Eskrima

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The traditional martial arts of the Philippines, which emphasize the use of sticks, knives, and various improvised weapons. uncountable

    "Of all the disciplines covered here, the arts of kali, arnis and eskrima, from the Philippines, are perhaps the most vigorous, employing an almost balletic violence to prepare for rough nights on the town."

Synonyms

All synonyms
arniskali

Example

More examples

"Of all the disciplines covered here, the arts of kali, arnis and eskrima, from the Philippines, are perhaps the most vigorous, employing an almost balletic violence to prepare for rough nights on the town."

Etymology

From Tagalog escrima or eskrima, borrowed from Spanish esgrima, noun form of the verb esgrimir (“to handle a melee weapon whether for offensive or defensive purposes”).

Related phrases

martial art

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.