Padded stick sparring (ARPI style)

Discussion in 'Filipino Martial Arts' started by pinoy, Mar 10, 2005.

  1. pinoy

    pinoy Valued Member

    hi guys, any tips on padded stick sparring, ARPI style (Arnis Philippines). Am not familiar on this, & tried once, very different in swinging of stick like a live stick does :cry: , so its really hard (for me) defending sometimes, especially on peole trained in this type of sparring :bang: . My GM wants us to try & enter into a competion for experience & exposure.

    Thanks guys in advance :love:
     
  2. Diego_Vega

    Diego_Vega Frustrated pacifist

    ARPI is easier to do if you play largo. Stay at long range. Don't think about defending, -- blocking, so much as you should just aim for anything that's coming in your direction. If the other guy gets close and there's no way that you can block his strike, just hit him at the same time he hits you. (Hey, there's gamesmanship in fma too. ARPI is a sport, the rules determine the nature of the sport, no rules, no sport.) Honestly, defense isn't rewarded much, so just hit when you can.

    Actually the ARPI rules are good for teaching largo. It's good for learning distance and learning to stay just out of reach and then timing your attack. Guys with good footwork do well. As well as guys who can strike cleanly and not just buzz around mindlessly. I prefer this to WEKAF style.
     
  3. Pat OMalley

    Pat OMalley Valued Member

    I have to say I agree (and that comming from a 3 times WEKAF World Champ), I went to Rizel Park in 2000 were I bumped into GM Mena, he invited me to have a go at ARPI as they were holding a mini tourny, I loved every minute of it, I had the crowds laughing too as i proceeded to beat up one of my guys and make fun of him at the same time. Since then I have my guys doing ARPI and WEKAF and the senior students also do old school as a final stage to their sparring.

    Regards

    Pat
     
  4. Diego_Vega

    Diego_Vega Frustrated pacifist

    Uhm,... gives me an idea :yeleyes: Oh, shootodog...

    I think I like your approach Pat. Now if I can just get my guys to get their own WEKAF equipment. ARPI for largo, WEKAF for flow and endurance and old school for guys who are ready.
     
  5. Gryphon Hall

    Gryphon Hall Feeling Scholler

    I apologize for being an ignoramus here, but what are the differences when it comes to rules between ARPI and WEKAF? Can you give other instances of how you would fight differently in each arena? Thanks.
     
  6. Diego_Vega

    Diego_Vega Frustrated pacifist

    Both WEKAF (World Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation) and ARPI (Arnis Philippines) players where the same WEKAF helmet. WEKAF players wear body armour, as well as padded gloves and probably elbow pads, knee pads, and maybe thigh and forearm protection. They use unpadded rattan sticks, as in real, but light, rattan sticks. ARPI players don't have body armour and usually don't wear padded gloves either. They spar with a padded stick.

    WEKAF tends to be more medio to corto range fighting. Lots and lots of witiks. When my school was training for the 96 tournament in Carson, California we watched a previous tournament and decided it was a good idea to train to be able to try and hit 200 times per minute. Because of the armour and all of the padding on the hands, it was difficult to really define strikes and what did and didn't land. Everything seemed to land because the armour was so big and the sound so loud when the stick hit anything. It was difficult to articulate your joints, because of the elbow pads and padded hockey gloves, enough to block with the stick. (Things may have been different before that. I heard that they allowed use of heavier sticks as well as other tactics like footsweeps.)

    In ARPI, the flexibility of the padded stick makes it difficult to use in medio and corto range because of the lag time involved whenever you hit. You really had to swing it to make impact. But its easier to move around because you don't have armour weighing you down.

    I'm not sure about the specific rules of each in determining the nature of the sparring. I'll let those in the know answer that.
     
  7. shootodog

    shootodog restless native

    how about old school for the guys without endurance?
     
  8. Pat OMalley

    Pat OMalley Valued Member

    Diego's desrcirption is very good regarding the difference. Yes WEKAF in the old days did allow thrusts, but strikes and sweeps which made it more of a Medio to Largo game, but since they were taken out it has become mainly a corto game with a few exceptional competitors who can and do play all of the ranges.

    ARPI in its nature and the way the rules are, makes it more akin to a blade fighting game hence the medio to largo manner of fighting.

    WEKAF base their scoring on the "10 point must" system as used in boxing, e.g the judges look at the over round of each fighter and try to determine whi has hit the most, who has used more combinations, who has defended better and who has moved round the ring better, after which they decide who receives 10 points for the round and who will receive 9, 8 or 7 depending on how sevre the judge thought you lost the round by. By the end of 3 rounds the points are tallied up and the one with the most points is the winner. Obviously I can go in to more depth with the rules but it would cover about 20 pages, (Boring).

    From what I can make of the ARPI rules, they seem to be based more around a blade fight and score more along the lines of "first blood", the person who gets the first clean strike scores, also because unlike the WEKAF events you are not wearing the heavy body armour (it still hurts if the person hitting you knows what they are doing), you tend to feel the strikes more (yes padded sticks hurt too) the fight tends to look cleaner and stay more at distance.

    Both have their place in trianing, and both have their good and bad points, it's just a matter of recognising them and using them to best suit your needs.

    Regards

    Pat
     
  9. Pat OMalley

    Pat OMalley Valued Member

    And for those with a few brain cells missing eh!:D
     
  10. Gryphon Hall

    Gryphon Hall Feeling Scholler

    Eh... "old school"? Define please.

    Is that the one where you take out the other guy as swiftly as you can? ;)
     
  11. shootodog

    shootodog restless native

    "old school" = live sticks, no protection. knock out/ death, dropped stick or surrender.

    personally i've dropped my stick and surrendered. don't need to continue when i know i can't.
     
  12. Diego_Vega

    Diego_Vega Frustrated pacifist

    ARPI is also a more attractive sparring style for most schools because it is so much cheaper than WEKAF. WEKAF sparring gear will cost up to and over 5,000 pesos here. And that's not even including the padded gloves, elbow and knee pads, etc. Altogether, the costs come up to about what the average wage earner makes in a month.

    For ARPI, you need two padded sticks which amount to roughly 300 to 400 pesos for a pair. You don't really even need a helmet if you chose to play more carefully.

    For "old school", each rattan stick - 50 to 100 pesos; San Miguel beer to fortify the spirit - 20 pesos for each; x-ray for broken bones - 400 pesos; emergency roon consultation - 300 pesos; being able to show off the cuts and contusions, and various other bruises as you brag of having played "old school" to your friends and co-workers - PRICELESS. ;)
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2005
  13. pinoy

    pinoy Valued Member

    :eek: :eek: :eek:

    ei guys, thanks for replies :love: :love: , this really would help :D . hope i would do fine in the coming tourney, GM wants us to enter & experience it. sad story is, my first ARPI tourney will be the national team selection for SEA games this coming April 15,16 & 17 :cry: :cry: :cry: .

    i agree that even padded really hurts, my hands was hit & its been 3 weeks my little (pinky) finger is still swollen :cry: , i still can't hold a stick on my left. i tried sparring w/ one of GMs instructor, well he gave me a "baptism of fire :woo: :woo: :woo: ". hurt me first before teaching me how to fight padded style :D :D :D
     
  14. Diego_Vega

    Diego_Vega Frustrated pacifist

    Pinoy,

    Where is this?

    Yeah, I know guys like this. They're more interested in stroking their ego than in passing down the artform. Why do they even teach?
     
  15. pinoy

    pinoy Valued Member

    yup i do agree sir on people like this, well i guess they just want to prove they are much better thatn me :bang: . but, its ok w/ me, at least i know how it hurts & i don't have to be afraid of any hit from a stick, padded or not. and also teaches me that i really should train more & learn how to deal w/ attacks & people like that, no hard feelings though :love: .

    ill tell you tuesday sir diego, i forgot where it is eh, maybe "nilunod ko sa limot ang place dahil i know mabubugbog lang ako ng mga experienced players dun" :D :D :D
     
  16. YODA

    YODA The Woofing Admin Supporter

    In English please Pinoy.
     
  17. pinoy

    pinoy Valued Member

    o sorry sir :eek: , re place where upcoming selection for national team for sea games will be held, i told sir diego that i forgot, or i might have intentionally drowned the/my memory :cry: , for i know i'll just be beaten up there by experienced fighters :bang:

    :D :D :D

    maybe ill get 1 fight only, win or loose, for the experiece, no guts. no glory :woo: .

    :p
     
  18. Pat OMalley

    Pat OMalley Valued Member

    Never ever underestimate your self, or you will only get one fight. As they say, if you ain't in it, you can't win it. 80% of winning at a tourney is in your head, you have to beleive you can win. 10%skill, 5% fitness and the rest is luck, if you don't have luck on your side that day then no matter how skillfull or fit you are you are still gonna lose. So chin up and get whacking.

    Best of luck

    Pat
     
  19. pinoy

    pinoy Valued Member

    :p thanks sir pat!! that's GREAT motivation... hahaha, guess you're right, :D I'll print this, 80% is in my head, 10% skill, 5% fitness & 5% LUCK :eek:, this will be one of my, how do you say, words of wisdom/motivation, or whatever we call it :woo: , I'll just go there & get some head whackin :bang: :bang:

    :D
     
  20. Peter Bradbury

    Peter Bradbury Valued Member

    Im sure you told me that it was, 90%, 5% and 5% pat :p
     

Share This Page