Those who know me, know that I am not fond of Espada at Daga (Sword and Dagger), stick and dagger, etc. Don’t get me wrong; if you wield a stick and a knife, you will very likely defeat your opponent if you know what you’re doing. That isn’t the problem I have with this weapon [...]
Archive for March 2010
Practical Use of the Yantok at Daga
March 14, 2010Foolproof Martial Arts Business Idea #1
March 11, 2010Wanna get rich in the martial arts? Well, have I got some ideas for you. I mean, who needs savings accounts and IRAs and real estate? I know the martial arts well, and one thing I know is what makes money. So here’s Idea #1: SELL MARTIAL ARTS RANKING CERTIFICATES. Yup, sell em. Don’t teach [...]
The Fighting Stance: Strong, but Mobile
March 11, 2010Big Stick Combat has a column called “Poser of the Week“, and it usually involves some bozo in an FMA uniform (whatever that is) standing in a movie pose, thinking s/he looks intimidating because he’s holding weapons in his hand. It’s funny, because in the effort to look like a fighter, many fighters have taken [...]
Key Points for Hand to Hand Combat, pt III
March 10, 2010The upper skills Channeling of Power–In traditional Kuntaw and Silat, this is often attributed to spiritual energy, even spirits (jinn) or a type of force that can be used as a weapon, such as “ilmu”. In my style, I do not believe in this type of combat; this makes reference to the ability to channel [...]
Key Points for Hand to Hand Combat, pt II
March 9, 2010There are ten areas of focus in the fighting arts. These ten areas are concerning empty handed fighting mostly, but are very applicable to weapons combat. They are broken down into two categories, the lower skills and the upper skills: The lower skills Footwork–advancing, retreating, evading, idling, disrupting the opponent’s balance. In this area, we [...]
Key Points for Hand to Hand Combat
March 8, 2010My building has been undergoing some renovation on the exterior, and slowly I am starting to emerge from the dungeon attitude that matched the look of my school. So, while the contractors work on the outside, I have been working on fixing up the inside. Yesterday afternoon, while I waited for a prospective student, I [...]
The Forgotten Side of the Filipino Fighting Arts, pt IV (Eskrima vs. Empty Hand)
March 5, 2010Something we don’t see many Eskrimadors practice is using the stick against an unarmed opponent. Almost everything people do assume that the opponent will have a stick, or will have the same weapon you have. This is simply unrealistic. We see knife vs knife (sort of common), stick and knife vs stick/stick and knife (almost [...]
Sharpen Your Blade
March 4, 2010“Sharpen Your Blade” is a common sense philosophy that tells both students and teachers of the arts that they should always endeavor to keep their skills honed–therefore, keeping their “blades” “sharp”. Like I said, it’s common sense, but I think we can look a little deeper into this idea and learn from it. Obviously, the [...]
Forgetting Your Art: Secret to Mastery
March 2, 2010I had referenced a saying several times in other articles, and I think it would be a good idea to give this idea its own article: Forget your art in order to Master it. Boy, they sure are an ambiguous bunch aren’t they? Martial arts masters, that is! Let me try to explain this the [...]
This Ain’t Business, It’s Personal!
March 2, 2010There comes a point in a martial arts student’s learning career, that his education is no longer business… it becomes personal. There has to be that point, if you are studying the real martial arts. I mean this with all my heart: I know some of you may be offended, but that’s only because the [...]
