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 Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2006 10:15 pm Post subject: What Technique? |
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What Technique?
by Celestino Macachor
Maning reverts to his usual bugal-bugal (horseplay) every time the subject shifts from pretty girls to martial arts. He never took us seriously, but we were already used to his crazy antics, so he was tolerated more as a comic relief than a nuisance. He always amused everyone with his quick-witted wisecracks like, "Hey what do think of this move (imitating a Jackie Chan eagle claw), this is what you call "Chicken Beak on the Neck"! He looked frail almost malnourished, chain-smoked and could be easily underestimated for a wimp. The other guys Monching, Tito and I trained with fanatic zeal, tortured our bodies and honed our left hooks and side kicks to near picture perfect form. Maning would try to mimic our routine as awkwardly as he can and then punctuate his slapstick exhibition with a Fernando Poe, Jr. flurry. Then the day of reckoning came; we got ambushed without provocation. Fists cracked kicks flew- then Lo and behold! Our enemies fled, their biggest and strongest fighter struggled to get up. But guess who knocked out the huge thug - Maning! On more than one occasion he saved the day for our barkada (gang). Maning is a very awkward fighter who doesn't believe in fighting techniques and forms. In a fracas he can metamorphose into completely different specie. The frail looking wimp turned to a cunning, clever and confident street fighter that is focused only on survival and winning. He is a master of expedient weapons, from chairs, newspapers, stones, broken glasses, cigarette lighters, belts and whatever his dexterous hands can grab at the height of a rumble.
Like Maning, my cousin Whiskey never believed in fighting form and style. He had no rudimentary training in hand to hand combat. But he was very agile and a master of stealth, intimidation and psy-war, which he acquired at a very young age in the tough neighborhood of Junquera Ext. In one altercation he was chased by gun-wielding members of the notorious Gazebians gang. In the ensuing running battle, shots rang out, Whiskey stopped, turned around to face the gunmen, both thumbs on his ears fingers flicking then mocked his pursuers: "Beh, wa ka igo!"(You missed!) Only few human beings are like Maning and Whiskey. They are the ones who will most likely survive in a plane crash, a shipwreck, always first to date the prettiest girl in class, get away with cheating in algebra, first to grab a seat in a jam-packed movie house - they are natural born winners. Maning and Whiskey belong to a rare breed of fighters that disdain formal regimented training methods and rely mainly on pure guts and an inbred combat mindset. During any affray their instincts immediately trigger an efficient primal fight and flight response mechanism.
The legendary Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi possessed the same intrinsic combat skills. Long before he finally came to realize the Way of strategy, he grappled with his spirit for seventeen years to look for answers as to why he never failed to win in sixty encounters. At age fifty he finally achieved the pinnacle of enlightenment and organized his writings in Go Rin No Sho or The Book of Five Rings. Since it was published 355 years ago, the book is already a classic and like Sun Tzu's The Art of War has transcended far beyond the original purpose and vision of its authors. Although Musashi trained formally in the Ichi school, he ascribed his victories more to his natural fighting ability. Unlike the classical Samurai warriors of his era, Musashi was unorthodox. He was the only swordsman in his time that deployed the double swords - one long and one short and never used the standard two-handed Bushido grip. Like the Renaissance man Bruce Lee, Musashi defied the classical teachings of the masters and fought naturally with awesome ferocity and total commitment.
The Eskrimadors of yore had a lot in common with Musashi. The use of the long and short swords were strikingly (no pun intended) similar to Espada y Daga weapons handling of Eskrima. Grandmasters Jose Caballero, Antonio Ilustrisimo and Anciong Bacon developed their distinct styles of Eskrima because it perfectly suited their natural physique. GM Bacon who was barely 5 ft. 2 inches had to close in on his opponent because that was the most practical thing to do given his height and size. Thus, Balintawak Eskrima, which specializes in Corridas or in fighting, was born. GM Caballero's De Campo 1-2-3 Orihinal and GM Tatang Ilustrisimo's Kali Ilustrisimo were developed basically to conform to their height, arm length and upper body strength. Aside from being endowed with extraordinary physique, these great Grandmasters of Eskrima also possessed a near supernatural aura that scared the daylights out of their enemies. They had a fanatical devotion to their Orasciones and would probably accept the challenge of taking a bullet after reciting their horem-horem.
What is the best technique or style? This has been the generations old debate among the more than one hundred styles of Eskrima. While this debate still rages on until this day, one good thing about it is that our indigenous martial art still continues to evolve and develop as a result of this intense rivalry among the different systems. The Juego Todo (no holds barred) matches of the old days were meant to prove which style was superior. It also made good business sense when an Eskrimador beat his rival in a Juego Todo duel because the resulting blood-spilled victory brought new converts to his school. Nowadays, no Eskrima Instructor would risk cracking his head to prove that his system is superior. Sans Juego Todo, the only way present day Masters and Instructors can prove the validity of their method vis a vis the other schools is by competing in tournaments.
While tournaments may approximate the dynamics of combat, however, it is not enough to prepare the student for real life lethal confrontations. Actual combat is a fleeting blur; there is practically no time to think of technique or style when it happens. The mind and body undergoes a chemical change in a life and death struggle. For the natural street fighters like Maning and Whiskey, their faculties are more sharpened during a deadly encounter and subconsciously they can take advantage of adrenaline rush to do almost superhuman feats. The exact opposite can happen to an inexperienced fighter. What once were fine motor skills and megabytes of muscle memory from an accumulation of technique is reduced to a limp and clumsy loser.
Technique or style is just a miniscule part of the equation in the outcome of a deadly encounter. In fact, many of the old Eskrimadors can attest that their winning in Juego Todo requires more guts, a fighting heart and immunity from pain than application of techniques. Many of today's Eskrima instructors over emphasize technique at the expense of training and actual sparring. Eskrima has become a mass based aerobics class with fancy and elaborate techniques for the purpose of maintaining a high rate of enrollment. Another drawback to teaching en masse is the specialization of forms or sayaw drills. This methodology was never a part of the curriculum of the traditional instructors and was incorporated primarily for tournaments and exhibitions.
Long ago, Eskrima was taught one on one. The teacher usually a father or close relative of the student did not have an organized lesson plan. The apprentice learns to fight in an impromptu setting, or whatever technique the student would ask for to take care of personal business like beating up a school bully or a neighborhood toughie. Sparring with very little protection was the core of this individually customized format. While the student retains the salient moves of his mentor, he develops his own unique and effective style because there were no standardized drills that he has to memorize in order to advance to higher lessons. On the contrary, modern day instruction format is patterned after Karate and Tae Kwon Do where there are strict standards of kata to perfect as a prerequisite to the next higher belt. In the early years of Eskrima there was practically no ranking system to speak of and one can only earn the title of Master or Grandmaster on the streets. Usually for beginners banana branches were sometimes used to substitute for rattan sticks. And as the student progressed, smaller rattan sticks called tomalin were used, although this time the blows were already harder. The student could upgrade to heavier standard sized sticks as his skill and proficiency would later dictate. Then the final test of his skill, if he has enough balls for it, is through Juego Todo.
Real combat more than anything, requires a fighting heart, or what we Filipinos fondly call fighting spirit. The commitment to hurt or kill or vice versa is one of the basic instincts that makes a warrior. If you are not ready for the gory outcome of mortal combat then you are not ready for Eskrima. Some of today's self-styled masters of Eskrima are no different from the python coiled Kabalongga oil hawker on the sidewalks. Their mouths are faster than their sticks that qualify them to be better salesmen than fighters. What they lack in true grit and fighting mindset, they compensate with a sales pitch that promises the aspiring student to repulse and subdue any attacker. Others hype on the benefits of physical fitness, sportsmanship and mental and spiritual development. These are all b.s. Usually their best sales pitch is reserved at putting down competition (other schools or styles). Again, we go back to the ancient argument: What is the best technique? This question tops the list of FAQs of both the beginner and advanced student of the martial arts- like the eternal search for the proverbial Holy Grail.
Technique is indispensable, in fact in any animal endeavor there are basic techniques to be learned whether acquired through formal study or by instinct. To break open its pickings of shells and crustacean morsels, the seagull soars to great heights then drop its catch to the rocky shores below. The chimpanzees use sticks to ward off leopards, hyenas and other predators to protect their infants. Likewise the best of the gamecock breeds fight gracefully with a technique they learned by instinct. The use of instinctive technique by these animals has been deeply ingrained in their genetic code for millions of years. Human evolution is no different. Our fighting skills date back to the first humanoids that finally came down from the trees and learned to walk upright. As civilizations rose, so did the humans skill for combat and mass destruction. With civilization many of the instinctive combat skills became institutionalized and over the years, the once raw and deadly arts evolved on the path of spiritualism, meditation and enlightenment. Kendo or The Way of the Sword, a once brutal art became more sedate after the end of the Tokogawa Empire. To gain acceptance abroad many, the so-called Masters of the Filipino Martial Arts followed the same path. It is sad to note that Eskrima and the Filipino Martial Arts are being institutionalized in the mold of Kendo, Karate and Tae Kwon Do. Should this direction continue we would have irretrievably lost the very essence of a cultural heritage?
The problem with some of today's Eskrima Instructors is their penchant for convoluted techniques. Many of these techniques have little or no practical value at all. Just walk in to any Eskrima club and you'll find yourself entertained by an Instructor that will demonstrate to you dozens of counter strikes to their rival club's trademark attacks.The uninitiated could be easily impressed by these fancy demonstrations and may eventually enroll in the class. Later on, as the student finally becomes a bonafide member of the club he is trained to a set of pre-arranged attack and counter drills, while at the same time his mentor continues to reinforce, short of brainwashing the gullible apprentice of their system's supremacy.
The unscrupulous instructor does not encourage actual sparring lest his weakness or his lack of experience might be exposed but instead gives his students a heavy dose of myths and daily bashing of his rival clubs. And so, the pre-arranged drills continue until the student has developed enough muscle memory to copy all the moves of his mentor. This gives the unwitting apprentice a false sense of invincibility. In a street fight all the moves he memorized religiously go down the drain like the Karate black belt that Maning once knocked out. Maning the ever-resourceful fighter knew who he was up against clutched a heavy stone on his fist. The black belt with all the katas in his belt was completely helpless against an off-timed, awkward, yet wily fighter like Maning.
So, what is the best technique? I will not attempt to answer this question nor do I have the answers as to how you should condition yourselves for actual combat. There are literally hundreds of technique books on the market today and equally the same number of styles or methods all of them claiming to be the deadliest and the most efficient. But I'm sure many will agree that technique is not everything in a real fight, in the same manner that a finely tuned Wilson Combat 1911 .45 will not make you a good shooter.
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full article link:
source: EskrimaDeCampo.com |
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