Eskrima interactive lessons?

Many of the patterns can be utilized w/sticks/knives/hands/machetes.Pretty easy to do yourself once you know a pattern and understand whatever weapon you want to do it with.


I think Ap means there are better basics to spend time on than siniwali.

For skill development it's more beneficial to practice the basic strikes,counters,defense,combos, etc than siniwali.At least as siniwali is normally practiced. (Although siniwali is fun,even my wife liked it).

Which brings us to-

Pete is taking the combo from a given siniwali and practicing it as a single combo without the steady repetition of siniwali.A method of training basically as what I spoke of above,basic combo (and defense vs. same) training.These types of basic trainings will lead to functional application by the practitioner sooner than just doing a lot of regular siniwali,which is good for flow,timing,speed ,etc,but are also things which don't depend on siniwali for development.

Pete's an old friend,over 20 years. Does a lot of historical research as pertains to weapons and fisticuffs and is a seriously pragmatic dude.

 

What El Medico said...

Doug Marcaida (who i posted videos of in another thread) has the philosophy that EVERYTHING is siniwali - this is as much to reinforce the involvement of the other hand even if you are just "solo baston"

 

Which gets to my point about starting with basic single stick work. If you're going to be using sinawali as anything more than fun party trick, you need to develop a fundamental understanding of the relationship between weapons, SiB. That's true whether you're talking about two sticks, stick and empty hand, two daggers, etc. So my suggestion about foregoing sinawali (in the general sense of "sinawali," versus Doug's broader view) has nothing to do with the utility of two sticks in confined spaces.

The principles behind sinawali come into play during regular single stick abecedario as well. Stick blocks, hand checks, stick counters, hand clears opponent's check, stick lands. That's sinawali as well. The interplay between hands (regardless of what's in them).

I don't think you're going to develop the skill you're really looking for by doing Heaven 6, etc. They might be good for attribute building, but start at ground level for actual application.

 

Ok, so can you all recommend a single stick drill or 2 that I can start off with?

 

As a n00b to Eskrima myself I'd say footwork footwork footwork and numerado.

Get the feet working correctly and learn the angles.

The only problem might be when you come to study under a teacher that their numbering system will be completely different to what you've studied.

 

This

That's a real problem, yeah. When the teacher yells "angle 6," he parries high and you crack him in the jumblies, it makes for some awkward conversations about prior training experience.

 

Any vids online by chance that would show the 12 strikes and 12 blocks Simon?

 

Sorry, I found them http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q-RGGuSr69s&desktop_uri=/watch?v=q-RGGuSr69s

 

This. Especially the last sentence...

Also, if you have access to something solid you can hit with a stick (such as an old car tyre, held by a willing partner) you can practice your striking mechanics with resistance and feedback.

You could pick a really simple combo of 2 or 3 'big swinging' strikes (e.g. downward diagonals: forehand, backhand, forehand, or the same but upwards diagonals, or, do backhand, forehand, backhand etc) and try to maximise the power of each shot. I find it useful to think about chambering (drawing back before each hit), turning your whole body (feet, hips, shoulders), hitting through the target, and controlling the stick afterwards so you don't get caught by the rebound

You could also do something similar, at long range, with a partner - you both hit the same pattern, sticks connecting somewhere in the top 6 inches, look 'through' the point of connection to see the intended target (eg the head for high strikes). Start with low power and build it up so you are both hitting with even power (be kind to your training partner - it's not nice to catch a rebound in the face when your partner cranks it up a few gears without warning!). For this drill, begin without footwork, and see how far away you can stand and still make contact without over reaching or over balancing - then this specifically works on range (statically), timing, targeting and hitting mechanics.

Footwork is, of course, very very very important, and so can be accommodated in this drill if you want to (e.g. start 'outside' long range, move around at bit, nod at each other, move in and hit a few cycles whilst static, move back out; or, move continuously while hitting your combo(s), but staying at long range; or, one partner 'leads', the other 'follows' etc), but see how you get on with the 'just hitting' version to start with, as the range (very important) element is harder to perceive if you are both moving.

IMHO, the full body mechanics of the big swinging strikes (all the way through, from one side to the other - "labtik" in the system I train) are the first and most important strike to get right, other types of strike that hit and return to the same side ("witik" in our system), move in a circular way ("redondo"), fan-like strikes (abanico), and thrusts ("sonkete" or "sungab"), all use some parts or a modified version of the big swinging strikes, so it makes sense to learn the full mechanic very early on as this leads to, again IMO, the most 'flowing' way of generating a lot of hitting power.

This doesn't mean that you shouldn't try out the other types of strike, but that you should be a bit careful in trying to do them with full power as some of them (witik and abanico spring to mind) can put extra forces on the wrist that you may not yet be used to, or that could be 'shared' around the body based on using some of the 'full mechanic'.

Re-reading the above, it seems about as clear as mud, so.... TLDR: hit something solid, like a car tyre, with your stick, see how hard you can do it, try not to stress your wrists or let the stick bounce back in to your face

Hope this helps (ha!)

Harry

 

I've trained with Master Melegrito and really love his style of teaching. What he offers is an excellent fit with Combat Hapkido for a few different reasons. Aside from FMA complementing Hapkido , Master Melegrito is a Combat Hapkido instructor and worked for some time with Grandmaster Pellegrini putting together a "bolt-on" program for Combat Hapkido that would focus on the similarities in the art and work in some of the unique aspects of FMA. The finished program was put on DVD.

The techniques that I have picked up were taught at a seminar with Master Melegrito and the reinforced with training at school and through the video set. If you wanted to work his program, I would recommend a similar path - do some training with him to get a handle on the basics and then work with other students who have background in it and reinforce it with the videos. Or, of course, get to a good FMA school and cross train and use Master Melegrito's videos as a reference for how to incorporate FMA smoothly into your Combat Hapkido.

 

Thank you Gentlemen for all of the help. Lots of good info here.

Thomas, it's good to know that it does go well with CH too. I'm ready to get back into it like now, but money is still keeping me from being able to right now. My Sensei also has trained with Melegrito. I want the program to compliment my combat hapkido, but I also want to be able to use it if needed in a combat situation as well.

 

is the footwork anything like boxing footwork? Like small steps, keeping a lead foot, circling (as you mentioned), feet no more than shoulder width apart, etc?

 

Also to Thomas, and everyone... is it better to just work the single stick or to do both single and double drills? I have a punching bag, so I do have something to hit, but I need to just hang it somewhere.

 

Start single first before adding a second, but don't neglect the "checking hand" just because it doesn't have a weapon in it

 

ok cool thanks.... oh and does everyone use a 26" or 28" stick(s)? Seems in some situations that shorter might be better... close quarters perhaps.

 

I use 28"-32" but I am 6'2" so that influences my weapon length

 

Good question; the answer, like the answer to a lot of questions in FMA along the lines of "which one is right?" is "yes and no".

In the case of footwork, IMO, the size of the steps usually depends on range of the engagement, or at least the range of the weapon, so closer in = smaller adjustments. If you are facing a longer weapon, you have to move more quickly to get off line which, unless you can move your feet like the Road Runner, takes bigger steps... Or 'skipping' steps, or running... In fact I quite like running when doing the leading/following type drill

Either way, a general principle is (IMO) that, when fighting, you should be constantly moving, and your weight should be fairly even between your feet so you can change direction, and speed, more easily. You may start by learning static feeling footwork, or drills that have one or two changes in foot positioning, but I think these are the (important) building blocks towards constant and free motion. This applies to the hands as well as feet...

Like Hannibal says, it can depend on your body size (I was taught that the typical measure is armpit to palm when the wrist is flexed), but they can also be slightly longer or even shorter - I'm 6-2 and use various single hand stick sizes between 22 and 36 (although most usually it's 28-32), with various weights. It's good to be able to 'feel' the weapon's reach (and weight) to know your effective range (and power/fluidity balance). See? Which one is right - yes, both, all.

Probably for a beginner, though, I'd recommend using the arm length measure or to just stick (haha!) with what you can get your hands on. This should allow you to get used to varying range based on body/partner positioning (with obviously different weapon lengths like stick or knife), before moving to the subtleties of 1-2 inches difference in effective weapon range.

Which length is better in close quarters? How close? You should have also drawn one of your knives by now

You could always hit with the short end, or hold it with one hand at each end, or just use your naturally available weapons that may be more effective at shorter ranges (spit, kick, punch, knee, elbow, headbutt, bite etc).

IMO a weapon is only worth using if it enhances your overall effectiveness when compared to your empty hand.