Latest posts of: Rusty

I just received this email from one of the web-gurus who sell the type of dvd that promises you super secret deadly commando combat skills just by watching the dvd once. The hype he uses to sell these things is actually kind of funny to me. (I never ordered them, but find the emails entertaining enough that I am still on the list. I admit it, I am a secret fan of any type of Martial Arts tomfoolery, snake oil, and wannabes. I love it all, from the self made Ninja masters to the Super Trooper Secret Spy Commando Warriors shut down by Congress. I love every tacky, silly bit of it.)

Anyway, this latest email is a direct challenge of the "real world" applicability of FMA training, as well as being an insult to the Filipino people, and an inaccurate history lesson to boot.

It was annoying enough to share.

Start quote--

"Every culture throughout history has created some
form of martial art so their people can defend
themselves in a time of crisis.

But as we already know; the only true
test of a martial art is in actual combat.

Known as Kali in Europe and the United States,
the knife and stick fighting based art is
actually called Eskrima or Arnis by the Filipino
people. It is said that the art was developed
over centuries during many intertribal conflicts
and wars with outside invaders.

Those who practice Kali claim that is more then
just a cultural art and remains an effective form
of self defense that can be taught to someone
quickly. And while on paper Kali seems like it
has a lot to offer, both its historical data and
self defense methodology say otherwise.

Many Filipino martial artists cite the Battle of
Mactan, which occurred on April 27, 1521 as proof
that their system works in battle. Warriors of
Lapu-Lapu, a chieftain of Mactan Island, defeated
a landing force of Spanish sailors and soldiers
under the command of Portuguese explorer
Ferdinand Magellan.

Magellan's forces were armed with crossbows
and muskets, but were heavily outnumbered
by the natives. The overwhelming tribal force
cut them down and the famous explorer was killed.

The major flaw with this isolated example, is
that it is the only successful battle of hundreds
throughout the sad but true history of a
conquered people. The Spanish Conquistadors went
on to conquer all of the islands with ease and
held them until the United States invaded in
1898.
[/i]
The conquistadors were skilled warriors even
without muskets and cannons, because they forged
their skills on the battlefields of Europe for
centuries fighting the also highly skilled Muslim
invaders???Not a bunch of tribal natives.

Spain's fighting men conquered huge amounts of
territory, and destroyed ancient empires with discipline,
superior tactics, and hard training. The
unfortunate tribal warriors of the Philippines
(and their cultural fighting art of Kali) were
no different than any other native conquest to
the Conquistadors.

But historical insignificance is not the only
chink in the Kali armor.

While it isn't fair to discount Kali simply
because its practitioners main focus is blades
and sticks (they also do practice some grappling
and empty hand techniques), but this kind of
training is hampered in the real world.

It has not been socially acceptable to carry a
sword in public in over 100 years and there are
many restrictions on smaller bladed weapons.

And although Kali stick fighting looks impressive to
the untrained eye, I have yet to hear of one
person beaten to death by a pair of Escrima
sticks. [/i]

All said and done, someone armed with an
ordinary wooden baseball bat or axe handle, could
undoubtedly finish off one of these so called
???dangerous?? stick fighters in a heartbeat.

Like any cultural fighting art, I don't condemn
anyone for spending their time practicing Kali
because it seems like a decent physical
conditioning method and a heck of a lot of fun.

And while weapons training can be a great
addition to your close combat toolbox, learning
from these conquered people is not the answer as
it is clearly not a legitimate method of self
defense."[/i]

end quote--

I gather this guy has never been to a gathering of the pack.

And, as far as the bogus "real world" argument goes, on his website this guy sells, along with his "super deadly DVD's", the Army sniper manual. Lots of every day self defense applicability there.

Lots of other stuff could be said, but I will leave that to others.