What is Escrima?

The Filipino martial art of Escrima is famously portrayed as the martial art that uses the short wooden rattan stick as a weapon. It has sometimes been called the deadliest martial art in the world, and that's thanks in large part to the emphasis on effectiveness, on what works, rather than on what looks good. It thinks right away of the real life combat situation. Because of this it is not uncommon to see escrima as the chosen fighting system for law enforcement and army personnel.

The growing interest in escrima is also due to the fact that it can be used for different situations, and by different kinds of people. Even though the most basic fighting weapon is the arnis stick, the same principles that guide the use of the stick can be translated to hand-to-hand combat, as well as using everyday items such as umbrellas, newspapers, and even ballpoint pens! So even if you are a veteran fighter or just a college student wanting to learn self defense, escrima may be very handy for you.

Because escrima is focused on effectiveness, it did not originally did not have any system of belts or uniforms, but instead, the old grandmasters would just travel around the different islands of the Philippines, and challenge the prevailing arnis master of that region. Many grandmasters learned their techniques through a long process of trial and error. When they were defeated by another arnis master, they usually incorporated that master's victorious moves into their own system, or tried to refine their own moves in order to be able to defend against such attacks in the future. Through this long process of real life experience, the systems that have been faithfully passed down to us are truly tried and tested, and are very effective when practiced and executed properly.

Escrima also represents a rich cultural heritage from the Philippines. It is said that this fighting system can trace its origins even to Lapu-Lapu, the native of the Philippines who killed the Spanish Magellan in 1521. From those early natives the secret fighting moves of arnis were kept by different clans and families, never sharing it with outsiders. It is only recently that many of these styles were shared with the public. In fact this also explains why there are so many variations of escrima, and not just one single style. In the rest of this website, we share the basics only of a particular style of escrima, but one should be aware that there are many other styles out there! You need to discover what works best for you!

For the purpose of self-defense and protection of loved ones, escrima is definitely one of the best choices. Because it's emphasis is on what works, you can be assured that the techniques will be effective during a real street fight, or a life-or-death situation. We highly discourage using escrima for aggressive purposes. One very important Filipino virtue is called pakikipagkapwa, and this involves seeing other people not as enemies but as close neighbours, almost like brothers or sisters, people of the same blood (kapwa). And it is only when your neighbour ceases to respect you and your friends and family that you have to take up a stand and defend the people you love. And that's when escrima shows its sharp fangs!