Escrima
Escrima refers to a style of stick fighting practiced in the Philippines for over several centuries. The term is believed to have come from the Spanish word, “escaramuza”, which means skirmish. This is a direct reference to the time when the Spanish invaded the Philippines, and the Filipinos defended their country with this style of stick fighting. Escrima was banned during the occupation, until the country was freed from Spanish rule in1898. However, despite being banned, Escrima was practiced in secrecy.
Escrima is a broad term that includes several styles of stick fighting from across the country. Like Kali, it falls under the even broader term of “Filipino Martial Arts” (FMA), and is often used interchangeably with the term, Arnis. In fact, since the 1970s, Arnis has been the national sport of the Philippines.
Escrima Weapons
Typical weapons used in Escrima are knives with a short or long blade (sword and dagger - espada y daga), two sticks of equal length (sinawali) and a single stick (solo baston). While the sticks and practice knives are commonly made out of wood, real knives have metal blades. Rattan is a popular type of wood as it resists breakage from even the worst of abuse, and is easily found in the Philippines.
Practitioners of Escrima generally learn how to use weapons before they move on to empty handed techniques, with which they train to defend themselves against armed attacks. This makes it different from many other styles of martial arts, as the reverse is more common.
March 31st, 2007 at 12:55 am
Escrima is but one style of “stick fighting” which is better termed and referred to universally in the philippines as arnis. There are many different styles of arnis and Kali, the later employs not only sticks but edged weapons and empty hand techniques as well.
Filipino ARNISADORES use both one and two sticks in their style of fiighting depending on the techniques.