COMPETIOTIONS & TOURNAMENTS

Are there competitions in Eskrima?

Warriors Eskrima - Worcestershire is primarily involved in promoting the study of Eskrima for self protection, the development of combat effectivness and a healthly body and mind. However, there are opportunities to study Eskrima for competition & tournaments should you wish to do so. This will allow you to enter into stick-fighting competitions, which on a basic level starts with you wearing protective armour and using padded sticks in combat. There are three ranges available in Eskrima competitions: Long Range, Mid Range and Close Range. Each presenting different targets for striking and point scoring. There are Single Stick and Double Stick competitions available. These competitions are held on a national and international level.

There are full contact stick sparring competitions & tournaments available for more experienced practitioners of the art. Head guards, body armour and gloves are worn and rattan sticks are used for striking.

Students who are interested and who show a good level of skill and commitment to their training, will be given the opportunity to attend specific training in addition to the sparring training available in classes.

There are no specific Competitions or Tournaments available in Pangamut (Filipino Empty Hand Combat). This is because it would be far to dangerous to use in a competitive full contact arena and far to difficult to score in a semi contact arena. The art of Filipino Empty Hand Combat can be devastating to an opponent which is what makes it highly effective for self protection. There are many techniques and applications within the Filipino Martial Arts that would be named as 'Dirty Moves' within the normal Competition & Tournament arenas.

Students will have the opportunity to learn to spar throughout their study of Eskrima, using the more conventional striking methods found in Western Boxing and in other Martial Arts. At student level this will always be semi/light contact with suitable protection worn at all times.

 

I do not wish to enter competitions. Can I still learn to spar?

Sparring forms part of the Warriors Eskrima syllabus and is introduced to Worcestershire students when they have learned basic striking, blocking and footwork skills. This allows the student to build on those skills already being studied and leads to a clean and safe sparring bout. Students who take part in the sparring sessions enjoys it very much and find that they get a lot out of it. Women in our classes always comment on how highly motivated and empowered they feel after a sparing session.

Sparring & Combat training is always taught and practiced in a safe and controlled manner! These training sessions give students the chance to test their skill and progression within the art and also to monitor their personal growth and development.

The friendly atmosphere at our clubs and the team spirit between all students all of the time, allows us to explore this element of training to its fullest. Healthy competitiveness between students when necessary is a great motivator.

 

Is Sparring & Combat training only done with sticks?

Training in this area is not limited to the use of sticks as weapons, or to the use of a weapon at all in fact. We train to spar or par-take in combat with most of the weapons in the Warriors system. Some weapons have to be modified a lot more than others to make it safe to train in this manner. Safety always comes first!

The use of other weapons for sparring is introduced in the same manner as with stick sparring. Once a student has reached a suitable level of proficiency with a particular weapon, they are then encouraged to apply those skills in combat.

Students learn a lot from this element of training as they progress. A much greater respect for the weapon is gained as well as an understanding of the subtle differences in peoples delivery of strikes and general body motion.

As with everything in Warriors Eskrima, training is always progressive and therefore there is an order in which disciplines are introduced.