Anyone familiar with the rules of Filipino stick fighting (or what they call Arnis)?

Answer 1

Rules? There are times it is fought, (full contact rules as advocated by the Dog Brothers).

It is called Escrima, Kali, and Arnis. All mean the same thing, the sticks are a method of training (originally meant to be translated with machetes). It is pretty impressive stuff when done properly, that is with alive training. Check out the Dog Brothers online, and you will get an idea of what I am talking about..

Better yet, I link you to some vids of what REAL stick fighting competetors look like.

http://www.dogbrothersvideo.com/promo01.wmv

http://dogbrothersvideo.com/2004craftydemo.wmv

Or better yet, just check out the videos at

http://www.dogbrothers.com/

A whole bunch of them there.

That is how stick fighting should be and more and more often now is being trained.

After going over the beginning practical steps, it is fought through progressive resistance. Finally on to full speed, minimal rules, full contact sparring.

In the Crafty Dog Demo notice about 2 or three fight scenes in he is doing a very short stick fight (simulating knives). That is how knife fight training should be. Not any of this, "Guy comes at you with an overhead strike, you block, then grap him etc. etc."

That is how knife fighting is done. I have seen guys fight like this with markers, just so they can analyze the "cuts". That is realistic training for a knife, not this predetermined attack stuff you see at traditional dojos saying they do "defense from weapons"

Similarly, unless you are using airsoft based pistols, or something of the like, you are not doing gun disarms properly. The person should actually be reacting as if he were robbing you and trying to shoot you.

This compliant partner, predetermined attack, dummy gun type of training will hurt you more than help you, and is not "Reality" based.

Hope that is of some help, at least on the rule front. Full contact places utilize the same type of rules as MMA, and are done so with the knowledge that this person is your friend.

(So no dynamic arm/joint breaks, you stop when they tap, etc)

That is what the Kalitudo type of competetions that I have done and been to is.

It is enlightening to say the least.

Answer 2

Depends on what you mean by Filipino stick fighting. Personally I have never heard of such a thing in the Philippines. From what I understand, most of it seem to originate in the U.S. from Filipino immigrants who practiced Kali or Eskrima/Arnis and taught a less deadly form using rattan sticks to Americans because of the fear of getting sued or arrested if they taught the real fighting form using bladed weapons and somebody got hurt from it. Kali is an ancient Filipino fighting art native to the Philippines that teaches how to maim or kill with bladed weapons. Eskrima/Arnis is a hybrid fighting art developed during the Spanish colonial occupation of the Philippines in the eighteenth century, which incorporated Spanish Rapier and dagger techniques with close quarter Kali techniques using a short sword and dagger. Both Kali and Escrima/Arnis use rattan sticks for training purposes only, the same way Kendo uses a Bokken or Bamboo shinai sword for training, because it would be impractical to practice using real bladed weapons with full force without maiming or killing your sparring partner. Later on, as each generation passed the art down to the next and it reached the U.S. shores, emphasis was placed more on the sport aspect of the training, to be able to commercially promote it while meeting the U.S. standard of safety, hence the rattan stick came to be considered the primary weapon in Eskrima/Arnis. And that as I understand, is how Filipino stick fighting became popular in the U.S. As for the rules, in Kali there's only one: "Make him bleed." It is the more primitive art and therefore considered more bloodthirsty and barbaric. The rattan stick is used without any padding during training to simulate the pain felt when you get cut(or near enough to it). While Eskrima/Arnis is considered the more gentleman's art of the two as it was widely practiced by the intellectual Insulares(Philippine born Mestizos or Spanish half breeds) of the time, so I'm pretty sure they have a more sportsmanlike rules of conduct during training similar to European fencing, but I haven't studied Escrima/Arnis so I can't say for sure.

Answer 3

familiar with it but last i checked there are few rule,s other then you don,t hit a man when he,s down \ and most fight,s are for demo \ if for real i would think no rule,s apply

Answer 4

i watched the "way of the worrior" documentry about it, aparantly JKD is a big supporter of it, i think its cool, it looks strange but using a stick as a weapon is very practice for a street fight, trolley poles for example, doe sit also go by the name of Eskrima?

Answer 5

what the hell is that..google it..