I recently purchased The Scourge of the Dark Continent, by James Loriega. It's a guide to the martial use of the African sjambok, as the subtitle would suggest ("the martial use of the African sjambok"). It's excellent on the basics of sjambok use, but really only enters into detail regarding the history of the weapon. For the martial uses the book describes, some familiarity with whips or sticks, or for preference both, would be necessary to understand the strikes he describes. But the three guards are there, and the lines of attacks are well described, as well as the intended result (generally, pain).

He also discusses the use of the sjambok with another weapon, especially a knife, and described how such a combination shores up the sjambok's weakness. The sjambok, while wonderful at long range, and effective close up, is not very useful in the middle distance, although certain strikes can wrap around the target to hit unprotected areas. But adding a knife allows you to use the sjambok to keep them at long distance against the threat of a close to short, where either weapon can come into play with great speed and effectiveness.

Mr. Loriega includes tips on customizing your sjambok, and addresses the chief problem of the synthetics: the agonizingly poorly designed handle. The problem is not that the handle is malformed or likely to slip from your hand; it's just painful to hold. Which is not a good thing; I want the painful end to be the other one, the one encountered by my victim...er, assailant.