“Secrets” of the Filipino Fighting Arts
Words from a Modern-Day Warrior

Archive for January 2010

Stone, Paper, SCISSORS!

January 20, 2010

Today, I was driving home from class and I was listening to my 8 year old girl teaching my 5 year old boy the game, “stone, paper, scissors”. I was laughing to myself because just a year ago, my 10 year old boy (then, 9) was teaching her to spar using the same terminology and hurriedness [...]

The Lower YOU: Path to Mastery

January 20, 2010

Generally, a man can only rise to the limits of his character. In the pursuit of martial arts mastery, it is imperative for one to have first mastered himself. We call this “mastering the lower self”. The “lower” self–which we call the “nafs”–is referring to the basic instincts, impulses and desires of a man. It is [...]

Teaser: Mustafa Gatdula’s How to Build a Dominant Fighter in 12 Months

January 17, 2010

This is going to be a short one. This is the first few lines of my chapter on Training Methods. Hope you like it! Anyone who knows me should be quite familiar with the title of this chapter. Whenever anyone asked me what I was “feeding” my students, or what my secret to success was, [...]

Take a Favorite Student, part II

January 16, 2010

Why take a favorite student? Well, besides the reasons I present in Part I, a good reason would be if you wanted to preserve your art as you wish to have it preserved. Every student you touch will add his own flavor and spin on what you passed to him. Some of you will think [...]

Slow Down to Move Faster, Part II (Train at FULL SPEED!)

January 15, 2010

This is a follow-up to an entry I wrote months ago that I never finished. It would be beneficial to stop now and read the first part before reading this one. I’ll wait… I know I’m going to sound like I contradict myself, but hear me out first.  There must come a point in your [...]

Advanced Training in the Martial Arts … REVEALED!

January 15, 2010

Does that excite you? Do you like to read advertisements for secret arts, techniques and styles that no one else knows? Or do you want to learn something that–if you learned it–will enable you to defeat everyone you meet on the street? A lot of folks come to this very blog (maybe even you) curious [...]

new forums for FMA

January 12, 2010

just discovered a new forums for FMA. hope you like it! it’s called the “Inayan” Eskrima forums or someting like that. http://www.inayan.com/forums/index.php please go and check it out and let them know thekuntawman sent you. btw, i am on a thread called “new sinawali”  http://www.inayan.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=1542  at this link. thank you.

Humility and Arrogance in the Martial Arts

January 12, 2010

Today, I called an old friend of mine to wish him a happy New Year, and we ended up talking about different martial artists we knew. One of those fighters was a gentleman named Bryan ____ (neither of us could remember his family name), who was one of the best big men I have known as [...]

Myth of the Gaps in Training

January 11, 2010

I was reading a thread on an FMA forum (I’m sorry I had forgotten which one), and something caught my eye. A forum member mentions cross training into Muay Thai, boxing, and Silat because of “gaps” in her FMA training. There is a myth that martial arts styles must have everything that could come up [...]

A Fool for a Teacher

January 11, 2010

I am reminded of a saying:  “A man who represents himself in court has a fool for a client…”  How true! And applicable–in the martial arts as well. So allow me to rephrase it:  “A man who trains himself has a fool for a teacher.” I was watching the original “Rocky” movie, and there is [...]

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