F.M.A in Sydney-Oz

[Ozzie gov'nor]

Hi boys & girls,

Can anybody recommend a good F.M.A in Sydney?

Or any F.M.A schools..

Thanks for your help

cheers

[Airyu]

Hello!

Ray Floro may not be exactly in Sydney, but try to train with him if possible, also he would be able to point you to other FMA practitioners in your area. Go to www.Stick-and-knife.com and post a question over there.

Gumagalang
Guro Steve L.

https://www.Bujinkandojo.net

[Ozzie gov'nor]

Hi Guro Steve L,

thanks for the recomened site.

Cheers

[Reikon]

I'd definately see if you can get a hold of Mr. Floro.

[Savir]

I became interested in FMA,but found it hard to find a club anywhere in Sydney, the FMA crowd don't advertise as much as the BJJ crowd.
Anyway this is what I have found while I was looking for a FMA school.

Bakbakan group in Ashfield their website is www.bakbakan.com. They have a great school that has a bit of everything- kali, boxing, kickboxing, hagibis

The Bob Jones Corp. may run some classes somewhere in Sydney I contacted Peter Shannon through the Blitz Magazine's website, who knows of an instructor who comes down from Newcastle to the city on the weekends and trains a small class in the city.

If you are heading out West there is the Upakan System, a 3 hour Sunday class located in Blacktown. The person who runs this class can be contacted at: cppbodyguard@hotmail.com.


The Doce Pares East Coast Institute has a large 'stick friendly' training hall located in Guildford. I don't have their information with me at the moment but the guy who runs Upakan System classes will be able to pass on some information regarding the Doce Pares East Coast Institute. If that doesn't work you can contact the Fight Rite Gym in Blacktown, their number is in the Yellow Pages.

I believe The Wingtsun school in Randwick also has a Escrima/Kali class, check the Yellow pages for their number.

I can't forget Raymond FLuro who can be found on http://www.users.bigpond.com/finehoned/
He runs more smaller classes from North Ryde. (I may be wrong there)

Good luck....

[Ozzie gov'nor]

Thanks guys for all your help etc...

Savir, are you learning F.M.A? if not what are you doing M.A wise?

Cheers

[Savir]

gov,

Sorry for the late reply. I am with the Doce Pares East Coast Institute as I live in the West. But due to work (I work in the city and get home very late) and family commitments (two very very young children) I currently only go once a week. Not really enough, but enough to keep the yearning to learn alive. Doce pares is run by Craig Bajraktarvic-Hayward he can be located at Gurocraig@aol.com. I have limited experience with the other schools, as you know in Sydney- you basically train close to where you live. I enjoy it training with the Doce Pares group, he mixes up classes with single and double sticks, knives, knives and single stick, the odd bit of grappling and not to forget sparring! You can learn ten times more about the art during a good sparring session than hours of drills!

Good luck....

[rayfloro]

Greetings All,

Thanks for the reference Savir..............

My new website is www.florofighting.com

And I teach private lessons at Carlingford (near Epping)

Raymond

[bigbrando]

if you want great realistic training, go speak to Ray. He is worth your time!

[JCRD]

thats round the corner from my house
can anyone tell me is FMA is mostly only knives and sticks
or is it more hand to hand

i was going to go with muay thai as a fighting style because of its practicality on the street but can anyone tell me how FMA compares to muay thai

[bigbrando]

If you're talking about FMA then it may involve stick and knife fighting but also possibly machete, whip etc. Depends on the instructor.

Ray is able to teach traditional FMA if you so wish but I would consider going to him with an open mind and asking him about Floro Fighting Systems. The skills taught are very easy to understand, learn and implement which is always a bonus. This is also what he teaches for close quarters combat and improvised weapons to law enforcement etc being able to use the knife, stick and any weapon.

You can always go to the forums where he and other similarly minded people populate. Email me at grapplerwa@yahoo.com.au and I will provide you with more details if you so wish.

[Savir]

A person's prefrence to a martial art is personal. I think you should try as many martial arts out as possible and then decide which one you would like to go to, and go to a few lessons of each one. The one that you enjoy the most, go for that one.
You mention that Muay Thai very practical for the street. I have done both Muay Thai and FMA, in my experience FMA is more street wise. Muay Thai is a ring sport, a Muay Thai tournament has rules with one other fighter. You may take these skills to the 'street' but my experience with Muay Thai is that it is not that strong with things such as weapons, multiple attackers and grappling. THere is also the problem of punching with a closed fist. In my younger days I got in a scrap and broke my hand punching someone on the chin. Someone forgot to tell me that without gloves, that can happen. However it is great martial art for fitness and conditioning.
I think if you are comparing the two, FMA is more for the street. FMA is a dirty martial art (depending on your instructor) things like ball kicking, biting, scratching, joint-locks, hair-pulling, and quick take-downs are all part of FMA. As weapons major are part of FMA, things like a person swinging a baseball bat at you (hopefully that will never happen) is not so intimidating. I don't ever recall learning how to defend oneself against a baseball bat in my three years of Muay Thai training. Gerenally I found FMA more fun. The fact that using weapons, empty hands, learning take-downs, grappling and striking seemed to be much more fun for me than just punching and kicking (OK I shouldn't forget the elbows and knees!).
I really believe you should make your mind up on what you like and what suits you, and if in doubt, due to the triangular footwork of both martial arts, you can easily do both!!

[Airyu]

Hello Guys,

Muay Thai is a great art and very effective for common street usage. Empty hand skills are top notch and the level of realistic training (sparring, conditioning etc.) allow practitioners to take it to the street from the ring.

When it comes down to weapon based skills, definitely consider the FMA based systems. Checkout a few in your area but takea lesson with Ray and it will hit home (literally) what a skilled person can do!

Gumagalang
Guro Steve L.

https://www.Bujinkandojo.net

[johnzag]

FMA's are great for blending in other martial arts. I dont think that is anything stopping someone from learning a great striking art and blending it in with their desired FMA.

However having been involved in FMA's for a while now people tend to overlook their qualities as a hand to hand art. Their fame may be as a weapon art but honestly they are equally as effective as any other art I have seen hand to hand.