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this weekend i was in washington dc, and a friend of mine showed me some videos by the dog brothers and their style of FMA.
i noticed that the style they developed is very much like true singko tiros arnis. i say "true" singko tiros, because there are so many people using this name to describe techniques as "cinco teros/singko tiros/etc". but like the names of techniques, abaniko/abanico, pikiti tirsia/pekiti tirsia, balintawak/modern arnis, there are actually styles with these names. i have an opinion about how this name of a style becomes just a technique in a system.
in the "old school" of philippine FMA, there are very few schools, styles and teachers that make the use of tests, belts and certificates and titles. sometimes a guy will teach arnis, with X amount of learning (i say learning, not "knowledge", there is a difference), and in another place you will have another guy who teachers with X times 3 amount of learning. but the skill of the students does not equal good = teacher with more learning or bad = teacher with less learning. skill, learning and knowledge are not always related. you can learn a little, and have more understanding of those things or you can learn a lot, but have only a little bit of understanding about those things... and your skill in application vs ability (power and speed) have nothing to do with either one, but on how much you have trained and how smart you are.
in the development of a fighter, you have five things:
1. learning/instruction
2. understanding/knowledge
3. training/physical skills/reflects
4. knowledge of techniques and tactics vs strategy
5. experience in doing these things, pain tolerance, aggression control and courage
so, back to my point of this post, many masters favored ability over knowledge. so they learned a few tricks from one master, learned some more tricks from another fighter, developed it into his own technique, and then he went out to prove to himself and others that this new technique is a good one. during a master's travels, he will learn a little of this and a little of that and one day he created his own style. there are styles called singko tiro, abaniko, balintawak and pikiti tirisia, and then there are bits and pieces of each style that became known as techniques. this is why for many people, the abaniko for example is nothing more than two overhead strikes, and for others it is a method of close range fighting, and still for others it is an entire style. in my style, what i call pikiti tirsia, is not the tortal/gaje style, but something close to what the doce pares people call, eskrido, and in a way what the modern arnis people call, tapi tapi. the signature technique for the serrada eskrima people, lock and block, is called rompida in a espada at daga style i learned as a boy (dont remember the name of the master, he had no name for his style). but rompida in modern arnis is only the name of a defensive technique (which looks a little like lock and block btw).
sometimes an art can go into a full circle: visayan eskrima/singo tiros >> different styles from the stockton masters, including the style of the tortals >> dan inosanto style kali/fma >> dog brothers FMA. i might be wrong, but the little bit i saw of the dog brothers tapes (it was two) looks not so much like leo gaje style pekiti or inosanto style kali, but the old art of singko tiros.
by the way, the full circle of philippines to the dog brothers is also seen in the tradition of hard sparring. the sparring rules and method they use is new to western FMA but it is very old and never died out back home.
for those who are not familiar with singko tiros, here is a description. it is one third of my own eskrima style:
- not "five strikes", but "five targets". most styles use 12 strikes for the five targets. some styles will have 15 strikes, 5 hits, 5 slashings, and 5 thrusts.
- most of the time, the stick is used not as a blade, but as a stick.
- the grip is held at the bottom of the stick, because this is a long range style
- emphasizing the power hit, even in combination. the stick is swung instead of snapped.
- stick hand forward fighting position
- the "free hand" is not a trapping hand, but used to punch, push or hold the opponent. mostly to punch, when the opponent comes in.
- there is only single stick in this style and they use a heavier stick
- there is only stroking practice, not stick tapping together.
- no defense or disarming, only attacking emphasized, and practice at counter attacking.
now i only got to see a little bit of only two tapes (we were eating crabs and talking shit that night) but what i think i saw, reassures me of my old opinion, that the best fighting styles, even if different styles and masters dont know each other or never meet, will soon end up looking the same. because like theories and noses, everybody has one and there are millions. but in fighting, what actually works best is a very small number of techniques.
now, a saying: if you gather 100 students of 10 masters they will argue and differ with each other. but if you take their masters, they will agree on almost everything (except, maybe, who is the best one)
i noticed that the style they developed is very much like true singko tiros arnis. i say "true" singko tiros, because there are so many people using this name to describe techniques as "cinco teros/singko tiros/etc". but like the names of techniques, abaniko/abanico, pikiti tirsia/pekiti tirsia, balintawak/modern arnis, there are actually styles with these names. i have an opinion about how this name of a style becomes just a technique in a system.
in the "old school" of philippine FMA, there are very few schools, styles and teachers that make the use of tests, belts and certificates and titles. sometimes a guy will teach arnis, with X amount of learning (i say learning, not "knowledge", there is a difference), and in another place you will have another guy who teachers with X times 3 amount of learning. but the skill of the students does not equal good = teacher with more learning or bad = teacher with less learning. skill, learning and knowledge are not always related. you can learn a little, and have more understanding of those things or you can learn a lot, but have only a little bit of understanding about those things... and your skill in application vs ability (power and speed) have nothing to do with either one, but on how much you have trained and how smart you are.
in the development of a fighter, you have five things:
1. learning/instruction
2. understanding/knowledge
3. training/physical skills/reflects
4. knowledge of techniques and tactics vs strategy
5. experience in doing these things, pain tolerance, aggression control and courage
so, back to my point of this post, many masters favored ability over knowledge. so they learned a few tricks from one master, learned some more tricks from another fighter, developed it into his own technique, and then he went out to prove to himself and others that this new technique is a good one. during a master's travels, he will learn a little of this and a little of that and one day he created his own style. there are styles called singko tiro, abaniko, balintawak and pikiti tirisia, and then there are bits and pieces of each style that became known as techniques. this is why for many people, the abaniko for example is nothing more than two overhead strikes, and for others it is a method of close range fighting, and still for others it is an entire style. in my style, what i call pikiti tirsia, is not the tortal/gaje style, but something close to what the doce pares people call, eskrido, and in a way what the modern arnis people call, tapi tapi. the signature technique for the serrada eskrima people, lock and block, is called rompida in a espada at daga style i learned as a boy (dont remember the name of the master, he had no name for his style). but rompida in modern arnis is only the name of a defensive technique (which looks a little like lock and block btw).
sometimes an art can go into a full circle: visayan eskrima/singo tiros >> different styles from the stockton masters, including the style of the tortals >> dan inosanto style kali/fma >> dog brothers FMA. i might be wrong, but the little bit i saw of the dog brothers tapes (it was two) looks not so much like leo gaje style pekiti or inosanto style kali, but the old art of singko tiros.
by the way, the full circle of philippines to the dog brothers is also seen in the tradition of hard sparring. the sparring rules and method they use is new to western FMA but it is very old and never died out back home.
for those who are not familiar with singko tiros, here is a description. it is one third of my own eskrima style:
- not "five strikes", but "five targets". most styles use 12 strikes for the five targets. some styles will have 15 strikes, 5 hits, 5 slashings, and 5 thrusts.
- most of the time, the stick is used not as a blade, but as a stick.
- the grip is held at the bottom of the stick, because this is a long range style
- emphasizing the power hit, even in combination. the stick is swung instead of snapped.
- stick hand forward fighting position
- the "free hand" is not a trapping hand, but used to punch, push or hold the opponent. mostly to punch, when the opponent comes in.
- there is only single stick in this style and they use a heavier stick
- there is only stroking practice, not stick tapping together.
- no defense or disarming, only attacking emphasized, and practice at counter attacking.
now i only got to see a little bit of only two tapes (we were eating crabs and talking shit that night) but what i think i saw, reassures me of my old opinion, that the best fighting styles, even if different styles and masters dont know each other or never meet, will soon end up looking the same. because like theories and noses, everybody has one and there are millions. but in fighting, what actually works best is a very small number of techniques.
now, a saying: if you gather 100 students of 10 masters they will argue and differ with each other. but if you take their masters, they will agree on almost everything (except, maybe, who is the best one)
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