The main disadvantage of arnis or escrima is that fact that a lot of people identify it nothing more than a stick fight simply because it involves the use of wooden instruments. Its image as a stick weapon system can’t be eliminated even though even the most popular indigenous Philippine martial artists can’t stress enough its flexible empty hand features. Most people still believe that arnis should be added or extended to other empty hand methods because it doesn’t have any empty hand techniques. 

Many people tend to overuse their sticks when performing the drills. They don’t their pull the sticks back to their bodies to power up for another attack. Keep in mind that you must bring your hands or arms back into power mode before the next attack. Arnis is not too different from the horse stance punch used in Kung Fu, Karate, Hap Ki Do, and Tae Kwon Do.   

Why is Arnis Misunderstood? 

There are several explanations for the confusion surrounding arnis. One is essentially the fact that a lot of people have fostered the idea that arnis is a type of exotic or fashionable weapon that this form of martial arts promotes. Therefore, educators with little or no training have cultivated such idea in their classes.  Also, the popularity of the Filipino butterfly or fan knife was integrated to arnis. That’s why practitioners think that it is necessary to have a weapon to learn its techniques. But the worse is when the instructors of empty hand martial arts types, like Karate and Kung Fu, use international methods, such as postures, stances, and footwork as a substitute to the traditional Filipino techniques of arnis or escrima. 

The reason why it’s done is that the empty-hand methods of Escrima will conflict with that of Karate and Kung Fu. The use of the stick in arnis simply a tool to learn its empty-hand technique faster. Think of them just like a punching bag where you strike, tiger claw, or chop with your hands. Safety is still the most important element in weapons work. Arnis is taught to students with the use of a stick or two sticks. However, each attack can be perceived as a thrust, slash, or a hack using a sword or club. 

Arnis and the Use of Sticks  

The stick is merely a representation of the various weapons that can be used with the technique. It’s also just an extension of its empty hand techniques. The Escrimador or arnis practitioner can move in a slightly different way to effectively use a blade instead of a two-handed stick in combat. The same is true if it’s going to be a single weapon instead of two. If the participant knows the process well enough, he or she can move without hesitation and use anything from empty hand, baton, sword, or knife with ease.  

Learning the craft using with the stick will improve your control and hand’s eye movement, as well as your pace of hits. This is primarily because using a stick means involves an arc movement. It means that the stick’s end moves quicker than your hand. Either the assault or defensive mode is provided sooner, which is the natural tendency. In effect, it increases the quickness of your empty hand combat techniques. When you continue to move at a faster pace when your agility and timing improves. This is what you’ll learn in arnis training Raleigh.