Don’t Take Anything For Granted
On Saturday, September 14th, I received a text from Professor Chuck Gauss informing me of Professor Will Higginbotham’s passing. I was shocked. Like many of his colleagues, I did not expect this at all. He was healthy and showed no signs of ill health. I…
Push-Up Challenge Debrief
I announced my goals for my 60th birthday a year ago. The motto for the past year was “160 and 60 by 60.” I wanted to get my weight down to 160 lbs and perform 60 push-ups by my 60th birthday. I managed to get…
Video of the Week 20: Sinawali Striking
Often, when it comes to empty hand translations of the stick sinawali drills, we in Modern Arnis tend to think in terms of sinawali boxing. The video below featuring Professor Chuck Gauss contains some common sinawali boxing techniques. However, there are also sinawali striking techniques…
Video of the Week 19: Forward Pressure
Forward pressure is the ability to apply relentless pressure on an opponent. By using forward pressure, one can dominate an engagement with an opponent. Forward pressure in Modern Arnis not only disrupts the opponent’s balance and timing but also enhances the practitioner’s ability to create…
Video of the Week 18: Sinawali Squat
The Sinawali Squat is a great exercise for conditioning the legs. Why not condition the legs while doing any sinawali exercise? It doesn’t matter if it’s single, double, redonda or reverse. The impetus for this comes from a conversation that I had with Rosh, the…
A Fantastic Michigan Modern Arnis Camp!
My trip to the Michigan Modern Arnis Camp got off to an inauspicious start due to the worldwide IT outage that occurred earlier that day. I arrived at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor and got stuck in the middle of the bridge. It took 2.5…
Baseball and Self Defense
Sorry, no video for this week. Things got in the way. I’ll resume next week! Wait. Wut? What does baseball have to do with self defense? It comes from a fantastic article in “The Athletic” titled “Missing Bats: How An Obsession With Strikeouts Upended The…
Video Of The Week 17: Changing Hands
Changing Hands in Modern Arnis One of the key elements in Modern Arnis is the ability to switch the stick from one hand to the other seamlessly. The late Professor Remy Presas emphasized this skill to us. He was a natural left-hander but often had…
Video of the Week 16: Get Off The Couch!
The Importance of Repetitions Talk to any martial arts Grandmaster or an all-time great, and you will hear about the importance of repetitions for any technique or concept. Repetition is a critical aspect of training and development for martial artists at any level. I tell…
Triple Threat Martial Arts Seminar in London, Ontario
Yesterday, I attended a Triple Threat seminar in London, Ontario, featuring Professors Steve Stewart, Ken Smith, and Leon Jay. During the day, each instructor took turns teaching their respective arts. Professor Ken Smith used me as uke to share his Modern Arnis expertise, demonstrating a…
