What is arnis?

Eskrima, Arnis and Kali [hereafter Eskrima], is different from many other martial arts in that the student is trained with weapons from the very beginning. The primary training weapon is the baston, a rattan stick usually about 30 inches long. The baston is both a weapon and a training tool meant to simulate a short sword or kris, the traditional knife of the archipelago. In the southern dialects, the kris is referred to as a kalis, from which is derived the name “Kali”.

Eskrima practitioners believe that training with baston builds manual dexterity and trains fasters conditioned responses. The various Eskrima drills are certainly very fast, and typically include either programmed or semi-programmed exchanges of attack and defense using the baston.

Although weapons based, Eskrima also included striking with the hands and feet, wrestling, grappling and even some groundfighting. Additionally, many of the armed offensive and defensive techniques may be used empty handed. Thus, Eskrima offers practical defenses against most hand weapons.