@james , a few daily objects can substitute as a stick such as a wine bottle, a broom, a rolled-up newspaper, a hanger, a cooking utensil such as a whisk and a large serving spoon, and if you're somewhere in the woods there's bound to be some tree branches on the ground.  But in general, you can substitute other daily objects for a short stick or knife such as a key chain full of keys, a spoon, fork, butterknife, stapler, cup or glass, t.v. remote control, etc.  Admittedly some substitutes are better than others, and any substitute doesn't perfectly behave like a stick or knife, but at least your taught how to apply some daily things as a self defense weapon.

In truth, prior to 1959 and especially the popularization of martial arts that Bruce Lee help brought about in the 1960s, martial arts was not taught commercially (at a large scale at least).  Asian martial arts including Filipino martial arts did exist in the U.S. and possibly in Spain, but it was just not openly taught to the public.  Often, it's cited that many Asian martial arts were taught in secret passed down from parent to child or within their community at best.  With the Filipino martial arts, I can't say that it was necessarily taught in secret or that secrecy was important, it's more likely there was no way or no mechanism to teach it to a lot of people especially outside the Filipino community.  Filipino martial arts, and Asian martial arts in general, were relatively unknown outside the Filipino or Asian community, so there was no (commercial) demand or push for these arts to be exposed to the larger American community.  I could be wrong, but Filipino martial arts was being marginalized even in Filipino society be it in the Philippines or outside the Philippines due to the modernization of Filipino culture, and the emphasis on Filipinos of getting an education especially a college education, obtaining a professional career that makes money, and migrating abroad to other countries or working in a ship.  Where does Filipino martial arts or martial arts in general fit in a Filipino's daily life?

But with the popularization of martial arts, there was a large and sudden demand for it beyond any Filipino or Asian community.  This commercial demand opened up opportunities for Filipino and Asian martial arts to set up schools, workshops, classes (in your local gym or community center), and sell instructional books, video tapes, DVDs, etc.  Martial art magazines would become very popular and were a staple in any magazine store, bookstore, grocery store, and even gas stations, and they would have articles on the various Asian martial arts.      

The popularity of martial arts in the movies and t.v., in the 1960s to the 1990s also helped proliferate the Asian martial arts.  When the internet came long in the mid 1990s, access to Asian martial arts knowledge and discussion of it went beyond movies, t.v. shows, books, videos, schools, workshops, and classes.  All martial arts benefited but especially the less popular ones.