The last post I wrote on the palm stick was about a year ago, when I explained why I didn’t like it as a self defense tool. After spending the last year experimenting, I’ve changed my mind. What I don’t like is the way most people I’ve seen use the palm stick, striking targets that have relatively little impact, using inefficient entries, flipping the stick around in their hands, etc. As I wrote in my new section on the palm stick, people shouldn’t be asking themselves how they can use a palm stick in a given position, but what the best technique for a given position is. That might involve using the palm stick, but it might not! The problem is when people get into the “everything looks like a nail” mindset because they’re carrying a hammer.

In addition to the main palm stick page I’ve added pages with a palm stick attack, palm stick defense, and another on the flashlight for self defense. I hope you find them useful!

I never thought I’d see the day when a well known MMA fighter takes classes from Steven Seagal… But here it is:

I took Aikido for a couple of years in college, and for the most part found it to be useless for self defense the way it was taught to me. But I’ve always liked the theory behind it and figured at least some of the techniques could work if trained properly.

I have very little video footage prior to 2000, as I got rid of most of my old video tapes since I had no way to play them. But a week or so ago I happened to come across some old training footage on an external hard drive, of Wing Chun trapping and a bit of early blast training. The training in the clips is not so good, and I thought I’d edit it together and post it as an example of what not to do:

The same video is posted on the Wing Chun page, where more realistic applications of Wing Chun trapping and techniques are demonstrated in both pictures and videos. (I’ve recently updated the Wing Chun page with images of the pak sao, bong sao, and lop sao, and will be adding more images in the near future.)

So what specifically is wrong with the above video? The trapping practice in the first two clips might appear to be somewhat fierce, as I hit my training partner in the solar plexus and face in the second clip. Around the time these videos were recorded (1998), we regularly “sparred” from a Wing Chun reference point using a good bit of trapping. We did train hard back then, but the training was very unrealistic. The primary problem with the type of training shown in the first video clips is that there is no footwork or movement at all. No one is going to fight like that. If you attack someone they are going to move, and if someone attacks you, you are going to move. Standing in place does allow you to use more complex trapping, but you’re going to be at a loss if you ever have to fight or defend yourself for real…which leads me to the third clip of “blast practice”.

In 1999 I was invited to spar with a number of other New Orleans instructors I had never trained with before. I did pretty well attacking with Wing Chun trapping and blasting, interceptions, etc. I was able to back my opponent’s up over and over again. But, I was barely hitting them! Every time I’d enter with a blast, they’d back up and cover. My trapping no longer worked, and I didn’t have the techniques or training to deal with what were often unconventional and unskilled cover ups and retreats. I used this experience to begin working on a comprehensive version of what I called the blast…a continuous, forward pressure assault.

Wing Chun has the straight blast, which is generally taught as a punching only blast. Not only is this insufficient against an opponent who simply uses either a very tight or extended cover, but it can also be easily countered by a beginning boxer, as I explain in this video on Wing Chun trapping. After I had the above mentioned sparring experience, I tried to search out techniques and training that would solve this problem. I attended a seminar with Paul Vunak and took some private classes on RAT (Rapid Assault Tactics) in 2000. Although I loved the RAT concept, I found the specific entry (largely consisting of attempts to elbow incoming punches), pressure/blast (the Wing Chun straight blast), and termination (headbutts, knees, and elbows from the Thai clinch) to be lacking or unrealistic.

The third clip in the above video is basically Paul Vunak’s RAT with a groin kick entry/interception. Like I said, I don’t find it to be ideal against a high pressure, real attack. Additionally, there are better “termination” phase positions than the Thai clinch for the majority of people. So there you have it…the reasons that the training in the above clips is not so good. Fortunately I’ve since come up with much better solutions. We’ve now got great, effective and realistic ways to apply trapping and a comprehensive blast that works. I’ve been using and teaching them for 10 years now, and am 100% positive they work. You can see examples of effective trapping on our Wing Chun page, a couple of examples of the blast here, and detailed explanations of all the techniques and training methods in my self defense eBook.

This might seem a little off topic until you see the fantastic nunchaku skills at about the middle of the video:

Matt once flipped me onto my head nearly breaking my neck. He’s even crazier than the video suggests…

I received the following video this morning from “Nodan”, who talks about himself in the third person:

I don’t have any problem whatsoever with a person practicing karate, breaking boards, etc., for fun. I did it myself years ago. But please don’t claim any of this stuff will work in self defense. Showing a gun defense from long rang where you dodge a single shot and respond by punching the attacker in the ribs is downright stupid. It will get you killed.

As Bruce Lee famously said, “boards don’t hit back”. Not only do they not hit back, but they don’t move! No attacker is going to stand and do nothing, allowing you to punch them dead in the face. The fact that this guy refers to himself in the third person, has the voice of an old woman, and talks about demons doesn’t help. It’s sad that most of the comments on the above video are positive. Come on people!

EDIT: Apparently this mystery man, “Nodan”, went on a DVD sending spree in 2005…sending DVD’s to martial arts schools with no return address or info on who he was. Here are two posts on the subject if you’d like to waste a little time.

Ok, this is WAY worse than any of the poor sombrada training:

Crazy stuff…

I’ve been meaning to re-design and update the entire Hertao site, add more video, blog posts, etc., but have been too busy lately. I was asked on the Bullshido forum if I could find a version of sumbrada that was done at an “acceptable level”, and will post the results of that unfortunate search here. First I want to be clear that with the following videos I’m not suggesting that any of these guys can’t fight or defend themselves with a stick…only that the way they’re training sumbrada is not realistic. On to the videos:



The block with the checking hand that you see in seconds 6 through 8 will not work in reality. The only reason it works in the above video is because the “attacker” is holding his stick still in mid air. If this were reality, the “defender” would have his hand smashed by the stick as it followed through. The stick WILL follow through in reality, as you can see here. Only a cooperative partner will stop his stick in mid air so you can put your hand on his hand.

The same “defense” is done again at the 15 second mark. It doesn’t take much imagination to see that if the attacker really swung hard and followed through, the “defender” would have a really messed up hand and arm. The rest of the video is more of the same. Here’s another:



It’s hard to say which of these videos is worse…but I’ll go with the second. These guys are playing stick patty cake. They’re tapping their sticks with ZERO intent, stopping them in mid swing, putting their hands in places where they’d get nailed in reality, etc. Seriously, this is stick patty cake. The guys move into Pekiti’s “thrust on tapping” drill and also into hubud. All of it is done as if the target is in the middle of the air. Another:



This one looks a lot better on the surface, and to many people not familiar with real stick fighting, it’s impressive. The guys are moving all over the place, and going relatively fast. However, the footwork is not done with a purpose. It doesn’t help with evading, entering, etc. The “checking hand” positions will not work in reality. The only reason they work in this drill is because the practitioners are stopping their sticks in mid swing.

I should add here, there’s nothing wrong with stopping your attack in mid-swing in order to do a drill like sumbrada. The problem is when that action stops you from realizing your technique will not work otherwise. When we trained sombrada we often stopped our sticks in mid-swing also. The difference is that our checking hand position was either out of the way of the follow through, or would have stopped the swing itself. For anyone who hasn’t seen our sumbrada video, here it is again:



Notice the details. When the checking hand is used (in the case of the inside swing or #1 for example), it checks/stops at the wrist, not on the hand. Checking on the hand will not stop the swing. It will follow through and nail your hand.



I think this was the best video I found, but still not very good. In general these guys have “better” hand positions, and sometimes they’re even almost realistic. Take a look at second 2:18. This obviously will not work, and that’s the checking hand position used against the #1 swing in the majority of the video. The idea/position at second 2:23 is far better than at 2:18, but I seriously question whether the structure of that check/grab would hold up under a full power swing. The swing goes directly against the weak part of the grip.

Some people may argue they know all of the above, and the poor checking hand positions are only used in training. But why? What’s the point of training positions that will not work, when it’s just as easy to train positions that will work?!?!?!?

So why are people training sombrada this way? I have no idea. But just because everyone is doing it doesn’t mean it works!

I’ve been meaning to post for months now, but haven’t had the time recently.  Last week I was able to film a couple of videos, one on Pekiti Tirsia Knife Tapping and another on wing chun trapping and boxing.  I’ve just put the PT video up, which you can access from the previous link, and in the next few days I’ll get another up on wing chun and boxing.  Let me know what you think.

I’ve just added a new video on sumbrada, along with pictures and a description of how to do the drill correctly. Sumbrada, along with hubud and other pre-arranged patterns, trapping, etc., has been the subject of much controversy over the years. In 2000 I had a long argument on the old Inosanto forum, and another in 2002 on the old MMA.TV forum with Burton Richardson and Matt Thornton in which Marc Denny (Crafty Dog) also chimed in. Actually, most of the video I’ve posted above comes from a DVD I made to send Denny in 2002 after the MMA.TV discussion. Click here to read more »

I’ve added several new videos to the Filipino martial arts technique section today, along with a video on an FMA technique that can be applied to mixed martial arts.  The majority of MMA practitioners train techniques from boxing, Thai boxing, wrestling, and BJJ, but very few explore techniques from systems like pekiti tirsia, wing chun, and silat.  By integrating techniques from lesser known styles into efficient training methods an MMA practitioner can gain a significant advantage.