The FMA is famed for it's fighting skills especially with weapons and everything you learn is or is supposedly geared around actual conflict. As you get deeper into your training the urge to know if what you have learned really works often rears its head. Now do you simply take the instructors word for it that it works or does the instructor pressure test you? If so how are you pressure tested and to what degree? And when does that pressure testing begin? And if you don't pressure test why not? Best regards Pat.
i believe it boils down to teacher and the style. i have had teachers that will see what you have on stock to assess if you're coming in cold or not. some would opt to treat you as if you knew nothing and guide you slowly towards the violence. at a certain degree, they will slowly bring you to it. first through light target sparring with padded weapons and armor. then heavy sparring with padded weapons in armor. then you go live weapons with armor. then live and hard with just headgear. but there are those, some mad men, who do seek the pressure test even outside their school. where they gather and test, no headgear and live. stupid stupid stupid. but fun fun fun. i goes the same for the no-weapon styles as well. easy spar. hard spar. and yes, the old underground circuit that pre-dates the ufc by a decade or so was the testing ground for like minded individuals. the "night trippings" (as it was called back in the day) at the haunted film center by the bay. i guess it boils down to guro...and individual.
In a word "Yeah". In my humble experience, the FMA is all about pressure testing. There are varying levels of pressure testing to be sure. Let's think about how we train..our angles, disarms, empty hands, take downs (Remembering it's more than just sticks). How can you not pressure test it? It's part of the whole FMA culture! You throw that away and you might as well be going to class at a strip mall....
All my FMA training occurs under pressure. Testing is when they turn it up another notch I guess. i've not been tested yet. I probably won't get tested until I'm ready to start learning to feed.
I get into knife fights. Hang on, I don't. Going hard isn't really a viable way to pressure test a skill involving blades imo. Seems to do the job for sticks and empty hands though :woo: Not that I know much about empty hand :cry:
