Giving people the tools to develop realistic, fighting-based martial skills, centered on the Filipino Martial Arts (FMA). Some people call it arnis, escrima, kali, or other names, but at it's core, it's fighting with a stick.
I've been in martial arts training since 1982, focusing exclusively on FMA since 2004, and I teach a class locally in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
- guro/teacher Siling Labuyo Arnis - full Dog Brother (Chili Pepper Dog) - sifu/teacher Shaolin Wu Hsing Moon kung fu - blue sash Krabi Krabong
EXCELLENT video! Very thorough and complete - love the fact that you emphasized the importance of warming up properly. 3:53 - You have an awesome redondo/back hand combo. I WOULD NOT want to get hit by that!🤣 You'd take a guy's head off with that BH strike! Damn!
Do you have any specific recommendations for fencing masks? Brand, and where I can purchase. I have been looking for one, but just have not been able to find one that I like. I've tried on other people's masks, but none felt comfortable for me.
I don't have any solid recommendations, other than getting a 3-weapon mask, which are the stronger ones. If you've been able to try on other people's masks, that's a good start because you might find a brand you like. That said, if those masks aren't new, they might already have been shaped a little to their owner's heads. I'm a big proponent of kludging your gear to make it perfect for you. I've added a little extra padding to the chin of mine, because it kept slipping and I would get cheese-gratered on my chin.
If understood correctly, A attacks, B attacks, A attacks again and then attacks in a 2 or 3 combo. I think you mentioned this drill in one of your interview with FMA Discussion
i've been training in various escrima styles since 1982....and for a long time i was told that the stick is the same as the blade.. BULLSHIT...most filipino instructors NEVER train with a blade (you can use metal trainers) most styles are stick oriented. The exception being Decuerdes and a few others..after practicing with metal trainers i came to see the shortcomings of stick...sticks are primarily impact weapons(oh you can stab or poke but it's not a SHARP tip) i can take a blow to the ribs for instance and while it would be painful it won't necessarily stop me,especially if i was fighting for my life...whereas try that with a sharp weapon (a machete for instance) and it's game over...when you fight with a bladed object the techniques are different, the timing is different, the approaches are different and so many other things that i can't list them here..bottom line ...stick and blade are NOT the same , and any escrimador who says they are doesn't know what he's talking about.
Because knives and bolos were outlawed by the Spanish so the Filipinos kept on practicing with sticks, like rattan, so that they can remember the art. Also they used other types of wood like bahi and kamagong.
Certainly the further we get from an era where people would have engaged in sword fights, things get muddier. When I was taught disarms, for instance, about half might have worked against a blade, but there was never any distinction made. They were all just lumped into "disarms".
What I love about escrima is that it’s so intense from a coordination aspect It has a long history Every now and then people talk and question it’s effectiveness for Self Defense purposes but I love this martial art And I want to start training again
I so appreciate you, you are knowledgeable and traditional. I am only sad that the people that do not understand what you are saying probably won’t hear this. God bless!
@@NiñoVincenFernandez Sure could, friend. I've had an urge to do a video explaining test-cutting, so no problem doing a blade review too. Thanks for the idea.
Minimal safety gear is good, and in many cases getting rid of the head gear would improve your technique. The ideal use of the fencing mask in Kali (et. al.) is to protect the feeder while allowing the receiver to land clean counter-attacks under pressure. In such a drill, the receiver is NOT protected, only the feeder, since only the feeder gets hit. The problem w/ Dog Brothers is that they sacrifice range for aggression, which is a recipe for self-deletion. None of their "techniques" are viable if you train with real weapons, i.e. sharp ones. It's great for building courage, which is important, but not as good for fight IQ. In short, if you have a stick (or a sword) and you let somebody tackle you, then there is something wrong with your training. Dog Brothers always try to grapple, which could get them killed in a street-fight with strangers. I respect them, but I don't fear them. Cheers.
Good observation - the Thai daab sword has a long hilt that gets used for striking, and the mechanics of it tie in tightly with Muay Thai elbow strikes.
@@gurobadger that's nice, I knew there were overlaps with muay thai but did not know the détails. BTW what KK system do you study? I would guess Buddhai Sawan since it appears to be present in north america, but could be wrong.
Excellent question. Padded sticks let you swing hard while still maintaining a high level of safety. That said, I'd still recommend eye protection with them. The level of flex in the stick bugs me, but absolutely that's a personal thing, and not something that should be considered as a general problem with them.
Coffee first. Safety is like third or fourth. But seriously great video. I'm going try to implement some of these with some of my greener students who are having some of those issues. Thanks for sharing
Love your t-shirt. So that's with great pleasure and honour that I officially invite you to join the Cat Fellows, a gathering of cately cat persons that love cute little ball of fur and fighting.
Thanks for the video. i agree with you regarding the combinaison of the witik backhand, moulinet to horizontal backhand, it flows very naturally. I picked it up very quickly when I started training, even though I tend to go for an upward witik backhand as the bounce from the strike really sets the moulinet well.
There's the little spot in the bloopers where I had to tell Liam "no, aim to HIT me." He laughed and said, "did you ever think you'd see the day when you'd have to tell a Dog Brother to hit someone?"
Because its a safe training tool. If an attorney represents himself in a court case, he has a fool for a lawyer. If a knife fighter trains with a (sharpie), he has a fool for a surgeon.
I definitely agree 💯%... As a kid During the 90s i remember i brought my dads shiny arnis kamagong in school. It has a thin strip of leather that wrapped around it served as a handle. i bring it simply bcoz i just want to showing it off with my classmates, coz they're just using a much cheaper and lighter version, which is the rattan... The P.E. class started, i mightily wielded it. When my instructor suddenly appeared Infront of me, telling that i will not participate unless i have the rattan. I ended up warming the bench watching them.
Good for safe by using a basic one or two sticks. If you professional and experts by single sword and double dagger. The best with hand to hand (Sticky Hands).
I've noticed that practitioners don't kick higher than your waist. Is this because you saw the stick as a blade? Is it really required to follow the rule, or can you choose to kick higher?
Good observation - arnisadors, etc., don't often kick above the waist, and many don't kick above the knee. The idea is that knives are common (especially in some parts of the world like the Philippines) so you're taking an unnecessary risk at putting your leg into range of a blade. That said, rules are made to be broken, and a well-timed high kick can be a fight ender - risks vs. rewards. In contrast, we kick high in the Thai weapons art of Krabi Krabong, so there's definitely ways to make it work.
theres. a sikaran for kicking. hubod lubad for grappling, sarong for chains/rope/fabric. sibat for spears. it is a Filipino martial arts... .. . oido de caburata/tapado. for long sticks. or whip into stick. . literarry everything is a weapon.. but the foundation of all filipino martial arts are similar if one wielding a weapon . hubod luvad or dumog is a grappling arts where every parts of the body of enemy is tools against him. and sikaran the kicking style.. every taekwondo fighter get kick in the ass by sikaran fighter
Ha, thankfully not! I've had plenty of FMA injuries (kind of unavoidable as a Dog Brother), but the eye is a burst blood vessel from an extended sneezing session!
Absolutely. I expect a lot of people have learned disarming techniques, but never take a moment to think about whether it's a stick-only technique, or potentially for a blade as well.
Alright, you got a subscriber. This is good stuff. I'm a firm believer that some of the best martial arts is when you train with weapons. FMA hits the nail on the head for certain.
Thanks. I was kind of going through that same train of thought before I did this video. - "everybody already knows this, right? Or maybe they don't ... "
All great reasons to use rattan for sparring or impact training! Another consideration I think is worth considering is the weight of the training item, and how those items can be wielded. Moving a 20oz steel blade feels different than a 7oz rattan stick, and requires more body movement and tighter mechanics to make it effective. If someone is training with the idea of it being a blade-based art, I think there is a lot of value in using heavier sticks/metal trainers when they can (solo drills, hitting tires, etc).
Absolutely agree with you. Using a variety of weights and sizes I think is essential, and as you mention, they also need to be used in different settings like solo drills or hitting tires.
There are actually sticks made from hardwood like Kamagong(ebony)and Magkuno(ironwood)which are heavier and more stiff that resembles a blade's weight. But it's mostly used by the more experienced practitioners for solo training as it is dangerous for use in sparring considering it would be like sparring with G.I. pipes. I own a pair made from Magkuno and they are lethal as heck. Wouldn't want to be at the receiving end of a strike from those.
@@johnlloyddy7016 I trained in the Villabrille - Largusa system for a long time, which traditionally uses a heavier garote (flat stick) as the standard weapon. That or 1lb cocobolo sticks are what I tend to use for any training outside of full speed/contact partner drills. For use as a weapon on their own, or as a proxy for bladed items, I much prefer the heavier sticks. Rattan certainly has it's place for safety reasons, but I never liked training with them.
