New Thoughts on the Live Hand

Tony Aguirre (on left) and GM Vasquez

THE LIVE HAND

The “live hand” is a term commonly used in the Filipino martial arts, which describes the non-weapon hand (usually the left) playing an active role in parrying, checking, locking, etc. In other words, instead of just swinging the stick wildly, the stick hand and the empty hand work closely together. This is the opposite of what I call “dead arm,” something that is seen in unskilled martial artists with weapons, who swing a sword or a pair of nunchaku with the right hand while the left arm hangs limply at their side as though it were dead.

Typically, the left live hand is placed at the chest or held up high along the left side of the face like a boxer’s guard. I have seen video of long stick stylists who keep their live hand in the same position. When I trained in the long stick, I was also taught to swing one-handed and use the left hand as a backup to help lock, trap, disarm, or to grab the other end of the stick for staff (bamboliya) strikes and blocks.

This is wrong. The long stick is a two-handed weapon, and the live hand belongs on the stick or club.

Darrin Cook and GM Vasquez in Bacolod, Philippines

The Live Hand and the Short Stick

The short stick is a one-handed weapon. Because of its short length, there is little advantage to hitting with both hands. For example, if I give you a foot long stick, you won’t hit any harder if you grip it with both hands. The most effective strategy is to strike with the stick while keeping full use of the empty/live hand to hit, grab, check, disarm, etc., especially because most short stick fighting happens at close range where you can hit the opponent with the live hand or reach his stick. This is the strategy of all of the short stick masters.

The Live Hand and the Long Stick

In contrast, the long stick is a two-handed weapon, which is obvious when you look at a baseball bat. I don’t know why most of the long stick masters fail to see this. You will have more power swinging the big stick with two hands, and in blunt weapons, power is everything. (On the other hand, in knife fighting, a fighter who stabs more powerfully is not much better than someone who stabs less powerfully.)

Furthermore, fighting with the big stick often occurs at long range, where the opponent is too far away for you to hit him with your empty hand, so why not put that second hand on the stick?

But the live hand doesn’t just sit on the long stick. When I studied Tapado I realized that the live hand, even though it was gripping the stick, was not just holding the weapon, but was actively steering the stick and performing the same checking role as the free live hand. This concept is called “pigar” in Tapado. In Big Stick Combat the live hand is also in contact with the stick, sliding along the weapon to increase power, to brake the weapon’s momentum, to change course, and to tighten up for close range strikes.

And if the fight moves in close (and every opponent facing the long stick who doesn’t run away will try to move in) you absolutely must have both hands on the stick in order to hit effectively as well as to prevent your stick from being ripped out of your hands. It makes sense to have your second hand already on the stick so that you are prepared for an opponent who closes, instead of waiting for the opponent to close and grab your stick, then trying to get your other hand onto it.

GM Vasquez and Darrin Cook

Sinawali for Combat, Not for Show

Look! I can cross my sticks!

Let us be honest that a large part of the appeal of sinawali, in which opponents fight with a stick in each hand, is that it is fun to practice and exciting to watch. Sinawali is practiced in rhythmic striking patterns that produce a musical clack-clack-clack of stick hitting stick.

Sinawali also looks great in the intimidating martial-artist-with-exotic- weapons-and-a-satin-gi pose that is mandatory for all aspiring Supreme Tahong Datu Puti grandmasters. You get your fancy uniform, or go shirtless, and pose with the two sticks. However, it is important that your stance is one that you can’t actually fight out of. So you need to drop down low. It’s also looks impressive when you extend your hand and hold it down low (even though you can’t really hit or defend unless you bring that stick back up where it should be).

Would you hit this hand for me, please?

It also looks impressive when you cross your legs in a deep cross step, and if you can cross your arms too, you look like an super-intimidating fighting pretzel.

Sarcasm aside, how can sinawali be used for real combat? What follows is a basic outline of a method I call “Double Barrel.” In short, the aim is realistic sinawali for self-defense.

1. Ditch the Sticks. In real life, I am not going to find two 28 inch rattan sticks lying around when I’m attacked. If we’re talking about carrying weapons in my car, I’m better off carrying a heavier weapon capable of dropping someone, like a baseball bat. You can walk into a party or a mall with a walking stick, but try carrying two 28 inch hardwood sticks.My goal is a sinawali or double weapon method that can use everyday objects, like two beer bottles, or two hammers, or a hammer and a screwdriver, two minimag flashlights, etc.

   If you do use sticks, shorten them. I train with hammer handles. Two collapsible batons work nicely. But you may be asking yourself, “Hey, wait, I thought you said sticks were unrealistic?” If you are working security at a dance, a party, a nightclub, a fair, –anyplace crowded where you may be confronted with multiple opponents– two short weapons are ideal. A shorter stick enables you to hit in tight, and reduces the likelihood of your stick getting snagged or caught by either your opponent or yourself.

   Furthermore, use two clubs. Your weapons should be shorter and heavier.

   

   I'm so good I can lock myself.

2. Stop Crossing Your Arms! It’s just not a good idea to cross your arms. When I studied knife/counter-knife with Guro Ed Planas, this idea wasdrummed into me, and further reinforced by GM Maranga. When you cross your arms you are setting yourself up to be trapped and locked.
   

   Ooh! Secrets!

   Furthermore, crossed arms set you up for backhand strikes, particularly low backhand strikes. These strikes are not going to drop a mugger on crack, or the drunk at the party. Fight from an open stance and use forehand strikes as much as possible.

   

   How it should be done. No crossed arms.

The Myth of Training “Gaps”

Note the Crossed Arms

There is an excellent post at FilipinoFightingSecrets.com about practitioners who feel the need to study other styles to remedy imagined “gaps” in their own style.

When I studied the long stick style of Kabaroan with GM Estalilla I asked him what he would do against someone who practiced sinawali, the method of fighting with a stick in each hand. In my thinking at the time, a person with one stick would be at a disadvantage against someone with two sticks.

I was thinking just like the student who imagines his art is deficient because all he does is the knife, and he doesn’t do any kicking. This student thinks that his knife-fighting art will be improved if he studies say, tae kwon do, to remedy the “deficiency” in his art.

Crossed Again!

I was surprised when GM Estalilla explained exactly what he would do against someone with two sticks. I began to see how in his mind he was not at any sort of a disadvantage against the sinawali stylist. If you analyze it, the long stick still has a reach advantage. Furthermore, at long range, the sinawali stylist can only hit with one stick at a time. Sinawali stylists have lighter sticks, and tend to cross their arms. If you counter by moving to the outside (which you should be doing anyway), it doesn’t matter what he has in his other hand.

If we analyze it, there are three options:

1. To spend one year on sinawali, one year on espada y daga, one year on solo baston, one year on the machete, etc.
2. To spend 15 minutes of every training hour on sinawali, another 15 on espada y daga, the next 15 on solo baston, and the last 15 on the machete, and so on.
3. To spend almost all my time on the long stick. Part of that training may be learning how to counter two sticks, a stick and a knife, a machete, a short stick, a staff, etc.

I think we can see that option 3 is the surest route to mastery. I also have to consider how likely I am to encounter someone with two sticks, or a stick and a knife outside of an arnis tournament.

The first two options are common to the “we do it all” schools who teach everything from wrestling, to blowguns, to chains, to spear and shield, etc. The plus side for the teacher is that the checks keep rolling in, as there’s always another weapon to learn and another certification to acquire. You have to ask what sort of real-world fighting proficiency you’re gaining, unless your purpose is to have fun learning obsolete weapons and fighting techniques of other cultures.

Stop Crossing Your Arms! What is that lower hand/stick going to do?

Real Life Combat: Brawl at Chuck E. Cheese

A fight broke out at Chuck E. Cheese. The following is taken from a Wall Street Journal article:

In Toledo, Ohio, four women were charged with disorderly conduct after a melee erupted at a Chuck E. Cheese’s there last year. According to police reports, it started when parents complained to the restaurant manager that children were loitering at the drawing machine. The children were Barbie Clifton’s daughters, then 14 and 10 years old. Ms. Clifton had come out of the bathroom when she saw a woman yelling at her daughters and her friend.

“I thought, ‘Oh my God, what’s happening here?'” says the 42-year-old stay-at-home mom. “Instead of [the woman] going to the parent or going to the manager, she was calling my friend and daughters all of those names.”

That touched off a fight between more than 10 people, in which participants punched and screamed at each other. One woman removed the red rope that marks the entrance queue and handed it to another woman, who swung the metal clip attached to it at others involved in the incident.

“I thought they were going to start attacking me,” says Sheri Kellar-Raab, the first officer who responded.

You can see a YouTube video of a Chuck E. Cheese brawl here.

Lessons Learned

1.  Watch Your Environment. People are surprised when I tell them how common fights, and not just fights, but brawls, are at Chuck E. Cheese franchises. One policeman quoted in the article observed that the cops had more problems at Chuck E. Cheese’s than at a biker bar down the street! Some restaurants in the chain have taken to posting armed guards and banning gang-style clothing.

Your martial arts training is no substitute for alertness. Are people drunk? Are people wearing gang clothing, tattoos? Is it a rough-looking clientèle? Are voices being raised? Does the place you’re at have a history of conflict?

A friend of mine told me how his dad would take the family to family and friend get-togethers. The dad knew everyone too well, and knew that once people started drinking, that certain couples would start to argue out loud, one guy would take offense at another, and before too long a fight would break out. When dad saw the signs, the raised voices, the tipsiness, the marital spats about to escalate – “Hey, Martha, why don’t you dance with Fred over there? I can see you looking at him,” dad would quietly get up and say, “Okay, let’s go. Get in the car, kids.”

As a result, the family never got caught up in the ugliness. Dad never got arrested, never got bloody knuckles, and never lost a tooth at a New Year’s Eve party. Dad was alert. He saw the warning signals and got the family out of there.

2.  Study Flexible Weapons. You must give creativity credit for the two women who used the waiting line rope and its metal end as a weapon. Even in prison, there’s always a weapon somewhere.

The weighted rope belongs to flexible weapons. Other common weapons in this category include a belt and belt buckle, a chain, a chain and a padlock, a garden hose, a nunchaku, and a weight in a sock.

It’s good to practice using and defending against these weapons. What you soon find out is that the traditional hardline block can be counterproductive. If you hit a chain in midswing, it tends to wrap around and hit you right in the face.

The Staff: NOT an “Extension of the Hand”

What's wrong with this picture?

The idea that the weapon “is an extension of the hand” is wrong. Let me illustrate.

Suppose I give you a staff. If you wield that staff as “an extension of the hand” you will wield the staff like most people do, gripped in the middle with both hands palm down. You will now find that you have greater reach (the staff extends your reach) and can hit more powerfully because you don’t have to worry about your knuckles when you hit with the end of the staff. This is the method of the English quarterstaff and other styles like Palo Canario, the staff method of the Canary Islands.

But there is a better way to wield the staff. The problem is that as long as you are wielding the staff as an extension of the hand, you will never find the better way. The goal is not to use the staff to amplify your strengths, but to amplify the unique strengths of the staff. In other words, you need to think, “What are the unique characteristics of the staff? How is a staff different from other weapons?”

Another poser with an exotic weapon

If you wield the staff using the dragon pole method (see the book by William Cheung), you have just moved a step upward. The dragon pole method has the practitioner holding the staff at one end, with one hand palm up and the other hand palm down, in what I call “rifle grip.” This method allows you to hit harder and increases your reach.

But there is still a problem. Whether you hold the staff in staff grip (both hands palm down) or in rifle grip (one hand palm up and one hand palm down), you are still striking less powerfully because one hand is pulling and the other is pushing. A bat strike, in which both hands are close together and you swing the staff like a bat, is stronger.

Enter Jogo do Pau, the Portuguese staff method. The practitioner begins holding the staff in rifle grip at one end, like the dragon pole method. But in order to strike, the stylist twirls the stick 360 degrees overhead and strikes in bat grip. This is the strongest strike possible with a staff.

When I first read the stick twirling method, I was skeptical. For any other weapon, twirling in a circle is too indirect and slow, but if we look at the unique characteristics of the staff, the twirl is necessary for maximum power. Also, because the staff is longer, there is a greater cushion which makes it harder for an opponent to close during a rotational strike. As far as I can tell, Jogo do Pau is the most effective staff method.

Regardless of whether you agree or not, the most effective staff method cannot be arrived at by making the staff an extension of you. You must analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the weapon, try it out, and test it against other methods. Spend less time thinking about yourself and more time thinking about the weapon.

Excuse me, Mr. Mugger, I need you to stand right there for another 30 seconds while I do this technique on you.

Weapons Trade-offs

Cop with Old School Billy Club

Words of wisdom from Kuntawman in response to one of my posts:

There is not a man around who would let a trained fighting eskrimador hit him with a rattan stick, even a small one. so its not the size of the stick but what you can do with that stick. Each weapon has advantages and each one has weakness. The advantage of the eskrima stick is that we can hit with power and then hit with power again and again. The disadvantage is we cannot just hit anywhere to get an injury.

The advantage of the cane or baseball bat is that you can hit with power to anywhere, and get an injury. The disadvantage is your recovery time is too slow and you cannot land a powerful hit and then do it again right away and you will need more space.

Kuntawman here alludes to the balancing act involved when choosing a weapon. In my opinion, the short stick –especially the short rattan stick– is too light to be counted on to stop someone. Kuntawman talks about a “trained fighting eskrimador,” and I think this is an important distinction. GM Maranga hits very hard with a rattan stick, but on the other hand I’ve seen tanods ( something of a Philippine neighborhood rent-a-cop) with rattan sticks and thought, “I hope you’re not all that’s standing between me and the public, and some maniac with a knife.” A trained fighter can make the light stick work, but given lower levels of skill, I think the heavier club, like the old style police billy club, will be more effective for the average person.

Kuntawman is right again that the baseball bat presents trade-offs. While the bat is heavy enough to cause damage, it can be slow to launch and even slower to recover. While it has the advantage of reach, it can be awkward in close. The key is to choose the lightest bat possible, to practice blasting things, and to train to hit hard in close. One of my drills is to stand with my nose touching the heavy bag and launch into a flurry at contact distance.

Are You Fencing?

Would this happen on the street?

I was puzzled when I read of one reviewer who wrote that George Wallace, author of a stick fighting book, did not do “fencing.” When I saw the word “fencing,” I thought of two men fighting with swords. (By the way, the word “eskrima” comes from the Spanish “esgrima,” which means “fencing.”) But what the writer meant by the term “fencing” was two opponents fighting with identical weapons, like fencers fighting with regulation foils.

In the Wallace stick-fighting book, he has a long stick, and in the illustrations his opponent never has a long stick, too. This was an inspiration for my book and my combat thinking. I do not assume that my opponent on the street will have a stick like mine. I reason that he will most likely be unarmed, or have a knife, crow bar, or beer bottle, and that he may have friends with him.

I think this is a potential flaw in the Filipino Martial Arts. It makes sense in the first days of training that if you are learning to use a machete, that the instructor will also hold a machete to show you how to use it. The problem is that this becomes the norm.

You don't want to be this close in stick vs. knife.

If you have a 28 inch stick, your partner has a 28 inch stick. If you have a stick and a dagger, your opponent has a stick and a dagger. If you have a knife, your training partner has a knife. And so on.

Yet we can expect life to be filled with uneven match-ups. As much as possible, you need to practice long stick versus short stick, staff (or shovel) versus stick, hammer and screwdriver against a beer bottle, etc.

I used to train with Al Smith Sensei and Guro Ed Planas in Fresno, California. We’d come into the Fresno City College gym and just mix it up. We’d spar with fencing foils, staffs, sticks, nunchaku, knives, and mix and match. When I trained with GM Estalilla, one student had the long stick while the other student had the short stick, and then we switched.

Even if you have a preferred weapon, you not only want to learn how to use other weapons, but also step inside the mind of someone who uses them. In other words, when I had the short stick and sparred against the long stick, I could better understand the type of techniques and strategies that someone with a short stick is likely to use.

Try mixed weapon training. I think it’s essential to real combat fighting ability.

Not Good

Note that the defender’s left hand is within range of the knife. His checking hand is in front of his weapon, leaving the hand vulnerable.

The abaniko/witik strike is weak. Just blast the knife hand with an overhand blow, preferably with a heavier stick.

Why is the knife wielder’s hand at his face? He should be grabbing the stick guy’s checking hand.

THE WEAPON IS NOT AN EXTENSION OF THE HAND

One of the most common, trite, and downright aggravating clichés in the martial arts is the phrase, “the weapon is (just) an extension of the hand.” This is supposed to mean that you just punch or kick as you always do, and the weapon enhances your “natural” movements. I must emphatically disagree.

One martial artist, posting online as “Tellner,” put it very well when he responded to “Weapons are an extension of your hand”:

They are not. Weapons are an extension of your will. Every weapon has physical characteristics which demand changes in the way you move. Anything with length changes your range. Anything you hold in your hand adds an extra joint. A blade changes everything because you do not have to hit hard or repeatedly to cause fatal damage. The kind of damage you cause and the way you move to inflict it by stabbing is different than cutting, and both are different than blunt trauma.

The absolute worst weapons players [martial artists] I’ve met are the ones who say that “the weapon is just an extension of the hand”. They don’t understand the differences. Because they think they know it all it’s nearly impossible to break them of the bad habits they can’t believe they have.

In other words, instead of thinking of the weapon as amplifying your abilities, you should consider the qualities of the weapon you are using. For example, if you try to stab with a baseball bat, try to swing a knife with two hands, or attempt to slash with a foil (which has a point but no cutting edge), you will be ineffective. This is the problem with stick fighters who want to use the stick to apply locks or to throw, –the stick is a hitting weapon, not a wrestling weapon.

Learning to Get Comfortable with the Big Stick

When I first picked up the big stick, it felt very uncomfortable. At the time I was studying the Filipino style of Serrada, which uses a very short (19-20 inches) and light stick. I once heard the late GM Giron refer to the Serrada stick as a “chopstick”!

Eventually, though, it occurred to me and my training partner that the keys to the big stick were reach and flow. Instead of short, tight movements, like fighting in a phone booth, the long stick is ideal for fighting in an open field. I learned to “open up” and extend my arm to get the greatest reach.

Another key to the long stick is flow. Because a true long stick is also heavier, you cannot start and stop it with wrist and forearm movement alone. You must control the long stick with your whole body, by letting it flow, by moving with the momentum of the stick, and stepping to let it whip around. Rather than stop a strike, you learn to redirect it in a continuous arc.

A good idea is to go for a walk regularly and carry your stick with you. Practice swinging and hitting with it. Not only is this good exercise, but in time you will get comfortable with the big stick. Rather than seeing the stick as an extension of your puny hand, you become an extension of the powerful stick.

The Broncos Drop the Hammer

I am rooting for the local team, the Boise State Broncos, to win in tonight’s Fiesta Bowl.

“What does this have to do with the martial arts?” you ask.

Note that in the photo number 40, Richie Brockel, is carrying a sledge hammer. People intuitively sense that the long, heavy weapon is powerful.

Now imagine the same photo with Richie carrying a 28 inch rattan stick. –It just doesn’t resonate with the viewer. A short stick would not be effective as a symbol of power and dominance.

By the way, the sledge hammer is too heavy and too slow to be effective as a weapon, but a sledge handle is a great combination of heft, yet relatively light weight, and durability. Keep in mind that a sledge handle is designed to take punishment. Try one out at your local hardware store, like Lowe’s, where you can have the sledge cut and trimmed for free.

The Sap Wallet

Fred Perrin Sap Wallet

Joshua Morale of Stick and Knife Fighters of the World (stickfighting.ning.com) referred me to the “sap wallet,” something I was not familiar with. It sounds like a very handy weapon. I have spoken of the merits of saps here, which is a little-known category of weapon.

The sap wallet, designed by Fred Perrin, can be seen in action here. In essence, you put coins into the bottom of the wallet, which is swung like a sap. The sap wallet resembles a prison weapon in which a bar of soap is placed into a sock and swung.

The Atienza Kali people have a video here in which they showcase a weapon called a “trapo,” which is a weight in a sock. The sap wallet could be wielded with these techniques. (As an aside, “trapo” is Spanish for “rag.” In the Philippines vendors at intersections sell rags sewn into circles like potholders. Drivers buy them for a few pesos to wipe their cars or to help them hold the steering wheel in the blistering heat.

I would categorize this as a semi-impromptu weapon, in that it is a weapon that would fit into your environment and that you have selected ahead of time for its suitability as a weapon.