The most obvious feature of an Escrima class is that it is usually weapon-based. Most systems begin by teaching the student to work with weapons, and only progress to empty-hand techniques once the stick techniques have been learned. This is reasonable because most systems have unified their teaching so that the empty-hand techniques are learned through the same exercises as the weapon techniques. The most common weapon used in training is a rattan stick about the length of the practitioner’s arm, although the lenght may very from about 45cm to 70cm. Some schools prefer sticks of a particular length, while others expect students to learn which techniques are appropriate for a variety of lengths. Most North American and European schools use hand and head protection when sparring with rattan sticks.Other sticks used for training and for some duels are made of hardwood, such as molave or kamagong (ebony), that is burned and hardened. They can also be made out of aluminum or other metals, or modern high-impact plastics. The sticks can also be padded for training purposes, though this practice is usually only used in schools in North America or Europe.
Many systems in fact begin training with two weapons, either a pair of sticks or a stick and a wooden knife (called espada y daga, Spanish for “sword and dagger”). This is sometimes justified by pointing out that warriors would not have gone into battle with an empty hand; another common explanation is that having two weapons forces the practitioner to use both hands, which is valuable even when working with one weapon: the extra hand is used to control the opponent’s weapon and to strike when the range is sufficiently close. (Such uses are banned in modern sport fencing, so sport fencers generally hold the unused hand away from danger.) Historically, people all over the world, including Filipino warriors and Renaissance fencers often trained with a long weapon in one hand and a short weapon in the other. The stick techniques used in Eskrima fall into two categories: the stick techniques that are training for sword fighting, and the stick techniques that are training for stick fighting. As usual, most systems are designed so that the practitioner can adapt their training to either weapon. Other weapons traditionally included in Eskrima training include spears, shields, whips and flails (called nunchaku in the Okinawan martial arts).
Eskrima or Escrima refers in a general way to Filipino martial arts. Other terms which have entered into common usage include Kali 
and Arnis de Mano; occasionally the abbreviation FMA is used. Eskrima and Arnis are the names primarily used in the Philippines today. The name Kali is seldom used in the Philippines and in most cases is an unknown word. The difference in the name either implied the region from which the art originated or the time period when the art was developed.
Many different systems of Eskrima exist, many of which can trace their origins to a single tribe or region. Some of the mast famous systems are the San Miguel Eskrima, Sayoc Kali, Serrada Escrima, Doce Pares, Dog Brothers Martial Art and the Black Eagle Escrima system. In most systems, skills with weapons and with empty hands are developed at the same time, using training methods designed to emphasize the common elements. The weapons used are the single rattan (bamboo) stick (solo baston), double sticks (double baston) and stick and knife (espada y daga). Some systems are know to specialize in other weapons such as the whip and staff.
There are basically no differences between Arnis, Eskrima and Kali. The general martial arts community uses the different names to refer to any Filipino martial art, although most teachers have a preferred name for their art. Originally, the difference in the name implied the region from which the art originated. In fact, the term Kali did not exist until the 1960s when two well known eskrimadors popularized the word to distinguish what they taught from the teachings of other eskrimadors. In other words, it was a marketing gimmick. Unfortunately, many young men/students came to believe that Kali represented a parent art form of escrima and arnis, and eventually the name, Kali, took on a life of its own. Today, the term Kali is seldom used except for a few areas in the Southern Philippines.Filipino Martial Arts has seen a revival due to the teachings of modern masters such as Dan Inosanto, Cacoy Canete, Edgar Sulite, Leo Gaje, Armando p. Angeles and Leo Giron. The name Eskrima is the Filipino spelling which comes from the Spanish word esgrima, “fencing”. The name Arnis is thought to derive from the phrase arnés de mano, Spanish for “harness of the hand”. The origin of the name Kali is not certain, although some suggest it is related to the traditional weapon called a kris, karis, or kalis. Another explanation is that the word is a portmanteau of the Filipino words Kamot, meaning hand or body, and Lihok, meaning motion. This explanation may be a more recent innovation, retroactively fitting an acronym to the existing name. However, historically there was never a mother or parent art form known as Kali in the Philippines.
