by Rudy Rogers
March 12, 2003

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Ever wanted to know how to turn your raw rattan training sticks in to this?

Well please read on or view the how-to video
Below is some information that I found the authors and urls are cited below

The rattan vine has a long flexible stem that can grow quite long with a diameter as large as 3.5-cm (1.5 inches). Rattan vines as long as 500 to 600 feet have been observed in nature. Due to its flexibility the rattan stem requires support as it grows in the rain forest. Spiny leaves that grasp host trees as the vine climbs into the forest canopy provide this support. The spines make the collection of rattan very difficult.

Collectors harvest rattan from deep in the rain forest. They pull the vines down from the forest canopy and remove the spiny leaves. Bare cane is carried out of the rain forest and partially processed before being sold to middlemen who then transport it to major cities for further processing. Small diameter cane is usually dried in the sun and smoked over burning sulfur. Larger rattan cane is usually boiled in a mixture of diesel oil and palm oil to remove excess moisture. This boiling also removes natural gums and creates a barrier against wood-boring beetles. Rattan material is water-resistant, but heating and steaming cause rattan to bend easily.

Rattan is used in a wide range of products, the most important of which is the manufacture of furniture. In the past much of the commercially harvested raw vine was exported to overseas manufacturers. By the mid 1980's, however, Indonesia introduced an export ban on raw rattan vine to encourage the manufacture of rattan furniture locally. The government's intent was twofold: to add value to the exported product and to conserve stocks of wild rattan.
Until recently almost all rattan was collected from tropical rain forests. With forest destruction and conversion, the habitat area of rattan has decreased rapidly over the last few decades and there is now a shortage of supply. The Forest Department in Indonesia has become aware of the vulnerability of the rattan supply and has begun a cultivation program aimed at safeguarding the long-term supply of rattan cane for the industry. Commercial cultivation of rattan appears to be viable and offers the best possibility for future supply.

Why Use Rattan?
₂ Anybody who practices Filipino Martial Arts quickly comes to love the burning smell that rattan gives off during training, but there's a much larger rationale to using rattan than just a smoky aroma.

To the uninitiated, the choice seems to be a needless expenditure. Why not just go down to the hardware store and pick up some hardwood doweling or PVC piping? A stick is just a stick right?

Actually, there are several reasons to choose rattan, and the overriding concern is safety. Most hardwoods are, in fact, hazardous as a material for training batons. When cut from a larger piece of timber, the wood fibres are severed. The grain patterns that shows up on the wood marks the ends of the fibres, and are essentially fault lines. After repeated impact, the fibres will part suddenly, sending shards everywhere.

Rattan, however, is a vine, composed of numerous fibres running the whole length of the stick. After many repeated impacts the rattan fibres will start to shred. There is never an immediate failure of the material, only a gradual breakdown. Compare this with hardwood or PVC piping, where the material might appear undamaged, but at any moment could shatter. Unlike rattan where the ends will be harmless, frizzy lumps, wood creates knife-like pieces. And since these shards appear at impact, they will also be traveling at ballistic speeds.

There is no way to tell when a piece of hardwood is thinking about fracturing. A personal experience with this happened when doing some hard contact work with red oak bokken. In the middle of sparring, my bokken suddenly felt much lighter, and when I held up the tip, about half of the weapon was missing. My sparring partner and I dove for cover, not knowing when or where the other end would come down.

For FMA training, rattan is the ideal material. In addition to being less risky than hardwood, its mild flexibility absorbs the shock of impact that would otherwise be transferred to the wielder's hand. Prolonged stick-to-stick training with hardwood will eventually lead to tendonitis and other joint problems.

This shock-absorption goes for being struck with a stick too. Rattan was never used for real fights, duels or warfare since it has much less killing or wounding potential. Instead, blades or hardwood sticks would be the norm. Rattan is for training, weapons are for fighting. This doesn't mean that rattan can't hurt you - the Dog Brothers have demonstrated that often enough by knocking their opponents cold.

A new field for sticks is the use of modern synthetic materials. These are essentially indestructible, eliminating the need to replace rattan.

Below is a method that I learned early on.
Please be careful and be sure to wear your oven mits.
MINORS! DO NOT ATTEPMT THIS WITHOUT THE SUPERVISION OF YOUR PARENT OR GAURDIAN!

View video

  Using a gas stove light eyes...

After 10 minutes or so, place raw rattan on eye to create a burn pattern...

After 10 minutes or so, place raw rattan on eye to create a burn pattern...

Slowly but carefully rotate and draw the body of the stick back and forth to colorize the rattan to desired shade (WEAR OVEN MITTS)...

Next use an oil to lubricate and add a sheen to the sticks, here I used olive oil, you could use mineral oil as well...

Next heat oven to about 375...

Place sticks inside oven, for about 15-20 minutes this is to harden the sticks. Please DO NOT leave unattended.

Finish up by wrapping the ends with metal repair tape found in most hardware or plumbing stores and/or you can coat with shellack or aresol polyurethane for a shiny finish and to aid in strength.
VOILA! Your new decorated Escrima sticks!

Referneces Cited:

1. Inpro Yasa Indonesia PT is a teak, acacia wood and rattan furniture manufacturing business that is small enough to know that the customer is king (http://www.inprofurniture.com/what_is_rattan.htm).
2. Youngforest Club; Shaolin Kung-fu/Arnis (http://www.cyberus.ca/~badger/club.htm).
   

Rudy has fought many times in the ring as a Thai fighter and professional boxer in Japan, Canada, and the United States and has trained many aspiring fighters to victory. He has worked as a doorman for many of Minneapolis' finest bars and nightclubs for over 10yrs.

Rudy's favorite martial art is all of them. But if he had to pick one it would be Kali and the Filipino Martial Arts.