In a land far away a long time ago

From left to right standing: Rommie Macapagal, Ray Floro, GM Antonio "Tatang" Ilustrisimo, Christopher Ricketts, Tony Diego.
Kneeling: Edgar Sulite and (?) my apologies.

Found this image sorting through old photographs.  I have been honoured to have been personally trained one on one with these great masters.

Each on has left a legacy within me. Each one has had a significant impact in the development of Floro Fighting Systems

Isolated Sparring Drill - Courtesy David Kingdom

Floro Fighting System is a "sparring based art".  There is no other real way to learn it except through contact.  I wish there were (I'd make more money LOL).

However, we don't just don Sparring gear and pads and go hell-for-leather.  That would be counter productive.

As Prof John Will once said to me.......training should be the repetition of the CORRECT / EFFECTIVE methods.

So we take incremental progression to achieve the results.

One DRILL I start my students with (usually at their first lesson) is to do "Isolated Sparring". 

The objective is to score hits.  BUT........the bout is LIMITED TO ONE TECHNIQUE.

In the case of the sparring clip attached.  It is limited to the straight thrust with the knife.

What this developes is an appreciation of distance, timing, footwork, and one will realise the strengths and limitations of the technique.

It's NOT the NUMBER of techniques you have, but WHAT YOU DO with what you have.

The video attached was taken from a Nowra seminar I did with David Kingdom........I was pretty much impressed with the way his guys moved....This was THE FIRST sparring session (of many) that we did during the seminar.  What impressed me was they DID NOT make the usual mistake of moving wide, using other techniques.  They KEPT THE THEME of the drill and eventually they gained an appreciation of the RANGE, TIMING and SPEED

NON-TELEGRAPHIC STRIKE EXPLAINED

Greetings to All,

I wanted to re-visit this video clip on non-telegraphic strikes (courtesy Clive Girdham) as I get a lot of questions and comments about it.

In fact, if you read the posts in the YouTube comments, there is even heated debates.

Whether it is a stand up demonstration or whether it is full contact sparring, I have continually manage to “score” with this ONE strike regardless of distance, angle, circling, falling of a cliff or if I was talking or not talking………it works THE SAME WAY.

I’m turning 50 years old this year. And I’m still sparring people half my age with high qualifications and skill in combative arts.  And I’m still managing to hit them the same way…………surely at my age I am SLOWING DOWN.  Hence the argument of PURE SPEED doesn’t apply.

THE SECRET????.............easy.  It is a matter of PROCEDURE.

When I do a knife thrust…

STEP ONE:  The HAND moves first.  Keep the Head, Shoulders and Body PERFECTLY STILL……and motion made by these body parts will GIVE YOUR INTENTION AWAY.

STEP TWO: The ARM moves next.  Keep the Head, Shoulders and Body PERFECTLY STILL……and motion made by these body parts will GIVE YOUR INTENTION AWAY.

STEP THREE: Only when the ARM is halfway through the strike, ONLY THEN the SHOULDER moves.

STEP FOUR: Only AFTER the SHOULDER moves, then the BODY starts to LEAN in to complete the strike.

If at ANYTIME the shoulder, head, body and FEET precedes Step One and Two….You will GIVE AWAY your intention.

Now this happens in a split second…..my fastest time measure via “shot timer” was .19 seconds.

Whether your weapon is Knife, Stick, Empty Hand, or Kicking…..the procedure IS THE SAME.

Hope this helps

FFS Machete / Stick - PART FOUR (Sparring)

Putting it all together.  I'm the one with the white hockey helmet.  Please note that those unfamiliar with FFS always make a comment that my opponent keeps hitting my hands.  That is incorrect.  FFS defense makes very small moves to block or parry the opponents stick/blade.  I might do a video series on defense soon....ENJOY.......ps  watch for the thrust LOL

Constrictor Knot

Enhancing Handle Grips

In the last few weeks, I have been selling "homemade" pocket sticks out of guava. The problem I had was that the sticks themselves were rather smooth and didn't provide much of a grip.

I solved the problem by learning to tie a "Constrictor Knot".

Result. A great looking effective method. I've also used the knot to enhance the grip on my Mora knives.

UPDATE: the knots still seem to slip off whilst in heavy use. I've tried coating the knot with superglue. Stay tuned or results

FFS Machete / Stick PART THREE

FFS Machete / Stick - PART TWO

FFS Machete / Stick - PART ONE

Filmed in my Singapore Seminar