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….
What Are Filipino Martial Arts?
Recently, a prospective student attended a trial class. She had some previous martial arts experience, consisting of karate. I taught her the 12 angles of attack and other Modern Arnis basics. She absorbed the material quickly and enthusiastically. After the class ended, I asked her…
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…
Stealing and Keeping The Lead
Last week, I wrote about 3 Ways To Grab The Cane in which I offered ideas on opportune times to grab your opponent’s cane in the context of tapi tapi play. Grabbing the cane is often referred to as “stealing the lead” in some Filipino Martial Arts circles….
Three Ways To Grab The Cane
One of the major concepts of Modern Arnis is “stealing the lead.” If the opponent presents his stick, you can steal the lead, usually by grabbing the stick. This is illustrated by the video below when I grab Alex’s stick and counter him. Learning to grab…
It Is All The Same!
I am pleased to present a guest post from my good friend, RoseAnne Mussar. She hails from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and trains in Modern Arnis at the 6Tigers Academy in Barrhaven (Ottawa) under Renshi Janet Heffernan. She also trains in the American Cane System, often traveling to…
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…
When to Teach Counters?
Recently, I was teaching a semi-private lesson with a couple of students. We were working on a new technique that took them a while to learn. They then asked me, “How do you counter this technique?” My answer was that there were several counters like…
Never Too Late!
I am pleased to present a guest post from my good friend, RoseAnne Mussar. She hails from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and trains in Modern Arnis at the 6Tigers Academy in Barrhaven under Renshi Janet Heffernan. She also trains in the American Cane System, often traveling to New…
How Hard Do You Really Train?
I taught the inaugural class at the Harmony Martial Arts Center in Pickering on Friday night. For a Friday night time slot of 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm, I had a turnout of 7. Not bad at all. After getting some housekeeping out of the way,…
