Mastering Eskrima Disarms

Book Review --- Mastering Eskrima Disarms, by Mark V. Wiley. Tambuli Media (Createspace). Spring House, PA. 2013. 240 pp., Paper, $29.95If you are interested in Filipino martial arts, and particularly the use of sticks in the Filipino martial arts, then this is a book you should be aware of. Wiley’s goal in this book was to provide a guide to Filipino martial arts disarms for instructors and others who wish an in-depth knowledge of the subject. As most readers of this review will know, in the bulk of Filipino martial arts styles, training begins with a stick or pair of sticks. In a fight, a person with a stick has a big advantage over a person who is unarmed and has no stick. Therefore one common tactic used in a fight with sticks is to try and take the stick away from the opponent. In fact, in almost any fight using weapons, if the person with the weapon can be disarmed then their threat can be reduced. Therefore in Filipino martial arts, a great deal of time is spent not just on training to strike and block with a stick or other weapon, but also how to disarm one’s opponent.This book focuses on such disarms and disarming techniques.The book is basically divided into three sections.In the first part, Wiley discusses what makes a good disarms work and where and how common failures occur when someone attempts to disarm an opponent. He discusses how one can recognize good and bad disarming techniques that are found within various Filipino martial arts styles, and the components of a good disarm. He also categorizes the disarms normally found in Filipino martial arts styles by dividing them into four categories. He calls these categories modes.Mode One is a simple strike to the opponent, often to the hand that holds the weapon, without using preliminary blocks.Mode Two are techniques that involve a party with an empty hand that is used simultaneously with a strike.Mode Three techniques involve blocking a weapon strike with a weapon, then redirecting the opponent’s energy, and countering.Mode Four are techniques where a martial artist blocks his opponent’s weapon with his own, while simultaneously using his empty hand to trap his opponent’s weapon hand.In the second part, Wiley demonstrates several techniques in each mode. These are well explained through words and a series of black and white photographs.In the third part of the book, Wiley has collected interesting photo sequences of several well-known Filipino martial arts masters demonstrating the disarms they teach in their style. As many of these prominent teachers are now deceased, this is, indeed, an important and valuable resource for people interested in the many varieties of Filipino martial arts styles. Many would argue that this alone is worth the price of the book.The book is 239 pages, well-illustrated, and a valuable addition to the library of anyone who truly wishes to understand the Filipino martial arts in depth.Note: Although, according to the introduction, this book was originally set to be published by Unique Publications, a respected and prominent martial arts publisher, that company went bankrupt before the book could be released. Wiley went on to establish Tambuli Media, his own company, to publish books in areas that interest him. Tambuli Media often uses Createspace, a print-on-demand publisher, to produce the physical copies of its books, and therefore I have seen this book listed as being published by both Tambuli Media and Createspace.

I am so glad that I have came across this colossal encyclopedic work, by Dr. Wiley. We are spoiled to have such a resource in our generation and time. I could never get to individuals that Dr. Wiley trained with and documented, in detail. So often martial arts books are very poor at conveying thought and example. Dr. Wiley does an exemplary job at showing foundation and structure. From his own insights and transmissions we can see his passion for this art.The seamless flow of each drill and the sea of various style examples really help to understand that Eskrima is not some variation of LARP-ing nor sport. He brings it to light as a life skill. Addressing the stick as a weapon. Variably a knife or machete. Which is directly applicable in our modern settings.So often Eskrima is seen as 2 people bashing one another with sticks. Dr. Wiley restores the arts fineness and grace. To prove the resourcefulness it features 107 pages of various disarms found in FMA of his own archives.Thank you Dr Wiley for your continued efforts and detailed archiving of the FMA traditions.

Well worth the money. The book covers key principles and "modes"/types of disarms that are general for any style then is filled with photos of various practitioners of specific styles each showing a couple of examples. In the kindle version, you can zoom into the photos as a group and scroll around. Most examples are stick on stick, but there are examples of espada y daga and knife disarms and one example of Prof. Remy Presas doing a two stick disarm. Some may find that their favorites are missing and I can think of a category or two that I would have included, but there is good systematic thought put into the organization of modes.

This is geared towards those who wish to fight with sticks. Lots of pictures. This is one of those books I wanted to buy when I was in Afghanistan after viewing a live demonstration concerning this style of fighting. I wanted to give it 4.5 stars but that was not an option here.

I have never been interested much in disarms because I found them too complicated to work and there's thousands of various ones to master before they might actually work. That said, I bought this book so that I might have a better understanding of them and it delivered! Mark Wiley did a fantastic job of simplifying the complexity of disarms and though I still have doubts of whether or not I could actually pull of a real-time disarm, I believe there's no better written education on the topic out there. Thank you Mr. Wiley for taking the time to write such an informative book.

I have been a martial arts practitioner for 30 some years. This is good accurate information which is useful for anyone willing to learn and practice the moves. This book is illustrated very well along with good explanations on why, how and why to choose each move. I use it to refresh my memory.

I was a bit disappointed by this actually. The photos are not great and it seems to be a collection of photo taken with visits with different instructors more than for deliberately taking photos for a book. That said, content is content and with the aging FMA population, it's great to have.....

Fantastic is the only word that comes to mind after I read this book. I have all of the authors books and this is one of my favorite ones. I have written a proper review on my site PrimalSurvival.org if you would like to check it out.

awesome done well

Well done . Great for beginner to intermediate

I'm a beginner FMA pratictioner and I find this book is very interesting and helpful. Pictures are quite understandable and clear enought.

Das Buch von Wiley ist eine Pflichtlektüre für jeden Eskrimador, ganz gleich welcher Stil betrieben wird.Sehr positiv ist, dass Wiley die hinter den Disarms liegenden Prinzipien und Konzepte erläutert und das Buch daher über eine reine Technikbeschreibung hinausgeht.Für diejenigen Eskrimadore, deren Systeme die klassischen FMA-Disarms enthalten, ist das Buch eine Fundgrube des Wissens. Jeder, der Disarms nützlich findet für das Training, z.B. um bestimmte Konzepte zu fördern, findet in dem Buch viele technische Anregungen und eine Vielzahl von Techniken.Für Eskrima-Sportler ist das Buch ebenfalls nützlich. Ganz gleich ob die Eskrima-Sportler bei ihren Turnieren Punkte für die Disarms bekommen oder bei ihren Gatherings für Disarms als Belohung den Applaus des Publikums genießen: In dem Buch werden auch Disarm-Techniken vorgestellt, die im Escrimasport teilweise genutzt werden können.Für diejenigen Eskrimadore, deren Systeme keine traditionelle FMA-Disarms enthalten und die daher die in dem Buch gezeigten Disarm-Technik im Training nicht nutzen ist das Buch ebenfalls sehr interessant und wertvoll, weil es Einblicke in eine ganz andere Eskrima-Denkweise ermöglicht. Der Blick über den Tellerrand ist immer nützlich.Jeder Eskrimador findet in dem Buch viele Denkanstöße und Hinweise dafür, warum die in dem Buch gezeigten Arten von Disarms im jeweiligen System gestrichen - oder eben auch nicht gestrichen - wurden.Erfreulich ist auch, dass Wiley wie auch in seinem hervorragenden Werk "Filipino Fighting Arts" als neutraler Beobachter der FMA-Systeme und Techniken wirkt und daher die Buchleser einen objektiven Gesamteindruck über das Thema der Disarms in den FMA bekommen. Da die FMA oftmals von Politik geprägt werden, ist es besonders wertvoll, das Werk eines neutralen Beobachters lesen zu können.Wer sein Eskrima für die Selbstverteidigung trainiert und nicht für den Sport bzw. um der Tradition wegen muss wie immer für sich selbst individuell austesten, ob die in dem Buch beschriebenen Disarms, Prinzipien und Techniken in der individuellen Realität unter Berücksichtigung der eigenen Stärken und Schwächen funktionieren. Der Buchleser sollte sich auch überlegen, welche der in dem Buch von Wiley gezeigten Disarms von den Spaniern bzw. den Filipinos ursprünglich für in Rüstung kämpfende Eskrimadore gedacht waren.

Voilà un nouvel ouvrage anglophone de Mark Wiley sur les désarmements dans les arts martiaux Philippins ; c'est une bible en soi. La majorité du sujet couvre cependant le travail au bâton ; mais le travail à l'épée, épée & dague, couteau, etc ... y est couvert également ; ainsi qu'une section concernant des désarmements plus exotiques propres à certains styles. Un excellent ouvrage comme aide mémoire pour tout pratiquant d'arts martiaux Philippins.