I have been looking for a good basic weapons movement instructional DVD or streaming program for a long time. I have a background in Tae Kwon Do, but never practiced weapons, and also wanted to incorporate it into my homeschooler's basic exercises class, to reinforce spatial and bodily movement awareness.

The instructor in this video is very enthusiastic and you can tell he really enjoys this subject, and is very fluent in it's practice. He is able to break down the body movements and important points to such a level that an adult with no martial arts experience could understand and practice. My kids didn't understand all of his verbal explanations, but were able to follow along and emulate his physical examples. This ability to simplify such an involved process is an indication of the instructor's comfort teaching and using short sticks.

Lessons are broken down into small sections, so they aren't overwhelming. The instructor not only teaches striking, but also the importance of warming up, types of stick weapons, foot positioning, leverage, and much more. The end of each section has a homework screen that recaps what you learned and suggests things to practice.

The only thing I would change about the video, is that I would have liked to see more guided practice, similar to if a person were taking the class live. I know that would make the recording time significantly longer, but I do better with specifically guided practice motions, rather than just freestyling. I found myself skipping back and trying to practice along with the instruction demonstration portions.

I really appreciate finding this video, it will fit every person in my household in one way or another, based on each person's level of skill and desired outcome, whether it be exercise, SCA participation, simple coordination practice or basic self defense.

This video won't make you an instant expert ready for anything, but it is a great option for those who don't attend an in person class but want to gain skills they can practice and build on. The instructor's clear explanations and encompassing discussion of the entire body in relation to stick fighting was great and created a well rounded video. I would certainly recommend this video, and plan to see if the instructor has released any others that might be fun/useful to try as well.

Training with DVDs has the huge benefit of being a fixed-price for one -- and secondly, you can re-train as many times as you wish to lock down the information. Some of my relatives have done extremely well starting out with intense DVD training via DVDs (and VHS earlier on). There is no interaction with the instructor of course, but in person you might get very limited time with that instructor anyway -- not to mention you can't keep training indefinitely for free. Great to find such a reasonably-priced set to learn stick fighting!

I picked this up hoping I could get some additional exercise while learning something new. I'm an older woman of 62 but found this informative. It met my needs to get up and move. The methodology was easy to follow and perhaps over time I may even learn a few things. More importantly it gives purpose behind movement which is what I needed to stay interested.

The media could not be loaded. I attached a video of the DVD's in case you're thinking of gifting them, standard case, 2 DVD's.

I didn't fully watch both DVD's yet, I definitely will however, watched the 1st one, and I have to admit it is very informative. I teach Ishinryu Karate, been doing so for over 25 years, and in our style we use a lot of weapons, mainly Bo, Sai and Tonfa, however sticks isn't technically a part of Ishinryu, but I have modern arni training from years back, got the DVD's to hopefully refresh and expand my knowledge so we can add some new stick material to our school, and I already have several techniques I liked off the first DVD.

I think the DVD's would be superb for the beginner, he really starts out like he should, basic, and everything is very easy to follow, however even if your fairly knowledgeable in Stick fighting, I feel there is information contained within that you should be able to add to your arsenal, I firmly believe we can all grow as martial artists, no matter what your level is.