Finding equipment in 1987
Jeff Davidson recalls that when he began studying Filipino martial arts in 1987, there was no easy way to find a supplier online. Students ordered from Asian World of Martial Arts, Dolan’s Sports, and later I and I Sports of California. He remembers how frustrating it was to find decent rattan and how often expensive equipment turned out to be poorly balanced.
What the school learned over time
The group tried different suppliers, wood species, and ways of looking after equipment. Davidson writes about how often sticks broke in practice and how that changed what he looked for. He also recalls a lumberyard on Seven Mile Road in Detroit that carried an unusually wide selection.
A smaller world
For better or for worse, things are much simpler today. I have a certain nomadic contact that gets good quality rattan when he goes to the P.I. I don’t even know his name - it’s programmed into my phone as “Sticks.” Our next supply is only a phone call away.