The empty-hands component of the system is very effective in the realm of street realism. However, it was originally designed to supplement the weapon curriculum. For example, a practitioner might use parts of the empty-hand curriculum in a self-defense situation until a weapon could be acquired to further dissuade the attacker(s). Perhaps a practitioner would use the empty-hands skills if the practitioner’s initial weapon was disarmed. In varying social and legal climates, many law-obiding citizens have preferences for initially studying just empty-handed combat. Whatever the reason, the Pekiti-Tirsia System teaches effective methods in a systematic approach.
Other Applications:
Although the empty hand curriculum proper is smaller in size than the knife curriculum, there are countless empty hand applications from other parts of the system. For example, there are many parrying applications found in the Doble Baston curriculum, and a huge amount of knife techniques can be applied to empty hands as well. This all conforms to one of the popular concepts found in most Filipino martial arts: that the weapon arts train the practitioner for the empty hands as well.