[Beautiful…this board is waaaay too slow in the afternoons…my browser timed out.]
Anyways, what I meant to say is…
Are any Dopers practitioners of this particular martial art (or any of its related disciplines - Escrima or Arnis)?
I’ve found a few useful websites on Kali, but I’d like to know a little more about the training before I go tonight.
Specifically, I’d like to know what the “normal” progresssion of skills is - does one start with single escrima sticks and eventually work up to wielding two sais?
Do students train with Nerf-ed weapons to prevent injuries or do they use real sticks and blunted blades? Is the student expected to purchase practice versions of all the weapons?
How much is this art geared towards sparring and tournaments here in the US? In other words - what sort of beating is my body going to take? 
From what I could find on the Net, Kali does not seem to use a belt system for demarcating skill levels. Is this the case, or does it use a different system?
I know that, as in most martial arts, the answers to these questions will vary from school to school, but I’m looking for generalizations and/or rules of thumb. I think that’s all for now - TIA for any answers and/or web resources you can provide for me.