To Hit and Not to be Hit

 

Filipino escrima is a weapon-based martial art developed as a mixture of European swordsmanship and indigenous Filipino movements. This is a martial art focused on the method of using weapons that can be used to defend oneself and the community against the pirates from the South and against the enemies of Spain during the colonial period (16^th to 19^th centuries). 

Escrima was developed according to the time, place, and needs of each area in the Philippines, so there are some differences in its so-called traditional forms. What is common is, that escrima practices use a stick as an alternative and training tool on how to use weapons such as a sword, dagger, machete, and so on. 

The Filipinas Sala de Armas as an Association of escrimadores believes that this martial art is effective in close-quarter battles, so we maintain its practice. However, as recreation and sports, it should not lose its true nature, effective fighting.

 

To Hit and Not to be Hit

         An escrimador must be able to defeat his opponent with little or no scars so that he can face other opponents. This is the main reason why we bring this concept. You hit the enemy without him hitting you.

The weakness of some modern sparring concepts is the first hit concept where the goal is to win sparring by scoring, being the first to hit means gaining a point, and because of this the player no longer hesitates if he will gets hits after he hits the opponent first.

The afterblow, or strike received from the enemy after he was hit by our first attack, has a great effect on our ability to fight further, this is in the real context of a sword fight.

 

Why "To hit and not to be hit"?

In addition to the foregoing, the following are the reasons why this is an appropriate concept that can be taught to beginning escrimadores:

1.    The skill and decision-making of the player will level up more because not only must the goal be hit first, but the cunning planning of how to get a higher score by not being hit by the opponent, or how he will use his advantages to make his opponent commits mistakes or put his opponent into disadvantage.

2.    If the player becomes better because of the concept of "to hit and not to be hit" the player's actions will be better, and it will be more interesting than watching a sparring of the “first to hit”.

3.      Good fight is entertaining for the audience to watch, and if it becomes popular, more people will enjoy this game, and more people will support it.

 

Scoring

The following is how escrima players can score:

3 points – for an offensive or counter-attack where the hit is to the face or head of the opponent without being hit by his attack, counter-attack, or after blow.

                                                                         A head shot                                                                         

2 points – for an offensive or counter-attack where the hit is on any part of the opponent's body (trunk) without being hit by his attack, counter-attack, or afterblow.

                                                                            A body shot

1 point – for an offensive or counter-attack where the hit is on any part of the limbs (arm, hand, leg) of the opponent without being hit by his offensive, counter-attack, or afterblow.

                                                                         A leg shot

                                                                          An arm shot

Terminology

Offensive – any direct attack launched by a player against his opponent. This is also called a challenge. An offensive can be delivered after a feigning, or right after beating off the guard of the opponent.

Defensive – any way to avoid being hit by the enemy's offensive, this can be done through parry, evasion, or moving away from the enemy's attack.

                                                                                  A parry

                                                                                  A slip

                                                                             A check against the opponent's strike

Counter-attack – this is any reaction of the player to the offensive of his opponent by taking the offensive. This can be done right during the enemy's attack, or after making any defensive action against the enemy's offensive.

Double hits – this is the term in which two players hit at the same time or almost at the same time in their offensive or in their counter-attacks. A double hit is usually NO POINT, except for the so-called “Double Hit Advantage.”

Double hit Advantage – this is where a player in a simultaneous event or double hit only has one hit, for example player A hits the leg, and player b hits the head, player B will have points. He will be given 1 point.

A double hit such as where player A and player B hit the opponent's head at the same time or almost at the same time, is NO POINT.

The player should avoid this because it is a low-level tactic.

Afterblow – this is the name given to a player's offensive or counter-attack where he has already been hit by his opponent. This was before the referee stopped the fight.

Afterblow advantage – this can happen if the offensive hit weakly in the head or the leg, but because he was not careful that the afterblow could hit, and the afterblow hit hard or so to the head compared to the opponent's leg kick. This can happen if the referee has not stopped the match.

Revenge blow – this is what is called for hitting the enemy even if he has already been hit by his opponent, and usually, the intention is only to hurt. This has no point and has a corresponding violation (infraction of sportsmanship).

 

Method of training

1. Teach the player the correct way to hold the stick.

2. Teach proper on-guard positions

3. Teach the concept of measure where the player will know the no-contact and contact zone in the battle, and how to maximize it in the offense, and counter-attacks.

4. Teach practical footwork

5. Teach how to conduct an offensive on particular targets, to develop their precision striking, timing, and reaction time.

6. Teach the player defensive versus offensive methods,

7. Teach offensive to defensive, such as attack followed by defensive action.

              a. Example 1: attack and fly out

b. Example 2: attack and then parry

c. Example 3: attack and then evade

d. Example 4: attack and command

8. Teach defensive to offensive

a. Example 1: Parry and counter-attack

b. Example 2: evade and counter-attack

c. Example 3: parry-command and counter-attack

9. Also teach some tactics such as feigning, combination attacks, beat, bearing, counter-time, and timed hit.

10. Spend a lot of time in study sparring using some modified equipment for the safety of the players.

11. Teach the players the rules, especially being respectful to the players, and officials. And having a humble heart.

 

Epilogue

We started using this concept in the early 90s as a response to the chaotic sparring and scoring process in sparring tournaments. We used this as part of spreading a type of sparring whose concept is "to hit and not to be hit," among our students. And this has become the official concept of the group Modern Arnis that we belong to.

The concept of 'to hit and not to be hit" has also been used for a long time in European historical fencing. The armor that can be used by the players will agree with what materials the weapons to be used are made of; if it is lighter and padded, less armor is needed, and this can provide more mobility to the players. If the weapons to be used are made of material such as synthetic or wooden, additional protection is needed.