Ginunting

As a practitioner of Filipino Martial Arts, a great sword is a necessity. I’ve been meaning to post a review of a Ginunting I purchased a while back, and am finally getting to it now. I bought my Ginunting from Ron Kosakowski’s Traditional Filipino Weapons. I’ve bought plenty swords over the years, probably 20 or more.  I bought a samurai sword in Japan from the 1800′s, a Laotian soldiers sword in Laos from the early 1900′s, several Iban head hunting swords on the island of Borneo, a Filipino Pinute, etc., etc. Of all the swords I own, if I had to take one into a sword fight it would be my Ginunting from Ron’s store. (By the way, I do not know Ron and am not profiting in any way from writing this review…and of course I will hopefully never be in a sword fight!) Here is a comparison of the similarly priced Pinute from another company, and my Ginunting from TFW:

Pinute and Ginunting

You probably can’t tell much of a difference from the above photo, other than noticing the cheap scabbard that comes with the Pinute (top).  But take a look at a close up of the blades…from the back:

Blades

The Ginunting is on the left.  As you can probably see, the steel is twice as thick and a much higher quality on the Ginunting.  Here’s a close up of the scabbards and handles:

Scabbard and Handles

The handle on the Pinute isn’t all that bad, but the scabbard is such junk that it falls right out.  The Ginunting fits perfectly in the scabbard.  It’s snug, and definitely won’t fall out.  It handles like no other sword…amazing.  So if you’re looking for an excellent quality Filipino sword, order it from Traditional Filipino Weapons.  I’ll be ordering a couple more styles in the near future…

Updated Boxing Section

I’ve just updated our boxing section with a new training drill and a section on boxing for the street.  I’ve also made the self defense training and strategy sections a bit clearer, and will be making plenty more additions in the coming week.  So check back soon!

When most people use the term self defense they use it to refer to defense against a physical attack.  With so much of our lives moving onto the web, the idea of self defense needs to be expanded to encompass our computers and the internet.  CNN recently published an article on how Chinese hackers (most likely the Chinese government) were able to gain access to Gmail accounts via a backdoor created for the US government to spy on Gmail users suspected of connections to terrorism.  The article points out that if the US government can intercept or steal your emails, so can foreign governments and hackers.

The best solution is to encrypt your emails.  That way, even if they’re stolen from your computer or your online account (Gmail, Hotmail, etc.) the hacker will be unable to read them.  Encrypting your emails is easy.  The only catch is that whoever you’re sending them to will need to be able to decrypt them.  So both you and the people you email will need to install software to encrypt and decrypt emails.  Fortunately, this is very easy, and there is no good excuse for not doing it.  Unlike with physical self defense, setting up email encryption takes just a few minutes…and you’re done.  Here’s how to do it for free with Mozilla’s Thunderbird mail client:

1.  If you don’t already have Thunderbird you can download it here.  It’s an excellent, free mail client that functions like Microsoft Outlook or Apple Mail.

2.  Install GNU Privacy Guard on your computer.  You can download it here (and here for Mac users).  This will allow your computer to encrypt and decrypt files.

3.  Download the Enigmail add on for Thunderbird.  Here’s the link for both Windows and Mac users.  This add on will give Thudnerbird the ability to encrypt and decrypt email using GNU Privacy Guard.

4.  After you install it, you will have an OpenPGP option in Thunderbird. Select Key Management, then Generate a New Key Pair, and follow the instructions.

5.  After you’ve created your public and private encryption keys, right click your key and email it to your contacts.  Ask your contacts to follow these steps, and send you their public keys.  Now you’ll be able to send and receive encrypted emails that hackers, corporations, and governments will not be able to read!

Jab & Stab

All empty hand vs. knife defenses are problematic.  The guy with the knife has a huge advantage.  With that said, there is one unskilled attack, common in prisons, that is harder to deal with than the rest…the jab and stab, shove and stab, or sewing machine.  In this attack the attacker uses his lead arm to shove you and keep you away from the knife wielding arm while he repeatedly stabs you.

Sewing Machine

Even if you manage to block the first stab the attacker just pulls back cutting your arm, or continues to stab you faster than you can block.  So what do you do?  Here’s a solution as good as any: The Jab & Stab Defense.

I traveled to Cambodia last year and found a number of interesting depictions of Cambodian martial arts on a temple wall in Siem Reap. I just came across the images and realized I had forgotten to post them:

For anyone interested in Southeast Asia, Cambodia is a fantastic destination.  The temples of Angkor were incredible, the food was fantastic, and the people were extraordinarily friendly.  Of course the images above are crude and uninteresting compared to the temples of Angkor…

…but this is a martial arts blog.

New Images

We took hundreds of new pictures a few weeks ago…much better than the quality we’ve had on the site so far.  I’ve updated our page on the Fundamental Five with links to 4 new technique pages: the eye strike, crash, takedown defense, and clinch entry.  I’ll add plenty more new sequences this week, along with clarifying and improving already existing pages.  More soon…

Burton Richardson & Randy Couture

This is the third in six posts on “what makes Hertao different”. You can find the six concepts in a list at the bottom of our home page.

One of the great strengths of MMA and sport based martial arts like boxing, kickboxing, judo, BJJ, etc, is that the majority of time spent training is against an uncooperative partner. In sport based systems practitioners compete against each other and quickly discover what works and what doesn’t work. But all too often in traditional martial arts and so called “reality based self defense”, training never progresses to the level where your partner is completely uncooperative.

Burton Richardson, from JKD Unlimited, has a great saying:

If you want to learn how to fight, you have to practice fighting against someone who is fighting back.

Not many people would disagree with that statement, yet so many people fail to put it into practice. There are several levels at which your partner needs to be uncooperative if you want to be able to defend yourself: in resistance, form, and technique.

Progressive resistance (gradually increasing the physical resistance to your techniques as your skill increases) is essential, but it’s not enough. Your training partners also need to use form that doesn’t match the style you’re practicing. For example, a wing chun practitioner that only deals with straight line vertical punches thrown by other wing chun practitioners will likely be hit by an unskilled opponent throwing a punch at an angle they’ve never trained against. You and your training partners must vary the form of attacks to include form used by other styles and by unconventional fighters.

In addition to progressive resistance and form variations, free sparring must be done where any and all techniques are allowed. No real attacker is going to limit attacks to those you’ve trained, so you need to be prepared for anything. Every particular style has limitations. Even though boxers train against uncooperative opponents, they don’t train against takedowns from grapplers. Self defense training must include all three levels of “uncooperativeness”: resistance, form, and technique.

Don't Try That

This is the second post in a series of six, covering the six concepts that make Hertao different from the majority of martial art and self defense systems.  The first post was on footwork.  This one will cover countering.

Many fighting systems, whether for self defense or sport, teach blocks and strikes as separate techniques.  When the opponent attacks, you block, and then you strike back.  While this is common, it’s the worst way to deal with an attack.

Using the opponent’s attack as a reference, there are three points in time in which you can launch your attack: before, during, and after.  If you’ve been threatened and attempted to exit the situation, but are unable to due to your opponent blocking your exit or following you, you can attack first.  There certainly may be legal ramifications here, but in any given situation you need to decide whether you’d rather allow someone to attack you first, or preempt that and possibly face charges.  Every situation is different.  Anyway, we’ll call this an “attack”…when you attack first.

Interception

We’ll use the Jeet Kune Do terminology for the second option, attacking during the opponent’s attack, and call it an “interception”.  If you’re unable or unwilling to attack before your opponent launches his physical attack, you can attack him as he begins his attack on you.  There are a great many ways to use the interception, but the two major classifications are: blocking/covering with a simultaneous attack and evading with a simultaneous attack.

The last and worst option is to block your opponent’s attack and counter attack after.  Why is this such a bad option?  There are several reasons.  If you block your opponent’s attack without striking back, there’s nothing to keep him from continuing his attack.  You’re on defense and he’s on offense.  Whereas if you attack him before or during his attack, he’ll either be struck (in the case of striking) or forced to switch to defense…where you want him.  Additionally, the best time to attack is when your opponent doesn’t expect it.  While he’s in the midst of his attack his mind will be on that, and you’ll have a much easier time landing an attack of your own.

Fencing Stop Hit

Of course it isn’t always possible to attack first, and you won’t always be ready to attack the instant your opponent does.  However, your training should focus on attacking first, intercepting second, and countering as an absolute last resort.  Even if you are forced to block, cover, or evade an initial attack, your attacker will likely continue pressing you.  It’s highly likely that if you wait to counter until after an attack is over, you’ll never get the chance.  So even if you do miss the first opportunity, the second opportunity will most likely be one for an interception, not a pure counter.  In any case, if you are forced to block first, you should block your way into your attack.

At least three of the systems we use in Hertao share the concept of avoiding the counter in favor of the interception or attack: boxing, Pekiti Tirsia, and Wing Chun.  Although boxing certainly does have defensive techniques that don’t involve a simultaneous attack, counter punching (striking during the opponent’s attack…with an evasion or cover) is a necessary skill.  One reason boxing may have more defensive-only techniques than Pekiti Tirsia for example is that it’s a sport, where both participants are wearing thick gloves and target areas are extremely limited.  It’s easier and less dangerous to only cover when your opponent has padded gloves and a limited striking area.

Stick Interception

Pekiti Tirsia on the other hand, and many other Filipino martial arts, almost exclusively utilize the interception…so much so that they use the term “counter offense” rather than simply counter.  Because the Filipino martial arts involve swords, knives, and sticks it’s especially apparent that blocking or covering without a simultaneous attack is entirely ineffective.  When your attacker is attempting to cut your head or arm off with a machete, trying to block and THEN counter is a great way to end up dead!  Instead, when the attacker comes at you with his blade or stick, his arm becomes the target of your blade or stick.  While you may not always have such a weapon yourself, the concept still applies.

Don’t block first and attack second.  Either attack first, or at the same time.  It’s far more effective, and in the rare case that you and your opponent have machetes, it’s likely to save your head!

Movement Is Essential

This is the first in six posts on “what makes Hertao different”.  You can find the six concepts in a list at the bottom of our home page.

The term “martial arts” covers a wide variety of styles and practices, and means different things to different people, but most would agree that martial arts originated as “fighting methods” in some sense of the term…combat, war, self defense, etc.  If martial arts are to remain true to their original purpose, they need to include techniques and training methods that work in fighting and/or self defense.  Footwork is a vital part of any real martial art.

In a real physical conflict, people move.  They don’t stand still.  If you get hit, you move.  If you hit someone, they move.  If you try to hit someone and miss, it’s either because they moved, or you’ve got a REALLY bad aim.  Sure, people can stand still and block, but that rarely happens unless they’re up against an immovable object.

In Hertao all training reflects this, and if you want to be able to fight or defend yourself, your training needs to reflect this too.  You need to practice striking while moving forward, backward, and side to side, while moving diagonally, and while ducking and rising.  Training combinations of strikes or blocks while standing still is all but useless.  If you hit someone once, they’ll move.  If you’re standing in the same spot, your follow up shots will be hitting only air.

Poor Training

When you block or cover you also need to move.  Standing in place and blocking only gives your opponent the opportunity to strike whatever target you’ve just uncovered.  By moving, you limit the opponent’s follow up options.  Dynamic movement needs to be a part of every technique and drill.  In some “traditional martial arts” far too much emphasis has been placed on stances.  Although this has been completely de-emphasized in MMA these days (and rightly so), most people who trained martial arts prior to the early 90′s know the terms “horse stance”, “forward stance”, “cat stance”, etc.  Training these stances rather than footwork is a great way to get you seriously hurt in a real fight.

Although some classical stances may appear for an instant in real fighting and can also be seen in the footwork patterns of effective Filipino martial arts or even in western wrestling, they need to be largely forgotten and replaced with footwork.  If you are someone who trains techniques in stances, try thinking of them as positions you hit momentarily in the context of footwork.  It will change your training and ability for the better!

I’ve been testing a couple of new designs and finally decided to go with the one above.  In addition to the new design I’ve added a new video to our home page and reorganized things a bit.  My plan is to add a lot more information, videos, and pictures to the site in the coming months.  I’ll be adding bits and pieces until about mid-December, and then a lot more at the beginning of next year.  So check back soon for much more!