Recently I taught a seminar on Tiger style Kung Fu. Betcha didn’t know that “Moe knows Kung Fu”? Funny, I have learned in my lifetime more than 10 different styles of kung fu, and the two styles I am always asked about by non-kung fu people are Bak Mei (White Eyebrow) and Fu Jiao (Tiger [...]
Archive for February 2010
Lessons from the Chinese #2: Fu Jiao (Tiger’s Claw) Kung Fu
February 28, 2010Never Forget That You Are on the BIG Yard…
February 26, 2010For those who don’t know, the “BIG yard” is a prison term. It’s what inmates call the real world, the world outside of the one they live in. For the martial artist, we need to never forget that we are here, and not there. And I mean this in many ways. First, as warriors, we [...]
Update: Mustafa Gatdula’s How to Build a Dominant Fighter… Feb ’10
February 26, 2010If you have recently ordered my book, Mustafa Gatdula’s How to Build a Dominant Fighter in 12 Months, and your mail was returned, it was because our shopping center is under construction and our mail had been on construction hold. Some items were returned undeliverable and some were put on hold and sent back (I [...]
If You MUST Kick High…
February 23, 2010This morning in class, we discussed high kicks briefly. I am not a big fan of kicking high in a streetfight, but if you must… It isn’t completely a useless skill. If a fighter was a poor kicker, then I would certainly advise against high kicks. And by the way, most people–including most martial artists–are [...]
Merantau – The Silat Movie
February 21, 2010Move aside Tony Jaa, we’ve got another guy to share the spotlight with you. His name is Iko Qorni, and he has just released a movie with Silat as the art featured. I haven’t seen it yet… I’ve got family working on getting me a copy (IA soon!). When it comes, I will review it [...]
Streetfighting Clip (How to ASK for Trouble)
February 20, 2010I think the moral of the story is “don’t ever underestimate an old man”. But it could very well be “if you ask for trouble, you’re going to find it”. The young man in this video really did ask for trouble in the wrong place. Race politics aside, he deserved the ass-whipping he got. He [...]
The Forgotten Side of the Filipino Fighting Arts, pt III (The Ambush)
February 20, 2010First of all, notice that I skipped “part II”. That’s because I am still working on part two, and have decided to write this section first. I am talking about the method of fighting known as the ambush. So, Eskrima styles often deal with the duel, as this is the method used to train fighters. [...]
Martial Arts On the Road
February 19, 2010There is a saying I heard as a youth that the traveling martial artist was considered the toughest of old times, because he did not have the safety of his organization with him. Whereas a teachers in a school could always rely on younger, more active students to handle his dirty business for him if challengers come [...]
Be the Feeder
February 17, 2010Okay, here’s a radical idea for FMAers: Be the Feeder. You know how FMA people like to say, “feed me a number 4 strike…” and then they do a long combination of all this stuff they’d do to you if only you’d freeze after striking them? Yeah, well instead of striving to be the guy [...]
Making Supermen
February 16, 2010Over the weekend, an old friend of mine called me, who teaches Kung Fu on the East Coast. He is a well-known Sifu who had once ran a Kung Fu class in Cameroon, Africa, and very well-versed in Martial Philosophy. After about 30 minutes of talk about old times, we started on the subject of teaching [...]
