Back in my introduction I mentioned that I have been practicing a Filipino martial art since 2014. With the dearth of martial arts-related content on Steemit, I'm going to talk about my own practice in this post.

Filipino martial arts is an umbrella term for hundreds of martial arts styles whose principles and founders originate from the Philippines. While individual styles have different tactics and applications, FMA is characterised by three major principles: the use of weapons, employing footwork and timing to control and close the distance, and defanging the snake. The last is to neutralise an incoming attack by destroying the offending limb, removing the aggressor's ability to harm you. FMA does not believe in trading blows: coming from a blade culture, trading blows is a surefire recipe for a mutual kill.

FMA is among the most high-profile martial arts in the world today, with multiple appearances in popular media and adoption by numerous militaries and law enforcement bodies. Examples of FMA in pop culture include the Jason Bourne franchise, Book of Eli, and The Equalizer.

My specific style is called Pekiti Tirsia Kali. PTK specialises in swiftly closing with and destroying the enemy. It is a blade-oriented art: sticks are treated as swords, knives are popular, and moves are performed with the assumption that the threat--or you--is armed. PTK is the official martial art of the Filipino Marine Corps, proven in combat against terrorists and insurgents in the restive south. It is also among the martial arts heavily featured in the popular Funker Tactical YouTube channel, popularised by Doug Mercaida.

PTK training encompasses a variety of weapons. These include:

*Melayu sibat (Malay spear)
*Solo baston / espada (single stick / sword)
*Doble baston / espada(double stick / sword)
*Espada y daga (sword with knife)
*Solo daga (single knife)
*Doble daga (double knife)

Different weapons training lend themselves to different applications. Sibat, as taught in my school, is for physical training and conditioning: it teaches the body how to move to generate maximum speed and power. Sticks and swords lend themselves to long weapons in the real world, while knives are for up-close encounters. While it is extremely unlikely that you will ever have to pick up and wield two weapons at once in combat, double weapons training teaches coordination and ambidexterity, allowing you to kill with both hands, and ingrains the principle of simultaneous offense and defence.

In addition to weapons, kali also covers the use of empty hands. In the system it is called mano y mano, or 'hand to hand', but the more popular term is panantukan. While panantukan in other styles is heavily influenced by Western boxing, in my school mano y mano prefers the use of slaps, palm strikes and elbows. Punches are for soft targets only, like the belly or the groin. For one thing, open hands lend themselves very well to rakes and grabs following a strike. For another, breaking your fist on the opponent's head in the middle of a fight can be annoying. Mano y mano also incorporates low kicks and knees, targeting the legs and the groin. Brutal, yes, but better him than you.

When it is impractical or inconvenient to reduce the enemy to an unconscious pile of broken bones, there is grappling, known as dumog. Dumog is a unique system of stand-up grappling which can be performed with empty hands or with a stick. Most notably, dumog allows you to sneak in a strike while grappling, or to quickly transition to another lock as necessary. For instance, if you apply an armbar to an enemy but see him going for a weapon, you can stomp his ankle and end the encounter. If he fights the armbar, instead of muscling through, you can work with his momentum and flow into a figure four arm lock. From the arm lock, you can step through into a throw -- and ram your elbow into his face. Military and LE dumog goes one step further, teaching the practitioner how to dominate a bad guy with one hand, leaving the other free to access or manipulate weapons.

Paul Ingram of Kali Center demonstrates lock flow here:

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Martial Analysis

There is much to love about Pekiti Tirsia Kali. It is a complete stand up system with real-world applications. Many criminals will use weapons like sticks or knives, and in some places you can carry such weapons for personal defence. Even if you live in a country that outlaws the use of weapons for self-defence (like Singapore), you will learn the different angles and distances from which you may be attacked, and how you can defend against weapons. You can also apply FMA principles to improvised weapons, such as flashlights, bottles and pens. Against unarmed threats, you still have your hands, elbows, knees and feet.

PTK's primary defence against an attack is footwork, either to dodge the attack or to crash into it while the enemy is still chambering the blow. Blocks are not common in PTK; attempting to block a slashing sword or a swinging stick with your bare hands is not conducive for a long and healthy life.

This is not to say that there are no blocks. But the true purpose of these 'blocks' is to cut off the offending limb if you had a sword. Instead of blocking or parrying an attack, a practitioner would step off-line and defang the snake. No hand, no weapon; no weapon, no problem. In empty hand work, this translates into redirecting an incoming fist into your elbow. Or smashing your enemy's arms, clearing them away, and exposing him to follow-up strikes.

The weapons training develops footwork, timing, spatial awareness and reflexes. When training at full speed, the sticks will become moving brown blurs. By learning how to deal with incoming sticks at high speeds, you can intercept far slower attacks. In fact, ever since I studied PTK, I am better able to catch falling objects.

Beyond that, FMA in general describes footwork and attacks in terms of angles. The angles of attack are the same no matter what you use, be it a sword or stick or your bare hands. The body mechanics are also the same. This commonality of angles and biomechanics dramatically simplifies training time, allowing you to quickly develop skill in all ranges.

There are, however, a few cons to FMA. The biggest flaw is that many FMA styles do not have a groundfighting or clinch component. Or, more accurately, this video by Stephan Kesting is the sum of its groundfighting and clinch strategy:

Hilarious, but it gets the point across.

FMA is a weapons-based art from a blade culture. It assumes that everyone is armed with a knife, and that anyone thrown on the ground will be finished in seconds. If someone gets an FMArtist in a guard, the FMArtist assumes that the aggressor is going to:

1. Draw a knife and stab him to death
2. Choke or strangle or punch him to death
3. Buy time long enough for his buddies to stomp him to death

The same goes for the clinch. The assumption is that the bad guy is either going to stab you to death, or steal your weapon and stab you to death.

The purist FMA response to the clinch or the mount is simple: either break out and stand up or fillet the enemy before he can do the same unto you.

Such an approach is useful on the battlefield or against multiple aggressors who want to kill you. Not so much if you need to arrest an unruly suspect, or if you are unarmed and need alternate means of escape. FMArtists interested in groundfighting without resorting to lethal force would do well to study specialist arts to supplement their training.

Another flaw of FMA in general is the temptation to complexity. Yes, it is cool to pull off a fourteen strike combo involving a dizzying array of techniques flowing from one into the other, or a slick multi-step disarm culminating in massive overkill, but if you have to defend yourself, you will not be able to do it. The adrenal dump of combat will kill your ability to perform fine motor skills, or even remember how to perform complex attacks and combos. Even if you can do it, if you spend a lot of time whaling on a bad guy his friends will circle around you and take you out. And if someone records you punching and kicking and stomping and stabbing someone well past the point of reasonable force, you will enjoy an all-expense-paid vacation in a small room with sturdy bars. Complexity kills: always strive for simplicity where possible.

The last major flaw of FMA that I will discuss here is that the similarities of angles and principles across weapons make it easy to assume that they are universal. In reality, the differences are just as important as the similarities. For instance, the right-handed Number 1 attack is a forehand strike to the opponent's left temple. With a stick, this is effective. With a blade, you have to aim for the neck; if you have a knife the temple strike will simply slide off the bone. If you're using your elbow, you can only reach the jawline, unless you tower over the threat, or you pull his head into you with your other hand. Proper training must account for the differences between weapons.

Conclusion

PTK is not perfect, but it meets most of my needs. It has helped me grow as a person, sharpen my skills and given me opportunities to meet wonderful people. In my own fiction, many of my main characters use FMA, which is part of my own writing brand.

In future posts, I will be discussing concepts specific to FMA. I will also write writing-specific martial arts posts with reference to FMA. Until then, stay safe and train hard.