Dont you also find that the FMA weapons training vastly increases your timing and speed in your empty hands applications, I know I have found it give me far better reactions too. Best regards Pat
I think it's worth pointing out that you used the term "kru." So he coaches muay thai as well, I'd guess. And if he's doing muay thai and kali, he probably does JKD concepts. (All of which you may well have already said and I'm doing a bang-up job as the Obvious Fairy.) It may well be that your teacher is simply more comfortable with the empty hand mode. And I think that works perfectly well myself. I agree with you that the empty hand stuff fits logically enough within the theories of angles and so on that changing the order doesn't radically change the outcome. As I've said, the empty hand is my "favoured" mode at this point. And in some FMA circles, that might be considered weird. (The voice that lives in my index finger assures me otherwise though.) And I don't think there's any real issue with doing the order differently. But I do agree with Pat that starting with a weapons concentration sharpened a lot of footwork, angles, and so on in a way that I didn't experience in my empty hand training prior to that. In the final analysis, though, you're right. The structure of FMA is such that you can move things around and all the concepts continue to be relevant and timely. That's a big part of my faith in the FMA teaching methodology. Stuart
@Pat I do think that weapon timing really helps to 'slice time thinner' for empty-hand fighting. However, I am still very much a novice, and furthermore I'm not a particularly fast individual. At this point the difference I find isn't even so much with stick v. empty hand; it is more with the timing generally. Moving my feet, being in the right spot, striking on a half beat instead of a full beat... I'm still trying to become proficient with that. Honestly Pat, that was a rhetorical question, right? You know much better than I do the difference. I'll bet that at this point, when someone throws a punch at you, it's in slow motion, like Neo in the Matrix @Owen Well, the obvious fairy can deduce correctly from the use of the word 'Kru' that my instructor is a Thaiboxer. However, beyond that you're SOL. He's a British ex-pat who actually know Pat the Cat from back in the day. He is actually a FMA guy and thaiboxer. He is certainly not a JKD guy, and as near as I can tell, he is most comfortable with a knife (he's about 160 lbs. soaking wet- wirery, incredibly fast... you get the idea). Actually, in this thread, about FMA in NYC, I went into a little more depth. As far as training goes, I think he does things in a non-traditional manner. For example, we learn double stick first. As a former fencer this confused me. However, his rationale was well founded in the fact the learning curve is steeper and consequently you learn faster because you must use both hands. Also, like I said, he doesn't stress stick work so much as he stresses everything else- footwork, timing, positioning, awareness, etc. I don't know how other FMA instructors work, but this might not be standard FMA progression. With that said, I don't know if there is a standard FMA progression. As a proficient fencer, my footwork and timing need alot more work than my weapon skills, so maybe he is just focusing on my needs. I don't really have enough FMA experience to know either way. In any case, I have been impressed with Kru/Guru Simon (we do call him Guru in class btw) time and time again. I think he is an FMA guy through and through. Edit- Owen, in re-reading your post, I think that you mention a key idea in the following quote: Stick/sword fighting is, due to it's very nature, much more linear than open hand. There are definite lines with a stick, whether piercing or slashing, and definite points at which a person will or will not get hit. For example, one thing we learn is that the time to close range after an opponent has attacked is, generally, as soon as possible after the stick has passed your center line. This has to do with timing, but also with the geometry of the attack. For me, a successful attack depends mostly on how I move my feet before the attack, nothing more. If my footwork is bad, I will almost always get hit; likewise, when I am lucky enough to use great footwork, my attack seems almost impossible to counter. I'm sure any FMAer out there knows this feeling, and it is something that is really brought out during weapon training.
Not at all! I just like talking about my school/instructor. You're deductions made sense, they just didn't happen to be accurate. btw, I re-read your post an edited in a larger response.
Rhetorical but of course, you are right too in that it does seem a bit like Neo in the Matrix in that respect which has in the past surprised a few would be idiots Tell Simon I said hi to the old sod and who knows maybe next year I may bump in to him and stand him a beer or two as I am planning a visit to the US some time. A mini tour you might say. Best regards Pat
I actually asked Kru Simon about this yesterday in class. He agreed and said that the theory was there. He didn't say it in the same way that you do, but when he stresses 'timing', I think a big part of that is exactly what you are talking about. For example, yesterday we were doing an entry drill and I was having real trouble executing a preliminary parry. I was always late, and consequently would have gotten hit every time. It turns out that the problem wasn't in my technique, but rather in the *drumroll*........... timing!!! I was waiting to execute the parry too long, and by the time I had started, it was essentially too late. That is the kind of thing that I think makes 'slices time slower', slows down punches, or whatever. I was waiting to be attacked; he (and you, and all other experienced FMA practicioners) respond long before the attack comes. I did say hello to him once for you. I don't know if he is a beer drinker, but I'm sure that he would like your company. You know, if you came over for the NYC MAP meet *hint hint, wink wink* this spring, you could instruct, do a little FMA, see Simon, I'd buy you a beer, or two even. As a matter of fact, if you get your limey derierre over here, I'll buy you all you can drink for an evening (which, in New York, could be more than your airfare). FYI- I mentioned to Kru Simon that you are online and post here fairly regularly. He asked what 'fairly regularly' was, and I said you had more than a thousand posts. He said something to the extent of you having free time because he was working/teaching class...
Tell him I said that is not working, he just on one big jolly After working a good 40 hour week in Construction, then teaching my regular classes as well as travelling every other weekend to teach around the UK and Europe I relax by winding up you guys on MAP with a cold can of beer in my hand. But hey I am just a lazy type of guy. Send him my best. Best regards Pat
because in ancient philippine islands people used to carry swords and small wavy knives called the kris. but whe the spanish took over, they banned all weapons but gentlemen always had walking canes with them i dunno its like a macho thing you know. caballeros had walking sticks as a sign of a gentleman and sometimes they had hidden blades and often they would duel with these blades. so that is why arnis is angle based because of the influence of the spanish circle plus the wavy criss cross movements and knife handling of kali based from pentak silat make arnis a formidable art.
