The Value of FMA Methodologies.

As a 26 year student of the Filipino martial arts (FMA), I’ve had my fair share of people question me about the practicality of training with weapons. Most of the time the question comes from a genuine desire to know more about and understand the methodologies found in the FMA, but other times the question comes in the form of a challenge to the validity of the training methodologies used in the FMA. The former comes from an “open” or innocent form of ignorance while the latter comes from a “closed” and malignant form. Usually the source of this malignant ignorance comes from someone who with a narrow frame of reference with varying degrees of training and varying degrees of functional skill in another martial art or with wrestling or mixed martial arts (MMA) in their background. The methodologies of the FMA are lost to them because they don’t understand the paradigm. I generally don’t fault them for that unless they’re really pushing the issue, and more often than not the guys that want to push the issue with me won’t get on the mat with me, even without a stick in my hand. That last statement isn’t me bragging about my skills, but rather it is a statement of how pusillanimous my past detractors have been.

I’ve known a fair number of people that are MMA enthusiasts. Some are just fans of the sport, as am I, and others are (or have been) competitors. They are often quick to dismiss any martial art that isn’t represented in one-on-one completion. In the last few decades, mixed martial arts has dominated the minds of a generation of martial arts enthusiasts, and has done so to the degree that many people involved in MMA equate combative sport with all-out combat or self defense under exigent circumstances. They often fail to see the difference between mutual combat in a ring and everything else, and they often discount the practicality of everything that isn’t used in the ring. Now, in my opinion, MMA is great training. It is great for fitness and functional skill, but where it falls short is that it is a sport with rules, weight divisions and controls and restrictions in place for the safety of the fighters. That’s great. It all has its place and I would be the last person to declare what goes on in the ring as invalid of not practical. However, there are certain aspects of the combat sport mentality that are problematic outside of competition. For the sake of brevity, this won’t be addressed here but may be the subject of a future article.

Unlike “traditional” martial arts (TMA), the FMA begins with weapons training and them transitions to empty hand. The weapon is an extension of the body, and when the transition is made from armed to unarmed methods, the motions and skills gained from working with weapons are essentially the same. In fact, the motions learned from training with weapons are mechanically more natural than the methodologies of other martial arts, as such they are easier to perfect because they are gross motor skills employing natural lines of body mechanics and motion. The FMA paradigm allows for the same skill set to be used with or without a weapon in your hand as opposed to TMA, where new skill sets are learned to accommodate the introduction of weapons. Additionally, weapons training found in the FMA imparts a certain flow that is not found in many TMA methodologies.

One of my students, who happens to be quite close to my age, related an experience to me where, on two separate occasions, he ran into an old friend from his youth. While they played catch-up on what they had been doing over the years, the conversation turned to their study of martial arts. His friends were practitioners of Brazilian jujitsu and began to espouse the merits of BJJ and proving oneself in tournaments and questioned my student’s choice of martial art. They asked questions like: What would you do without a stick? How would you use that if somebody took you down? It was clear to him that his friends were trying to raise their own self esteem by trying to drag his down, so he gave way in the conversation and let them say their piece. From what had been related to me, it seemed to me that his friends probably were young men trapped in middle-aged bodies with unresolved “manly man” self-esteem issues. To me, their innate need for competition at their age demonstrates a certain degree of immaturity. Why else would a guy who is well on his way to 40 and works for a living (i.e., not a professional athlete) need test himself in a one on one combat sport competition? Anyway, when my student asked his friends how they would handle and armed assailant, they said they would back away or run. When he asked them about dealing with multiple assailants and the possibility of getting curb stomped while grappling on the ground, they were dumbfounded and could not muster an answer due to their narrow frame of reference and malignant ignorance.

In contrast, one of my oldest students (and closest friends) had studied MMA and JKD for a few years before I met him and had already attained a blue belt in BJJ. By his admission, prior to getting onto the training floor with me he thought that I was either full of shit or somebody that really knows something. I suppose he found out one way or another as he still calls himself my student, even when I refer to him as my training partner. His prior experience with FMA was limited and rooted in his attendance at a McDojo that claimed to teach Eskrima, but really offered a watered down “sporty” (not sport, but sporty) version on FMA. After hearing the tales for what passed for training at the place I understood where he was coming from. He saw the value of what I was teaching from day one and in the weeks that followed, he began making connections between what I was teaching him and his prior BJJ/MMA training. He took the FMA concepts I was teaching and applied it what he already knew, in the true spirit of “mixed” martial arts.

"It is difficult to understand the universe if you study only one planet." – Miyamoto Musashi (The Book of Five Rings)

I have often said that at its core, any martial art is nothing more than geometry (arcs and angles), and an understanding of spatial relationships and timing. All martial arts in all cultures have that in common. Once you understand these things it is possible to dissect and gain understanding of any system of martial arts.

The core of my training and teaching regimen incorporates 18 classical methods or “styles” of FMA and five basic drills, each with several variations as well as numerous empty hand applications. The training paradigm used in our training sessions is geared toward exposing students to a broad spectrum of methodologies and guiding them to discover the connections between them. We use a series of striking patterns and drills to address concepts regarding geometry, range and timing. Through various drills, with and without weapons, students are exposed to appropriate responses to various arcs and angles of attack at various ranges. The focus of all of this variation is to train students to learn the dynamics of circular and linear motions and the mechanics that make them applicable in various situations. After being exposed to all of this, it becomes apparent that what seems to be an expansive curriculum is in fact built around a core of basic concepts and simple movements that are interrelated and universal.

“… it’s not just the hits, it the motion in between.” Neil Peart (Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage)

The importance of spatial relationships is also imparted and students learn how to affect and control spatial relationships through footwork and body shifting in order to move to a position of advantage over an opponent. Combat is not just fluid, it’s dynamic. Striking and blocking is only as good as how you get there. Being aware of your body, where your weapon is in relation you your opponent and where his is in relation to your position and how your body is aligned at a given moment seems like minutia, but when playing a game of fractions it is everything. Taking a small step forward or backward, displacing to the side or weaving and rolling while attacking and defending not only makes you elusive, but by moving it is also opens and closes windows of opportunity for attacks and counterattacks. Look at any fighter of any consequence - past or present. You will see that they have developed impeccable footwork and positioning due to their high degree of awareness and mastery of spatial relationships.

"The great mistake is to anticipate the outcome of the engagement; you ought not to be thinking of whether it ends in victory or defeat. Let nature take its course, and your tools will strike at the right moment." Bruce Lee (The Tao of Jeet Kune Do)

Lastly, but probably most important of all, students are taught about timing and rhythm. In terms of timing, there are only three paradigms. You are either behind, matched with or ahead of your opponent. Each carries with it certain nuances that both limit and create opportunities, and each is heavily influenced by the rhythm or tempo of the engagement. Rhythm is either fluid or broken and it is rhythm that determines where you are in the regards to timing. One must have at least a functional understanding of rhythm in order to make any martial art work. We often strive to always be one step ahead of our opponents by overwhelming them with explosive barrages of fluid attacks and counter attacks. However, it is through the use of broken rhythm that we can really gain the advantage. Fluid motions create fluid rhythms that can be predictable and disrupted by broken rhythm, and it is by slowing down or being still where it is possible to bait your opponent, fooling him into thinking he has the initiative of superior timing and then stealing the initiative when he makes an anticipated move.

“… learn to forget..” Jim Morrison and the Doors (Soul Kitchen)

All three of these core concepts are pulled together not just through drills, but through “breaking” the drills to which they have been exposed. The purpose of drills is to isolate concepts, develop attributes and impart strategy. However, no matter how many movements a drill has in its structure, it is nothing more than repetition. Memorizing and mastering the movements in sequence is perhaps the lowest stage of learning. Learning a drill is not the end of the learning process. The desired end state to learning drills is that you forget pattern, forsake the drill and simply act. Yes - ACT, not react. In order to spontaneously flow you have to dissect the drill and extract the essence and then discard it. If you do not, the pattern will become habit and you become slave to your routine and will fail to act in an appropriate manner when the time presents itself. The highest level of development is where you have internalized everything you have learned and have transcended the superficiality of patterns and the dogma of style and system.

These concepts are not evident to those who don’t train in the FMA even though they are universal to all martial arts, and sadly they are often overlooked by those that do. Many just can’t see past the superficial and spend their time and energy simply mimicking their instructor and trying to be just like them. I can only suppose that they do so because it is easier to copy excellence than to be excellent. The late Remy A. Presas had been known for encouraging those he taught to find the connections and “make the art for yourself”. He was also known for saying “it’s all the same” referring to the motion of hand and weapon as well as and concepts surrounding the FMA. I have embraced this idea. I feel that my teachers have helped guide me toward doing just that and feel that I must pay all of that forward to those who come to me for training.