Eskrima is the name of an Art of War stemming from the central
phillipines.
Eskrima combines fighting with or without weapons. The word 'Eskrima' was
inspired by the spanish word for fencing, 'Esgrima'. Spain influenced the
Philipines during their 400 years of occupation. Eskrima was also influenced
by Indian, Indonesian, Malay, and chinese arts of war, resultin in an own
style. Due to the filipino history, Eskrima was influenced by european and
asian styles.
Training Eskrima teaches you to win a fight whether armed or
not. You learn to use everyday things as weapons. Since in a fight, you
can either quickly gain or lose a weapon, there are no different approaches.
In traditional european fighting arts, attack or defense, armed
or not, were taught in unity. Modern boxing stems from what was taught in
european fencing schools, showing that armed and unarmed combat were trained
as a unit.
Techniques and principles proven in combat.
In war as well as in duelling, only effective methods could prevail.
With this experience, the concepts and techniques of Eskrima were
constantly further developed and refined.
Like the duelling with sword, sabre or rapier used to be common
in Europe, fights that drew blood were common between the members of different
Eskrima styles. Those fights were traditionally fought without protective
gear and rules. Mostly, 60-70 cm long rattan or hardwood stick were used.
The fight was over when one was no longer able or willing to fight. Until
the 1960's Eskrima was an art of war. Whoever taught Eskrima had to face
being challenged by other Eskrima fighters.
