The Swashbuckler

Errol Flynn demonstrates the explosive thrusting of fencing.

I return to a theme I’ve talked about before. Suppose I give you a sword and you wield it as “an extension of the hand,” moving and cutting as the weapon effortlessly magnifies your reach and power.

Only you’re dead, because I gave you a rapier. Rapiers don’t cut; they’re only a thrusting weapon. (By the way, if the FMA are native Filipino arts, then why is thrusting called “estokada”? Like Filipinos can’t say the word “saksak”?)

Herein lies the problem. Each weapon has its own unique characteristics. Rather than use the weapon to amplify yourself, your proper goal is to align yourself with the weapon’s strengths. I spoke of the big stick instilling a spirit of raw power. The rapier is not a power weapon. Think of it as a yard-long needle. Try to power your way through a rapier conflict, and you’ll end up dead. The muscular Arnold Schwarzenegger is no more effective with a rapier than is Pee Wee Herman.

Errol Flynn, Swashbuckler

The feeling of the rapier is that of a cat, light on your feet. Or like a cobra, coiled, but suddenly exploding to full extension. Holding a rapier isn’t based on a strong grip, but one that is relatively light and sensitive.

Why would you train with the rapier? The rapier is an effective means of learning explosive, direct-line movement. Bruce Lee’s lead punch was based on his study of a famous European fencer named Aldo Nadi. If you train with the knife, fencing is a great means of learning important attributes. In my training with GM Maranga, he avoids the counter, trap, pass, parry, knife drills you see so commonly in the FMA. His style is like fencing, suddenly bursting in and thrusting, then darting out. It’s just too easy to get cut when you’re trapping, parrying, checking, etc.

But the catch for those who want to take the stick and apply it lock, stock, and barrel to all unarmed self-defense, each weapon’s characteristics makes it applicable to some unarmed techniques, but not all. As I said, the rapier has great applications for lunging and straight punching, especially the lead punch, or for knife fighting, but it’s useless when it comes to elbows.

In like Flynn: Forward movement, extension, elusiveness

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.