Hi Fellow FMA'ers, You might be interested to view a special video on "10 Radical Truths about Arnis". Please check out this link. http://www.unitedarnis.com/Arnis-10-radical-truths.html United Arnis is an FMA school in Singapore that employs the Unified Training System, a combination of traditional, modern and scientific training methodology to develop speed, power and technique
If weapons are just an extension of your hand how come nobody has ever been shot with a finger or slashed with a thumb? Weapons are not extensions of a hand, they have qualities which a hand does not.
Without the hands the weapons are noting more than inanimate objects they extend from your hand and it is the movement of your arms and hands that make them weapons, there for they are extensions of your hand. Plus the movements made with the weapon are transferable to the movements made without the weapons. It is the hand that weilds it that makes it a weapon. Best regards Pat
Not coming down on either side of this exchange, I think it highlights one of the big problems with MA discussion in the first place. We seem to love pithy little sayings. Unfortunately, they're bloody useless without the explanation behind them. Both Pat and Bambi have said something very useful and important to bear in mind beyond the saying "the weapon is an extension of the hand."[/i] It's the analysis of the implications of these sound bytes that's useful. The sound bytes themselves are just cannon fodder for critical thinking. For the record, I'm not accusing the OP of anything. I know there's a brief explanation in this video clip of each of these "truths" as well. Stuart
It's an inoffensive and upbeat article. But I'm in an irritated mood today. So I will tear it apart a little bit. That may be true for some styles. It is by no means true in general. Some never address empty hand fighting at all. I've seen styles which only, ONLY covered the sword and shield or knives or large sticks or other weapons. These were old, traditional systems from the Southern Philippines. There are others where the empty hand portion was directly integrated from the very first day. And there's everything in between. Precisely speaking, Arnis is a martial art that can be applied with a variety of weapons or none at all. Like all serious martial arts it was designed to make use of the best weapons available to its practitioners. They are not. Weapons are an extension of your will. Every weapon has physical characteristics which demand changes in the way you move. Anything with length changes your range. Anything you hold in your hand adds an extra joint. A blade changes everything because you do not have to hit hard or repeatedly to cause fatal damage. The kind of damage you cause and the way move to inflict it by stabbing is different than cutting and both are different than blunt trauma. The absolute worst weapons players I've met are the ones who say that "the weapon is just an extension of the hand". They don't understand the differences. Because they think they know it all it's nearly impossible to break them of the bad habits they can't believe they have. Paul of Tarsus says in his letter to Titus "To the Pure all things are pure" I always add "To the Eskrimador all things are weapons." Once you get used to the idea of using weapons you can adapt all sorts of things to cause damage. But a pen is not a Tapado stick is not a sword. The lines are the same. Many of the movements are similar. The way you use a short, light stabbing weapon is nothing like the way you use a long, heavy club. You can't ignore the particulars or blithely assume that what works for one will automatically work for the other. What exactly do you mean by that? Do you mean that every time you make a move you have planned out his response and your response to that? Do you mean that you never do a simple attack? Do you develop an ability to improvise so that you can do more than one thing depending on how the situation develops? There is a lot of things your statement could mean. Some of them are true. Some of them are not. Not a bad place to start. How about a better one like "Strike the nearest open target" Have you ever seen a bunch of (male) footballers lining up for penalty kicks? 'Nuff said
Hi tellner, Frankly, I admire your analysis of the video, and the video has just completed it's mission - "to make all of us think" Given your observations (which I will not refute) but highlight some points: "Arnis is an art of empty hand" Your ans: That may be true for some styles. It is by no means true in general. Some never address empty hand fighting at all. I've seen styles which only, ONLY covered the sword and shield or knives or large sticks or other weapons. These were old, traditional systems from the Southern Philippines. There are others where the empty hand portion was directly integrated from the very first day. And there's everything in between. Precisely speaking, Arnis is a martial art that can be applied with a variety of weapons or none at all. Like all serious martial arts it was designed to make use of the best weapons available to its practitioners." My Ans: You are right in saying this, unfortunately, because that is how it was and it is being presented by masters of old and new, however, this is not the reality of the art. Students should start with weapons to train their hands and flow of movement graduating to empty hands for this reason, you can see most of the empty hands movements of arnis as being like those as when having a weapon at hand. "Weapons are extension of your hand" Your Ans: They are not. Weapons are an extension of your will. Every weapon has physical characteristics which demand changes in the way you move. Anything with length changes your range. Anything you hold in your hand adds an extra joint. A blade changes everything because you do not have to hit hard or repeatedly to cause fatal damage. The kind of damage you cause and the way move to inflict it by stabbing is different than cutting and both are different than blunt trauma. The absolute worst weapons players I've met are the ones who say that "the weapon is just an extension of the hand". They don't understand the differences. Because they think they know it all it's nearly impossible to break them of the bad habits they can't believe they have. My Ans: In the way of holding the weapon and the muscles and limbs that are involved, in this respect you are right. However, it is not this detail that matters, it is the philosophy behind this statement. I like your statement "The kind of damage you cause and the way move to inflict it by stabbing is different than cutting and both are different than blunt trauma." and this specifically answers the question. This is how a Filipino arnis player would think and react during a fight, with or with out weapons, regardless if cut or blunt trauma was made in the process of applying the technique. "Arnis is convertible art" Your Ans: Once you get used to the idea of using weapons you can adapt all sorts of things to cause damage. But a pen is not a Tapado stick is not a sword. The lines are the same. Many of the movements are similar. The way you use a short, light stabbing weapon is nothing like the way you use a long, heavy club. You can't ignore the particulars or blithely assume that what works for one will automatically work for the other. My Ans: Once again, if we are talking about the way of handling light and heavy weapons, in this respect you are right. However, the point being emphasized here is that regardless of what weapon you are holding, a long blade, long stick, a pointed knife or even a ballpen, it is the flow of your hands and body that counts. In the same sense, a japanese sword would be handled by a japanese samurai base on the flow that they know, but this does not constraint them to use other available weapons using the same hand movement and flow. Conversely speaking, if I got hold of a katana, I will not play it as a japanese, however I will employ the hand flow that I know regardless of katana, stick, bolo, parang, knife or ballpen. "Everything is a setup in Arnis" Your Ans or Questions: What exactly do you mean by that? Do you mean that every time you make a move you have planned out his response and your response to that? Do you mean that you never do a simple attack? Do you develop an ability to improvise so that you can do more than one thing depending on how the situation develops? My Ans: You've picked the right question, and I'll give you that. I can summarize this in two ways. In Filipino fighting we have what we call as "Enganyo" or feint, it is a sort of a bait to let the opponent to react giving you the window to launch your strategy, please take note that I used the word "strategy" and not "attack". Why is this important, during bladed times in the Philippines you have to strategize to win a battle as a simple wrong move could mean your limb being cut-off or death. "Engayo" on a higher level is much like a jab or fake in boxing that you use to create an opening, this in it self if a setup. The second way of explaining this is simple by answering your first question: Do you mean that every time you make a move you have planned out his response and your response to that? Yes, a Filipino fighter always has that in mind. "Strike at the nearest point " Your ans: Not a bad place to start. How about a better one like "Strike the nearest open target" My Ans: That's a very good suggestion, frankly, I lost out of words and sentences when I was doing the video. I shall consider this on future videos Bottom line: On my observation you would make a good practitioner of Arnis given your ability to reason. Knowing what to weed-out what is applicable and what is not makes Arnis more fitting for you as a martial art. If you have not tried it yet, you can do so and add it to your repertoire of fighting arts.
Everything you do with in most of the FMA apply to the hand-to-hand techniques, weapons are a good way to turbo-charge those reactions, as well as learn how to defend yourself with weapons.
I've been an Arnis varsity way back High School, and I found it useful esp. using weapons, such as a stick, or any weapon you can see in the street. But my exp. in Arnis was succeeded when I trained wushu. Better than our martial arts Arnis.
