The double stick aspect of the system tends to be very "viewer-friendly", as most onlookers find the interweaving slashing of the weapons to be aesthetically pleasing. It must be stressed that all the movements in the double stick system are functional, however flashy or not. Various weapon skills are acquired through the use of two weapons simultaneously, such as ambidexterity, total body coordination and reference postions used to enter into finishing techniques. Working with double sticks also develops the practitioner's sense of rhythm and timing.
Because of the attributes honed by practicing double sticks, the ability to perform double stick applications becomes a nice "prerequisite" for espada y daga and double knife, as well as an invaluable supplement to mano y mano (empty hands).
The "Dirty Dozen":
These are a set of twelve warm-ups that serve not only to stretch the muscles needed to perform double stick, but to further develop the body mechanics for blade-work as well as develop well-balanced coordination and power in both arms.
The Attacks:
The Attacks are a set of twelve attack patterns which teach the practitioner various chambering positions, and how to deliver powerful strikes from these chambers without the weapons arms becoming entangled or trapped. The Attacks also teach how to use the different parts of the sword/stick offensively (e.g. the butt-end of the stick for punyo strikes or hooking; the side of the blade for witiks--or "fanning" strikes). There is also a Double Baston Abecedario of twelve attacks that closely follows the principles of the Solo Baston Abecedario.
The Drills:
These drills allow the practitioner to practice certain attack combinations against other attack combinations. One of the rationales of doing this is to take otherwise symmetrical drills and put them in a very unsymmetrical context, so that that the practitioner can see a particular attack and its virtues (and weaknesses) against different types of attacks. For example, working the hooking drill against the various attacks will show the practitioner when hooking could be useful to do and when one should not try it.
Doble-Disarma:
This is the basic form of double stick disarming that consists of twelve techniques. Various entries are learned for the opponent's attack, which end in a disarm. In addition to learning the mechanics of the disarms, the set also teaches how to zone away from the opponenent's second weapon. After the stick applications are learned, the double knife applications are learned, and then finally the empty hand variations are given.
The Contradas:
As in the Solo Baston curriculum, this set consists of multiple, small, quick strikes for every one of your opponent's strikes. This is a set of twelve entries which lead into various counterstrikes. Practitioners who make quickness their virtue find useful applications here.
The Recontras:
This set emphasizes direct, powerful entries which require good timing. The twelve techniques here typically end in a break, lock, choke or head shot. Practitoners who have great strength and like to "bully" their opponent often find these techniques to their liking.
Other Applications:
It is not unusual to find many empty hand applications hidden within the double stick curriculum. Thus, practitioners often find their empty hand skill improve greatly as the double stick work progresses. Also,the coordination required for double stick work sets the stage for espada y daga.