Of those who visited my school, over the last 18 (actually this month is my 18th year in business) years, there have been several characteristics drawing interest to me and what we do. I would say that the main thing is that we are different from most schools, and it intrigues people. “Karate” is a [...]
Archive for March 2010
To Uniform or Not to Uniform….
March 30, 2010I Just Like This School
March 27, 2010I’m not real big on Karate kata. But one thing I do know about kata is that it can give you a good indication of how well trained you are. Now, being good at kata does not mean that you can fight. But there is a way to tell if someone can fight, by looking [...]
This Kind of Training Ain’t for Everybody
March 26, 2010An edited email exchange between Guro and a former student. I held onto it for a while because I found it valuable and helpful, and hopefully you will too. This is a conversation that is too familiar for strong martial arts teachers, and those who endure the training will be glad they did. Enjoy! [...]
Coming Soon: Filipino Fighting Secrets Live on Hardcopy!
March 25, 2010This blog was never intended to be a business venture. My students and I only wanted to generate interest in my school, and obviously I lacked the education and the computer skills to use the internet properly. So we started with pages from notebooks I wrote in (I’ve been trying to write books for nearly [...]
Teaching Tips: Incorporate Strength Training
March 25, 2010Tonight, I received a call from a good friend of mine who lives in Florida, as I was leaving my school. He and I caught up on old news, and as always, Doug asked me what we did in class. Anyone who knows me, knows that my memory is horrible, so the best time for [...]
Do Martial Arts Styles Die?
March 25, 2010I was over at MartialTalk and came across this discussion. The topic is whether or not the Filipino Martial Arts would become obsolete or insignificant because of the popularity of MMAs and other martial arts styles. According to the author, each style has its day and eventually end up being practiced by a small handful [...]
Every Style Needs a Champion
March 25, 2010I think I’ve told this story before. When I was 18, I was a student of Boggs Lao, whose school was called “Black Knights” Kuntaw. We were practicing when a visiting teacher came for sparring. When he informed Boggs of this, Boggs told him to just pick someone. The gentleman asked him who the best fighters [...]
This Is MY Martial Arts Style
March 22, 2010Martial artists seem to think that there is something wrong with creating one’s own style, as if every art we have today never had a founder. I’ve noticed that some founders of a style or innovators will attempt to cannonize their version of their art–as if anyone who varies the style or puts his own [...]
Path to True Learning
March 19, 2010There have been many discussions about good teachers and good fighters (please don’t ask me to get into it now). I’d like to share a teaching tip with you, and if you put this technique to practice you will see your student’s skill improve greatly. By the way, I’m not sure if you are new [...]
“Decisive” Footwork (for Daniel Cooke)
March 16, 2010I was asked about something I mentioned on the article about footwork, “What is ‘decisive” footwork?” I admit, I made this term up…. Just couldn’t think of what to call it. So here it is: Decisive footwork is footwork that does not hesitate to move exactly when you want it to move, does exactly what [...]
