There is nothing rational about his comment.
Both arts were great for what their purposes was. However, today no one walk around using a sword. In most if not every place it is illegal. Therefore it is not a weapon you can use in self defense. Just like weapons I teach an train the kama, tonfa, etc. I can't carry them anywhere or use them in self defense. I might be able to pick up something and use it in a similar fashion. But that's about it. The eskima (kali) I would see as a more useful weapon. It is much easier to find a stick, cane, blade and use it like you would the escrima.
Neither of those weapons are greater than the other. There is no proof that a year worth of training that one would dispatch the other. Your friend would know good escrima technique as that is not an art that he has spent considerable time in with a good instructor. Basically he is partial to what he train. There is nothing wrong with that. He has an opinion. He has no facts.
I''d just like to point out that a lot of the old masters in Eskrima got their baptism of fire fighting as guerrillas against the Japanese invaders during World War 2(the Philippines was invaded and occupied by Japan after the fall of Bataan when Allied forces under Gen MacArthur retreated to Australia and left the Filipino fighters to fend for themselves until his return commemorated by the Leyte Landing). And many of these veteran fighters gave accounts of fighting Japanese officers armed with katana and even had the sword as trophies to show as proof. I have seen one myself which still retained it's edge after all these years and have heard of one old timer from a province in rural Mindanao who became rich because a Japanese tourist saw the markings on the tang which identified it as a genuine antique sword and bought it at a huge price. This doesn't mean that Eskrima dual sword techniques are superior, but it does show that it can be effective against a katana depending on the user's skill.
Your friend is definitely seeing things through a Kendo "lens".
Kendo and Escrima were created for using different weapons systems. Kendo has its roots in Japanese sword combat. The swords were cutting weapons designed to be held in two hands; the opponent was often wearing armor. Escrima was designed partly to simulate bladed weapons usage in the Philippine island group. Blades were smaller than the Japanese swords, and often single-handed. After practicing with blades became grounds for arrest by occupying Western powers (first Spain, then the US), the sticks themselves became weapons of choice instead of, necessarily, a substitute. The opponents the Escrimadores were facing were not wearing armor.
In summary:
Kendo: two-handed cutting sword used against armored opponents
Escrima: variety of sticks and (mostly) single-handed blades used against unarmored opponents
In addition, Kendo was influenced by Zen philosophy. Combining all these factors, the goal in Kendo is to ideally deliver a single fight-ending strike to a vulnerable (unarmored) part of the opponent, often at the same time the opponent moves. Kendo is for mutual combat.
Eskrima's fighting philosophy, on the other hand, is to overwhelm the opponent. It's about overkill. Since the opponent was unarmored, many more areas are vulnerable to attack.
On the subject of using two hands for the weapon: some weapons are better with two hands. Some are not. If I were wielding a katana (Japanese sword), I'd probably use two hands. Two hands affords maximum power. If I were wielding a 24" stick, or a kris (traditional Filipino stabbing blade), I'd use one hand, because that allows for greater reach to make up for the short length of the weapon.
On the subject of "swinging too wildly": go back to fight strategy. One single shot (Kendo) vs. overkill (Escrima). Some of the Escrima strikes are designed to be quick, choppy hits to distract or confuse. Someone raised on only seeing one big, final shot, like your friend, probably didn't know what to make of those strikes.
My grandfather (a guerilla during the war) started with a Bolo (machete like blade) and a sharpened bamboo spear. After the war, he possessed a rifle, Nambu pistol, a Katana and a skull which he used as a candle holder. We still have these things (my parents hid the guns during the Martial Law years). The Katana is a bit rusty now. I tried cleaning it with a sand paper.
My grandpa lost a finger during the war. The owner of the Katana lost his head during a hand to hand fight with my grandpa.
how is a style scientific or not scientific. both styles have been proven to work. neither one of them is better then the other.
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btw most kendo-ka will lose against a single handed sword style unless they know how to compensate for the different tactics and uses
Kendo involves a lot of ritualistic screaming when they spar.
they're both useful
in real fights/situations..."Martial Arts Styles" don't actually exist
Neither is superior or inferior in my opinion, if your friend can back his words up then he might have trained at a better school, if he can't well...what's the old saying about empty vessels making lots of noise?
My friend and I were walking on the beach and saw a group of four people practicing an art called Eskrima. Apparently it was the lightning scientific style.
My friend who practices kendo said that eskrima does not look effective at all. I asked why, and he said because to get the best effect you have to use two hands and not one, and that the stick fighters were swinging too wildly. He also said that by the looks of it, a person with only a years worth of training in kendo might even be able to dispatch an experienced eskrima guy.
He seems to know a lot about things, but is it true? IS eskrima an inferior martial art to Kendo?
