Originating from the Philippines, Escrima (also known as Kali and Arnis) has evolved into a modern, realistic and effective martial art through the study of other weapon and unarmed concepts; Balance, Focus, Timing/Distance/Speed, Power, and Transition. Everything which we do with a weapon in Escrima uses the same concepts for our unarmed applications which has the benefit of making Escrima Concepts an easily accessible martial art for street situations. We live in a society in which weapons are used widely in violent crime and understanding weapons can prove invaluable in protecting yourself.

Escrima is a fighting art; pure and simple. Originally practiced with knives and machetes in the Philippines, it was more a way of life than a hobby (like people in the wild west owning a gun). These days, the majority of people walking the streets, people like our students, are not in fact carrying around bladed weapons. Instead, should we need to defend ourselves, we have to make do with what we normally have with us; what we are legally allowed to carry around with us in our daily life.

Many of the techniques you will practice do not require strength or power since most of the power is derived from body movement and economy of motion; because of this anyone can practice Escrima Concepts regardless of their build or physical strength.

Because you will be using weapons from the very beginning everything is initially taught slowly and with control, aiming to keep students relaxed under the natural pressure caused by using weapons. Once you are comfortable with, and proficient in, the use of basic attacks and defences, students can then begin to add some speed and eventually power.

In addition to the physical benefits of our Escrima Concepts classes, it is our aim for all of our students to benefit from the self-discipline that comes from studying a martial art and the self-confidence that comes from knowing ways in which you could defend yourself should it become necessary. All of our classes are designed to help students lead a safe, happy, healthy and successful life.

Training Escrima Concepts

Escrima Concepts uses five concepts (Balance, Focus, Speed(distance/timing), Power and Transition) to train with both traditional weapons like sticks and knives as well as modern items like a pen, mobile phone or a magazine. Instead of having a system of fighting for each separate item, we use the core concepts and our body mechanics to train us to be able to pick up anything and use it instantly as a weapon.

The main principle of Escrima Concepts is; “Don’t Get Hit!”. Taking a big ‘baseball-bat-like’ swing may be effective in terms of the sheer amount of power you can generate, but you are not particularly safe while winding up and starting the manoeuvre. Instead, we aim to keep our weapon between us and our attacker. It is our weapon but also our shield, and from behind this shield we can move to attack or defend.

Because we cannot rely on being bigger and stronger than our opponent, we must learn to develop power by moving our entire body. Escrima Concepts works because an attacker does not get hit by a 7 pound arm holding a mobile phone, instead they get hit by a 12 stone person, all impacting through one small point.

For details of the Escrima Concepts syllabus, you can check out our online resources at FuTube.co.uk.