 Eskrima, Arnis and (in the West) Kali are umbrella terms for the traditional martial arts of the Philippines that emphasize weapon based fighting with sticks, knives, and other bladed weapons, and various improvised weapons. It also includes hand to hand combat and weapon disarming techniques. Filipino martial artists are noted for their ability to fight with weapons or empty hands interchangeably and their ability turn ordinary household items into lethal weapons. Weapons-training takes precedence because they give an edge in real fights, gears students to psychologically face armed opponents, and any object that can be picked up can be used as a weapon using FMA techniques. Empty hands training is then taught as the stick is merely an extension of the hand. What separates Filipino Martial Arts from other weapon-based martial arts like Japanese Kendo & Kenjitsu, European Fencing and traditional Chinese Martial arts that teach the usage of classical Chinese weapons is that FMA teaches weapon use that is practical today: how to use and deal with weapons that one can actually encounter in the streets and how to turn ordinary items into improvised weapons. No one walks around with sabers, katanas or jian anymore, but knives, machetes and clubs are still among commonly encountered weapons on the street and in the field, thus making FMA very practical and geared towards military and street fighting. Combat Escrima is the system taught, it is a full contact and street based system using: Impact Weapons (stick, staff, palm stick, ect) Edged Weapons (knives, bolo, sword, ect) Improvised Weapons (rope, cord, pen, belt, ect) Hand to Hand Combat (Filipino boxing) Ranking System- Level 1 (Beginner) Level 2 (Intermediate) Level 3( Assistant Instructor) Level 4 (Full Guro) Level 5 (Senior Guro) |
