What would I learn in Eskrima?

I've been wondering what this stuff is. It seems interesting; the idea of training with stick. Could someone give me an idea of what goes on in the classes.

 

You get hit very hard and fast lots and lots of times with a stick by some old guy who is about 3'5" tall and looks about 98 and has arthritis

Seriosuly though - there is LOTS to be learnt from escrima. You should try it.

 

what is escrima?

Hi , there are different styles of eskrima, some specialise in long range fighting some short range, some double stick some single, some are more blade oriented than others.
Myself I practice balintawak style and am a member of the World Nickelstick Eskrima Club, I trained directly under grandmaster and founder Nick Elizar in Cebu Philipines. Balintawak is a close range style typically the combatants are only 3 feet or so apart, it is a single stick style but the empty hand is most important and is just as active as the weapon hand, there are grabs, punches, locks throws etc.. the best thing is to trawl the net looking for video clips , you will find various styles shown and see what you think may suit you personally.
What I like about balintawak is that it is not acrobatic, flowery and does not demand you to be as fit as an olympic athelete to perform it. No belts, no fancy low stances just practical combat.

 

what is escrima?

Hi , there are different styles of eskrima, some specialise in long range fighting some short range, some double stick some single, some are more blade oriented than others.
Myself I practice balintawak style and am a member of the World Nickelstick Eskrima Club, I trained directly under grandmaster and founder Nick Elizar in Cebu Philipines. Balintawak is a close range style typically the combatants are only 3 feet or so apart, it is a single stick style but the empty hand is most important and is just as active as the weapon hand, there are grabs, punches, locks throws etc.. the best thing is to trawl the net looking for video clips , you will find various styles shown and see what you think may suit you personally.
What I like about balintawak is that it is not acrobatic, flowery and does not demand you to be as fit as an olympic athelete to perform it. No belts, no fancy low stances just practical combat.
Some systems teach in a class format others one to one, balintawak is traditionally taught one to one, one student one teacher as the first lesson will find you already semi sparring.

 

Following are some clips describing two different Filipino martial arts. The techniques shown involve the use of stick and dagger or sword and dagger. Generally speaking, FMA techniques are shown using single stick first, followed by double stick, knife, and empty hands – but the practice varies from FMA to FMA.

Clip one describes how different techniques follow from differently sized weapons. The use of rapier and dagger is shown because it exaggerates the length of the weapon used in San Miguel Eskrima and brings out the flavor of the technique more. In actual practice a shorter pinute or espada would be used. In Pekiti Tirsia Kali the sword used is called a gununting. Depicted herein are two drills occur in SME and PTK respectively: “High Open-Close” and “Dukup y Puno.” Drills occur a lot in FMA’s as a way to build fundamental movements into muscle memory.

Clip two describes a section from the San Miguel Form (some FMA's have forms that show footwork and striking patterns, etc.) from the perspective of how to use body mechanics to make the strikes more powerful. Some applications from the form are also shown.

Clip three shows a drill from San Miguel Eskrima called “Zig Zag.” Notice that I get clipped on the hand at one point. Expect this to happen from time to time.

Clip four shows some applications from Pekiti Tirsia Kali’s “dukup y puno” drill. The lock that my partner employs is designed to drive the point of the dagger back into me.

Clip five shows some applications from Pekiti Tirsia Kali’s “Contradas” series of techniques. The “puno” or butt of the stick is used in one of these techniques.

There is a lot more to Filipino martial arts than the clips above show, but I hope they provide a good introduction to the arts.

Best,

Steve Lamade

 

Howdy Sedvan,
most classes will be structured like your TKD/Hapkido as in a curriculm format.
Every instructor has a different way of teaching and what they teach, But basically you will start of with the basics of single stick, double sticks, mano-mano and then progress on to knife and Espada y daga, during the beginning stage you will also be learning self protection and sparring ,


Solo stick

The strong hand wields a stick and serves as the primary offence ,the empty hand is used mainly for defense ,Focusing on controlling the opponents weapon hand .Twirling techniques and Amarra are taught to develop wrist flexibility ,Strength and coordination ,Which enhances the ability to generate power and speed.
Single stick techniques can be practiced in long (Largo) range, Medium (Medio) and close (Corto) range. The Largo range is characterized by evasive foot work /angling and fast continuous strikes to the opponents weapon hand, using the tip of the stick. The Medio ranges is characterized by the checking and counter strikes .This is where you will see the infamous Tapi-tapi (checking and trapping) come into play .The middle of the stick is being used to strike in this range.
Corto range is characterized by the curve /butt strikes, simultaneously using the Tapi-tapi so as to enter into the locks, holds and takedowns.
One basic format which is the base to all the systems in this style is called Abecedario .This is where you learn 12 basic strikes ,12 counters , 12 disarms and progressing to sparring.


Double stick

When two sticks are used (one in each hand).You will be able to see flowing combinations of attack or one stick defending and the other stick counter attacking. Largo /Medio range is the preferred distance when training in Sinawali drills .Sinawali is striking /twirling patterns executed with the sticks by yourself .When a partner is used for Sinawali drills it is called Pinki-pinki .The skills learnt here carry over to the rest of the components Mano-mano, Single stick and checking, Espada Y dagger, Baraw .Sinawali drills improves coordination and enhances the Tapi-tapi principle.

Espada Y dagger

The right hand wields a stick /long blade and serves as the primary offensive .The left hand holds a knife and is used for both offensive (thrusting and slashing ) and defensive ( blocking , checking and locking ).
Coordination drills, Footwork drills, Tapi-tapi drills are all incorporated.
The last part of training is learning the complex Espada y dagger locks, Disarms and takedowns.
Totsada Y Largada is one of many fundamental drills to be taught in Espada Y dagger.

Mano-mano

Mano-mano is the empty hand techniques, kicking techniques, Dumog techniques (locks, disarms, takedowns)
you could see Thai boxing , Kickboxing ,Boxing ,Grappling with the incorporation of open hand blocks ,Strikes ,Elbows ,Knees , Kaw-it . The footwork, Strikes, Blocks that you do with the weapons, you can execute with empty hands .It all blends in with each other.

Baraw ( knife )

The format for the Baraw is similar to the solo stick .A lot more emphasis is on the Tapi-tapi principle ,The basic thrusts ,slashes ,hooks are learnt ,blocks and parry’s to the strikes are then learnt .Counterattacks ,locks and disarms are then learnt .Training then progresses to knife V’s knife and two man drills that teach practical attack/defense/counterattack combinations as well as continues flow .

Long blade

The format for the long blade is similar to the single stick format ,with less emphasis on the Amarra (twirling techniques’)and more on evasive footwork.

Sayaw

You will find all the basic fundamentals in the forms from stances, footwork, twirling, striking, blocking.

Hope this helps, your best bet would be going down to a class and observe, Let us know how you get on.

 

Filipino Martial Arts Classes

rick_nz has done a great job delineating the Doce Pares Multi-Style curriculum. Following is a URL that includes links to various Doce Pares pages, as well as other Filipino Martial Arts pages, forums, and e-zines:

Click here for the URL.

I particularly recommend the FMA Digest as a means to discover more about different FMA's - and it's free after registration.

Best,

Steve Lamade

 

Research the local FMA clubs in your area, ask around and search the net and forums for information on the instructors in those schools, once you have decided on one you think you would like, go along and give it a go, also try the others out, for you never know which one will suit you best.

You wont be dissapointed and if it is taught properly you will se there is more to it than just stick.

It has it all as far as I am concerned.

Best regards

Pat

 

Isn't There a Sword that has a Curved handle, used to improve the grip? I seem to recall the handles being bent down from the blade, allowing the combatant to hold on to the sword or dagger better.

 

you mean the barung? aside from the barung, the sansibar, the talibong, the ginunting, and some types krises have that too.

you could check out http://www.traditionalfilipinoweapons.com/ for some examples.

 

What makes you think that low stances are not practical?

You may be missing a very important lesson somewhere in there as they do in fact serve a very important purpose in some styles.

On what grounds do you criticise them?

Lots of love :love:

Lucy

 

For one.. a low stance makes a short guy even shorter. No problem if all he wants is to hit below the belt. And speed is primary in weapon fighting and you can't have optimum speed by using low stances.

cheers

 

Why do you think acrobatics are not usefull?

Training acrobatics is all about getting better control of our body, developping balance, agility and coordination, mastering our fears....qualities that are needed in combat. And summersaults and tumbling also have fighting applications: takedowns, evasion, strikes....

 

you'll learn that smoking after training is cool... and a couple of beers later on is more cool...

just messing around with you bro

 

So you would not use them for taking opponents off balance or when practising espada 'y' daga?

Lots of love :love:

Lucy

 

you can swing a stick fast standing tall,short, sat or kneeling down.

 

Hi Limbas

And if the shorter guy is even shorter and you staay upright, then some of your most vulnerable targets will be within easy reach.

The lower stance gives greater balance and stability. Also, a low centre of gravity makes it much harder for you to be thrown or tripped. It can be easier to move from one side of the opponent to the other by swaying, rather than taking two or three steps. Lower stances give the benefit of dropping the opponenet onto the knees and are essential when doing, for example an arm bar.

High stances may give some mobility, but leave the person wide open to attacks, such as foot sweeps. Even a simple push can off-balance a high stance and there is greater ease to spin a person in a higher stance.

Ultimately, both stances can be used equally well in the right circumstacnes, but to dismiss one without understanding the benefits would be somewhat naive.

Best regards

Peter
www.yuli-romo.com
www.bakbakan.com
www.zubu-kali.co.uk

 

As far as I am concerend, both stances in the right curcimstances are practical if applied correctley. There are times when the low stances can be more practical than using an upright stance and visa versa. There are times when only upright will do and visa versa and then there are times when a suttle combination of both will be the order of the day. That is the real finess about the FMA that makes it so practical regardless of style.

Each style prefers a certain way of doing things and it may choose to prefer one technique over another, but that in it's self does not mean that the technique they do not use is any less practical, or slower, or even less effective. I may just mean that the individual who heads up the style may find a certain thing more practical (and this is the biggy) for them, and this in turn now becomes an application unique to their individual style and expeariance.

And how did you come about that opinion?

Before you answer have a look at this little scenario I have put together for you:

Two fighters are facing off ready to do battle and both know that the first to make the strike will win. Now one stylist prefers the lower (fancy) stances, whilst the other prefers the upright (practical) stances. Now they are both out of striking range and will need to close the gap in order to exchange blows. The upright stylist will have to take 3 rapid steps in order to come in to striking range, whilst on the otherhand the low stance stylist only has to make one lunge. Who gets the first strike in?

We could reverse the question and assume both are at close range and both strike at the same time, but which one will get themselves out of range the quickest?

I need to ask this question: to which styles are you refering?

Which also brings me back to the original question:

Which I also have to add: And your opinion is based on how much expeariance with the uses and application of low stances? The same question with regards to the so called flowery techniques (a debatable question anyway on what you would consider flowery) and which styles are more practical as opposed to?(again based on your expeariance of them) and for what reasons?

Best regards

Pat

 

fancy stances, fancy pants

Ok first off i did not say that they were impractical for all, in fact a person in a low stance has a distinct advantage in that he only has to defend his head whilst the other guy must defend multiple targets, I myself prefer a more upright approach and directness probably due to age bad knees and hips and just a plain personal preference.
Fancy stances? I have a few years past experience of chinese wu shu and aikido and if I wanted to learn to dance I would got to the local salsa club.
Cat stance, horse stance, long foreward stances low sweeping back stance , thats what I call fancy stances and I dont think you need to be able to demonstrate box splits or double sumersaults to be an effective fighter.
we have all seen the flowery intertwined hand movements of kung fu, and its not neccessary just to deliver a blow.
Take a look at karate tourneys or K1 on eurosport, how many guys do you see using correct ( in the context of their base art ) technique to punch or block ?
If you have the speed and ability to pull of a triple spinning sumersault whlst bent over backward and still deliver a blow on target to the opponent then good luck to you. I for one have had more than my fill of placing foot on partners shoulder then getting him to stand upright in order to perform a kick which gets my nuts cracked.
At the end of the day its strokes for folks.

 

You begin by talking about different styles of Eskrima.........

You then specify balintawak......

So I assumed you were still talking about different styles of Eskrima because at no stage do you mention Kung Fu or their stances or any other martial art other than FMA in general.

Perhaps the term FMA would have been better placed rather than specifying Balintawak, because it sounds like you are slagging off the other styles of Eskrima. But never mind, you have made it clearer now.

However, I personally feel cat stance, hook stance, deep forward stance etc are very important and useful stances in the FMA and I have practiced many different styles of FMA and many have an effective practical place for these stances and they call them cat stance, hook stance, deep forward stance so when were they cast out as to my knowledge they are still there.

Yes FMA in my opinion is the most practical martial art out there, but people perhaps do the fancy martial arts as you call them because they enjoy them....not for their practical applications and these fancy moves are probably more for demo's as most MA's do practice forms of practical self defence within their styles too and I do not know many MA's that do not make accomodations for the less able.

Lots of love :love:

Lucy