# Anybody hear of Sammy Franco?



## PhotonGuy (Sep 1, 2015)

Anybody here of Sammy Franco? He has developed what he calls Contemporary Fighting Arts which he claims is supposed to be very effective for street self defense. Im wondering how good and reliable his material is.


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## Mephisto (Sep 1, 2015)

I think he used to run adds in black belt mag years ago. I'm not sure if he still does, I stopped reading that crap years ago. If I'm thinking of the right guy it smacks of your typical "deadly arts" marketing and is another "best of all worst of none" hybrid art. I haven't seen it in action but chances are it's nothing special and probably pretty mediocre.


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## Hanzou (Sep 1, 2015)

He has videos on Youtube. Why don't you see for yourself?


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## PhotonGuy (Sep 2, 2015)

I saw his website and Im a bit skeptical with some of the stuff he says. He claims that TMA is not effective for self defense. Here is his website.
Self-Defense Instruction - Contemporary Fighting Arts


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## Hanzou (Sep 2, 2015)

PhotonGuy said:


> He claims that TMA is not effective for self defense.



Of course he would say that.....


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## Tez3 (Sep 2, 2015)

PhotonGuy said:


> I saw his website and Im a bit skeptical with some of the stuff he says. He claims that TMA is not effective for self defense. Here is his website.
> Self-Defense Instruction - Contemporary Fighting Arts



Well he would claim that wouldn't he because if he says it can be effective who is going to buy his videos etc. He's a salesman, they always run down competitors products to make his own sound better.


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## teetsao (Sep 4, 2015)

He invented his own jeet kune do.


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## punisher73 (Sep 6, 2015)

As with many RBSD folks, there is alot of "every fight is to the death" type approach.  His stuff is solid if you put in the time, but nothing earth shattering or different than most RBSD approaches.  It's a good approach if you don't mind the marketing to it.

I would agree that his approach could be considered a "jkd" approach for the street.  I have read articles from him that said of the 5 ways of attack that Bruce Lee taught, the only ones for self-defense is really the "attack by combination" and "single direct attack".  You don't have time for drawing out the opponent or want to take the time to set up feints/fakes.


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## teetsao (Sep 7, 2015)

There is nothing wrong with Franco. It was just my observation that in many ways he was basically inventing JKD.  He stuff is as good as anyone's I guess. It all boils down to what one wants to do and what fits their mentality. From a practical point of view, I think there is to much material over all and should be streamlined. But, he has to make a living and that means always adding stuff and Franco has been doing this forever now so I guess one could say he has a full  syllabus.


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## punisher73 (Sep 7, 2015)

teetsao said:


> There is nothing wrong with Franco. It was just my observation that in many ways he was basically inventing JKD.  He stuff is as good as anyone's I guess. It all boils down to what one wants to do and what fits their mentality. From a practical point of view, I think there is to much material over all and should be streamlined. But, he has to make a living and that means always adding stuff and Franco has been doing this forever now so I guess one could say he has a full  syllabus.



I was just agreeing with you.  If I remember right, he used to study JKD at one point before starting his CFA.


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## teetsao (Sep 7, 2015)

I don't know Franco's background but you may very well be correct. I have 2 of his videos and they are good to great for what they are. Nothing revolutionary. But solid. He and his guys are well trained.


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## TheArtofDave (Apr 23, 2018)

There is actually some thing wrong with this guy. You can research him through the Bullshido forum.

But here's the short version. He's a student of Robert Mars. He's had kali and Jun Fan training. Only stuck around those programs for about a year. He makes big claims but he actually got his *** handed to him pretty well after claiming he whooped one of his sparring partners after the guy was just having a little fun with him. After that which was 87 or 88 he left and decided he needed his own style.

He started his training in 83/84 but realistically it was 2005 before he started developing whatever he calls his system.

He also has an Ashida Kim 10,000 dollar challenge. He goes on about how if he doesn't cripple or kill you and he bets his house he will... He can use the footage of this no rules fight any way he wants. Which is pretty sick. He hates tma's. Hates BJJ, and believes his own hype and bull ****. He says he is strictly no rules combat.

I guess somebody didn't tell him all ready that Krav Maga already had him beat. Also this guy teaches out of the basement of his house. He interviews you before hand. So its no wonder he wants a no rules challenge that benefits him and doesn't expose him as a fraud.

Krav Maga is what I would go for in self defense. Remember you can adjust those techniques to be better and its always adjusted and passed down to us. 

Franco may be good at self defense but he is no expert, and he is also bitter. If you don't respect other martial arts which are the core of your training you might as well just call his system Savage ********. Because he markets to people who don't know any better


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## Tez3 (Apr 23, 2018)

Are you resurrecting all the dead threads or just some?


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## Ryan_ (Apr 23, 2018)

Tez3 said:


> Are you resurrecting all the dead threads or just some?


I'm taking some too


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## Tames D (Apr 23, 2018)

teetsao said:


> He invented his own jeet kune do.


I don't think  you can invent something that has already been invented.


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