# Where’s Disarm #1? - Link: https://brianejohns.com/2022/06/07/blog-wheres-disarm-1/ - Published: 2022-06-07T11:45:00-04:00 - Author: Brian Johns Learning stick [disarms](https://brianejohns.com/2023/09/01/friday-recommendation-18/) is an essential part of training in Filipino martial arts. In Modern Arnis, there is one basic disarm per angle. One can then apply this to any angle. The current progression that I teach is: 1. Basic disarms; 2. Teach the student how to apply stick disarms to other angles. For example, can you apply disarm #1 to angle five? 3. Then, we move to disarming during one of my 20 flow drills. Repeating the same basic 12 stick [disarms](https://brianejohns.com/2016/11/22/blog-counters-to-disarms/) can become boring quickly. One might mix it up and make it fun for the students. Caveat: the student must demonstrate an understanding of the principles of leverage and positioning before proceeding to the advanced stages of training. Below is an example of guiding the student in finding stick disarms within a [flow drill.](https://brianejohns.com/2015/04/13/blog-go-with-the-flow/) If you are not able to view this video, click [here](https://youtu.be/o0tJ6Tv0xPw). Note that Alex can find several opportunities to find stick disarm #1 within Flow Drill Two aka “[The Clearing Drill](https://youtu.be/wmy9HkzdNh4)). This exercise aims to inculcate mental flexibility and detect disarming or striking opportunities. Besides, this is a fun exercise! Fun is the key here. If you make the sessions fun, interesting, and challenging, any student’s learning curve increases exponentially. They especially thrive on challenges. For example, I might randomly feed Alex in tapi tapi free play and challenge him to [disarm](https://brianejohns.com/2022/06/15/blog-hunting-for-disarm-2/) me as often as possible. There is a fair bit of stress, and it’s easy to miss an opportunity. In addition, I tell the students, “_When you spot an opportunity, there is also a hitting opportunity_.” How can you not smile when you hear “_hitting_?” ## Student Update In other news, I recently promoted some students after intense testing. Please join me in congratulating Troy, Joaquin, and Caiden on their promotions! ![](https://i0.wp.com/brianejohns.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/IMG_1499.jpeg?resize =480%2C640&ssl=1) ![](https://i0.wp.com/brianejohns.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/286089848_10158958609832759_7236573863423496390_n. jpeg?resize=647%2C738&ssl=1) ![](https://i0.wp.com/brianejohns.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/IMG_1582.jpeg?resize =480%2C640&ssl=1) I have two more tests this month. In addition, I have told several students to be ready to test in September. To their credit, they are quite motivated! As some of you know, I currently teach exclusively private lessons. I had to shut down my group classes due to the COVID pandemic and the dissolution of my martial arts corporation. I am currently teaching under the umbrella of the [6Tigers Academy](https://6tigers.ca/). This arrangement provides me with a small income and health insurance benefits. All that said, I’m still feeling my way through after the [dissolution of Bamboo Spirit.](https://brianejohns.com/2021/12/27/2021-wrap-up/) While my current group of students overwhelmingly favour private lessons, they have expressed that they would like to have the occasional workshop or class. I get it; they want to see their buddies, which would be great. As the pandemic recedes, I am considering a monthly workshop to satisfy that demand. Stay tuned! ## One Last Matter As many of you know, I am on YouTube and Instagram and have a Facebook page. I dabbled in TikTok last spring and then abandoned it. I returned to it a couple of months ago and was astonished at the level of engagement I was getting there. The engagement and views are far higher on TikTok than on Instagram. I must say that Instagram needs to catch up to TikTok quickly. Instagram recently announced that it is expanding its reels option from 60 seconds to 90 seconds. It’s the best feature on Instagram and desperately needs to be expanded. That said, Instagram has ways to catch up to TikTok. One example of Tiktok’s superiority is its closed captioning function. The speech recognition is amazing, and the ability to edit the captions is super easy. In this regard, they are ahead of Instagram. While Instagram’s speech recognition is decent, the editing function is not user-friendly. They need to work on this, as I’m passionate about captioning videos. Anyway, if you are more into TikTok than Instagram, I’m [here](https://www.tiktok.com/@brianejohns?lang=en). (As of June 2023, I am no longer on TikTok.) If Instagram is more your thing, then catch me [here](https://www.instagram.com/brianejohns/). ## Additional Reading * [Friday Recommendation #18](https://brianejohns.com/2023/09/01/friday-recommendation-18/) * [Hunting for Disarm #2](https://brianejohns.com/2022/06/15/blog-hunting-for-disarm-2/) * [Counters to Disarms](https://brianejohns.com/2016/11/22/blog-counters-to-disarms/) * [Fix It Friday: Not Thissss](https://brianejohns.com/2015/07/07/blog-fix-it-friday-not-thissss/) * [7 Benefits of Changing Martial Arts Partners](https://brianejohns.com/2015/05/11/blog-7-benefits-of-changing-partners/) ### Share this post: * [ X ](https://brianejohns.com/2022/06/07/blog-wheres-disarm-1/?share=twitter) * [ Facebook ](https://brianejohns.com/2022/06/07/blog-wheres-disarm-1/?share=facebook) * [ LinkedIn ](https://brianejohns.com/2022/06/07/blog-wheres-disarm-1/?share=linkedin) * [ Threads ](https://brianejohns.com/2022/06/07/blog-wheres-disarm-1/?share=threads) * [ WhatsApp ](https://brianejohns.com/2022/06/07/blog-wheres-disarm-1/?share=jetpack-whatsapp) * [ Email ](https://brianejohns.com/2022/06/07/blog-wheres-disarm-1/?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Where%27s%20Disarm%20%231%3F&body=https%3A%2F%2Fbrianejohns.com%2F2022%2F06%2F07%2Fblog-wheres-disarm-1%2F&share=email) * [ Print ](https://brianejohns.com/2022/06/07/blog-wheres-disarm-1/#print?share=print) ### Like this: Like Loading… ### _Related_