Defanging the Snake

Aray!

Some martial artists are really on the bandwagon talking about “defanging the snake,” which is a phrase meaning to hit the opponent’s hand instead of his stick. Some teachers want to act as though this is high-level, super-secret info.

One well-known martial artist wrote a column saying how any “real” Filipino martial art stresses defanging the snake. He got straightened out by another well-known master (I believe it was Master Latosa) who said that defanging the snake isn’t necessarily the strategy of many Filipino martial arts, let alone the better arts.

GM Estalilla is dismissive of defanging the snake as the old hit-the-hand method. He told me of how when he was a young man in Mindanao someone he knew was walking through the jungle. The guy spotted a snake hanging down from a tree limb (This was common in Cotabato.), so he took his bolo and chopped off the snake’s head.

He walked a little further before noticing the severed head of the snake hanging from his hat, with its fangs embedded in the brim!

The moral of the story is that a dead snake can still be deadly. By the same token, if you hit the hand of an opponent swinging a pipe wrench, momentum may just carry that pipe wrench into your face.

Short stick styles hit to the hand because they are shorter, and can only reach as far as the hand. But with a longer weapon it is possible to play a bigger game, wherein you are hitting the opponent’s weapon and his body or head. Think about that the next time you hear someone talking about defanging the snake.

The Millwall Brick: Deadly News

Making a Millwall Brick

The Millwall Brick is an improvised club made out of a newspaper. As soccer hooligans got out of control at British games, the police responded by confiscating “all” weapons of spectators entering the stadium.

The hooligans countered by making improvised clubs out of newspaper! You can find instructions and other tips here.

I think this goes to show that it’s impossible to make society safe by confiscating weapons. I believe it also shows that it’s always possible to prepare yourself for a violent encounter by arming yourself. File this away –it might save your butt someday.

FMA Digest Appearance

I’m honored to appear in this month’s FMA Digest, which is a great resource for the Filipino martial artist.

In this issue I explain the origins of Big Stick Combat, and explain how Grandmasters Estalilla, Vasquez, and Maranga helped me to grow as a martial artist and to develop the art of the 36 inch stick.

The issue is available for free at FMAdigest.com.

New Filipino Martial Arts?

Binugsay Oar System, via Karay-a Uno Blanco Eskrima

I was thrilled to receive an e-mail today from a Filipino martial artist in the Philippines, who thought I might be interested in learning two obscure Filipino martial arts, “binugsay” which uses a boat oar as a weapon, and “tinungkod,” which uses a walking cane or a stick of that length.

The long weapon styles are few and far between, and I’m really excited about having the chance to learn about these new styles (well, new to me) on my trip to the Philippines this upcoming June.

In the meantime, I’ve found a website for an Ilonggo martial arts group, Karay-a Uno Blanco Eskrima. I was surprised to discover in my trip to Bacolod City that the region is a hotbed of eskrima. (For example, the late GM Remy Presas was from Bacolod).

Book Review:Make a Living with Your Backyard/Garage/Comunity Center Dojo

Masters Inosanto (left) and Atillo in the Garage

I just ordered this book from Master Gatdula, and received it almost instantly. Although the book is small, when you consider that it costs just $9, postage paid, it is practically being given away.

I’ve decided to take the plunge and to start taking in students, so this book was exactly what I was looking for. Why a garage dojo? Years ago when I studied Thai boxing with Khru Paul Metayo, I sat down with him to go over the finances of his school. By the time we added up the rent, the electricity, the water and trash, the phone bill, etc., he was losing money with the number of students he had, and eventually had to close the school. I wouldn’t have realized the cost of martial arts school overhead if I hadn’t learned from Khru Paul’s experience.

It seems to me that the garage/backyard dojo (or pagadalan) is one way to get into teaching without an large up-front investment, and with minimal risk.

Let me cut to the chase: the book is an excellent investment. It is chock full of great tips. It provides an overview and a feel for the martial arts school business, while also serving to motivate the reader.

The book is an easy read. The writing is clear and the tone is conversational. I easily read it through in a single sitting, then re-read it a second time, highlighting key passages. There was a lot to highlight, because the book is packed with substance. I guarantee there will be something in there you hadn’t thought of, like the suitcase idea (Lesson #7).

If you are considering opening up a small school, or would like to take your school to the next level, I heartily recommend this tiny investment with the potential to pay off big.

PS. In the future I would like to see Master Gatdula offer a larger, expanded version of the book. A larger book would be able to go into the nitty gritty of running a school, such as fees, contracts, payment collection, specific advertising, specific insurance agencies, dealing with injuries, etc.

Videos: Kelly McCann

Kelly McCann

Former Marine Kelly McCann has a real solid video here. His attack from the arm to the opponent’s lead knee reminds me of GM Giron’s short stick technique, which featured broad sweeping strikes designed to hit both the opponent’s arm and knee.

Also check out these videos:

Handshake Defense

Chin Jab Kelly’s take on the WWII era Fairbairn technique.

Self-Defense “Time Lag” Kelly has real practical advice on more realistic training which anticipates the opponent’s possible counters.

Improvised Weapons There is some real fascinating advice here and improvised weapons you’re probably never thought of.

Poser of the Week

Grandmaster Kuko

Grandmaster Kuko  is in the upper 2% of FMA who do not suck, because he protects his armpit.  A lot of guys out there will talk crap, but one solid shot to the armpit and they suddenly shut up.

In daily life Grandmaster Kuko travels inconspicuously as a door-to-door knife salesman. In fact, he never has to sharpen his knives –when one gets dull, he simply throws it away and draws another one from its scabbard. Right now he is wearing enough knives to last him until 2033.

Another hallmark of his legitimacy is the authentic Filipino pajamas. In the Philippines, particularly my travels in Ipis Province (original home of the blind princess), the real Kali masters were easily recognizable by their pajamas. Only someone at my advanced level can spot a pair of genuine Kali grandmaster pajamas in an instant. If you see someone wearing Sponge Bob or Hello Kitty pajamas, do NOT be fooled –he is not a genuine grandmaster, no matter how convincing he may sound.

You may ask, “Why does Grandmaster Kuko have two knives in the same hand?” Those aren’t knives. He has let his fingernails grow long and painted them gunmetal gray.

Note how the rookie would have drawn two swords, but only someone in-the-know like Grandmaster Kuko would leave a sword in its scabbard and try to wield two knives in the same hand.

You’re thinking, “What the @#$!?”

You don’t realize that your overconfidence will be your downfall. When you hit his exposed elbow, driving that arm down and trapping his sword under his armpit, immobilizing both weapons in a single blow, your overconfidence will grow yet again. And Grandmaster Kuko will be smiling, because he’ll have you right where he wants you.

When to Create Your Own Style, Part III

Blind Wrestler Mike Spriggs

Even if you don’t go out and create your own style with a different name, in one way or another you must adapt the style to make it fit you. When I was training in Yaw Yan in Cebu City one of the instructors told me I wasn’t kicking high enough. Well, regardless of my misgivings about the practicality of high kicks, I was in my 40’s, and not nearly as flexible as I was in my teens. I either had to adapt to lower kicks or find a different system.

Bill “Superfoot” Wallace had to adapt his system when he injured his leg. His unique style was born out of necessity, because he couldn’t support himself on his injured leg.

Bill “Superfoot” Wallace

When I was wrestling my coach told us of blind wrestlers. He warned us not to take them for granted, because there were some very good blind wrestlers. If you think about it, wrestling is one of the few sports or martial arts in which a blind person can be competitive. This is another example of adapting your style to your physical attributes.

Another factor is that certain techniques will simply “click” for an individual. Here I am not talking about someone who tries something once, finds it hard, and then gives up. Two people with similar experience and training will not be equally proficient at the same techniques. Rather than kick yourself over the techniques you don’t perform very well, recognize those techniques that you do well, and embrace those as the core of your particular style (even if you never open up your own school).

One’s interests and experiences also come into play. When Larry Hartsell started training with Bruce Lee, Hartsell was already a black belt in judo, with extensive grappling experience. What was he supposed to do, forget that experience completely and devote himself entirely to punching, kicking, and trapping? Of course not, and Bruce Lee encouraged him to develop and integrate his grappling skills.

Hartsell also had police and military experience, which also influenced his interests in training.

Going back to my baseball analogy, pitchers spend little time practicing their batting. It’s not because they can’t, but because they are better off prioritizing their practice time. Pitching is a more valuable skill for them. Likewise, I could learn the whip and add that to Big Stick Combat. But not only does the whip not fit into Big Stick Combat, but whip training would take away time that would be better spent working on those skills that are aligned with the Big Stick Combat system.

When I trained in Tapado, my interests were in the big stick. While many of the Tapado practitioners worked on farms where the short staff was the best choice of weapons, the 47 inch short staff wasn’t really practical for me.

The Maranga Clan

When I trained in Combat Eskrima Maranga, a close range Balintawak style, I was primarily interested in the big stick.

To the extent that I came up with my own system, it wasn’t so much a matter of me going off into the forest and coming up with my own system from scratch, but adapting what I was taught to my area of interest, the 36 inch stick. It wasn’t a matter of me doing my own thing, but of fully absorbing the lessons my teachers taught me.

A few questions:

What are my interests?: Japanese arts? Western arts? Submission techniques? Knife techniques?

What is my reality?: City dweller? Live in the country? Police or military? Bouncer in a bar or school teacher?

What are my physical strengths and limitations?

When to Start Your Own System: Your Physique

The late Sifu Larry Hartsell

Yesterday I explained how many people start their own martial arts for the wrong reasons:

They are impatient, and haven’t done the necessary work.

They simple put a bunch of stuff together, without thinking about how the parts fit into the whole, or what are the unifying principles of the system.

They want to be the big man, and being under someone else’s authority chafes them.

Yet there are valid reasons to start your own system. Everybody has a set of techniques and a style that will suit his own particular physique, his experiences, and his lifestyle.

Imagine a baseball training camp that tries to make shortstops out of every player –that doesn’t make sense. If you’re short and squat, you are a good candidate for catcher. If you’re tall and left-handed, you might train for first baseman. If you’re very fast, shortstop is a good match for you. Just your physique determines the type of position you are more likely to excel at.

When I wrestled in high school, the coach told me I’d be good as a “leg man,” that is, a wrestler who uses leg techniques like the grapevine, the figure 4, and so on. Why did the coach tell me that? Because I was very thin and had relatively long legs, so just by looking at my particular build he could tell the type of techniques and the type of “style” that would best suit me.

Wrestling Leg Technique

The heavyweight wrestlers, the very largest wrestlers, use different techniques suited to their heavier body type. Speed techniques like shooting for a double leg takedown just aren’t as effective for the heavier,, slower wrestlers.

So when you train in the martial arts, certain techniques will match your physique. Look at the late Larry Hartsell, a student of Bruce Lee. There was no way that Larry could do Bruce Lee’s style, with the speed, the cat-like agility, and the fluid kicks. Larry was built like a bouncer, with intimidating size and strength.

(Larry Hartsell reminds of one of my teachers, Guro Ed Planas, who is large and with forearms the size of your calves. His techniques do not feature blinding speed, but once he gets a hold of you, you’re toast. And nobody is better at counter-for-counter.))

Physically, Larry Hartsell was not suited to fight like Bruce Lee, so he had to adapt his style, not to be the big man, or because he thought he knew better than his teacher. Larry had to adapt techniques that were a better fit for his physical attributes.

Regardless of the arts you train in, certain techniques will fit your unique physique. Sometimes you have to be honest enough to admit your limitations as well as your strengths, and these may very well differ from your teacher.

Starting Your Own Style

Master Joe Tan (left) and GM Vasquez

Kuntawman has another thought-provoking post over at Filipino Fighting Secrets Live.

“Martial 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.”

For a long time I have been opposed to starting my own system, primarily because of the abuses, and the proliferation of crap out there.

The first problem is people starting styles without sufficient background. Guys who simply don’t have the training and the background try to create their own styles, and the result is often a travesty. Part of this is the martial arts fantasy trip in which somebody imagines he is the next Bruce Lee, ignoring Bruce Lee’s maniacal training and voracious reading.

I’m reminded of the local escape artist who imagined he was the next Houdini. The reality was that he was totally ignorant of the huge amounts of practice, research, and physical conditioning that made Houdini the success he was. The local guy was a lazy fantasist, who was unaware of just how poor his skills were. He wound up killing himself during a televised escape attempt.

The Masters who have created their own successful styles have paid their dues and devoted years to their craft. The fantasy martial artist has not.

A second problem is additive styles. I have said this before, but some arts just do not go together, like ballet and football. I don’t see how you combine Serrada and Larga Mano. Yes, you can do both, but they are not a coherent whole. GM Giron had a short stick system and a long stick system. The short stick system (with the exception of the abaniko method) was a logical extension, and methodologically consistent with, his larga mano style. I don’t know how you do a long range Serrada style.

When I do espada y daga (stick and knife) or sinawali (two sticks) I am not doing different styles, but wield those weapons in a way that is consistent with the big stick –simplicity, directness, and power.

I saw a guy in one of the martial arts magazines doing a Muay Thai and Tae Kwon Do combination! I’m sorry, but those two styles are mutually exclusive. That you are teaching the two as a combination shows me that you haven’t grasped the essences of the two systems.

Starting a style is not just a matter of being good, but being creative and analytical. GM Vasquez is the most amazing teacher I have ever seen for his ability to analyze a technique, to see counter techniques, and to apply devious principles. He studied under the founder of Tapado, Nono Mamar, but GM Vasquez was able to explain to me how he had modified, adopted and changed techniques, and why those changes were better.

That’s why there are many outstanding professional players who make lousy coaches, and mediocre players who became outstanding coaches. Many people can execute techniques, sometimes very well, but lack the ability to analyze, and to see outside of the box.

For me, the worst reason to start one’s style is the simple wish to be the guy in charge. This really bothers me when guys break off to start their own styles, when there’s nothing different but the name. If you haven’t really added anything to the system or style, then don’t claim your own style.

Next I will talk about good reasons to create one’s style.

Tapado Founder Mamar (left) and Master Joe Tan