Knife fighting - The Pinoy Way

By Catalin Necula
Eskrima instructor at London Arnis Group, Shodan Bujinkan UK, FMALand.co.uk
London, UK

Being a former Bujinkan member, I thought that it would be appropriate to share some of my experiences (or probably the lack of them) during the years of practice in this Art. And I will start with using the knife.

I really don’t want to brag about the pinoy way (filipino) of using the knife but when it comes to it, Eskrima has something which sets it apart. There are two things to remember about the blade:

1. Respect the blade
2. Never take it for granted.

When I first heard of Eskrima, I didn’t know it was such a complex system which uses aliveness as part of its training. And yes, this is what I was looking for. It was time to give myself a reality check.
Being very fortunate to train with two amazing instructors, my interest in this Art has grown considerable. But saying this, I will never slag the other martial arts I trained in prior taking up Eskrima. In fact I have found Taijutsu very useful in finishing certain knife techniques.

In order to understand the use of blades in Eskrima, one must understand the Filipino culture. In Philippines the use of blades is probably the most common way of street fighting. The fights in there are geared towards killing not just causing light injuries or scarring people away. They are there to finish a job. I know it sounds very barbaric but this is how it goes. The tribal instincts are carved very deep in their behavior even today. So who else can tell you more about knife fighting than Filipinos?

We live in a society where the use of knife has become a very common fact. Here in UK, every week there are incidents involving knives and most of the time the outcome is disastrous. Learning how to defend properly, or at least trying, against a blade I think it is an issue which many martial artists should take it into consideration and never ignore it.

So keep training hard and watch for the slash…

As for Bujinkan, it is a unique Art but like any other Martial Art cannot answer all the questions. But this wont make it less effective. So whatever you do, do it with dedication if you feel that’s the right path for you.