6 Ways Filipino Martial Arts Helps You De-Stress and Refocus

Robert Grossman • May 16, 2025

Swing a Stick, Clear Your Head: Why Filipino Martial Arts Is the Stress Reset You Didn’t Know You Needed

Two adult men smiling during Balintawak Martial Arts Class after a stressful work week
Let’s be honest: work stress doesn’t stay neatly behind at 5:00 PM on Friday. It rides home with you, creeps into your weekend, and hijacks your headspace.

Whether you’re grinding at a desk in downtown Chicago, troubleshooting systems in Skokie, or simply trying to be present with your family and your own goals — the pressure adds up. And most people don’t have a healthy way to hit the reset button.

So here’s a wild but solid solution:
Hit something with a stick.

I’m talking about Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) — specifically Balintawak Eskrima, a stick-based system that helps you shake off the mental cobwebs, get grounded in your body, and reset your nervous system after a long, overstimulating week.

You don’t have to be a fighter.
You just have to be ready to swing, sweat, and show up.

Let me break down how it works.

1. You Hit Stuff. And It Feels Amazing.

It’s Saturday morning. You grab your stick, shake off the sleep, and step into class. You start to move. Maybe you're tired. Maybe you're a little tense.
Then —
 WHACK!
 WHACK!
 THUMP! THUD!

There’s something weirdly healing about hitting the heavy bag. Not because you're angry, but because you're human. You’ve been holding stress in your shoulders, your back, your gut — and this gives it a place to go.

Unlike punching air or jogging on a treadmill, this kind of physical expression has texture. A stick hitting a bag gives instant feedback. You feel the force. You hear it. You let the week fall out of your muscles with every hit.

2. It Loosens Your Body Where You Didn’t Know You Were Tight

Balintawak’s movement drills are designed to unlock mobility.
After a week of sitting, scrolling, typing, commuting — your spine and hips need a wake-up call. Our drills keep you flowing: torso twisting, pivots, shoulder and head movement, swings, and strikes. You’re not just exercising — you're recalibrating.

Your body goes from “work zombie” to realigned and alive. Think of it like foam rolling with a purpose — except you’re learning how to defend yourself at the same time.

3. It Forces You Into the Present Moment

Work stress thrives on what-ifs and not-yets.
Balintawak training forces you to respond to what’s actually in front of you.

When someone swings a weapon (in a controlled, safe drill), your brain doesn’t have time to wander to unread emails or awkward Slack messages. You’re here. Now. Eyes focused. Body reactive.
Some people call it “No Mind.” or "Flow State" You’re not frozen — you’re flowing. It’s active presence.

And funny enough?
That practice — being fully in the moment — stays with you.
Monday’s problems don’t hit as hard when you’ve trained to breathe under pressure and deal with things one strike at a time.

4. You Sweat Out the Week

According to Healthline, sweating improves your mood, boosts your energy, and helps regulate your stress hormones. We make it a goal to sweat in every class.

Whether it’s from fast-paced partner drills, stick-sparring, or our cardio stick games (yes, games — it’s still fun), we get that full-body “I did something real” workout.

It’s not punishment.
It’s play with purpose.
And it leaves you feeling lighter, clearer, and more awake than any iced coffee could.

5. Cuentada Trains You for Life’s Pushback

“Cuentada” is a Filipino word that,to us, means counter-for-counter. In Balintawak, this isn’t just about fighting — it’s about anticipating what happens next and adapting.

You train to read people’s movement patterns. You learn to respond instead of react.
ou get used to the idea that when something comes at you, you have an answer — because you’ve practiced finding one, over and over.

That skill translates. Whether you’re managing a team, raising kids, or just navigating daily stress, cuentada helps you stay calm, creative, and capable.

6. New Environment, New Energy

Sometimes, just getting out of your usual environment is enough to change your mindset. When you train FMA, you’re not in your office, your car, or your daily routine. You’re on the mat. With real people. From all walks of life.

You connect. You learn. You laugh.

You get perspective — from people outside your bubble.
And when you step back into your life afterward, things feel just a little more manageable.

Reset Your Week. Come Hit Stuff.

You don’t need to be a martial arts master. You don’t need to be in perfect shape.
You just need to be ready to try something different.


Our Chicago Balintawak classes meet you where you’re at — whether you're a 33-year-old data guy who wants to feel alive again, or a 63-year-old engineer finally checking off “learn FMA” from your bucket list.


Come get sweaty. Swing a stick.
Laugh. Learn. Reset.



You’ll leave class feeling clearer, stronger, and more ready for whatever Monday throws at you.

Want to try it out?
Click here to grab your first class pass →


We train in Evanston, IL. Saturday mornings and Wednesday evenings.
One stick, one hour, one less stressful life.



#StickTherapy #ChicagoBalintawak #MartialArtsForLife #ResetWithEskirma

How to Find Martial Arts Training on Chicago’s North Side

By Robert Grossman • June 6, 2025
Let’s be real for a second. If you live in Chicago, Evanston, Skokie, or Niles, you’ve probably passed at least five different martial arts gyms without even noticing. Tae Kwon Do, BJJ, Krav Maga, Muay Thai, Karate, Kung Fu, Silat… It’s a buffet. The hard part isn’t finding a place to train—it’s figuring out what kind of training will actually fit your life. I’ve been there. I live by Albany Park, and I’ve tried everything from Hapkido to Aikido. I work a job that doesn’t let me just clock out and forget it all. So when I started training in Filipino Martial Arts—specifically Balintawak Eskrima—it was like something finally clicked. I found a system that kept my body moving, made me feel sharp, and reminded me of why I started in the first place: I wanted to learn something practical. So here’s what I’ve learned—whether you’re in your 30s figuring out your next step, or in your 50s still curious (and still kicking)—here’s what really matters when choosing where and what to train:

How Filipino Martial Arts Makes You a Better Problem Solver

By Robert Grossman • April 23, 2025
I’ve spent years behind desks, in front of screens, solving problems that lived in spreadsheets, security protocols, or messy data sets. And while my degrees in design methods and imaging taught me how to think critically, nothing rewired the way I actually respond to challenges quite like Filipino Martial Arts — specifically, Balintawak Eskrima. It’s more than learning to defend yourself. It’s training your body and mind to process chaos, spot patterns, and make better decisions — fast.

Why Desk Jobs Don’t Mean You Can’t Be a Warrior

By Robert Grossman • March 17, 2025
It's Not About Your Job Title, It's About How You Live Your Life So many of you Chicago area have desk jobs. Analysts, designers, marketers, engineers, and more. That doesn’t mean you aren’t warriors in your own way. Being a warrior isn’t just for people who carry a firearm for a living. Being a warrior is how you live your life. What it means to be a warrior That means taking care of yourself and your loved ones. Taking care of your community. Digging in and standing tall when you are scared. It’s doing the hard thing sometimes. It’s speaking the truth rather than holding back. It’s going hard. It’s in your attitude of getting back in the game when you make a mistake. It doesn’t mean your superior. It’s coming at whatever it is with your full self. It means making time for regular training. Making Time to Train A warrior trains. Even training 15 minutes a day adds up. The more times you practice the better you get. Physical movement and sweating gets the blood flowing so you can let go of stress, especially if you’ve been sitting all day. Training helps your physical fitness and improves mental focus. A good martial arts practice translates beautifully to office life. It transforms your attitude. Have you ever noticed that you’re able to work through things on the mat that have been in your way at work? I remember practicing one day years ago and my instructor told me I was sticking my butt out and all I could think was “Man! I’ve been doing that all week at work, too!” People Skills Nowadays a warrior has to know how to work with people. In martial arts training that gets practiced by building trust and respect with your training partners. I’ll tell you a secret - finding ways to make them shine will make you shine. Interpersonal skills come from communicating and learning from the encounters. Being able to communicate so you don’t hurt each other help you build more intensity with your movements. Nowadays being a warrior is also leadership. That doesn’t mean being the one in charge but leading by example. That is part of why we have you lead the 12 Basics in class. Remember, being a warrior is an attitude. It’s how you live your life. It’s not that you have to even consider yourself one. It’s how you approach your day and and deal with what you are faced with. It’s how you are in the world. It’s something that is cultivated and practiced. It can be done from anywhere. Whether from in the dojo, the garden, or at your desk, you are a warrior when you need to be.
The back of a hand holding a pen as a weapon, against a blue background.

5 Self-Defense Moves Everyone Should Know

By Robert Grossman • February 7, 2025
You work at night a lot. You know someone who has been assaulted. You took some self defense classes as a teenager but its been years so now you are finding ways to start practicing again. Here are the top five self-defense moves you should consider mixing into your routine. These come from my 30+ years training martial arts, my own experiences and having spoken to numerous women on the subject and taken into account what their experience has been like.