New Inosanto student

[Hakoko]

I will be a new student of the Inosanto Academy as of this Thursday. I am thinking of training in FMA, and either Dog Bros. classes, or Muay Thai. Are there any suggestions with the classes I should take? Right now the FMA's classes are for sure, the others are up in the air right now. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[PentjackSilat]

1) What benefits do you want from training?

2) Do you consider yourself fast, slow, strong, slippery, weak, long reach, short and round, etc...? Give me an idea of your strong and weak points aswell as your body type.

[Hakoko]

Well, I'm Hawaiian, so I'm stocky but pretty strong. Kinda on the shorter side of the spectrum.

[PentjackSilat]

Your body type is good for grappling. Usually, good Kickboxers are tall and lanky, and good grapplers are short and stubby. But you should know it all.

[Hakoko]

Thanks, I already train in BJJ, but I love the FMA's, so that's why I decided to train in their FMA's classes. I want more stand up type skills, so that's why I am thinking of training in Muay Thai. On the other hand I think the Dog Bros. class taught by Mark Denny would be awesome. That's where the question lies. MT or Dog Bros.

[PentjackSilat]

Will you have a stick on you at all times to use for self defense?

[Hakoko]

So are you telling me to take Muay Thai instead of Dog Bros.? I'm taking the FMA's classes. And from what I gather, MT would be the next choice for me.

[PentjackSilat]

I'm won't tell you what I think you should take. I'm not you.
Instead, I'm helping you explore and weigh the options so that you can make a better decision for yourself.
What I will do is try to bring up questions you've never asked yourself. So that you can see your question (which class to take?) from as many angles as possible, and make a well thought out decision.

[PentjackSilat]

So with that in mind.

What necessary skills exactly do you feel you're missing?

Only once you have given this question some serious thought, should you move on to answering the next question of:

Which of those will FMA give you that Muay Thai will not, and vice versa?

[Hakoko]

Let me first say, I really appreciate all the help you are giving. Now, I for sure am going to take the FMA's class. Like I said before the dilemma lies in either taking MT or DB's. I would like to take MT, because I think in a self defense situation MT can come in real handy, for obvious reasons. On the other hand the DB classes will help my stick fighting. I know the whole, are you gonna carry around a stick all the time argument. But the real reason I'm taking the FMA's classes is to learn more on the knife, which stems from the stick and empty hand. But I do like the DB way of doing things. So basically I'm still stuck.

[SD fma]

Hi Hakoko,

Welcome to FMA!...I think you are really going to enjoy your time training in a very effective and practical art...

With that being said, how about this:

Focus on FMA for a while, get good at it, then check out Muay Thai and/or Dog Brothers...no question that you will benefit from MT or DB, but no need to put too much on your plate too soon...if you put too much, you may get discouraged from one of them...I too am built like you and I enjoy the flow that I've developed from FMA...but I also like being able to move from range to range...FMA develops this in each fighter...

I suspect that if Guro Dan teaches FMA like my instructor does(Master Narrie Babao), then you are definitely going to get alot of information fast-and you'll have to practice it over and over to get proficient...which requires your free time...then he'll give you more and more new info-it seems that catching up is next to impossible...but you eventually do...

Just my opinion, but be careful about overdoing it...

Good Luck!

[Hakoko]

Thanks SD,

I actually had my first class today. I was in awwwwww with Guro Dan. He is absolutely amazing, not just for his age, but he's just simply amazing. I agree, I actually signed up for just the FMA's classes. Man, I studied a little w/ a practitioner from Hawaii, and enjoyed FMA's, but just what I learned and saw today, I was amazed. I think I'm really gonna like it there. Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it.

[Holdfast]

isn't Dog Bros FMA?

[SD fma]

Hi Holdfast,

Yes, they are...but I think the issue is how much should Hakoko be putting on his plate...it would be similar to serving two Masters at one time...I have been taught that it is bad form to have two instructors in the same art...unless, there is an agreement by the original Master/instructor....

I just reread what I wrote and ,yes, it does appear to imply that... for that, I apologize, it was not my intend...

But I do believe that if Hakoko sticks to his first instructor-Guro Dan and his group-he should be loyal to him before looking at other instructors...I know Marc Denny has trained under Guro Dan and so did Eric Knauss (from their bios on their website), but if he is going to Guro Dan, stick with it...that doesn't mean don't do any research, but it does mean to create a foundation or a base art....

Just my opinion.

[Hapkidodude]

I agree with you SD fma about not getting overwhelmed. One thing that I think that you are missing is that the other classes that Hakoka is mentioning are both taught at the Inosanto Academy. Loyalties would not be an issue in this case.

To Hakoka, I hope you enjoy your classes there. I am training at IMB Academy. Sifu Bustillo's curriculum is similair to Guro Inosanto's. Guro Inosanto used to teach at IMB. Good training to you.