ATTN...sifu01

[MantisMag]

my sifu only teaches 7star mantis. it's enough for now really. he knows something like 43 fist forms and 26 weapons. i think that's what he said. i've learned 15 of the fist forms and 3 weapons forms. i've learned 2 staff and 1 broadsword. my next weapon is going to be double broadsword. eventually i do want to learn other styles. mostly animals. tiger, snake, and dragon are all on my "to do" list.

not sure about that drill. we might have done it and he just never told us the name.

if chi sao is what i think it is then no we don't practice it. could you give a brief description of what you mean so i could tell you for sure?

trapping is integral to praying mantis. probably about a third of our moves involve trapping. most of the other 2/3 involves grappling.

[JRSJKD]

Weapons systems.......

While I've enjoyed learning other weapons........the FMA have got to be to most efficient and practical I've ever seen. Learn the single stick, double stick(siniwali), and some long and short(espada y daga), and you can use it anywhere. Need it to protect yourself, no prob, its the same idea whether your empty handed or pick up a broomstick. No need to learn a million different weapons. Beautiful in its simplicity.

Junior

[MantisMag]

you do know those are all based on japanese swordfighting right?

[JRSJKD]

!!!!!!!!

Actualy NO they're not. Most of the arts are indigenous although the early Spanish occupation of the Phillipines had a VERY heavy influence in the blade fighting we see today. Particularly Espada y daga, which obviosly is in reference to the Espada's( a type of sword from Toledo spain), and how they usually fought witha dagger in the other hand at the same time. We usually refer to this as the long and short because many times we will use sticks instead of training blades.

As far as where the arts came from,I think its a largely accepted misconception that all arts came from Japan or China. Unfortunately, no one is absolutely certain ofo rgins of the phillipines the currently supported theory is that the first peoples in the phillipines were the Negrito pygmy's. They would have migrated there across a land bridge that was believed to be in existance around 25000-30,000bc(it was a land brigde from what would roughly be considered Taiwan to what is now Luzon). They then believe that around 5,000-3,500 b.c. there was a large influx of indonesians into the phillipines. This migratory wave was belived to last for around 13 centuries. However this theory has some major issues with anthropologist and paleontoligist's. For instance it presupposes that the islands were uninhabited prior to the arrival of the pygmy's and then followed by waves of indonesians. They have since found remains of a woman dating back to around 22,000 b.c. which hurts the first thoery. Anyway, there is a lot of arguing about the whole thing. The one thing agreed upon is that as these cultures abilities to travel accross water became more advanced the trade between indonesia and the phillipines increased thus enabling a very large mingling of cultural influences including Islam.

While anthropologist's do note a huge Chinese influence around 618-906b.c. you will hard pressed to find anything to support a statement that the arts of the Phillipines are based on the Japanese sword. That's like saying Native American, or Indian(India) art's came from Japanese judo or jiu-jitsu.

You will always be able to find things/techniques among different arts that are similar. It would be easy to say "Hey, That's from such and such!", but in reality, there are only so many ways to punch, kick, trap, grapple, lock, choke, etc. To be honest, for any one system to claim to have been the origin of any of these things(any technique in the end is only body movement and we all have the same bodies), is purely arogance. As you train and perhaps move on to other martial arts outside the influence of your current art, you will see this. It's only natural.

Junior

[Rocp15126]

Since you mention trapping, you probably practice chi sao (sticky hands)or a form of it. Chi Sao is the wing chun terminology for sticky hands. It looks a lot like two people "rolling" hands against one another. The grappling you practice is it like China or Shuai Chao?

the Filipino people have been influence by many different cultures. I would say FMA is more like fencing than Japanese sword techniques. (Heavy influence by the Spainards) For a better answer read Mark Wiley's Filipino Martial Culture. (Excellent book!)

As far as FMA- I absolutely love it! I still break out my sticks and practice!

[MantisMag]

sorry i was misinformed. someone once showed me something that he said was fillipino stick fighting. it was very obviously based on japanese sword fighting. he confirmed this when i asked him and even told me the geneology of some of the techniques. i thought this was the same style that you were talking about. sorry.

[JRSJKD]

no prob

Inevitably, it all looks and is relativly similar. Guy a swings at you from this direction. No matter what art you practice hard/soft, internal/external, punching/kicking, a/b, this, that, or the other.............there are only so many things you can do!

Junior

[JRSJKD]

trapping

ROCP...
One of the things I love about FMA is how extensive the trapping is. While not as structured as say wing chun its still as prevalent if not more.

We sometimes won't do chi sao for a while and then Guru will just bring it back out one day........man, talk about sore shoulders!!!

I also thought that Wiley's book was good, but very opinionated and biased only towards the instructors he had trained with.

Now that you mention it.....maybe I'll grab my sticks and practice a little too. Maybe I can break another lamp

Junior

[Rocp15126]

do you know of any good martial arts websites?


and still no word from Sifu01?

[JRSJKD]

BJJ

Can't speak for Mantis but FMA has a lot of grapling. Lots of locks both standing and on ground. The indonesian arts like silat have some really cool grappling.....unlike everything else. It's not for everyone though. Being 6'4 215lbs, Im just too big to pull some of that stuff off.

I have a couple of friends who train at the gracie schools but more and more seem to op towards the Machado's schools. Grappling is so strong, A good grappler will always have an advantage over someone with no grappling experience. Stick with it, youll find it very rewarding.

ROCP.....its pretty late , but ill see what I can put together for you tomorrow. I'm gonna call one of my friends/instructors at the academy tomoorow and see if he know's anyone in PA.

Junior

[MantisMag]

there's not that much ground fighting in praying mantis. ground fighting is something you want to avoid. once you're on the ground with somebody the outcome mostly has to do with who initially had the better position and who's stronger. there are takedowns and a few techniques that are worked from the ground but once you get to that point the fight should be over. if you haven't taken your opponent out there isn't a lot you can do except work the same techniques you learned standing up but from a horizontal position.

[JRSJKD]

That's exactly why you want to learn grappling, most fights will end up on the ground. To be comfortable and capable at all ranges is a key component of the JKD philosophy.

[JRSJKD]

there u go. Now go and learn some real boxing from a hole in the wall gym or maybe Muay Thai. that way you've got the ground game, standup/takedown, and punching/kicking. Very well rounded.

[Rocp15126]

Tae Kwon Do is a good art for the kicking range. If your looking for something to bridge the distance from any range to clinch/grappling range then you might need to learn the punching range and trapping. You don't necessarily have to learn all the ranges! I've seen plenty of fighters who are adept at closing the ranges without learning the others, but as JRSJKD said you'll be "very rounded" at all ranges. Either way make sure that you practice going from one range to another. just my two cents.

[MantisMag]

kickin is fun. i don't really worry too much about real fights ending up on the ground. nobody's been able to get ahold of me yet without getting punched or kicked pretty good before reaching me. i figure most people have trouble hanging onto you when their head is a foot behind the rest of their body.