Keep It Simple Stupid!
During a lesson with Caiden, I pontificated on the importance of “K.I.S.S.” I explained to him that was shorthand for “Keep it simple, stupid!” The kid laughed, thinking that was the greatest quote he had ever heard. For the duration of the lesson, he repeated…
Four Reasons Why Filipino Martial Arts Suck
A few years ago, I posted “Three Reasons Why Filipino Martial Arts Suck.” I decided to update this post to include an additional reason and tweaked some sections in the original post. Those uninformed about Filipino Martial Arts often say the following: (1) “All they do…
Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy
The first Karate Kid movie introduced us to Cobra Kai’s “Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy” slogan. While seeming over the top, upon reflection, there is depth to this slogan. Recently, my wife and I binge-watched Season 3 of Cobra Kai. We both loved it…
The Video Game Generation
I’ve known over the years that nearly all of my younger students play video games. Minecraft is one popular game among the video game generation. Among popular games with my younger students (ranging from 8 to 15 years of age) are Super Mario, Fortnite, Street…
Attacking Combinations
The story of how I came up with the “Attacking Combinations” video! While I miss teaching classes and private lessons, one of the upsides of the lockdown is that I have had mucho time on my hands to figure out variations of solo workouts. Hence,…
Solo Training
Many of us cannot train with our martial arts classmates and friends during these extraordinary times. Since I have confined myself at home, I have done a fair bit of solo training, including, but not limited to, bodyweight and martial exercises, solo stick exercises, Shotokan…
The Learning Cycle
As many of you know, I like teaching flow drills. I find it a practical and fun way to introduce the concepts of Modern Arnis. I find this a useful addition to a student’s learning cycle. The concepts range from abanico corto, palis palis, disarms,…
Which Technique Is Best?
I have often been asked, “Which technique is best?” for any given situation. The result of those questions was the above video. The long and short of it is “it depends on the angle of attack coming at you.” But it gets more complicated, as…
Banda y Banda
“Banda y banda” is a term used in Filipino martial arts to describe a side-to-side motion commonly practiced. It is one of the first “traditionals” that the late Professor Remy A. Presas taught his students, along with movements such as figure 8, reverse figure 8,…
Modern Arnis Concepts: Stealing The Lead
Stealing the lead is a term often discussed in tapi tapi. It means that one player has reversed the momentum of the other and is driving on the other. In other words, one player has gone from a defensive mode to being on the offensive…