Martial Arts and Self-Defense Blog by Wim Demeere | Techniques, Books, Podcasts
I just received the cover picture for my new video, “Pad Man, A Video Guide to Full-Contact Partner Training”
It’s coming out soon and I’ll keep you all informed as the release date comes closer.
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In Part One of this guide, I mentioned my top-three annoyances when training with another practitioner. In this part here, we’ll look at some more gripes I have. Given the feedback (I asked for and received in spades :-). Thanks guys, keep it coming!) they seem to be pretty universal. So here goes another round of ranting, continuing the list from the previous part:
4. Endless counters. Bert mentioned this in the comments section and it ties in with #3 “They block the technique(s) you’re supposed to be learning.” But this time they go about it in a sneakier way. Instead of flat out resisting, they drag you into an endless counter series “If you do that punch, I can block like this. And if you then kick me, I’ll evade like this”. And it goes on and on. The reality these guys fail to see is that every technique has at least one counter. So of course you can always do something about it, in theory that is. [Read more…]
Here’s another old review: Indonesian fighting fundamentals: The brutal arts of the archipelago by Bob Orlando. I cleaned it up a bit and added some extra information. Enjoy!
Bob Orlando is a martial arts teacher and writer perhaps best known for his knowledge of Penchak Silat and Kuntao. In this book, he explains the fundamental principles that form the backbone of these two arts. As these are also covered in the video Fighting Arts of Indonesia, I will not go into great detail about them here but will do so in another review. I’d rather tell you some more about the material that isn’t covered in the video.
The book starts with a foreword and preface, including some acknowledgments. There is also a note to the reader, giving information on the demonstrated techniques, clothing and spelling used. In the introduction, Bob defines some terms, explains how the book came about and stresses the value of concepts and principles.
Here’s part 2 of the interview I did with Bob Orlando on his latest DVD, “The Fighting Forms of Kuntao-Silat.”
Q: Why did you choose these particular forms for the DVD over other ones?
A: The reason we chose those two was primarily because they are our school’s favorites–yes, our school’s favorites. Across the board, everyone loves them the best.
Elbow Exercise is a short pentjak silat form developed by George Morin, a dear friend and fellow student of Willem de Thouars. We use it to introduce the student to movement-based training and study. Much like learning the alphabet and grammar, the movements and motion in the form are much more important than the techniques we use to demonstrate them. Techniques are necessary to teach this form, but only as tools to help the student understand the underlying principles of movement.
A while ago I mentioned Bob Orlando’s new DVD on “The Fighting Forms of Kuntao-Silat” Well, Bob was kind enough to answer a couple questions for me regarding this project. Here’s the first part, enjoy!
Q: Your previous material covered mainly concepts and drills of Kuntao-Silat. Why did you decide to bring out a forms video when many people nowadays feel forms are not the best tool to learn fighting applications?
A: The reason I decided on teaching those specific forms was because I learned sooooooo much from them. Further, we continue to teach forms in general because we believe they contribute to the overall effectiveness of what we do.
In my opinion what we do is extremely effective, but not for the reasons most folks might think. First, what we do is NOT effective because the chief instructor is a modern day Bruce Lee or Dan Inosanto. No. What we do is highly effective because of the system–a system where we balance drill training, self-defense techniques (only 47, believe it or not), impact- and edged-weapons training, heavy bag work, and forms practice and study.
[Read more…]
