Escrima stick slipping

[psilent child]

Are there any drills I can do to strengthen my grip? My escrima a slipping every time I spin them.

 

[Charlemagne]

There are a number of things you can do to strengthen your grip, and frankly, it is just like strengthening any other muscle. As for drills, you can try hitting tires. The impact will force you to have a solid grip, or you will lose the weapon. You also might make sure that the sticks are the correct diameter for your hand, and that you are actually gripping them properly (most people don't). Start with the stick at the tips of your fingers and then roll it in rather than placing it in your palm and then closing the hand around it. Does that make sense? Your grip will fatigue faster, but it will be more solid and allow for more wrist movement. Overtime, you will fatigue less rapidly, particularly if you add some strengthening.

 

[drop bear]

heaps of grip exercises.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Unless your grip strength is really unusually weak, your sticks aren't slipping because your aren't strong enough. There are times when you may need some actual grip strength - when you're landing or blocking hard blows or when someone is grappling you for control of your stick - but when you're just spinning them in the air? That's more a matter of practice and instinctively gripping just tightly enough at the appropriate moment in the swing and no more. If you squeeze too tightly all the time you won't be able to manipulate the stick freely and you'll tire yourself out. If you loosen up to much at the wrong moment, your stick will start to slip.

If you've ever played guitar with a pick, it's the same sort of deal. When you first start strumming, it's normal to have the pick start sliding and rotating out of position and eventually fly out of your hand. Squeezing the pick tighter won't fix the problem. Eventually through practice you start making the unconscious small adjustments to compensate for the vibrations caused by the pick hitting the strings.

Same thing with the sticks. You need to practice swinging the sticks. A lot. Slow, fast, light, hard, in the air, on a solid target, against another stick, lobtik, wittik, redondo, abiniko, single shots, combinations, jabs, power shots, everything. Eventually your body will know how hard to grip at each split second of a swing so you have maneuverability but aren't losing control of the stick.

 

[Danny T]

#1...don't open your hand when spinning or manipulating the weapon in any manner.
#2...Time. Just like most all else... spend time striking, spinning, whipping, snapping the weapon.

 

[geezer]

#1...don't open your hand when spinning or manipulating the weapon in any manner.
#2...Time. Just like most all else... spend time striking, spinning, whipping, snapping the weapon.

I'm more with Tony on this topic. I don't think you need to always have the "correct size" stick and grip the stick by rolling it tightly into your hand as Charlemagne advocates. And I don't think it's necessarily a cardinal sin to twirl a stick opening your grip. Even though everyone says it is, and that you will get the stick knocked out of your hand.

Sure. That could happen. But I've been told by no less an authority than Rene Latosa that it really doesn't matter since "only an idiot would twirl a stick in a real fight anyway". He trained twirling for other attributes, most especially the closing of the hand for adding power to his empty-handed punch. And as far as stick size goes, Latosa also insisted that you should be able to adapt to whatever was at hand, ...or to no weapon at all.

Personally I do work on keeping a secure but relaxed grasp, and I don't open my fingers when executing a redondo, etc., but regardless, I think that Tony (and you, Danny, in #2 above) are right on the mark in that it's not just about a tight grip. Rather, with time, practice and experience, you lean how to make continuous micro adjustments that will make your grip versatile and secure without being tense and rigid. Some contact sparring to see just how secure isn't a bad idea either!

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Some contact sparring to see just how secure isn't a bad idea either!

Very important. The grip that's tight enough for swinging the stick through the air may not be tight enough for the moment of actual impact - especially if that impact is unexpected.

 

[geezer]

Very important. The grip that's tight enough for swinging the stick through the air may not be tight enough for the moment of actual impact - especially if that impact is unexpected.

...or hits from an unexpected angle, like downward on the top of the stick close to the hand.