figures of both the striker and receiver being conspicuously graceful in their movements ([Plate XIII], 2).
Where the boomerang is known it, too, is extensively used, in conjunction with the shield, by duellists to settle minor altercations. The offended party throws one of his missiles into the camp of his rival as a summons to the fight, whereupon the latter immediately responds by throwing another back, and walks out into the open, carrying with him a single boomerang and a shield. Both men now start a war-dance, during which they gradually approach each other, lifting their legs high in the knees, brandishing their boomerangs in the air, and holding their shields in front of their bodies. After a while, they close in; and the real fight begins. Whenever an uncovered spot presents itself on either man, the opponent, with the quickness of lightning, attempts to strike it with his weapon. The hands in particular are selected as the best marks to quickly put the rival out of action; and this opportunity is never missed when it presents itself to the quick eye of the native.
Waddies and clubs of various forms are used all over Australia, both with and without shields, to decide the rights or wrongs of individual grievances.
There is no hard and fast line of demarcation between a waddy or fighting-stick and a club. The original conception of either is a short stick or truncheon, which is used both for beating and throwing.
The commonest form is a cylindrical rod of hard wood with a smooth or vertically grooved exterior and rounded ends. It is either straight or curved.
The Bathurst Islanders have a type similar to the above, but with a slightly swollen distal end. The stick often carries a sharp spike, which projects from the same end.
The largest fighting-sticks are to be seen in the Forrest River district in the far north-western district of Western Australia, measuring up to four and a half feet in length. The stick tapers from the top towards the handle end, and has a flat face at either extremity. A gripping surface is made by roughly incising the thinner end all round for a distance of four or five inches.
A peculiar combination of implement with weapon was used by the women of the lower River Murray tribes. It consisted of a stick with a blade at one end and a knob at the other, the one moiety serving as a digging stick, the other as a club.
Along the Cooper Creek, a large, stout baton of mulga, with a globate knob at the handle end, was used by the Wongkanguru, Yantowannta, and other tribes.