Two left hands.

Discussion in 'Filipino Martial Arts' started by Kframe, Apr 16, 2014.

  1. Kframe

    Kframe Valued Member

    Well I was shown and did some practice of sinawali. Good lord. Nothing points out a lack of coordination and deftness with half your body then trying to coordinate two sides into the same activity.

    I have been doing it solo since practice and it takes so much concentration.. I find my self smacking my thumbs occasionally.

    When we were doing it together I managed to get into a nice flow with him but then my mind would go blank and mess everything up and have to start over again.

    So, how long did it take you guys before you were really smooth and fluid with it? How often did you hit your self when doing it solo?
     
  2. LabanB

    LabanB Valued Member

    Two hands

    Hi KFrame, 10 minutes a day for a month! Once I got Heaven 6 (the most popular sinawali drill for beginners) sorted, at least!

    6 Months down the line, you'll see beginners struggling with it, and it'll bring back memories of your struggle!

    Seriously, 10 minutes a day, do the drills slowly, as fast as you can, exaggerate the movements to enlarge them, and make them as small as possible.

    Bill
     
  3. Da Lurker

    Da Lurker Valued Member

    thank god you found the light, kframe! :Angel: :happy:

    answering your question, i managed to become smooth solo after 2 weeks, give me contact back then and i break down.

    managed to really form it after 2 months. btw, this was EVERYDAY training for a half-hour to a full one, not counting the lessons themselves, just self-training. you can do it!
     
  4. Dean Winchester

    Dean Winchester Valued Member

    About two minutes.....







    Then they asked me to put the footwork in. :eek:
     
  5. HarryF

    HarryF Malued Vember

    Ha! Then heaven/standard/earth targeting (all high/high-low-high/all low), then 'mixed' footwork and cycling the two together - an even number of footwork variations and odd number of target variations = many rounds before you are back to the 'start'! :evil:

    Once you have the basic limb waving down (right, left, right, left, etc, and you aren't ending up uncrossed when you should be crossed), then the things I like to think about are:

    Rhythm - the rhythm of strikes should be regular, like a metronome (no bunching of hits or uneven gaps between each one)

    Targeting - visualise what you are hitting (head/face/neck/hand/belly/leg/whatever), if you are doing it with a partner you both need to do this...

    Chambering - make sure you bring each stick back to guard position (or touching your body) so a) you know where it is (for improved proprioception) and b) you get maximum impact generation (big long swing = harder hit)

    One in one out - as one stick goes out to hit, the other returns to chamber, so there are fewer/smaller gaps

    Other than that, mindful solo practic is good, practice with a competent partner is also good, practice with another beginner is harder, but still a bit useful.

    Next time you see your instructor, show them what you are doing for solo practice and get them to check you are doing it right!
     
  6. ap Oweyn

    ap Oweyn Ret. Supporter

    I don't know about anyone else, but I always found it helpful to count off the numbers in my head. So a six-count saw me counting off to six then starting over (obviously). Rather than thinking about the specific movements involved. Eventually, it's best not to think about it too much and just trust your training. But at first, if you think too much about the mechanics (versus simply the rhythm), you'll trip yourself up.

    My other rationale for counting off is that, in the absence of that counting off, you tend to naturally count off based on the cracking noises you hear as stick hits stick. Meaning that, when you miss a hit, your count gets thrown off and the pattern collapses. If you're keeping your own beat independently (by counting off), in my experience, you tend to do a better job of retaining the pattern even when you "miss" and getting back into the proper flow without having to start over again.
     
  7. Bozza Bostik

    Bozza Bostik Antichrist on Button Moon

    A six count??? Are you mad!!

    1-2-3, 1-2-3.

    Siniwali is hard enough and you expect people to count all the way up to 6 at the same time!!!

    Same as Dean. Getting the hands going wasn't too hard. I'd messed around with FMA on and off for a few years and been introduced to siniwali already. As soon as I put footwork into it though, it threw me.

    I just practiced with it for 10 mins here and there. I think it's one of those little and often things. Make a cup of coffee, start drillin'. Do it on the toilet. Do it during that boring meeting at work....little and often.

    Edit: Having said that - I think it's like like the whole riding a bike thing, don't do it for a while and you'll pick it up really quick again. You'll be a bit wobbly though. I haven't trained for months for a few reasons. I just grabbed some knives of the kitchen counter and can still do it easily enough.
     
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2014
  8. Kframe

    Kframe Valued Member

    Went to the sport center today for class at 5pm. No one came. So I spent the next hour and half by my self on the mats doing my basic 5 angles of attack and then the sinawali drill.

    Granted im annoyed that I didn't get a notification that class was canceled but, it was good practice. I have a nice blister on my hand.

    Ill say this though, It was starting to get better towards the end. I was just focused on doing the movements correctly. As time went on I found my self moving a bit quicker and with less pauses due to screw ups. Going back and fourth. I don't remember what its called , but It was heaven something, cant remember the number.

    Im trying to do some each day.
     
  9. Diego_Vega

    Diego_Vega Frustrated pacifist

    I have one student who gets things perfectly the first time I show him (he's left handed btw). Everybody else took about 3 months to get comfortable enough with the sticks as an extension of their hands.

    Though, I did find the discussion above interesting on how different heaven six can be taught. For most students I break it down to two 3 counts. For some I have to talk them through, "right, left, right back... left, right, left back... right, left, right back... etc."
     
  10. Brian R. VanCis

    Brian R. VanCis Valued Member

    Like anything KFrame it takes a lot of practice. Do it correctly as taught and then practice, practice and more practice.
     
  11. Kframe

    Kframe Valued Member

    I know right now with my sinawalli practice I am focusing on making each movement as tight as possible. Sometimes I find that I open up my self to much during movements..
     
  12. Pat OMalley

    Pat OMalley Valued Member

    When I first tried it. It took me 6 months just to get it to flow without thinking but now I can do it backwards upside down in my sleep and break it down to every little detail. I always struggled with everything but persistence pays off. Believe it or not I was the most uncoordinated idiot you ever met and I am proof that persistence always pays off in the end. Stick with it ;)
     
  13. HarryF

    HarryF Malued Vember

    :D I'm a sucker for weaving in a good pun :D
     
  14. Kframe

    Kframe Valued Member

    This weekend is a 2 day training intensive with Suro Jason Inay.

    Well I learned lock and block today. I had done the moves in separation before. I did decent with my partner, despite that it took me a little while to get the foot work correct. The bigger thing I took away from it is that I need more practice getting the check and block together at the same time, with the check actually checking the hand and not the Punyo or the blade. Some times its all I can do just to get a block with the stick.

    This felt intense, even though the speed for me was really slow compared to the rest of the guys. Got to remember to breath, apparently im making that newb mistake again..

    Got another 6 hour class tomorrow, and looking forward to more lock and block and lock flow. I was kind of surprised to see some locks that were similar to ones we did in BBT.
     
  15. Kframe

    Kframe Valued Member

    Well today was the last day of the intensive. Ill say I have a lot to work on. I have goals for the next 6 months that I want to work on. Polishing my counters is the biggest. I found my self constantly stumbling on them. I was able to get the sweep with more success then the crossblock. I find my self confounded by the crossblock.
     
  16. Kframe

    Kframe Valued Member

    Also we did lock flow 1 a few times yesterday and today. Some of it was familiar, but a lot wasn't. It was also quite long and I found my self getting lost a lot during it. I am just not used to that kind of drill. I feel that as I do them more ill get more comfortable with them.

    This was a very intense training period. We were so focused on training that we totally missed our scheduled lunch hours and trained straight to the end. 6 hours straight, 2 days in a row. I have never, ever in my martial life trained that long in a row.
     

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