http://www.itsyoboyflex.com/2014/09/15/great-see-old-new-faces/
So yesterday was our Monthly Workshop with Manong Rich Verdejo. The
agenda was to go over some updated material from Level 1-3 curriculum.
Stick Work
First up was stick work. Before Manong Rich came down we started
warming up. Doing stretches, cardio exercises, and stick drills to warm
up the wrists. Then we moved on to 4 count drills. From single stick to
double stick, right and left, alternating and mixing it up, it was all
to get the body warmed up and get the mind going.
From there we started doing Punyo Entries and then Manong arrived,
which was perfect because he was going to go over Punyo Entries from the
new curriculum. This was great because now that I’m working on my level
3 material, I would get to see what’s new right off the bat. Manong
Rich showed us Punyo Entries 1-5 on both right and left. Some of the
changes were minor, as far as curriculum is concerned, and others were
almost totally changed.
Knife tapping
From there we went into knife tapping. So a common drill in FMA is
that the feeder will have a knife and the receiver won’t. The feeder
goes for angle 1 and then angle 2. During that time the receiver will
parry said knife attack angles. So where is the issue with this? From
what I see is that the receiver doesn’t learn much past sensitivity and
“Oh shit there is a knife coming at me. Let me get it out of the way.”
So there is no counter, there is no offense, just defense. It’s just
that, a sensitivity drill.
During this time there is a lot of opportunity on both sides, but the
sensitivity drill mostly teaches opportunity from the feeder
perspective. The feeder learns at what point they can be successful, or
simply keep attempting and eventually one will get in. Now have the
receiver throw in a strike or deploy a knife after the parry and the
game changes. This starts to open up your mind to possibilities. So I
might throw say a back fist after angle 2. The feeder has to respond to
my “feed”, in turn changing his or her role to the receiver even if just
for a moment.
After that we went into Super Sumbrada using knife instead of stick.
This continued the idea of exchanging roles because the concept is “I
feed, you feed.”
Concept
In a real fight, exchanges usually happen more frequently, meaning,
the other doesn’t always wait for you to finish what you are doing. They
take the opportunity when it presents itself. The new material seems to
apply this concept by inserting it into the curriculum sooner than
later. Then as you see the practitioner progressing you can add more
pressure, speed, and different types of attacks.
I think this way of training is more realistic than hey let me teach
you a combination, and then let me teach you how to defend against that
combination. Watch a lot of sparring and fight videos and see what I
mean. Unless the person goes into a straight defensive mode where they
are just covering, usually the fighters only pull off 1-3 hit
combinations at a time before they either back off or the opponent
counters. Well, unless of course both fighters are just non-stop
swinging at each other.
Lets get some food
After training the group went accross the street to grab some lunch
and had a few laughs. We talked more about things from the Florida
Gathering as well as concepts of MOTAC, and things FCS Kali West Coast
related.
On a personal note, I also noticed that things seemed to make more
sense and are easier to pick up now that I have a better understanding
of the basics. Things are clicking much faster. Oh and did I mention
that I received my Level Two Certificate of Rank? A step closer in
getting my instructorship!
Closing
So to wrap things up, today was a good day. We had a good size group.
(Not everyone was in the photo because some had to leave early.) It was
really good to see everyone though. Both old and new faces showed up to
partake in our monthly workshop with Manong Rich and we got to see some
of the changes from the new curriculum. I hope to see more of the
original members as well as the new more frequently so we can continue
to grow our tribe. Till next time happy training everybody! ItsYoBoyFlex
and I’m out.
http://www.itsyoboyflex.com/2014/09/15/great-see-old-new-faces/
