Well I finally got around to trying the Inosanto blend kali at Wetoskey Academy of Martial arts. After the bow in for kali, which was longer then I expected, we started with some double stick parther work. Now I had a few weeks experience in Inayan escrima so I though this beginner class would be familiar. Well in some ways it was but in other larger ways it was not. Some movements were familiar but beyond that, it was very different. Namely familiar in the blocks and checks, but what we did after initial contact was different. After the double stick drills, which were numerous, we did single stick disarms. Now I never got to do this in my old club. So this was very new to me. They were sure to delineate between blunt object only disarms and blade appropriate disarms. The double stick drills and especially the disarm drills really hit home how important foot work and movement were. For a bit of time I found my self struggling to do it right because I was not moving. However once pointed out and corrected I started getting it. We basically did this the rest of class. Towards the end they talked about the dull and live blade drills they do. She even demonstrated for me some of what we were doing on a dull short sword. Im sorry I could not be more specific with the drills we did. I know they were mostly numbers 1-5. So I had fun and im glad I found a good place. One that spars, which is important. I will likely be going back.
