Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

I have encountered martial artists who like to focus on the differences between martial arts. This focus is often done to prove their art’s superiority over others. Unfortunately, this thought process is detrimental to their martial progress.

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In the above video, I connect single sinawali and the karate down block. This was one of my favourite “DOH!” moments of my martial arts career. I had not connected those two motions until Professor Presas showed the similarity at one of the Michigan camps I attended. This moment changed my martial outlook forever.

I think there is more to be gained from seeing the similarities between martial arts. Some call it “making the connections.” The late Professor Remy A. Presas often emphasized the importance of making the connections to his students. “It is all de same!” he often exclaimed when pointing out the connections. For example, he often highlighted the similarities between Filipino martial arts and other arts.

Professor Presas’ emphasis on making connections stems from his itinerant travels through the Philippines. At age 14, he left his home of Negros Occidental and hopped over to Cebu to study Balintawak Eskrima. At that age, he began to travel through the Philippines, learning from different Filipino Martial Arts masters, eventually ending up in Manila. A Filipino friend once pointed out that Filipinos tend to be provincial. He further observed that Professor Presas was unusual in seeking out martial knowledge throughout the Philippines. Provincialism is not confined to Filipinos and can be seen worldwide. Due to his experiences, Professor Presas began to see the similarities between different arts.

Professor Presas was not the first to look for connections between martial arts. That said, he enormously influenced how we view other arts.

Those of us who encountered the Professor for the first time were blown away by his ability to point out the similarities between different arts. Adopting his philosophy, we expanded our understanding of disparate martial arts concepts and techniques.

This was one of the underlying themes of the Professor’s joint seminars with GM George Dillman and GM Wally Jay. Quite often, students of one of those Grandmasters attended camps or seminars of the other Grandmasters. To this day, many followers of the GMs above still cross-train. Learning Small Circle Jiu-Jitsu and pressure point concepts and techniques at a Modern Arnis camp is common.

Unfortunately, I fear this is being lost in today’s environment. Social media and traditional news outlets often emphasize divisiveness and differences among ourselves. I further fear that this phenomenon is seeping into the martial arts world.

If, instead, you are prone to looking for the differences between your style and others, you may be missing out on opportunities to stretch your martial horizons. Most of the time, the problem is not the martial art itself but has much more to do with the practitioner. I find that many martial artists often handcuff themselves regarding self-education. When they nitpick at other martial arts, it may signify that their cups are not empty.

Think less of the differences and focus more on the similarities. Once you do that, you will see the connections.

To be clear, I am not saying this from a “kumbaya, let’s all get along” perspective. There is a practical aspect to all of this. Looking for connections and similarities can greatly expand one’s knowledge base. For example, one may learn a shortcut to a technique from someone from a different martial background. Who knows?

How do you find assistance in finding similarities and making the connections?

(1) Go to a martial art seminar outside of your style. Look for similarities between movement and motion and build on that. You never know what could happen. Some are life-changing. For example, I was previously involved in Chung Do Kwan Tae Kwon Do and Vee Jiu-Jitsu. Chung Do Kwan TKD is the Korean version of Shotokan Karate. Professor Presas showed similarities between the Modern Arnis technique and Karate at my first Modern Arnis seminar. I forget the technique, but I’ll never forget the light bulb that went off in my head.

(2) Watch videos of other martial arts. I highly recommend buying martial arts instructional DVDs, especially if they are available for sale at a seminar. You can gain a lot from repeated viewings of DVDs. I still watch instructional videos and DVDs I purchased 20 to 30 years ago and am still learning. Most DVDs range from $20 to $50 and are well worth the money.

(3) Cross-training: Ideally, you should stick with a base art until your black belt. Once you have achieved the black belt rank, I recommend cross-training in other martial arts. The more you cross-train, the more you’ll make the connections. For example, I cross-trained in Wing Chun for a short period and saw quite a bit of overlap between this art and the empty-hand portion of Modern Arnis. I loved every bit of that training! I do not doubt that you’ll reap immense benefits from cross-training.

The bottom line is to get into the habit of looking for similarities rather than differences. Over time, you’ll start seeing and making connections. Again, as Professor Presas always said, “It is all the same!“

Over to you. Are you looking for connections? How so? Let’s hear your comments! 

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