# Stick Thickness



## SFC JeffJ (Apr 9, 2007)

I've only been exposed briefly to a couple of FMAs but it seems to me that different arts like different thicknesses of sticks.  Would this be a correct assumption?

Jeff


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## Brian R. VanCise (Apr 9, 2007)

SFC JeffJ said:


> I've only been exposed briefly to a couple of FMAs but it seems to me that different arts like different thicknesses of sticks. Would this be a correct assumption?
> 
> Jeff


 
Jeff I think it is more someone's personal preferance.  However generally the thicker they are the longer they last up to serious training.


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## tellner (Apr 9, 2007)

...and the greater the danger of carpal tunnel


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## Rich Parsons (Apr 9, 2007)

tellner said:


> ...and the greater the danger of carpal tunnel




While this may be true, I also find the real small diameter and light sticks also give me issues. 

1) I cannot hang onto them. 
2) They bounce back when stirking anything hard including other sticks of larger size


The ligter ones I do agree offer the following:

1) Lighter and faster motion - but I prefer timing over speed.
2) Less pain with abiniko as the moment is not as great as it wieghs less


So while a specific stick might be small to me it might be just right to someone else. The stick that is large for me might be just right for someone else as well. 

Yet, I have found that the denser the stick or heavier the longer they do last. 

Just my thoughts.



Rich


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## Brian R. VanCise (Apr 9, 2007)

tellner said:


> ...and the greater the danger of carpal tunnel


 
Maybe, maybe not, your chances of carpal tunnel while training with sticks is probably due more to your genetics than anything else. (for some it will probably never happen and for others even the lightest stick may have a chance to cause damage) 

Rich is absolutely right on in that the smaller, thinner ones are just to thin for me as well.  Now I do not use the monster sized sticks that Rich uses but mine are larger in diameter than many.  Your individual size, hand, wrist strength, etc. will play a major factor in what sized stick is best for you.  It all comes down to personal preferances in the end.


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## SFC JeffJ (Apr 9, 2007)

The reason I brought this up I remember back years ago when studying Kali, the instructor preferred light, thin sticks and that is what you could get from him.  Now, in Arnis, most seem to be using heavier thicker sticks.  I can't decide yet which I like better, save for the fact I like a slightly narrower on in my right hand whilst using two sticks.

Jeff


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## Bill Bednarick (Apr 9, 2007)

I play with differant sticks all the time, the reasoning for this is I train with light sticks for speed and heavy sticks for power.

I prefer dense sticks in any weight and as long as I can wrap my mitts around them they are not too big. I draw the line at the logs Rich seems to like.:wink2:

Really skinny sticks are generally very very light and just seem, well for lack of a better term "wimpy". I try to avoid "wimpy" sticks unless I'm doing something specific with them. Like WEKAF sparring.

 I try to avoid sticks that seem safe to hit others with when doing solo work, prefering to use the nastiest bone crusher I can find or a machete.:mst: 

I have a few 3/4" solid fiberglass sticks that I really like for soloing. Basically they are what you would pick if you knew you needed a stick to fight with.


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## tshadowchaser (Apr 9, 2007)

Being much smaller than Rich I prefer the smaller diameter and light sticks 

If they are to big I have trouble keeping a good grip on them and if they are to heavy My arms tire to fast


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## lhommedieu (Apr 9, 2007)

I like rattan sticks to be 7/8" - 1"; any thinner than that and they don't feel real but any heavier and they start to feel ungainly.

Of course, there are different sticks for different purposes.  I've got 7/8" kamagong and bahi that are dense and heavy enough to make a real difference if they collided with bone - and I've got 33 inch, 1" Australian ironwood sticks that are monsters, by comparision - and better approximate the weight of my pinute.

Re. the post above about "plastic" sticks.  A friend has one that's made form a  kind polymer that is denser than wood or bone; even at 1/2" thick it will crush anything that it meets.

Best,

Steve Lamade


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## tshadowchaser (Apr 9, 2007)

I have never tried the polymer sticks but have good things about some of them


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## arnisador (Apr 9, 2007)

I like thin sticks, but many instructors have told me to use thicker sticks for training to develop strength. I find that while different FMAs emphasize different lengths, there's much less of a style-specific thickness and that that's more a matter of instructor's preference.


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## avm247 (Apr 10, 2007)

SFC JeffJ said:


> I've only been exposed briefly to a couple of FMAs but it seems to me that different arts like different thicknesses of sticks.  Would this be a correct assumption?
> 
> Jeff



We (Kabaroan Eskrima and W.O.R. practitioners) play with all sizes of sticks, big and small, thin and thick.  

My preferred bankaw is 1-1/8" to 1-1/4" in diameter and preferably between 50" and 60" in length.  While I do have synthetic (UHMW and Delrin) sticks in this length, I prefer red oak (for now).

Any doble baston practice, we tend to use 30" long x 1" diameter sythetic sticks (I also have a pair in Delrin, but I don't use them very often).

Solo baston stick vary; I tend to want to use longer 36" x 1" Delrin (great weight).  Lately, however, I like to use a 36" long x 1-1/8" red oak stick.  I also have a 36" x 1" Red Oak that is nice for "light" training.

Our serrada length sticks tend to be 20" x 1" UHMW.

Largo mano techniques are used in Kabaroan, which is why I have gravitated toward using bigger heavier sticks, typically red oak. But I rotate through all the sticks, large and small to get different work outs with them.

If I were to go Mongo on someone, I'd pick a 36" x 1-1/8" baston.  Sure its slower, but it has good reach, allows for a lot of power behind the stike, transitions nicely between our Sencilla and Banbollia subsystems.

Shorter, thinner, faster sticks definately have their place, but given a choice, I like longer, thicker and arguably slower stick.  Like the debate between the 9mm and the .45 ACP, it all comes down to personal preference, training, target acquisition and shot (strike) placement. 

Of course, I'm a nice quy and prefer to shy away from confrontation. No really.


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## Rich Parsons (Apr 10, 2007)

My Sticks are not Logs or Monster size or too huge. They fit me. I cannot help it if I am a monster.  

The stick should fit you. As Bill mentioned teh Dense ones are good in my opinion. If you need a smaller diameter to hold on to the stick properly then look for a denser one to work on power and also endurance and strength. 

As to synthetics, I have used some in the past and they were ok. I still like the feel of Rattan the best. The syn sticks can shred your partners sticks and or cause more vibration than the rattan. 

As many have stated the stick should feel comfortable to you and should be usable. I like to have different mass and feel sticks to switch too, to just have a difference in "feeling" so that after a while it does not matter what you pick up.


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## Bill Bednarick (Apr 11, 2007)

Rich Parsons said:


> My Sticks are not Logs.





That's right logs come from trees, and Rattan is a vine.

Good point on the use of differant sticks making it matter less if the stick is "perfect".

At first a stick is just a stick, soon we prefer one to another. 
Later when freedom is remembered, a stick is just a stick again.


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## Dave Leverich (Apr 11, 2007)

I find I prefer thicker ones as well, 1 to 1 1/4 or large, although I do like the 7/8 ones or 3/4ish for simple practicing solo sometimes, there's a kind of finesse feel you get that is very different from the thick ones.
In largo mano I use a beast caliber ;p.


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