Stick Length

Folks,

Have a chance to buy a pair of purple heart arnis sticks from Bearwood. They are 28 inches, but Shannon-san, the maker, will cut them down to the size I specify. Any suggestions as to what size I should specify? Am a normal sized male.

Thanks,

Alan

P.S. Apologise in advance if this has been covered many times. If so, please point me to the appropriate archives.


[This message has been edited by Alan Antopol (edited 01-18-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Alan Antopol (edited 01-18-2001).]
 
C

crecy

Joined
Jan 17, 2001
Messages
75
Alan,
I am not an expert in FMA but I did teach them for many years in LE. I started out using 26" sticks and eventually went to 24" mostly because of the confined spaces I was usually working in. My "wing span" is 71".
I taught that, as a starting point, use a stick that goes from your armpit to the second knuckle of your ring finger. After that what feels best to you is the real consideration.

With purple heart weight may be an issue too. You didn't say what the diameter of the sticks are, but they may need to be shorter just because of that.

Most of all you are you, and as you start swinging you will find out what you like and don't like. Undoubtedly that too will change over time as you change. If you need an opinion instead of just a bunch of beating around the bush
wink.gif
get them at 28" and then if you think they are too long/heavy cut them down an inch, use them for a month and then reevaluate. With some sand paper and elbow grease they will look just like new and they will be more yours.
Hope that helps.

------------------
Si Vis Pacern Parabellum
Semper Ubi Sub Ubi
 
Besides, every time you cut/sand them, you'll get a fresh purple end for a few days. And the area where you do the work will have brilliant purple dust all over the morning after the cutting.

I would never have thought of purpleheart sticks. It is good, heavy, dense stuff. Guess I would've thought of using purpleheart more as a nightstick sort of thing, like cocobolo is used a lot. Is it common to use heavier hardwoods for FMA sticks? I had thought rattan was pretty light, and had debated whether oak and hickory might be a bit heavy.

Steve
 
SteveA,

There are some very heavy sticks that are used in the FMA. Bahi, Kamagong, Yakal are heavy woods from the Philippines. Kamagong is considered an ironwood and is very dense & heavy. Check out the following site for pictures of Philippine hardwoods.

http://www.kriscutlery.com/Kris/Philippine/Battlesticks.asp

28" sticks are the "standard" size, I guess...I like sticks from 22" to 30" long, but I usually train with sticks that are 26" or 28".

[This message has been edited by K Williams (edited 01-19-2001).]
 
Stick length is largely dictated by style. In my experience, 28" is a good length for most styles. In serrada, a shorter cane (24") is the norm where as a 30" cane is more common in Pikiti tirsia.
Find out what your style's preference is and try to meet that. Otherwise, 28" is usually good.
Good luck and enjoy the sticks,
as that wood is beautiful,

Kilugan1

 
Stick length is somewhat determined by the system one practices, but I think that more important (IMHO) is personal preference. Our system is derived from Pekiti-tirsia and most of our guys use 31" sticks, but I have cut mine down to 29.5" because 31" just doesn't work for me as well. I have also tried 28" but they just seem too short and light to me.

Alan, if you haven't ordered your sticks yet, my suggestion would be to hold off for now (my apologies to Shannon ... not trying to take business away or anything). Train with various lengths (and diameters)of rattan sticks for a while, until you find the length and diameter that you feel most comfortable with within the context of your chosen system. Then, order that nice pair of purple heart sticks. There's no real point in ordering a nice pair of hard wood sticks until you know the length and diameter that you prefer, unless these are just going to wall hangers.

Respectfully,

David Fulton



------------------
Full Contact Martial Arts Association.

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

[This message has been edited by Dave Fulton (edited 01-26-2001).]
 
Thanks to Dave and everyone who was kind enough to post and give me advice. Sticks are already ordered, though.

Have worked with 28" rattan sticks some, and the length seems ok to me. Have a 31" pair of rattan sticks, which also seem ok. (Studied FMA a while ago and am <<< expert) Am wary (re Musashi) of getting too locked in to a particular pair of sticks, or, for that matter, a particular knife. Can't count on having what I am used to when I need it, though I make a strong effort to have "something" good at all times.

Will let you know how I like the 28" sticks. The jo's and bokken I got from Shannon-san are fine.

Alan



------------------
Alan Antopol
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Alan Antopol:
Folks,

Have a chance to buy a pair of purple heart arnis sticks from Bearwood. They are 28 inches, but Shannon-san, the maker, will cut them down to the size I specify. Any suggestions as to what size I should specify? Am a normal sized male.

Thanks,

Alan

P.S. Apologise in advance if this has been covered many times. If so, please point me to the appropriate archives.


[This message has been edited by Alan Antopol (edited 01-18-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Alan Antopol (edited 01-18-2001).]</font>
Click to expand...

Alan,

You should consider woods like Bahi, if you want a heavy dense wood for sticks. All woods that have a "normal" grain like most hardwoods can break and split, often the broken piece will be pointed and will fly like a projectile this can be deadly.

I have seen this in the past, and when I work heavy contact with sticks now, I only use rattan and bahi because they don't break in this manner.

Of course, if you are not banging sticks, it really does not matter.

Just something to consider.

Tom Kier
SAYOC KALI
 
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