Escrima Stick Sparring: Basic Striking Methods

Some of my students like to try their hand at foam escrima sparring ever since I introduced it at my annual dojo BBQ last year. Since the use of sticks as a weapon is still very foreign to most of my students, I wanted to post a video here to point them in the right direction.

Basic striking methods come from a sharp wrist movement. One should hold the stick at around a 90 degree angle from the forearm to allow you to use the wrist to get maximum 'snap' when striking. You can see an example of it in this video showing basic linear strikes.

Note the way the instructor flows his strikes from one to the next while still using the snapping wrist motion. In this next video, the instructor uses the same wrist snap but this time in circular strikes.

It is also worth noting that the instructor generally keeps the same foot forward as the hand that is holding his stick. This gives him maximum reach when striking. In this last video, the instructor combines linear and circular strikes.

I hope you find these videos useful as a reference point for stick sparring!