i paid for a seminar yesterday called master the phillipino stick fighting art and i dont know what it is what is it?

Lovely! Stick fighting! [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif[/IMG]

One of my favourite pastimes... [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif[/IMG]

Well its probably either arnis, kali or eskrima.

Arnis - Warrior Art of Northern Philippines. Spanish for harness of the hand. Very aggressive, powerful, & relies on speed. Uses sticks, knives, & empty hands.

Kali - Warrior art of southern Philippines. Very flowing, rhythmic, & circular movements using sticks, knives, & empty hands. Kali is from the word Kalas which means blade.

Eskrima - Warrior art of the central Philippines. Very economical, tight, & speedy. Utilizes sticks, knives, & empty hands. Eskrima means skirmish, the art of fencing.

I would say that in a short seminar you will only touch on basics and probably then only with a single stick.

Most FMA stick fighting has single and double stick work and defences, plus knife and sword work. It'd be unlikely that you will do any of the advanced stuff using blades in only one seminar.

We do arnis in our MA system and start the white belts early with it on just single stick work, moving into double sticks as they progress through the ranks.

Hope this has been helpful!

Suggest you do a google search on arnis, kali and eskrima or ask your instructor what you will be doing.

Of course you will also need sticks for your seminar which you should be able to get through your club or from a good MA shop, ask for arnis or kali sticks.

Rattan is best for beginners, its light and easy to work with and cheap. I wouldn't buy the expensive hardwood type until you've done it for a few years.

Plus it hurts a lot more if you get hit! I've only just fixed one of my knuckles from a vicious hit a few months ago, my whole hand went black and swollen, I thought I'd cracked a few bones, I probably did too.

thanks heaps for your help you sound like you know what your talking about about the rattan sticks about how long they are and do you usually use 2

Depending on the FMA they can be anywhere from 2ft upwards.

Most MA shops will have sticks for sale and you may find the seminar has them available for purchase. Depends on what you are doing whether you will use 1 or 2 sticks, I'd buy 2.

Enjoy! [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif[/IMG]

Hi,

On the Phillippines there are hundreds of different styles of stickfighting, named by the region they come from, the techniques used or by their founder`s name.

Arnis = from spanish word "arnes" (Protection, Armor) - the warriors with sticks could hurt the spanish soldiers only where they were not protected by armor.

Escrima = (name used for example at Cebu isle) from the spanish word "esgrima", meaning "to fence" or "art of fencing".

Estocada = (name used in regions talking Tagalog) a spanish word, meaning "sword-stab"

Kali = synthesis of two words -
1.Ka stands for "camot", meaning "hand" and
2.Li stands for "lehok", meaning "movements" (both words are from the Visayas, the middle group of isles of the Phillippines).
Kali can be translated as "movements of the hand" or just hand-movements.

Further Expressions are for example Estoque or Fraile.
.
.

The sticks (one or two) used can vary in length from 15-70cm. Length and thickness are chosen depending on one`s armlength, one`s personal feeling and the chosen style.

Greetings from Berlin, Germany