# FMA for old Farts?



## geezer (Nov 19, 2017)

Our Tempe PCE Escrima club ...which we informally call the _OFS branch _(Old Farts with Sticks) has started working on using canes for defense. Nothing fancy. We are just adapting our core principles from _Latosa Escrima Concepts _to a longer (approx. 36") weapon that has a hooked or L-shaped end. It's self-defense themed, and we tend to favor "percussive" or impact-based movements with a KISS approach. 

Anyway we are having a blast, with our most outrageously enthusiastic member being an 86-year-old gent who's battling cancer, and he's doing pretty well at the moment. He's a former competitive racquetball player, and boy can he swing a stick. If he hits back at his illness the way he hits back at us in class, you'd almost pity the cancer! 

So, anybody else work with geezers using canes?


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## Gerry Seymour (Nov 19, 2017)

I've done a bit of work on it, but not with the strong base you guys have, and mostly not with partners who know even as much as I do. I've used canes off and on since my early 20's because of my crappy knees, arthritic big toes, and a collection of injuries. My collection (about half a dozen ATM) includes some that are crooked (that have a crook), and some that are straight. I have two that have angled straight handles. All have different balance and excel in different ways. I tend to think in terms of both percussion and control (using the crook to move legs, mostly). I don't practice a lot of locks, though I think I probably should, since someday that may be the best way for me to control someone.


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## geezer (Nov 20, 2017)

gpseymour said:


> I've done a bit of work on it, but not with the strong base you guys have, and mostly not with partners who know even as much as I do. I've used canes off and on since my early 20's because of my *crappy knees,* arthritic big toes, and a collection of injuries.



Yeah, I got them crappy knees too. And a few other geezer-ly complaints. 



gpseymour said:


> I don't practice a lot of locks, though I think I probably should, since someday that may be the best way for me to control someone.



Yeah, in this class, I don't do much with locks and submissions either, mainly because a. it's not my area of knowledge, and b. because in civilian self-defense application, I see the main objective as discouraging the attacker and escaping the situation, rather than controlling and submitting the aggressor.

For older, physically weaker people, closing and attempting locks, grapples, and so forth, against a younger, stronger, street-wise, and violently resisting aggressor is_ not _such a great idea. That requires more skill and entails more risk, and I would say that it belongs more in the realm of professional security and police work.  <--- (imogee with dark glasses, looking like a _cop_).

That said, as a martial artist, I would like to expand my knowledge of stick-grappling, locks, throws, and submissions. And, training that stuff looks like fun.


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## Gerry Seymour (Nov 20, 2017)

geezer said:


> Yeah, I got them crappy knees too. And a few other geezer-ly complaints.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


My reason for thinking of the locks/restraints is that there will come a time when escape won't really be a viable option (those crappy knees, again). I'll have to either disable them, or restrain them - whichever comes first. Having the locks/restraints just opens up a few more options for surviving.


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## hoshin1600 (Nov 20, 2017)

i tried doing a class using walkers and bed pans....................it wasnt very popular.


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## Danny T (Nov 20, 2017)

We've got a 'geriatric' group. Do a lot of leg strengthening and balance drills as well we do some walking stick and cane work. Have one person who does use a walker but says over the past 3-4 months only uses it when tired so it seems the leg strengthening and balance drills along with the footwork drills has helped him.


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## geezer (Nov 22, 2017)

hoshin1600 said:


> i tried doing a class using walkers and bed pans....................it wasnt very popular.



Somebody starts swinging a bed-pan at me, especially a _full _one, and I'd run for sure!


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## geezer (Nov 23, 2017)

One thing about the guys I work with. All are still pretty strong, and although they might carry a cane for assistance, they can stand and move well enough without one if they have to. If you can stand well enough, but can't run, then you go into a whole different mind set.

We call this _de fondo. _It basically means your back is against the wall and you have no place to go.  It's "fight or flight", with _no option for flight_.  You have to get vicious like a cornered animal. 

Give a guy in that position a 36 inch piece of good hard hickory or oak and he has a fair chance of discouraging an attacker. In nature, predators tend to target the weak. Human predators are not so different.


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