Arnis, Escrima, Kali Stick Training Gear

Thank You for Your Many Years of Stick Purchases. Due to Changes in Shipper policies, we are no longer offering sticks. Instead we are getting ready to launch a series of high quality, educational products!

This section includes the following items:

Pro-1 inch Thick, Naked Rattan.
Pro-1 1/4 inch Thick, Naked Rattan.
Foam Training Baston.

Product: Pro 1 inch rattan

Pro-1 inch Thick, Naked Rattan:

WARNING: This rattan is not for the inexperienced! INEXPERIENCED USERS SHOULD GET SOME SANDED, NICELY VARNISHED STICKS.

This rattan has its skin intact, and is unburned to allow for your own individual personalization. It is approximately 28 inches long,and about 1 inch in diameter.

We bulk buy rattan, and sort out the pieces that are unusable due to disease or poor harvesting. We then stress test the remainder using the knee method described below. We can not guarantee the longevity of rattan because, of course, we have no idea of what you're going to do with it.

What you need to know about rattan
Rattan is a dense, fibrous vine with a hard, external skin. The vine is flexible and gives modestly under blows. With repeated impact, the skin will first break down and the fibers of the cane itself will start to slowly emerge. The skin can start to rupture almost immediately, but the integrity of the cane shouldn't be compromised. Cane that has ruptured can be used after wrapping with electrical tape, up until the point the cane "turns to grass." In other words, until the fibers of the cane have separated and gained a broom-like quality.

You, the user, can safety test your cane by placing it over your thigh and pushing it downward with moderate force (large people can break a strong piece of even healthy rattan this way). If you hear the fibers breaking, this cane has become unsafe and needs to be replaced. It will break in practice.

What is Usually Sold Elsewhere
Much of the commercially available rattan has been sanded to eliminiate the appearance of imperfections. Some of it is forced through a cutting die to make the width uniform. Either of these methods reduces the longevity of rattan, if the rattan is used to impact other pieces of rattan. You know, what you do when you're practicing. These methods are fine for display pieces, but at the moment we don't sell display pieces.

Preparing your cane
Canes are traditionally burned with patterns to harden the skin. The skin will last noticeably longer and keep the cane from going to grass much longer as a result. Keep in mind that the cane is flammable, and that burning by the use of propane torch or stove top has a significant fire risk to it. With some modest practice, very elaborate patterns can be created that will really snazzy up your training tool. This practice should not be attempted by minors. Don't burn down your house!

How to hold the stick
Grip the stick like you would make a fist. Both the fist and wrist should remain loose, but not floppy. You should grip it near one of the tips, and leave between 3 and 6 inches coming out the pinky side of your fist. This stub is called the punyo. It is a potent close quarter weapon, and is used in many disarms.

Product: Pro 1 +1/4"rattan

Pro-1 and 1/4 inch Naked Rattan

This rattan has its skin intact, and is unburned to allow for your own individual personalization. It is approximately 28 inches long and about 1 and 1/4 thick. Thicker rattan is often used to build greater strength, and by large-handed people for whom gripping a 1 inch stick would not be comfortable! Thick rattan is substantially heavier than normal rattan
WARNING: This rattan is not for the inexperienced! INEXPERIENCED USERS SHOULD GET SOME SANDED, NICELY VARNISHED STICKS.

Product: Foam

Foam Training Baston:

At 28" this foam stick makes an excellent substitute for a rattan stick when impact needs to be controlled. It is a pvc pipe wrapped in black foam that will break under strong impact to diffuse the force, a lot like the crumple zone in a car. Combined with some other basic safety gear, many people use them for arnis fencing.

They are also excellent for general practice with complete novices, and for those in occupations that are not forgiving of the hand injuries that many novices experience with rattan. Children should, of course, be started on foam to prevent injuries, as even a small amount of pain can turn a child off to a normally rewarding experience.

A disadvantage of foam, because of its flexibility, is that is does not disarm or release well. The PVC can be easily destroyed in a struggle. An important note here is to not expect one piece of equipment to meet all the varying needs of training. So the practice of disarming, releasing, or levered take downs must be executed with a harder substance than foam.