Which martial art would you say was best for hand to hand combat and disarming? Arnis, Kali or Escrima?

Question

It has to be between these 3 martial arts. Ive been looking to do a specific martial art for about 3 years and I really fancy something to do with hand to hand combat as well as disarming. A bit like Krav Maga and I would take it but as a civilian like myself I would only be taught so much because it is deadly. Its kind of a self defence system im looking for. And something that I can progress in and over time be taught things like pressure point moves and less than lethal moves. Does anyone know of a school in the phillipines I could attend? If so would a school or camp like this be expensive?What would you say? And which of these 3 martial arts are to do with which. Like is kali more to do with knife fighting, escrima with sticks and Arnis with hand to hand combat/disarming/self defence or something like that? I am looking to do something with a Jason Bourne kind of approach. Can anybody help me with this?
thanks

Answer 1

Actually, you'd probably find more Kali/Eskrima/Arnis schools in the U.S. than you would in the Philipines. It's not as popular as TKD, Karate, Aikido or Judo which have more schools scattered around the Philippines than FMAs. As for hand to hand combat and disarming, Eskrima and Arnis are heavily into that. Not so with Kali, since it emphasizes disarming another guy with a knife by using a knife yourself, the empty hand techniques are merely a last resort when caught without a weapon or disarmed. As for the Jason Bourne approach bit, although some of the moves seen in the movie does resemble Kali techniques, others were just added for theatric effect. I doubt if you can find a Kali practitioner who can teach you to kill with your bare hands since it is primarily a weapons based MA. But as someone posted above, Bakbakan Int'l is one of the respected Manila based school that teaches FMA in the Philippines. They have renowned members and instructors who have promoted the FMA over the years like Christopher Ricketts, Rey Galang and Tony Diego, although they are not limited to teaching FMA only. In the Visayas particularly in Cebu, the Doce Pares Eskrima Club of the Canete brothers are pretty well known as well. I would say, it's kind of hard to find a good FMA school in Mindanao though, since most of the Mindanaoans' favorite form of self defense is a gun, especially since Mindanao has the highest rate of loose firearms in circulation compared to most of the other regions of the Philippines.

Answer 2

I would personally take all three; I always thought Arnis, Kali, and Escrima were taught together. They all share similar paths, because if you lose your knife or stick then you are left with your empty hands. I don't think you should under-train, but you should be over-trained, to the death. I know that maybe hard to swallow, but I tell you for your own safety. We should never want to hurt anybody, but we should not miss training that is so vital. I even would advise taking Kenpo either Ed Parkers or Tracy's Kenpo, a complete self-defense program that will enable you to see how the knife and stick work. But I think the arts you choose are good to learn. I wouldn't know about the Phillipines except the history and culture and their martial arts, having studied them myself.

Answer 3

Arnis, Kali, and Eskrima are all the same thing, the difference in names just comes from the area of the Philippines they came from. Each encompasses essentially the same striking, disarming, stick, and knife fighting techniques, though Kali focuses a little mote on knife fighting while the other favor the stick,.

Answer 4

jason borne did pekiti tirsia kali..headed by grand tuhon leo gaje who is tin the (lead athority on knife fighting.. spends alot of time training military and government people...) there are schools of it in the us look it up on youtube and wiki if you want... some people say the unarmed stuff is like muay thati... (it has elbows and knees but no close hand strikes) but its not self defence so much as combat... go for it dude.... if you cant find a school... a good ol doce pares (twelve pairs) or arnis de mano (harness the hand) is what i would say..... yea i wanna take pekiti tirsia or somthing of the sort my self....

Answer 5

Filipino martial arts are known for their practicality and no nonsense approach. Do a search on YouTube. How they fare against other styles I can't say, because it actually comes down to the individual.

Answer 6

try this sites for school info:
www.bakbakan.com
www.presas.org
www.professorpresas.com
you may not have to go to the philippines because arnis/eskrima/kali are already spreaded worldwide.
but of course, it is better to learn it from its root, the philippines.
good luck, bourne :)

Answer 7

They are all the same art, but each with a slightly different flavor. They have different names because of what part of the Philippines they come from.

Answer 8

Do jeet kun do which bruce lee developed it teaches all styles of martial arts combined.

Answer 9

the information i found on a website said eskrima is the best hand tohand combat?.

Answer 10

tai jitsu translated is hand to hand combat its the best their is