Cross-training
The Chinese and Malay communities of the Philippines have practiced eskrima together with kuntaw and silat for centuries, so much so that many North Americans mistakenly believe silat to have originated in the Philippines.
Some of the modern styles, particularly doce pares and modern arnis contain some elements of Japanese martial arts such as joint locks, throws, blocks, strikes, and groundwork, taken from: Jujutsu, Judo, Aikido and karate as some of the founders obtained black belt Dan grades in some of these systems. Some Eskrima styles are complementary with chinese Wing Chun, or japanese Aikido because of the of the nervous system conditioning and body mechanics when striking, twirling or swinging sticks.
In Western countries, it is common for eskrima to be practiced in conjunction with other martial arts, particularly wing chun, jeet kune do or silat. As a result, there is some confusion between styles, systems and lineage because some people cross-train without giving due credit to the founders or principles of their arts. For example, American Kenpo cross-training traces back to the interactions between Chinese, Japanese and Filipino immigrants in territorial/pre-statehood Hawaii, and to a lesser extent in other parts of the United States. Another one is the cross-training between eskrima and Jeet Kune Do Concepts as headed by Dan Inosanto, going according to the maxim "Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless", and also as Bruce Lee chose Eskrima as the weapon system for his art jeet kune do.
Proponents of such training say the arts are very similar in many aspects and complement each other well. It has become marketable to offer eskrima classes in other traditional Asian martial arts studios in America but some practitioners of other eskrima styles often dismiss these lessons as debased versions of original training methods.
Read more about this topic: Eskrima