▁the ▁inc ant ations ▁spoken ▁before ▁training ▁or ▁during ▁mass age ▁are ▁now ▁often ▁replaced ▁with ▁prayer ▁rec itation . ▁ ▁We ap ons ▁ ▁Prior ▁to ▁the ▁introduction ▁of ▁fire ar ms , ▁weapons ▁training ▁was ▁actually ▁considered ▁to ▁be ▁of ▁greater ▁value ▁than ▁un ar med ▁techniques ▁and ▁even ▁today ▁many ▁master s ▁consider ▁a ▁student ' s ▁training ▁incomplete ▁if ▁they ▁have ▁not ▁learned ▁the ▁use ▁of ▁weapons . ▁Ex cept ▁for ▁some ▁weapon - based ▁styles , ▁students ▁must ▁generally ▁achieve ▁a ▁certain ▁degree ▁of ▁skill ▁before ▁being ▁presented ▁with ▁a ▁weapon ▁which ▁is ▁tradition ally ▁made ▁by ▁the ▁g uru . ▁This ▁sign ifies ▁the ▁beginning ▁of ▁weapons - training . ▁Sil at ▁uses ▁the ▁principle ▁of ▁applying ▁the ▁same ▁techniques ▁both ▁armed ▁and ▁un ar med , ▁though ▁not ▁quite ▁to ▁the ▁same ▁degree ▁as ▁is ▁done ▁in ▁the ▁Filip ino ▁mart ial ▁arts . ▁Un like ▁es kr ima , ▁sil at ▁does ▁not ▁necessarily ▁emphas ise ▁armed ▁combat ▁and ▁pract ition ers ▁may ▁choose ▁to ▁focus ▁mainly ▁on ▁fighting ▁empty - hand ed . ▁Advanced ▁students ▁practice ▁un ar med ▁against ▁armed ▁oppon ents . ▁ ▁Among ▁the ▁hundreds ▁of ▁styles ▁are ▁do z ens ▁of ▁weapons . ▁The ▁most ▁commonly ▁used ▁are ▁the ▁staff , ▁broad s word , ▁and ▁various ▁types ▁of ▁kn ives . ▁Sil at ▁today ▁is ▁often ▁associated ▁with ▁the ▁k ris ▁or ▁d agger ▁which ▁was ▁tradition ally ▁used ▁mainly ▁as ▁a ▁last ▁resort ▁when ▁the ▁f ighter ▁had