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.

How ideal is the knife as a self defense weapon? Although most Filipino martial artists, according to internet polls such as this one from FMATalk, carry a knife, I have my doubts. Here’s the short version of a more detailed write up on carrying a knife for self defense:

-Justifiable Use: There are a very limited number of situations when knife use is legally and morally justifiable. In these cases there are better suited weapons. Click here to read more »

Michael Blackgrave wrote a great post yesterday titled Martial Minions. Many Asian martial arts are supposed to be about a search for the truth, often referencing philosophical elements of Zen, etc., yet promote the exact opposite. It’s common to see everything from entirely ineffective techniques that are trained over and over again without thought, to identically clad robots who move exactly like their instructors, to teachers with cult like followers. Although the Filipino martial arts have slightly less pseudo religious dogma, they’re full of camouflage wearing wackos who idolize instructors that talk about chopping off heads rolling with eyes still open, and the like. Click here to read more »

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 »