The State of the Filipino Martial Arts Industry
Recently, Kai Morgan published a thought-provoking post on the state of the martial arts industry. It has made me think about the Filipino martial arts industry. Read her article here. In relevant part, the post states: The traditional martial arts are often said to be suffering. Many (although by…
Sinawali Applications
Sinawali practice is an integral part of Filipino Martial Arts. I am amazed to see how little some understand the value of sinawali. Some don’t get beyond the double stick practice of the patterns or the “pattycake” empty-hand version. There is much to be mined…
Reaction vs Anticipation
Learning the difference between reaction and anticipation is challenging for a beginner student. In the beginning, students will often anticipate their opponent’s next move, often leading to bad outcomes. Over time, with guidance and experience, they will learn that reading and reacting is a better…
The Equivalent of a Ph.D?
A stereotype sometimes associated with Asian Martial Art Grandmasters, either because of their lack of proficiency in English or being from Asia, is that they are uneducated or lack formal education. For example, Balintawak Founder and Grandmaster Venancio “Anciong” Bacon was reported not to have…
Blitz Teaching
When I teach class, I often will cover two or three topics/techniques or concepts. In other words, I am blitz teaching. The idea is that the students will have sufficient time to practice each technique or concept. If you are not able to view the…
Resetting
Resetting is a method by which partners engage in a technique sequence to a finite end. At this point, they reset back to the beginning to repeat the sequence. This occurs most often in partner training or one-step sparring. In this post, I discuss this…
“Can’t” Gets You Fifty Pushups
Guest Blogger Cathy Chapaty is the author of No Pouting in the Dojo: The Imperfect Journey of Teaching Children Character through Martial Arts. A veteran martial artist, Chapaty has been respected as an empowering, positive teacher with a knack for helping children of all ages and abilities…
The Power of Similarities
I have encountered martial artists who like to focus on the differences between martial arts. I think these martial artists are done to distinguish their martial art from the “other” martial art. Often, it serves as the premise of an argument proving the superiority of their martial…
How to Fix The Wet Noodle
The “wet noodle” version of feeding a training partner is a fairly common problem encountered by martial arts instructors. I have seen variations of this problem among children and adults. In this post, I discuss the causes behind poor feeding and offer solutions on how…
4 Reasons for Teaching Beginners
Instructors and advanced students can benefit greatly from teaching beginners. Unfortunately, too many instructors have their junior or senior students working with beginners. Senior students often prefer to work with classmates of the same rank. While there is nothing wrong with working with fellow senior…
