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I am a beginner at arnis/kali/eskrima.

every meeting, I always expect some blisters on my palm and finger, especially after hitting the tires with the stick.

I won't quit just because of blisters, but is there a way to escape from them? Aside from wearing gloves because it makes the stick so much slippery.

a video or picture of the proper way of gripping the stick, or just some tips will be greatly appreciated. thanks!

Edit:

Thanks. I am now convinced that I need to train regularly. I only have time during saturday and sundays so i only train during those days. since a week is enough to let my hands heal completely, it never develops calluses. Might as well ask for some advice about the position of my blisters.

Sometimes, I see myself holding the stick with my four fingers wrapping the grip, and my thumb locking it, as if making a fist. At most times, I hold it with my thumb on top of the other four fingers.

here are the position of my blisters:

enter image description here

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    Post some pictures of your blisters s well as you holding the sticks. that way we can tell whether your grip is right or not. Feb 27, 2015 at 9:59
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    Blisters are the way that the body protects itself from friction that it is unused to. Over time, you will develop callouses. Post your grip so we can tell if they will be forming in the correct places. :)
    – JohnP
    Feb 27, 2015 at 15:02
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    By the way, your diagram shows blister locations exactly where I would expect them. The locations aren't the problem. Your grip isn't the problem. Your problem is just your hand hasn't gone through enough / proper conditioning to get calluses. Later you'll get calluses on all of those points, and the blisters will no longer happen. Mar 2, 2015 at 4:07
  • Thank you! now, I will at least practice at home even just for 15 mins. Mar 2, 2015 at 6:25

2 Answers 2

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Blisters can happen initially. I think it happens to everyone new to stick fighting. It's nothing to be too worried about. It probably just means you were over-eager in your training and went too hard or too long. No big deal.

It can also happen if you don't train regularly. Like if you just go once a week, your hand never gets used to it, so you get blisters. It's best to practice two or three times a week. You can practice at home by yourself, also.

Try letting the blisters heal, and then start again. This time, go a little more easily on yourself. Practice every other day or so, but go easy. Approach it gradually, and over time you'll get calluses. The calluses will protect your hand, and you won't get blisters.

I don't think highly of using gloves, either. Things like weightlifting gloves or biker gloves can cause your stick to slip out of your grip too easily. You can try it and see what happens. If it works for you, great. But do watch out.

The way you hold your stick isn't so important, as far as calluses and blisters are concerned. But since you asked: You should grip your escrima stick in a way you feel comfortable, but which holds the stick firmly in place. But one thing you'll eventually realize is that, as you do different techniques, your grip will change slightly to accommodate those techniques. That's okay, so long as the stick is still being held firmly.

The combination of holding your escrima stick firmly and impacting something with it repeatedly is what gives you blisters (or calluses). But not holding it firmly isn't going to be helpful. The only thing you can do is reduce the amount of force you use when you hit something with it, and/or reduce the number of times you hit something in one session. In other words, go easier on yourself, like I said above.

When in doubt, ask your instructor to correct your grip.

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When I was doing Doce Pares Escrima several years ago, I ran into the same problem. I used cloth athletic/medical tape to cover up the blistered areas to give them a chance to heal and at one point, when I found that it was a particular part of the stick rubbing up against my hand (an area where the lacquer had gotten roughed up from impact, actually), I put a strip of tape encircling that area. Between the two of them, that eliminated the blisters for me until my calluses built up.

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