# Does your FMA typically train with a variety of weapons?



## geezer (Jul 3, 2017)

Does your FMA train primarily with one particular weapon of a standardized size and weight, for example a 1" x 28" stick, or do you frequently change it up using a variety of different weapons of different weights, sizes, and capabilities?

By this I don't just mean impact weapons as well blades, but also vastly different sizes and weights ranging from bare hands, to palm sticks, to box-cutters, to baseball bats, to machetes, to long staffs ...and, of course, "improvised weapons of opportunity"?


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## Brian R. VanCise (Jul 3, 2017)

In IRT it is varied in every class.  From stick, to longer stick, to long blade, short blade, etc. improvised weaponry and more.  A lot of variety.


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## Charlemagne (Jul 3, 2017)

geezer said:


> Does your FMA train primarily with one particular weapon of a standardized size and weight, for example a 1" x 28" stick, or do you frequently change it up using a variety of different weapons of different weights, sizes, and capabilities?
> 
> By this I don't just mean impact weapons as well blades, but also vastly different sizes and weights ranging from bare hands, to palm sticks, to box-cutters, to baseball bats, to machetes, to long staffs ...and, of course, "improvised weapons of opportunity"?



Our system is built around a few specific weapons categories, namely:

Solo and double ginunting
Espada y daga
Solo and double daga
Bankaw (staff)
Sibat (spear)
Flexible weapons (I actually see PTK doing very little of this, but I know it exists)
mano y mano

That being said, if you understand the principles of range, timing, footwork, and weapon manipulation, you can easily transfer to to other things such as impact weapons, hatchet/tomahawk, karambit, etc.

Here is a good example.  Pekiti Tirsia has not classically taught kerambit.  Only in recent years as karambit has gained popularity have you seen people training it in PTK.  The same can be said for tomahawk.  However, that does not stop anyone from taking the understandings of movement and weapon manipulation and applying it to a different weapon.

Here is a good video showing our normal abecedario, simply done with tomahawk.






Here is a good example of karambit work done with very little alterations to our daga curriculum (albeit it with manipulations which are specific to the weapon).






We also do some work with tactical flashlights/palm sticks/tactical pens, etc.


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## Blindside (Jul 3, 2017)

Just for convenience sake we tend to use the same tools fairly regularly.  Most of the time I use a 31" stick, but I try to use the 28 and 24 inch sticks regularly in sparring.  We use polymer training blades regularly as well using a variety of long blade designs.  Training knives are usually folder stand ins though once in a while we break out the larger training knives.  Infrequently use staffs and spears and tomahawks and arming swords and baseball bats and axe handles.


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