Instantaneous Adaptation!

Back in the 60’s when Mangisursuro Mike Inay was just a simple student of three great men, and Filipino Martial Arts was practically unheard of, FMA was known only as Escrima (Eskrima) Arnis, or Kali. The revival in the states started on the west coast, of which Mr. Mike Inay was heavily involved and at times was at the center of it’s revitalization.  At his time, there were no other modifiers or descriptive names. Simply fighting, the pinoy way. Pilipinos fought with sticks and knives, they called it Arnis or maybe Escrima in most places. Teachers would say something like “when he do this, you do that, and then go like that, before he does the other”… Each student received a different rendition of the art, and practicality ala “death matches” were the stick you were measured by.

Many have argued that the formalization and structuring of FMA has been detrimental, while others feel that creating a basis of information to learn and communicate with in a community of Kali and Arnis practitioners has been beneficial to the growth of the art as a whole. Who is right, is anyone wrong in this. There is positive and negative on both sides really, like a finely made Moro Kris there are two edges to this debate.

Back in the day… When the Grand Masters of yesteryear were just practitioners and fighters in the art, it was all about fighting. This method of learning is characterized by learning some simple drills or techniques in a short period, followed by fighting with other practitioners who were willing. As an aspiring Eskrimador, one would find a fighter with a good reputation and ask for lessons. He would teach you some stuff and then you would go try it out. This particular path of evolution is great, the Dog Brothers of DVD fame have used this to great effect, though I don’t believe anyone dies in their matches. A good thing too. When this element of training is utilized, Effective Street fighting skills and self defense abilities are guaranteed. The cost is high for some though. When working at such high rates of speed and power, the lessons surely have impact say the least. As the Inayan System of Eskrima is a traditional system of Filipino Martial Art and Self Defense, the system does have a full contact fighting component and injuries can be severe at times. The value is high though; the negative feedback is great and affects rapid change in students that are willing to ‘stick’ through it. As a result, if you only learn this method, your repertoire is very effective but also usually very small. This is also witnessed by the great Olympic judo players, most only have three to maybe five techniques that they can actually use, despite the fact that there are hundreds of viable techniques and variations to win a judo match. Street fighting aficionados are also prone to this, having only a few tricks up their sleeves they are hard pressed to adapt to drastically new situations. God help you if they get you in their game though, you might as well call the ambulance yourself. It would be more expedient.

Now sharing with the traditional martial arts community at large, such as Kung Fun, Karate, or Kenpo for example, the movement to formalize and structure the art complete with forms and drills has its fallacies and truths too. These methods used exclusively tend to make only practical martial artists out of those who have a natural inclination and possess the necessary qualities to become fighters. Mostly, as Wu Shu is known for in most cases, but not all Wu Shu though, just produces performers with pretty martial arts moves. Now the timing and finesse as well as the focus gained from this methodology allows for truly masterful movement.  Practitioners under this type of training for self-defense are typically more flexible and in better shape than the street fighting variety. Moreover as a whole, the traditional martial arts community exemplifies the higher nature of man as a rule as opposed to an exception. This is a very important part of the Inayan System of Eskrima. Mangisursuro was emphatic about teaching the values of martial arts, very few of the “we only are interested in fighting” type or martial artists are actually interested in this facet of the arts aside from lip service.

When we combine the two sides of this debate in a way that brings synergy into play, we can see the possibility of the type of martial artists that inspire and motivate us to be more than we are. A kick is really just a kick, and punch is just a punch, so when your worried about more than whether or not boards hit back, you might consider how the two combine to make a fine sword.