Question for all the fma guys/basically anyone :)

[aj1985]

I'm am pretty new to Kali DBMA. I have known about it for a while, but seriously started training quite recently.

Many of my movements with the knife, stick, double sticks are in someways forced or maybe choppy many times. I wish to become more fluid in my drills, because that fluidity is what I have seen in many practitioners such as Ilustrisimo, Sonny Umpad, and others.

May I ask are there things that I can do besides drilling over and over to become more fluid, and are you trying to achieve fluidity as well in your training. Or does this just come with more and more experience and many years of training.

I attached a Link to what I mean.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZC4mW-4TzM

take care
aj

[KaliGman]

AJ,

Here are a couple of keys:

1. To achieve relaxed, fluid, continuous motion in striking/parrying, you must be able to divorce your arms and legs--in other words, your arms and legs have to be able to move independently. You need to be able to deflect an attack with the left arm/stick/knife while counterattacking with the right arm/stick/knife and completing footwork to move to side, in, or out as appropriate. You can't think or do "Block, then move and strike"--it has to be done together if you are in a fluid, knife rich environment, or you get cut a lot.

2. One of the best ways to be able to "hardwire" the ability to divorce your limbs is to conduct sinawali variations while practicing your basic footwork. The sinawali hand motions flow continuously while the footwork flows separately--don't match it up like "Strike, step, strike, step"--keep the upper and lower halves of your body independent.

3. Hubud drills with a partner and the fighting hands/bridging hands practice (labon kamay/tulay kamay) helps develop speed and fluidity and the ability to divorce your limbs.

4. Relax your shoulders--most new guys could bounce a quarter of their shoulder muscle complex, they keep them so tight.

Hope this helps. I show some of this on my website. PM me if you have questions.

[Dr. Snubnose]

It is through softness you develop speed and speed begets power. If your stick's flowing actions are too hard and limbs are too stiff it will be like driving a car with the emergency brake on. This being said..one always needs to find a balance between the hard and soft...Too hard and you will be slow....Too Soft and you will lack control....alternate between the two and you will find fluidity....Doc:D

[2edgesword]

Let me start by saying that I agree with most of what has been stated already but I'd like to add this comment.

You do not want to TOTALLY divorce the movement of your arms from the rest of your body. If you do you will be using arm strength alone versus using your arms, shoulders and hips to develop not only fluidity but power. Fluidity and power come from the relaxed coordinated movement of your body working as a unit around your center.

[2edgesword]

"This being said..one always needs to find a balance between the hard and soft...Too hard and you will be slow....Too Soft and you will lack control....alternate between the two and you will find fluidity."

Yes, balance.

And sometimes the transition between hard and soft and/or the balance between hard and soft is very fast andor very subtle.

I'm not trying to get mystical here, just pointing out that something that appears hard, like throwing a punch, in fact requires a "softness" during the process of delivering the punch and hardness at the moment of impact.

In swinging the stick and changing angles of attack at certain points you are rigid and at other points you have to be pliable in order to maintain fluidity and power. It's developing the feel of the when, where and how between the two that maximizes fluidity and power.

[Michael Cook]

:spyder: Hubad-lubad, hubad-lubad, then practice hubad lubad. :) :spyder:

[aj1985]

Thanks guys for all the advise and I will put it to good use. May I ask do you use kamagong for the sinwali drill in order for the rattan to move quicker when sparring. I know there are many pros and cons, but I wanted to get your opinions.

aj

[Mr Blonde]

Although I'm no FMA guy, I used to be a very enthusiastic martial artist (Jiu Jitus, Aikido, Iaido and lots of 'extra training time on the mat without a formal instructor'), and I've trained and coached a few people. In my experience fluidity and speed are closely linked together and both come from relaxation and breathing. If you can 'feel relaxed and comfortable' in sparring or drills, then you'll notice your movements becoming more fluid and faster. Just like that old Wyat Earp quote (paraphrasing) "Smooth is fast and fast is smooth". Try to concentrate on your breathing while doing these drills, see if they positively affect the fluidity you're looking for.

Of course, to feel comfortable and relaxed in your technique, you need the confidence in your own abilities that come from many hours of practicing the technique. :D

But while you practice, don't get bogged down in 'imitating the instructor', modify it to your body when needed -this can be something as little as a shift in your feet or lowering an elbow slightly. Imitating and learning are not the same things. As one Aikido instructor taught me when talking about great fighters, we are all the masters of our own body. Nobody can move our body better than ourselves. I know that can sound a bit 'mystic'; but try to focus on the principles that makes great fighters fluid as opposed to outward things like stance or position.

Wouter

[KaliGman]

Thanks guys for all the advise and I will put it to good use. May I ask do you use kamagong for the sinwali drill in order for the rattan to move quicker when sparring. I know there are many pros and cons, but I wanted to get your opinions.

aj

The answer is: I use both. I recommend, when you are first getting used to the drills, for you to use rattan. With the extra heft of the kamagong bastons it is easy for you to get into some bad habits or to hyper-extend your elbows while doing the drills. Once you have a little skill at the drills, then you can go to kamagong bastons--builds endurance, builds speed with lighter bastons, etc. All of that said, if you find that you are really having trouble relaxing your shoulders or other arm muscles when doing drills--work with the kamagong bastons (slowly) until you are tired--then concentrate and really work your drills with the rattan. You will often find that it is easier to get some fluidity when your muscles are tired and you aren't contracting them much--this gets rid of a lot of stiffness. Eventually, you learn to relax without having your shoulder muscles "prestressed" and tired.

[DAYWALKER]

Aloha aj1985,

TONS of good advice from some great guys already, so I am not sure why I am posting.:o However...

"Don't THINK...FEEEEEEEEEWWWWL."-Bruce Lee, "Enter the Dragon".

I have been and sometimes still am VERY guilty of this. I *sometimes* am so concerned with my technique, that I notice I too, get "choppy and stiff". In other words, I am "thinking" too much on technique, and not just allowing the technique to flow.

I started Kendo at a very late age, and initially I was very stiff and "choppy". I had text book waza, but it was easily read by my opponents during a shiai (match). However...

When I "just let go" and basically said, "screw technique"...the constant drilling of the technique during training was then allowed to flow without my thoughts restricting them from "happening".

I am not sure if I am explaining myself correctly, but ya gotta not "think" the technique...just go by feel, as Bruce so eloquently said it in the beginning of "Enter the Dragon." Don't get me wrong though...ya gotta learn techniques properly, but IMHO, once you "get the hang of them" and *notice* yourself getting "choppy", you are indeed thinking about it to notice it.

Another example from my Kendo beginning:

We often shiai with multiple sensei...back to back. This gets incredibly tiring...Anyway, I apologized to my Sensei Narimatsu once because I felt my waza sucked because I was SO tired. Ya know what this man said to me? "No, no. Your BEST Kendo happens when you are tired! Good! Good!" I was like, "Wha?" He later told me that in the beginning of a shiai, most Kendoka are tense, and stiff...but once they get fatigued, they cannot tense...thus their waza comes out smoother, looser, and faster, even though it may feel sloppy and slow.

Also, not getting "stuck" in any type of training routine is good, and to just keep flowing from one direction to the next...even if it's not in "sequence" or whatever...just flow...inside out, high low, front back, etc...I have learned not only on the street, but in a cell, that you cannot always do techniques the way they "should be done", however they can still be effective if you train FREELY.;)

God bless and man, SSifu, KaliGMan, Michael Cook, etc are all gonna be laughing now...:o Take care aj!

[aj1985]

Yeah you guys are very much right in your opinions. I have been told a few times by instructors in the past that I either think to much while conduction drills or am to tense when I boxing. I think I tend to be stiff just because I want to be able to withstand the blows without them doing to much damage.

Instructors have told me many times that breathing and just being relaxed while sparring is much more beneficial.
It is easier said than done to (not think & just relax) hopefully with more and more training I can relax.

I wanted to add this link and I received permission from the author to share with all. I wish that what the author went through was still possible in this day and age. It seems though there are much more obstacles and journeys such as these maybe a thing of the past. The words really did inspire me to learn more about Kali and the many practioners.

http://dogbrothers.com/phpBB2/index.php?PHPSESSID=18a585506d19ef3f79fb045c5bfb5c 0f&topic=1084.0

take care

aj

[2edgesword]

"May I ask do you use kamagong for the sinwali drill in order for the rattan to move quicker when sparring. I know there are many pros and cons, but I wanted to get your opinions."

I also use both, the kamagong for sole warm up (starting very slowly) and rattan for partner training.

In addition, using a heavier weapon (kamagong stick, metal sword, etc.) motivates you to use your whole body in swinging the weapon. If you only use arm strength while swing a heavier weapon you will get tired very quickly.

[vampyrewolf]

If you work on technique slowly, getting to know how your body needs to move slowly, speed comes easier. The more you concentrate, the slower your actions become. When I spar (either in a controlled session with friends or with another roving group on my walk) I more or less give up on thinking and switch over to instinct... muscle memory from slow movements works just as well as quick forced ones. The big difference is that with slow controlled movements you can develop transitions smoothly, and with the speed that will come from practice everything comes together.