A New Beginning
Welcome to the new revamped Bamboo Spirit Website and a new beginning! First, I would like to thank Jason Fletcher for his original Bamboo Spirit logo design. It was a great design that served Bamboo Spirit well for nearly a decade. However, as the martial…
Taking The Leap
Recently, I came across this video on Facebook, and it stood out to me. Take 10 minutes of your time and watch the whole thing. Some saw it as a metaphor for death regarding confronting the fear of the unknown. Some saw it in more…
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…
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…
Teaching Sensitivity
Teaching one-step techniques and flow drills alone is not enough. One-step techniques are a great gateway to teaching more complex techniques, and flow drills serve as an introduction to “the flow.” However, neither, by themselves, sufficiently teaches sensitivity. What do I mean by sensitivity? In…
Counters to Disarms
“How do you do these counters to the disarms?” “It’s easy; you must relax and practice them repeatedly.” During one class, I taught some counters to the #1 disarm taught in Modern Arnis. I taught these counters in the context of some principles I wanted…
Taking Advantage of Technology
A year ago, my MacBook needed to be repaired at the local Best Buy. To keep my social media efforts going, I ordered a Chromebook from Amazon. This was delivered within a couple of days. The purchase came with one terabyte of free memory on…
Flow Drills vs. Techniques
Over the years I’ve taught Modern Arnis, I have flipped back and forth between teaching the art through techniques and flow drills. Lately, I have begun to emphasize flow drills more. Why? While teaching one-step techniques has its place, there are limitations to this method….
Stop Judging Yourself!
I often see students judge themselves harshly after they have messed up a technique or cannot instantly master a new technique. Their facial expressions often betray their internal thinking process. “God, I’m so stuuuupid!” When this happens, I tell them “stop judging yourself!” If you…
