Not sure about where all the techniques and combat theories in the modern Hungarian art of Baranta come from but at least we can see some of the influence of the shepards stick in this video clip.

Austria: Containing a Description of the Manners, Customs, Character and Costumes of the People of that Empire

By Frederic Shoberl

Published by C. S. Williams, 1828

The usual costume of the peasants of the Bukowina, consists of white or red trowsers, a shirt, the wide, open sleeves of which are embroidered at the wrist, and over that an open waistcoat bordered with fur. With a pouch slung over his shoulder, and a long handled hatchet, which supplies the place of a stick, in his hand, he usually p’roceeds to his work in the fields and woods.

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The woodcutter of Bocsko in the county of Marmaros, whose axe is his only companion, frequently abides for weeks together in the immense forests, to earn wherewithal to satisfy his scanty wants, partly by cutting wood or fuel, which he conveys at a very moderate rate to Szi- geth, the capital of the county, and partly by furnishing timber for salt-rafts.

His apparel is of coarse hempen stuff; in winter he dresses rather warmer, but even then his bosom is uncovered and icicles may be seen hanging from it, without prejudice to the health of this hardy Highlander. His shoes consist of a piece of tanned ox-hide, which is fastened on the foot with a leathern thong, and just serves to keep it from the ground.

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The dress of these cattle-keepers in the county of Schii- megh, consisting of a shirt and wide trowsers of coarse linen as already described, is rendered stiff and of a dark dirty colour by the giease with which it is purposely imbued. Their object in thus besmearing the clothes is to render them more durable, and to prevent vermin from harbouring in them, as well as to defend the person from the bites of gnats : but whatever the object may be, they are seldom changed before they are ready to fall in pieces. The feet are enveloped in wool, over which they fasten on the sole a piece of leather by straps. Besides a round hat, frequently ornamented’ with a ribbon, and a large mantle of thick coarse woollen cloth, for here they seldom use sheep-skin cloaks, they are provided with a leathern pocket, hanging by a broad belt over the shoulder, and carry, for offence and defence, a small axe with a long handle. The broad belt by which the pocket hangs is generally adorned with two or three rows of shining metal buttons, for which these herdsmen are so eager, that they have been often known to fall upon travellers for the sake of them alone. The axe serves them in place of a stick, and in time of need becomes a formidable weapon against man or beast. They understand the management of this instrument so well, that at the distance of twenty or thirty paces they seldom miss a mark set up against the trunk of a tree. Their skill in this exercise is derived from constant practice while their flocks are feeding.

Any firearms peeping out of a carriage-window commonly sufficed to keep such fellows at a respectful distance, as the swineherd is never armed with any other weapon than his fokos. The fokos is a hatchet, with a long handle, which the Kanasz hurls with great dexterity. Whenever he desires to pick out and slaughter one of his hogs, either for his own use or for sale, the attempt would be attended with danger, in the half-savage state of these animals, without such a weapon. The fokos here assists him, which he flings with such force and precision, that the sharp iron strikes exactly into the centre of the frontal bone of the animal he has marked out: the victim sinks on the earth without uttering a sound, and the drove quietly proceeds on its way. That he can strike down a man with equal precision at eighty to a hundred paces, is proved by the gallows at the entrance of the forest — the three-legged monument of his dexterity. During recent events too the surgeons of the Austrian army will readily furnish the Kanasz and Csikos with certificates of their ability and skill.

Adventures and Anecdotes of the South Army of the Emperor of Austria, During the Late Hungarian Campaign: Narrated by Eye-witnesses
By John William Warre Tyndale
Published by R. Bentley, 1850

He was no less famous as a marksman than as a
rider, and his ” poor fellows” were equally well
trained ; but, besides fire-arms, they had their
Fokos and the Bleiknopf peitsche, or half- whip, half-
lasso, whose services we have elsewhere mentioned.

Besides these
arms, they carry a kind of whip, with an iron bullet
of about a pound weight attached to the end of the
string; and with this half- whip, half-lasso sort of
weapon, they can sorely puzzle their adversary.

(Still looking for a good image of this weapon that has the weighted end….this is a good pic but lacks the wicked iron piece.)

If the Kanasz possesses a hut made out of branches, the brigand becomes his companion for the night. His relations with refugees and vagabonds of the forest are the result of circumstances ; he is their spy, their sentinel. In return for his services the brigands respect the animals he guards, and for which he is responsible ; but if the opportunity occurs of doing a stroke of business for himself, the Kanasz does not neglect to profit by it. He manages the little hatchet which he carries in his waist-belt with as much dexterity as the Spaniards the knife and the Italians the stiletto. The Kanaszes are fond of assembling together for games of skill, and hurl their axes, which whirl round and round in the air as they fly whistling into the trunk of a birch-tree at forty or fifty paces distant, with great exactness of aim. To the Hungarian peasant, as well as to the Russian and Wallachian, the hatchet is a weapon of warfare which he prefers to a gun. I have often seen in Transylvania the peasant going out to hunt bears with nothing but a single axe ; he lies in wait, and when the animal comes up, lets fly this axe, which splits open the animal’s head.

My good friend Randal gave me a great logging tool called a pickaroon made by Peavey Manufacturing this summer that I modified just slightly as far as the handle profile to make it more fokos-like. This particular model is called a Katahdin w/Brush Cutter Head. It can be seen here: Peavey Manufacturing. Nice curved spike on the back and a short but very very stout blade, more of a smasher than a cutter really but strong, as a logging tool should be.

The head is double pegged for extra strength. The haft is very stout, a bit too stout infact, but with a rasp, I brought it down quite a bit but would like to lighten it a bit more in the future.

The hatchet-headed walking-sticks were then put in requisition — I do not know whether I have mentioned before, that all the peasants of the north of Hungary carry sticks armed at the top with a small hatchet-head, which I had previously considered only as an ornament, or to be used in defence, but which were now more usefully employed — and a dozen similar trees were soon felled and added to the fire, raising a glorious blaze, which set wind and snow at complete defiance.

Peasant Art in Austria and Hungary By Charles Holme 1911
Their axe-headed
sticks, which also serve as weapons, are of engraved brass, or of
wood inlaid with brass, some of the work being beautifully executed.
Their textiles and wooden objects, which they ornament
with pierced or chip-carving, are particularly good.