# Looking Ahead to 2010



## modarnis (Dec 24, 2009)

I certainly don't post here as often as I should.  I also don't travel around to train much anymore either.  Despite those facts, Modern Arnis is an integral part of my life.  I had the good fortune of dining at my friend's diner today.  Aside from being a great chef, he is an acccomplished martial artist and long time student.  As usual, I was asked to give him a 10 minute lesson before I headed out to do Christmas stuff.  I showed him some very old material regarding knife disarms.  While we trained, we talked about the simplicity of the particular techniques and the connections that flowed from them.

One thing I observe too often is an obsession with specific technique.  The questions I am asked are often which footwork should I use, is this right, or what would you do next?  While none of those are bad questions, they miss the mark.

I doubt Professor Presas had any list of techniques he could give us.  What he did have was a critical understanding of human movement and its inherent limitations.  The beauty of his art is the ability to exploit these limitations with little effort.  

My challenge to you in the new year:  Put away your curriculum sheets.  Don't worry about which footwork to use.  Just break the techniques you know down slowly and see how the parts work relative to your opponents.  What if they are taller than you, bigger than you, faster than you?  Try to think about attacks as left side, right side, center line thust or center line up/down, as opposed to going by the numbers.  If you don't find a few dozen easy connections for stuff you already know/or see it in a new way feel free to message me.  You might need further nudging to get going with this.

Think of arnis more like cooking than baking.  There is no set formula, rather a need to adjust depending on variations.  (things in cooking like salty, sweet, acid, texture).

Hopefully this puts a fresh set of eyes on your current training regimen.  Best wishes for a Healthy and Happy  Holiday Season.  Hope to see many of you in 2011 in Buffalo for the 10 year anniversary Camp Datu Hartman is hosting


Brett


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## Datu Tim Hartman (Dec 24, 2009)

Well said. Merry Christmas my Modern Arnis Brother.


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