FMA's

[TkdWarrior]

ok guys i think FMA is my kind a thing..but the biggggggggest problem is that there's NO FMA in my country... i don't hav much $$ to travel to some country n learn so i m left with correspondance courses AKA video tapes... now tell me wat video tapes u would prefer...
thnx
-TkdWarrior-

[pesilat]

Fill in all the standard negative points about training by video. Sometimes ... as in your situation ... there's not much other option. And video is better than nothing.

I would recommend, though, that if you're serious about your pursuit of FMA, you get what you can from vids and start saving up money to make a trip somewhere to spend time with an instructor in person.

In the FMA (at least as I was taught), there's a thing called the "Learning Triangle." It's "see it, feel it, do it." All of these are important (even vital) to learning martial arts. You have to see it done correctly, feel it done correctly, and do it until it's correct. A video only covers one of these (see it) ... and since it's *always* from the same angle, it doesn't do it completely. Also, obviously, you can't ask a video a question and the instructor's explanation will *always* be the same (which has both pluses and minuses ... among the minuses, though, you never get exposure to some of the nuances that come out with different explanations of the same material). A video won't attack you or correct you if you're doing something wrong.

However ... vid recommendations:
Of the FMA vids that I've seen, I think some of the best (for learning from) are Edgar Sulite's LAMECO tapes and Bobby Taboada's Balintawak tapes. Also, anything by Dan Inosanto will be worthwhile. The Dog Brothers tapes have a lot of good material on them too.

Mike

[TkdWarrior]

mike u r rite about learning from Videos but that's the only option i m left with :( in India Martial art is not BIG thing... we still hav lots of TKD n Karate some Kung-fu styles too but i basically doubt their ability untill n unless i see them myself...
rite now i m much of student n savin n then travellin counts a BIG deal for me...but yup i m lookin towards that too i know couple of guys is US who r some deal ... so probably i'll travel in couple of years...
but mike would u mind giving me site address so that i can order them?
u ever heard about Sayoc Kali system??
thnx for ur advice.
-TkdWarrior-

[pesilat]

Originally posted by TkdWarrior
mike u r rite about learning from Videos but that's the only option i m left with :( in India Martial art is not BIG thing... we still hav lots of TKD n Karate some Kung-fu styles too but i basically doubt their ability untill n unless i see them myself...
rite now i m much of student n savin n then travellin counts a BIG deal for me...but yup i m lookin towards that too i know couple of guys is US who r some deal ... so probably i'll travel in couple of years...
but mike would u mind giving me site address so that i can order them?
u ever heard about Sayoc Kali system??
thnx for ur advice.
-TkdWarrior-

Well ... I've heard good things about Lahti and Kalaripayatt (a couple of Indian martial arts ... don't know if they're available where you are or not).

Anyway ...

I know you can order Dan Inosanto's latest vids from his website at http://www.inosanto.com

If you go to http://martialarts.iisports.com/dept.asp?dept_id=2202 you'll see FMA vids by Sulite, Inosanto, and others.

Bobby Taboada's vids can be found at http://www.mati.com/videos.html#Taboada

Yes, I've heard of Sayoc ... in fact, I've been studying it for a couple of months. It's awesome. You can find out more info about it at http://www.sayoc.com

Mike

[TkdWarrior]

kalaripayattu n lathi... for lathi i know several ppl
but lathi is like either 6 feet long or around 12 feet long(close to dragon pole) so it's hard to carry or hard in avaliability...
kalaripayattu i know about this art too they uses mostly flexible weapons(swords n all) best weapon suited for their style is long flexible sword which is around 8-10 feet long... again
rattan sticks r better options they look harmless too(law here is strict about weapons :( )
i'll be learning taichi Sword(of course wooden), straight sword, taiji stick(both) i know nunchaku, hav lil bit idea about knife fighting(yup once tried, nepalese style)
anyways thnx for websites address...
-TkdWarrior-

[pesilat]

Originally posted by TkdWarrior
kalaripayattu n lathi... for lathi i know several ppl
but lathi is like either 6 feet long or around 12 feet long(close to dragon pole) so it's hard to carry or hard in avaliability...
kalaripayattu i know about this art too they uses mostly flexible weapons(swords n all) best weapon suited for their style is long flexible sword which is around 8-10 feet long... again
rattan sticks r better options they look harmless too(law here is strict about weapons :( )
i'll be learning taichi Sword(of course wooden), straight sword, taiji stick(both) i know nunchaku, hav lil bit idea about knife fighting(yup once tried, nepalese style)
anyways thnx for websites address...
-TkdWarrior-

Huh. I was under the impression that Lahti actually uses sticks ranging from the long ones you mentioned down to palm sticks (i.e.: fit in your hand). Maybe I was wrong ... or maybe they start with the long sticks and the short sticks don't come out until more advanced ... I don't know.

Anyway ... you're welcome for the vid links.

Mike

[TkdWarrior]

Mike Palm sticks r there which r also used in But Marma Atti(Indian Dim-Mak) style uses this one, no other styles, Lathi basically means big pole(Danda) which u can't say for palm sticks.
dunno wat they called in Marma Atti(as it's south Indian weapon) i belong to North India( in india language changes in every 100 KM :D)
-TkdWarrior-

[pesilat]

Originally posted by TkdWarrior
Mike Palm sticks r there which r also used in But Marma Atti(Indian Dim-Mak) style uses this one, no other styles, Lathi basically means big pole(Danda) which u can't say for palm sticks.
dunno wat they called in Marma Atti(as it's south Indian weapon) i belong to North India( in india language changes in every 100 KM :D)
-TkdWarrior-

Yeah ... I'm aware of the language changing thing :) A friend of mine is married to an Indian (actually, half Malaysian, half Indian ... but grew up in India) woman and she's mentioned that before.

It's also like that throughout Indonesia and the Philippines ... though they both have "national" languages. There are hundreds of different dialects scattered througout the region.

Mike

[Acekicken]

Datu Hartman , Remmy Preases or Paul Vunak
These Guys are all good at FMA

[pesilat]

Originally posted by Acekicken
Datu Hartman , Remmy Preases or Paul Vunak
These Guys are all good at FMA

Umm ... Prof. Presas is dead ... and Hartman and Vu are in America ... not India ... not much of a help for TkdWarrior

Mike

[Melanie]

Welcome Acekickin :)

Nice to have more FMA representatives on here :)

Look forward to hearing more from you :)

Melanie

[Acekicken]

Thank U for the Welcome
Yes Profeser has passed
Tim & Vun. Are in America

But ......
I read somer in the Top a mentchon
Of video Training All 3 have good Videos.

[pesilat]

Originally posted by Acekicken
Thank U for the Welcome
Yes Profeser has passed
Tim & Vun. Are in America

But ......
I read somer in the Top a mentchon
Of video Training All 3 have good Videos.

Oh yeah ... sorry. I was tired when I wrote my response ... didn't make that connection.

I've not seen any of Hartman's vids. I'd definitely agree on Vunak's and Presas's vids. There are some good ones.

Mike

[moromoro]

you are an indian living in india

learn kalari payyatu it is an awsome complete martial art


terry

[pesilat]

Originally posted by moromoro
you are an indian living in india

learn kalari payyatu it is an awsome complete martial art


terry

Yeah ... but he said he's interested in FMA. From what I've heard, Lahti (another Indian art) would have a little more in common with the FMA than Kalari.

But, nonetheless, he was asking about the FMA specifically :)

Mike

[TkdWarrior]

you are an indian living in india

learn kalari payyatu it is an awsome complete martial art

hey i know about kalari payyatt...
i hav practiced it's off shoot art(not exactly but advance one) Marma addi. as Pesilat already said i was much intrested in FMA cuz i like sticks and as he talked about "Lathi" FMA is close to it...
i m putting my time in Lathi tho but later when i'll hav some money in my piggy bank ;) i'll learn FMA too...

oh BTW lathi is incorporated in Kalari too with other weapons...
-TkdWarrior-

[moromoro]

i know but he has a opportunity to train with some of the best GM's there

also could you explain lahti

thanks

terry

[moromoro]

kalari payattu looks bloody awesome a true warriors art, i love the bundi dagger, and that flexible sword i heard that a master can take a head off with that

thanks

terry

[pesilat]

Originally posted by moromoro
i know but he has a opportunity to train with some of the best GM's there

also could you explain lahti

thanks

terry

As far as I understand (correct me if I'm wrong, Tkd), Lahti is a stick art. It trains with sticks ranging from long staffs down to palm sticks.

Of course, the FMA are at their heart, blade arts but, from what little bit of Lahti I've seen, it's pretty similar to FMA.

Mike

[Cain]

Hmm....I have seen ppl practising lathi.....from what I have seen the use only long staffs....anyways the word lathi means a long stick/staff in Hindi...

|Cain|

[TkdWarrior]

also could you explain lahti
sure why not...
lathi is basically means "Stick" and in India this art is basically used/practiced by villagers/wrestlers. lathi comes in 3-4 different size the maximum can go up to 14 feet, and minimum can be about 2-3 feet depending upon the person...
when u start in lathi u start with smallest one in one hand and when u can use small lathi in both hand equally efficiently u start going in for bigger ones...
most of indian styles consists of very good momentum power, in each n every strike of lathi u can easily see the momentum generated power(circular motion), the dodges/feints involves jumping/dodging in same fashion(as u hav seen in kalari, i guess u know then u must hav an idea about)...

one thing about Lathi is that wrestler don't teach Lathi to just anyone either u should be practicing Wrestling seriously or u belong to high status family in that place... me and my freind both belongs to good n powerful families so we don't hav to go thru the usual routines...

the same system goes into kalaripayat same sort of dodging/feints/power generation,

the flexible sword is kind of sword which is about 10 feet long n it's used in circluar motions only...
-TkdWarrior-

[TkdWarrior]

oh mike i couldn't see ur post cuz i was typing :D...u r right with ur explanations...but Palm sticks are used in Marma Addi rather than in Lathi, that too in South India palm sticks r too popular, not here in North India
-TkdWarrior-

[moromoro]

india has so many different systems that we in the west dont know about.....
a great country

[Cain]

Ahh.....Thanx Terry, greatly appreciated :D

|Cain|

[pgm316]

Originally posted by TkdWarrior


one thing about Lathi is that wrestler don't teach Lathi to just anyone either u should be practicing Wrestling seriously or u belong to high status family in that place... me and my freind both belongs to good n powerful families so we don't hav to go thru the usual routines...
-TkdWarrior-

Sounds a very different culture you have, anybody can learn anything over here. Apart from TKD where you have to be rich to get your dan grades :D

What are your families like? Out of curiousity, if you don't mind me asking :)

[TkdWarrior]

>>Sounds a very different culture you have, anybody can learn anything over here. Apart from TKD where you have to be rich to get your dan grades :D<<
LoL... yup a different one...

>>What are your families like? Out of curiousity, if you don't mind me asking :)<<
yea sure...
well i belongs to Warrior Family(kshatriya caste)... so of course this makes us very powerful in where we live becuase of our umm bad habbits :D always talking with swords n guns ;)
we needed to learn Wrestling n some weapons due to this...but it stopped before my dad...(my grandfather was a wrestler n fighter) dad wasn't intrested but has the capability to KO anyone in one shot :D(he served in Indian Navy for 15 yrs too)...
this status of ours gives us lots of freedom and jerkheaded to be Martial artists ;)

My Freind belongs to "Brahmin's family"/Priests... they too hold very good reputation in India, they can be equal or sometimes better than Khastiryas too, but even his family was involved in wrestling n teaching...
In Ancient India Brahmins were teachers who used to teach every caste... be it Martial arts or anything else for that matters...
Brahmin does mean "The Educated One"

so as u can guess we both are in power state(almost)... now rules in our country is not much biased prefferently to us.. but we still get prefferential treatment due to our fathers/grandfathers.
-TkdWarrior-

[Cain]

Yeah, Kshatriya means a warrior. In the epic Mahabharata, the five heroes called Pandavas were Kshatriyas

Bhramin are ppl who teach

Just to keep it on topic for Andy ;)

Arnis FMA sticks, lathi, danda, lakdi, sword etc etc :D

|Cain|

[TkdWarrior]

Arnis FMA sticks, lathi, danda, lakdi, sword etc etc :D

ROFLMAO
-TkdWarrior-

[Andy Murray]

Originally posted by cain_charlie

Just to keep it on topic for Andy ;)
|Cain|

Yeah thanks Cain.

Not for me though, for everybody! ;)

[Andy Murray]

Nice to finally hear about some Indian MA guys.

I saw some Kalari Payatt years ago, and was staggered by the similarities with some of the earlier Shaolin Boxing I've come across

Why you guys are chasing TKD with all that in your vicinity is beyond me???

[TkdWarrior]

>>Why you guys are chasing TKD with all that in your vicinity is beyond me???<<
wat's this means??? mind explaining

>>I saw some Kalari Payatt years ago, and was staggered by the similarities with some of the earlier Shaolin Boxing I've come across<<
hmm i hav felt i seen some CLF and HsingI/XingYi in kalari too...
starting from horse form, tiger, peaco(k, snake, and another animal i forgot about :p...
power generation based on XsingYi theories ...with all those compact n yet defined movements...
-TkdWarrior-

[Cain]

Originally posted by Andy Murray


Yeah thanks Cain.

Not for me though, for everybody! ;)

Hint taken ;)

|Cain|

[YODA]

I was told once that TKD was the most popular martial arts in the Philippines too.

Go figure :(

[pesilat]

Originally posted by YODA
I was told once that TKD was the most popular martial arts in the Philippines too.

Go figure :(

And according to Herman Suwanda (RIP), it's incredibly popular in Indonesia as well.

He said he thinks it's specifically because it's foreign which makes it seem exotic. Also, the parents look at the TKD, Karate, and Judo students all wearing nice uniforms, then looks at the Silat players wearing ratty sarongs. The parent thinks, "Well, I don't want my kid associating with those ragamuffins. I'm going to put my kid with the ones who look respectable."

I think this is pretty universally true. Domestic things are boring. Foreign things are exotic and, therefore, must be more valuable.

Mike

[TkdWarrior]

LoL
-TkdWarrior-

[moromoro]

hi yoda and mike

taekwondo is very very popular in the philippines but i think karate is the most popular martial art in the philippines.....well it was from the 80's to the mid 90's even when i go back on holidays karate schools every where...

this year was the first yeAR i went to my wifes hometown of sorsogon me and my brother in law asked around to find a local blend of eskrima we could not find any but plenty of karate schools popped up some with highly respectable masters
6th and 7th dan

>>Why you guys are chasing TKD with all that in your vicinity is beyond me???<<
wat's this means??? mind explaining

i think he meant this as a complement to the great Indian arts that we have yet to see in the west...he means you two should be practising those great arts instead of TKD......

thanks guys


terry

[Andy Murray]

Originally posted by moromoro

i think he meant this as a complement to the great Indian arts that we have yet to see in the west...he means you two should be practising those great arts instead of TKD......
terry


I did indeed!

[TkdWarrior]

oh well it's a tough question..
but here goes some reason
1. i didn't knew much about Indian arts(except wrestling)before joining TKD
2. my TKD teacher is Damn good one.
3. Indian arts are Rare in my parts(North India) and lots of politics involved even for indians to learn
4. thru TKD i was able to understand/achieve wat i wanted. i practiced Muai thai before that but it couldn't hav that kind of effect on me. TKD was like an Eye Opener for me.
5. Even then still i was learning another Indian art which is basically Advance to Kalari.

-TkdWarrior-

[Cain]

How did I miss the rest of the posts? :D

The reason TKD is popular is because there's VERY less awareness of the arts here, you could have a kali school just next door and not be aware of it, MOST not all classes are in backyards or abdodned parks. There's probably only one school well known everywhere - Indian Taekwondo ferderation

That's about it

And it's raining Mcdojos in here for eg -

==============================
Master something's martial arts academy

We teach aikido, judo, kickboxing, kung fu, muay thai
==============================

Sort of like that you see, even the good schools have ads like that, and the practitioners are more than capable of whupping some serious a$$ but till now I hav'nt seen ANY ad promoting kali or wrestling, they are known only by word of mouth

|Cain|

[officer_fujita]

Originally posted by YODA
I was told once that TKD was the most popular martial arts in the Philippines too.

Go figure :(

As well as Karate, Aikido, & Judo. :)

There are many factors for this.

One of them, as Pesilat mentioned, is colonial mentality (which is what Filipinos here are notorious for). Anything foreign is good, while those local are for people who belong to the lower class.

Another is the general lack of qualified instructors. I read somewhere that if you wanted a good FMA teacher, go to Hawaii, California, or Toronto- not the Philippines... and this is true(sadly), and makes most of you people very lucky. This is mainly due to two things: One is the general lack of support from the public and the government (read above). Unlike in Brazil where the government helps capoeira mestres in spreading the art internationally, or in Japan where martial arts get support in its preservation, here, people just dont care. Another reason is that most of those who ARE qualified are in areas which are very much inaccessible to the general Filipino public; it's either they're living in some remote village, or they're living abroad (like the places mentioned earlier).

As for me, I was taught arnis during highschool and college as part of the school's requirement (It's included in PE class), by people who teach it just because they were instructed to and not because they know something (even a bit) about the art. My highschool instructor would even bring his book on arnis in class and read it while he was "instructing" us.

Wow. :mad:

[YODA]

Just goes to show that just because you're in the country of origin it doesn't mean you'll get better instruction.

I have a friend whos lifelong dream was to go to Japan to train in his chosen style - Goju-Kai

He saved up for years and eventually made the trip to the "Honbu" in Japan. He was gutted - the standard of instruction he received was well below that available here in the UK.

[Gryphon Hall]

I don't know how true this is, but I once saw in a documentary (either Discovery Channel or National Geographic) that the primitive FMAs evolved from Kalaripayat. It was brought to the Visayas somehow, so the story goes. That is one explanation for the term Kali, supposedly, as the contracted version of the former. :love:

[ranger]

is moro-moro banned? by the way, you mean there's no Filipino you know that is working there? if you know a Filipino ask him if he knows a FMA or if not he knows somebody also in INdia who knows how to. ofcors you have to ensure that you don't burn him out to other people as he might not want to be known as practicing FMA. hope you find what you're looking for. :)

[ranger]

As well as Karate, Aikido, & Judo. :)

There are many factors for this.

One of them, as Pesilat mentioned, is colonial mentality (which is what Filipinos here are notorious for). Anything foreign is good, while those local are for people who belong to the lower class.

Another is the general lack of qualified instructors. I read somewhere that if you wanted a good FMA teacher, go to Hawaii, California, or Toronto- not the Philippines... and this is true(sadly), and makes most of you people very lucky.


what part ng Pilipinas do you belong to? :) well, good bastonero does not go advertise arnis you know. arnis styles even mentioned in the different arnis site don't even form a fraction of the actual styles of arnis here. and those i saw showing arnis in the internet (i don't want to mention what style) are terrible. :)


As for me, I was taught arnis during highschool and college as part of the school's requirement (It's included in PE class), by people who teach it just because they were instructed to and not because they know something (even a bit) about the art. My highschool instructor would even bring his book on arnis in class and read it while he was "instructing" us.

Wow. :mad:

what sad words you say. but i don't blame you. :)

Another reason is that most of those who ARE qualified are in areas which are very much inaccessible to the general Filipino public; it's either they're living in some remote village,...

i agree though. its in the culture or nature of some bastonero or arnista not to discriminately teach or provide info on the arnis they know. and they chose to be inaccessible. blame it to the those who have no loyalty to their teacher. which made these teachers regret they even taught those disloyal students.

[ranger]

Just goes to show that just because you're in the country of origin it doesn't mean you'll get better instruction.


I however agree with you sir. :)

good day! :)

[shootodog]

I was told once that TKD was the most popular martial arts in the Philippines too.

Go figure :(

um...it would seem that way in the urban areas. the surge of tkd here was in the late 80's to the mid 90's. then kickboxing took over, then bjj and combat submission wrestling. lechon manok and sagu type of craze.

wouldn't make that same assertion in the countryside though. i think that arnis, escrima, kali and silat (and all the in between fma arts like mongoose, yaw yan, sarian, etc) fighters still outnumber the tkd and karate fighters.

(should convince someone from the cencus office to conduct a survey)

[Gryphon Hall]

um...it would seem that way in the urban areas. the surge of tkd here was in the late 80's to the mid 90's. then kickboxing took over, then bjj and combat submission wrestling. lechon manok and sagu type of craze.

wouldn't make that same assertion in the countryside though. i think that arnis, escrima, kali and silat (and all the in between fma arts like mongoose, yaw yan, sarian, etc) fighters still outnumber the tkd and karate fighters.

(should convince someone from the cencus office to conduct a survey)
Plus, those people "from the barrios" don't actually belong to "a school", but learning it by watching other people "compete" or competing themselves. My Dad, from whom I got my earliest instruction, learned his Escrima during the time in between the sowing and harvest seasons in Moncada, Tarlac. He is "undefeated", but only because he absolutely refused to go after those blokes who, he says, can kill a field mouse or bird with one stroke of a rattan stick (a skill they all tried to develop, to protect their crops, but meet with limited success). They compete for fun, but sometimes boys do quarrel. One of his friends had to go into hiding from the father of a boy he blinded during a fight.

When outsiders go there to learn, they are taught what the locals think are the effective techniques, but not the actual ones that my Dad really feared.

[shootodog]

Plus, those people "from the barrios" don't actually belong to "a school", but learning it by watching other people "compete" or competing themselves. My Dad, from whom I got my earliest instruction, learned his Escrima during the time in between the sowing and harvest seasons in Moncada, Tarlac. He is "undefeated", but only because he absolutely refused to go after those blokes who, he says, can kill a field mouse or bird with one stroke of a rattan stick (a skill they all tried to develop, to protect their crops, but meet with limited success). They compete for fun, but sometimes boys do quarrel. One of his friends had to go into hiding from the father of a boy he blinded during a fight.

When outsiders go there to learn, they are taught what the locals think are the effective techniques, but not the actual ones that my Dad really feared.

the old way that the art was passed on was intra familial. only relatives (such as nephews, sons, gransons, etc.) could learn from the teacher (or guro). it was much later on (post w.w. two) that outsiders could learn from the teachings of a non-relation. could be myth, could be real. in this country, who knows? :Alien: :Alien:

[shoto-kali]

to add to earlier info about how you learn arnis during the pre and post war era, my father, his brother and cousin learned arnis just like how we learn it today, they learned it through an instructor who's way of living is teaching Arnis. During the pre-war the instructor is the one who will go to your place to teach the art. Just right after the wwII the set-up was changed, student now go to either the instructor place or a designated place (like rice field) to train. My family's Arnis style learned it from Guro Vicente Adel, from what my father remember his instructor is also from batangas, his one of the most respected Arnisador in the Batangas region. During wwII Vicente Adel teaches Arnis to the Guerilla Fighter (free) that camps in Mt.Makulot and the Sierra Madre Area for free. Anybody from this group recognise his name? He use to travel to Mindoro and some Visayan Island for Arnis training. The last time my father trained with him is on 1955 before moving to Manila.

[Gryphon Hall]

Aaaaahhh... That explains it. My Dad was born in 1940. Probably no more teachers to teach. Sayang.

[krys]

Probably no more teachers to teach. Sayang.

There are still guros who teach the old way....
Muslims or tribal peoples for example won't teach openly.... with a few exceptions they only instruct members of their own clan...
These instructors don't like to teach in public places and prefer to come to your home as shooto kali already said.... the reason being they don't like other peoples watching.....

[shoto-kali]

in addition to what ive said earlier, my father telling me story that Arnis instructor during those days (30's to 50's) are not only limited in teaching stick (bolo) and knife fighting, they are also well verse in hand-2-hand combat and ground fighting.

[shootodog]

in addition to what ive said earlier, my father telling me story that Arnis instructor during those days (30's to 50's) are not only limited in teaching stick (bolo) and knife fighting, they are also well verse in hand-2-hand combat and ground fighting.

guro wiley did say in his book that fma styles are meant to be complete systems. not just weapons. personally, the fma systems i've studied (and currently studying) have the complete package (stand up, ground + weapons). choose your system carefully and check what suits you! your life may one day depend on it!

[krys]

guro wiley did say in his book that fma styles are meant to be complete systems.

Not so sure..... when I started learning Cinco Terros my guro told me he wouldn't teach me CT empty hands because there are no empty hands in this system (beside disarms)....

The fact is some arnis systems didn't have formal empty hands and some peoples decided to add karate or ju-jitsu-tkd to their system..... If you look at some modern commercial schools their empty hands are more or less karate or ju-jitsu .... one group even added capoiera and brazilian ju-jitsu :)...

The other fma I study (silat) has everything: empty hands, weapon training including projectiles...

[ranger]

Arnis is a complete martial art.

one day when we were practicing a friend of my teacher came by just for a visit then stayed to observe which made the visitor kind of curious with our style of arnis, they did a mostra (demo) the visitor using the tapado. the visitor attacks,teacher counters etc etc etc. the visitor even tried to do a deceptive trick with his attack which ended with sensei's baston in his face. teacher exclaimed "talo nga doble baston, isa pa!" (two sticks are no match how much more a single stick) the visitor asked my teacher "what then is the true arnis?" teacher answered "the one with no arnis"

good day :)

[shootodog]

Not so sure..... when I started learning Cinco Terros my guro told me he wouldn't teach me CT empty hands because there are no empty hands in this system (beside disarms)....

The fact is some arnis systems didn't have formal empty hands and some peoples decided to add karate or ju-jitsu-tkd to their system..... If you look at some modern commercial schools their empty hands are more or less karate or ju-jitsu .... one group even added capoiera and brazilian ju-jitsu :)...

The other fma I study (silat) has everything: empty hands, weapon training including projectiles...

you're right there. i guess that some systems aren't so "wholistic" in their approach to combat.

some systems, however, are! :)

[surgingshark]

I was told once that TKD was the most popular martial arts in the Philippines too.

Go figure :(

I'm guessing it's because it's one of the sports in the Southeast Asian Games (besides boxing) that Filipinos are pretty good at, and is thus promoted more, including the department of education and sports (including boxing and, unofficially, billiards).

...I can remember how fencing was once really popular in the Philippines because an actor (namely, Richard Gomez) got a silver Medal there. He got his ass kicked real bad in the gold match, though :p