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WHAT
IS THE MARTIAL ART OF ESCRIMA ?
Continued
from page 1 of What is Escrima ?
What
is misunderstood most about Escrima is the
idea that the stick is only a tools used
to learn the art's basic concepts. Actually,
the stick represents using any type of object,
as well as the empty hand to protect yourself.
What you have is a truly unique system which
students learn to master weapons while concurrently
learning how to use empty hands. In most
other martial arts systems, the line of
progression is to master the empty hands
before you can go on to learn weapons.
Using
a stick to learn the martial arts unearths
a visual fear of getting hurt or hurting
someone (especially in the hands) while
training. This is especially true when an
individual has had no previous martial arts
training. There is also that “mental
picture”, or fear of an attacker taking
your weapon and using it against you. Nevertheless,
weapons seem scary and rightfully so. There
are right and wrong; safe and dangerous;
methods of teaching students how to handle
and respect weapons. The same rationale
holds true for other day to day type of
activities such as learning how to drive,
wiring a lamp, swimming, flying a plane,
jogging, weight lifting, cooking and other
skills. Doing something in the wrong way
can spell disaster. Learning Escrima is
as safe as the instructor who teaches the
art.
Everyone
is mindful of the fact that very few people
walk around with a stick in their hands,
so the art doesn’t apply to them. However,
as stated before, the stick only represents
forms of weapons such as a set of car keys,
a fountain pen, a newspaper, a water bottle,
your cell phone as well as your empty hands.
The idea that people can only use their
fist or a kick to effectively fend off your
attacker is something you may see on television
or in the movies. The truth of the matter
is, knowing how to use these concepts may
save your life or the life of your loved
ones. The beauty of Escrima is that there
is very little difference when using your
empty hand and using a weapon. There is
a smooth transition between the two because
the art is taught using concept instead
of techniques.
Like
in everyday life, we never know what to
expect. We never know who we are dealing
with that day, what business deals we have
to make, decisions that have to be made,
so we have to react with the ability to
be flexible and rationale in what we do.
In the basic survival skills the same applies.
What are the attributes of an attacker?
An attacker comes in any shape or form.
They could be stronger then you, faster
then you, have knowledge of the martial
arts, and could be a veteran in street fighting
just to name a few attributes. An attacker
can attack from the front, but usually it
will be from your blind side. If you hit
your attacker with your hands or with a
kick, you may end up hurting yourself more
then your opponent, or if you don’t
execute the defensive attack with any strength,
it wouldn’t stop the person anyway.
A weapon on the other hand has no nerve
endings, bones or skin, and unlike your
hands and it doesn’t hurt or feel pain.
Think of it, if you don’t have the
same strength as your attacker, you might
not be able to stop the attack. In the same
setting, if you had used an object like
car keys and you hit your attacker in the
face, this may allow you the time to run
or call for help. The harder the object,
the more damage the weapon will do against
your opponent with less applied strength.
Hitting an attacker with a weapon, especially
if it will save your life or someone in
your family, is warranted. That is the harsh
reality.
Training
in the Filipino art of Escrima teaches a
person to use everyday objects as a weapon
or in more civil terms, “leveling the
playing field”. Escrima teaches the
basic and logical concepts in using weapons
(focus, speed/timing/distance, power, balance
and transition), These concepts are so logical
and pure that a person can actually use
them in living their everyday life. For
example, the most important concept is balance.
Balance is the foundation of Escrima as
well as most tasks we perform throughout
our lives. Knowing how to obtain it, and
when you get off balanced, how to get it
back. Balance is a key that opens the other
concepts necessary in the martial arts.
Balance is truly multi-dimensional. Think
of balance in terms of learning how to ride
a bike. There is more then just getting
on, peddling and keeping the bike upright.
The bike has two wheels, and the main objective
is to keep it going forward by balancing
the front wheels against the stationary
back wheels while moving forward. If there
is too much weight to the left or to the
right, the bike will tip over. The rider
must be able to balance their focus to make
sure they don’t ride into a ditch or
a tree, and also looking ahead at the cars
on the road, people walking, plus being
aware of what is coming up from behind.
So far that seems pretty easy but now there
is an issue of speed and controlling speed
so that the fast approaching tree won’t
be the collision point. And what about those
traffic lights? Eventually there has to
be a time to stop. This is the braking point,
which also has to be balanced. When there
is sudden braking applied to the front of
the bike, there is a chance the rear of
the bike could easily become the front of
the bike, or even flip over. If there is
too much brake in the rear and not any pressure
on the front, this may not be enough to
stop. All these tasks have to be balanced
or it becomes unsafe to ride a bike for
both rider and everyone else who occupies
the road. If you look closely to this objective
of riding a bike, the Escrima concepts are
exactly the same. There is the balance which
becomes the foundation of the system. Speed
(timing, distance) is the element of execution
as to when you can hit your attacker. Power
is driven by the foundation of balance,
dictated by the distance and the speed of
the attack or offense movement. Your focus
is expanded to look at the person as a whole
rather then just focusing on the on coming
attack. In other words if you look too much
at one hand, you may never see the other
hand. Transition is the ability to use a
comb, brush or keys without radically changing
any physical movements you already know.
The objective is to neutralize the situation,
not focus upon whether the attacker throws
a right hands or a left hand, the main objective
is to nullify the attacker.
Escrima
makes use of concepts as the main catalyst
of learning and increasing the rate of information
retention. In Escrima, techniques are used
as a device to practice concepts. Techniques
teach a person how to apply the concepts
in a practice setting. Concepts are applied
as needed, in various circumstances and
this provides more flexibility and adaptation
in the execution.
Buy
Escrima Sticks
This
article appears at http://www.escrima-concepts.com
and is a highly recommended website for
more information about the martial art of
escrima.
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