What's your favourite reason to do FMA?

For me, it is the flow-drills, and their potencial when I spar. The ability to turn my weapon into an attack from almost every angle it ends up in, be it empty handed, with a knife, sword, stick or anything else - it's just awesome for a guy who "grew up with" the rigid system of tkd

Ah, and as a good runner up, I've got Gunting! Now there's a way of fighting I love!

 

Got to be the peopole you meet. they are a special breed of nutcase!!

Never found the same contentration of "characters" in any other MA.

 

The fluidity that it allows from previous training. I can do pretty much all the other stuff I've trained in the past in with FMA. I can put in my MT kicks/knees/elbows, my takedowns/throws from Judo/JJ/Wrestling, jointlocks from Tai Jitsu and loads more.

 

It's efficeint, and effective regardless of the range. And yes the people are always an intersting breed.

Best regards

Pat

 

Ha! Isn't that rumored to be the reason that Tom Bisio stopped doing FMA- the rest of the PT Kali folks were a little too much for him?

 

It's just up the road.

 

After todays class I can tell you what I really DON'T like about FMA

Getting a stick smacked hard right on your eyeball is PAINFUL!! And that's about all I don't like... easy to sum up!

 

To practice my footwork when I hit the disco and definately to improve my golf swing.

 

I just like weapons!

Hehe. No seriously, I really like the flow and aliveness of FMA s well. It seems to make it more real and combative.

 

I know this sounds cheesy but I felt it was my duty to study FMA. I'm a Filipino and even though I studied other martial arts, I was always attracted to our own wicked ways. But I was under the impression that all the good FMA teachers left to teach abroad.

I'm glad I was wrong about that one

 

Cheesy!!! me too.

I'm a mestizo, living in the UK. Initially I took it up because I felt I should learn more about my mothers culture and heritage (after she passed away). Now I do it because I love it.

Brutally effective and fits in nicely with my original wc background. I've two young boys who currently train in TKD, as they grow older, I will introduce them - giving them a jump start, that I (by choice) never had.

That said, I feel that many of the FMA techniques are TOO effective for a playground/after school scuffle. I guess I need to deveop there self-control and self-discipline first.

 

I like FMA because it is so effective, but so much fun too. Everytime I am shown something new I have the answers already. Where as some other arts I am always left with questions. ie. Why would you do it that way? What about this gap?

It is ideal for men and women as there are no limitations and everything can be adapted to suit your individual needs and capabilities.

Also the vindictive streak it has just makes it all the more effective as the mind has alot to do with making you more confident in your abilities.

Everything about it seems to suit me, it seems so natural and right. I do not feel the need to search for anything else.

There is no reason why you cannot introduce them to the fun aspects of FMA now and the real combat issues later. Just to get them used to handling a stick to become more comfortable with it.

Both my children have had a stick since they were 6 months old. My 6 year old is comfortable with both his left and right hand and now finds it quite easy to pick up two weapons. My 15 month old picks up a kamagong with ease and swings it around like she has been doing it for years....however I try to avoid this as I do not want her to knock herself out by accident, but she seems to be attracted to the Kamagong as every opportunity she gets she grabs it.

I first started getting my lad to do solo drills and forms, he is not fantastic but he is slowly gaining more control with the drills and memorising stuff for himself. GM Diony Canete sent him his first suit of armour when he was 4 which he has used regularly and is not scared of walking up to an adult and saying "you and me lets go". He loves hitting the tyre stack aswell for fun, but again this is teaching him an element of skill and control, plus building his muscles up for the sole purpose of good stick mechanics.

It is nice though when they can turn round and tell you the basic stances, angles and strikes and you have not really spent concentrated time getting them to know them. I have just made it fun.

My 15 month old also hits the tyre stack nearly everyday for a few minutes without any encouragement.

But there are occasions when they do not pick a stick up for a week, but I do not say anything as I want them to enjoy it.

 

I like the methods... short and swift.

 

simplicity but effective

 

For me its that I actually feel like i am being taught how to fight - which I think boils down to the training methodology.

FMA looks at the whole aspect of combat, not just learning sets of techniques, but learning how to use them.

 

For me, it's the beauty of overkill, and the ease of flow between FMA and JKD. Pure beauty.

 

It was said that in the olden days, a master can be differentiated from the others when he does a kill: a non master strikes with several flowing techniques and the opponent withers in pain and agony with blood splashing all over.

A master when he strikes, makes the opponent and the observers wonder : "which blow did the killing?t"

For me it has to be the flow and naturalness of the movements. And as said by the others: ease of integration with just about any system.

 

im a "bigger" guy, and before i started my training i contaced the instructor for the school and asked him if it would would cause me problems because im a bigger guy, he said, "no, infact, one of my best students is a bigger guy"...(by the way when i say "bigger" i mean overweight...)... any way thats how i got started in FMA's & i have found that the movements a really comfortable to me and they flow together really nice, so yea thats why...

 

Fortunately for us, It's not the olden days, and we'll never be judged by our "kills." I love the grace, flow and beauty of the movements, combined with the technique and fail-safe overkill.

 

I practice fma because it gives me opportunity to learn from peoples with real life experience in weapon handling and fma has some of the best fighting methods with weapons.