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,…
A Surefire Counter!
A surefire counter to most techniques is simply hitting your opponent, either with the cane or with your check/alive hand. If you are not able to view the video, click here. The above video illustrates a simple way to prevent an opponent from grabbing your…
Three Reasons Why Filipino Martial Arts Suck
Over the years, I’ve heard several reasons calling into question the effectiveness of Filipino Martial Arts. Not surprisingly, the opinions often come from those who have not trained in Filipino Martial Arts and, consequently, are uninformed. Those uninformed about Filipino Martial Arts often say the following:…
7 Ways I Teach Children Filipino Martial Arts
Some believe children should not be taught a “violent” activity like Filipino Martial Arts. I’ve encountered those who believe FMAs are inappropriate for children because they involve swinging a stick or two. Ahem. While risks are inherent in swinging sticks, many age-appropriate ways to teach Filipino…
7 Great Ways to Train Left Handed
The late Professor Remy A. Presas was left-hand dominant yet was just as proficient with his right. He felt strongly enough about ambidexterity that he insisted that we learn to train both right and left-handed. Sometimes, he had right-hand dominant students train with their left…
Simplicity
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. – Leonardo DaVinci. Simplicity is the key to brilliance. – Bruce Lee. My first formal introduction to Arnis/Eskrima was during a private lesson with Professor Florendo Visitacion, otherwise known as Professor Vee in the fall of 1989. I travelled to…
The Mad Scotsman and the Burmese Strangler
The “Mad Scotsman” and “The Burmese Strangler” are fun nicknames that I’ve given to two great gentlemen, Alan and Noel. Alan is an 80-year-old Scotsman; Noel is 78 years old and was born in Burma. I first met Alan in 2009 through a Senior Citizens…
The Redonda Drill
In this post, I discuss the Redonda drill, one of the core drills of Modern Arnis and many Filipino martial arts. Heaven Sinawali I teach Heaven Sinawali before teaching Redonda as both overlap movement-wise. As demonstrated in the above video, the sticks are always pointing up….
Angles of Attack in Filipino Martial Arts
The twelve angles of attack are among the first things learned when starting Filipino Martial Arts. Many Filipino Martial Arts use their version of the twelve angles of attack. The Modern Arnis 12 angles of attack are as follows: Regardless of which FMA you are studying,…
