Acknowledgements

"Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far." - West African Proverb

Acknowledgements:

FCS Kali San Diego - Established September 25th, 2011

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Sunday – New Horizon

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(One last practice at Dusty Rhodes Park)


Got up this morning and got confused of the time. My phone said one thing, but the microwave said another. The microwave was an hour behind. I checked my computer and it was the same as my phone. I restarted my phone to make sure which time was correct and sure enough it was. It was the microwave that was behind. Good thing my phone flashed forward to Daylight Savings Time or else I would have woken up an hour late. So I got ready and headed out to our Sunday training.

New Horizon

It was a smaller group today. Too bad because the others missed out. Ed tells us “Since it’s Daylight Savings Time, it means we have more sunlight, which means we have more energy, which means we have more time to burn. So we’re going to start what I call New Horizon.” This “New Horizon” meant more cardio to help physically condition us, but also that he was going to start teaching us Taekwondo, Hapkido, Gracie Jiu-jitsu, BoxingSilat, and maybe some Kendo, along with other Filipino and Korean Weapons; and that we’re going to start doing full contact sparing. This is on top of our FCS Kali training.

Taekwondo

So we were pretty excited, at least I know I was, and we got started. We did a series of cardio work to get us warmed up and some stretches to get us loose. Then Ed showed us some Taekwondo foot work, which also helps set us up for some kicks. Let me say that the techniques that Ed showed us today were very different from what I learned and saw in the past when I took Taekwondo as young boy. It was quicker, faster, lighter, and less telegraphed. It really opened my eyes about what Taekwondo is really about and he only showed us a few techniques.
Back when my Mom and Dad enrolled my brother and I in an American Taekwondo school, I lost interest in it so early in because I didn’t see how effective this could have been for me if I got into a real fight. And mind you that I was a very young boy when I had these thoughts. Now that’s not to bad mouth all American Teakwondo. I just didn’t like how it was being taught at that school as self defense. For me it wouldn’t work. For tournament, maybe. The way Ed showed us how our stances and change ups should be and how our punches and kicks should be thrown were way more effective than what I learned in the past, at least in my opinion. Again that’s just my opinion.

Boxing

Next, we did some Boxing. Boxing is always fun for me because of its relation to blades and that it’s useful. How many street fights have you seen or been in that didn’t incorporate some kind of boxing technique? We just went over 4 punches today with a little foot work. To be clear we were being taught Panantukan, not ring style boxing.

Hapkido

Then we got into Hapkido. Now I know nothing about Hapkido other than the painful wrist locks that I have been put in by Ed so I was really curious about it. Again he showed us some basic footing and then a couple of techniques. I like how he also incorporated some FCS stuff with it. I feel like both the Taekwondo and Hapkido stuff he showed us became more effective when we mixed in FCS.

Jiu-jitsu

After that we got into jiu-jitsu. I really like jiu-jitsu. I find it to be very effective in one-on-one situations and its a lot of fun. Though I’m not sure if I would try using it on the street. Too many variables to worry about in a street setting like what if the assailant has friends around and or a weapon. As much as possible I would want to make sure that we were alone before allowing it to stay on the ground. Obviously you can’t always control that, but anyway, we just went over the rear naked choke and Americana. Very similar to what I learned in the past, but with minor differences. For one, there was no emphasis on applying pressure with the hand behind the head. It was just relaxed behind head. I also demonstrated the variation I learned which did apply the pressure. With the Americana, there wasn’t much emphasis on the lift of the elbow. I also demonstrated that on my partner that you could lift opponents elbow.

Tabak-Toyok

Then we got into tabak-toyok or as some know it as, nunchaku, or nunchucks. I tried to play around with tabak-toyok in the past, but I sucked at it. Ed showed us some basics of how to handle them. Strikes and switches. It was a lot of fun, but hard at the same time. We all kept on dropping them, hitting ourselves, and getting all confused as Ed demonstrated made it look so easy and smooth. I felt like Bruce Lee for a second…… Just a second though and then I either hit myself or dropped them. lol. But I do feel like I can handle them better now that I have a better understanding of it. But I still suck at them. Haha.

Back to FCS Kali

Finally we got into our FCS training. We did some Sinawali, Punyo entries, and transitions. Level II stuff. Things that I need to learn. I wish I had more time to do more training with the guys but I had to get to a birthday party. So to make up for it I got in one more practice while at the birthday party. It was at a park anyway so I had a lot of space and it was such a nice day out.

So today was more of an introduction of things to come. I like learning other styles. There are definitely some other styles that I want to learn though like Systema and Krav Maga, but FMA is my main focus. Anyway, it was a lot of fun today and I’m looking forward to learning more. Till next time ItsYoBoyFlex and I’m out.

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