Hello everyone, I'm going to start taking an Arnis class once a week for two hours, although I can train often at home. I'm wondering if the techniques learnt in the class with the Escrima sticks can carry over to knife-based fighting, and whether or not they are likely to train with knives. It says on the website that their focus is on sticks, with some empty-hand techniques, but if the stick techniques can carry over to knives, that would be nice. Any info on this would be great.
traditionally and in theory baston techniques do translate to swords, knives and empty hands. HOWEVER it is dependent on the system. some systems end with the baston and do not translate to knife and empty hands.
It's like Shootodog say's it depends on the system, maybe if you pop their url here we can get a better idea of the system you will be learning and this in turn may tell us if they do translate to knife. If they dont have a web site, maybe you can tell us who they are and what system they teach. Best regards Pat
Thanks for helping out. I actually don't have a URL that has any helpful hints on it. They say they frequently use sticks but also work on empty-hand. Also, I think they probably say non-offensive just to cover the people that want "self defense".
Not that I know of, but I am going there tonight and should be able to ask those questions. I'l get back to you on the style, lineage, etc.
If you're just starting, i wouldn't concern myself with knives, yet, even if you're system does carry it over because there's a lot to learn with stick-fighting. And if you're learning this for self-defense purposes, there's a lot of things that can represent the stick in an actual situation without walking around with one. Some states have a restriction of carrying blades (3 inches where i'm from, which is actually plenty for somebody who trained in fma). Besides, knife techniques in fma are not fancy and flashy like most martial arts that you see in the movies, it's very direct to the point. Good luck.
i've heard of this before...though i think that the terms "non-offensive" and "non-aggressive" isn't how one would describe any fma. by it's very nature, fma is aggressive and it is based on offense. a little caveat here. find out more on the "lineage". ask where the instructors trained? what "systems"? who taught them. they could just be "twirling sticks" and call it arnis.
Agreed. Non-offensive and non-aggressive techniques should not be in your vocabulary when studying the FMA. Take Shootodog's advice to heart and take a hard look at these guys. If you just want to learn to twirl things then check to see if there's an opening for a drum major in your school's marching band. I'm guessing that isn't the case.
