Frankly I wasn't sure whether to post this here or over in the FMA department. I decided to post here because unless you do both WC and FMA you probably won't have an opinion. And many of you do both. And secondly I posted here because this thread is kinda-sorta related to the "Few techniques..." thread I just started.
Anyway, here's the deal. I practice with an FMA group that does a bit of fairly basic Hubud-Lubud from time to time and I've found it somewhat useful, moreso for weapons application perhaps. But personally, I find our WC/VT/WT chi-sau and lat-sau training to be far more practical empty-hands training. For one thing, the WC movements seem more "direct". Less messing around with limb-destructions and moving directly to striking the center or "core" in the fewest possible number of movements. By comparison, a lot of the hubud changes seem like "chasing hands" from a WC perspective.
Finally, it comes down to that whole simplicity thing, or "using a few techniques to beat many". Granted a limited amount of time to train and build muscle memory, I'd prefer to focus on fewer techniques and drills with greater applicability. I know some of the greats like Danny Inosanto seem to master everything. But there are others also renowned in FMA, like Rene Latosa, who prefer to simplify and boil things down to about five core concepts. One of these is the concept of Transition. In part, this means learning something well, and then how to adapt it to many situations. For those of us mere mortals, I find this approach to be very practical.
So when it comes to something like hubud, although I enjoy using the most basic patterns with my non-WC Escrima students, I really don't spend much time with it. I'd rather invest my time and develop reliable muscle memory in drills like lat-sau and chi-sau which work better for me. Although I've endeavored to keep my WC and my Escrima separate, after all these years I guess a WC mindset is shaping my Escrima. Any thoughts?
Anyway, here's the deal. I practice with an FMA group that does a bit of fairly basic Hubud-Lubud from time to time and I've found it somewhat useful, moreso for weapons application perhaps. But personally, I find our WC/VT/WT chi-sau and lat-sau training to be far more practical empty-hands training. For one thing, the WC movements seem more "direct". Less messing around with limb-destructions and moving directly to striking the center or "core" in the fewest possible number of movements. By comparison, a lot of the hubud changes seem like "chasing hands" from a WC perspective.
Finally, it comes down to that whole simplicity thing, or "using a few techniques to beat many". Granted a limited amount of time to train and build muscle memory, I'd prefer to focus on fewer techniques and drills with greater applicability. I know some of the greats like Danny Inosanto seem to master everything. But there are others also renowned in FMA, like Rene Latosa, who prefer to simplify and boil things down to about five core concepts. One of these is the concept of Transition. In part, this means learning something well, and then how to adapt it to many situations. For those of us mere mortals, I find this approach to be very practical.
So when it comes to something like hubud, although I enjoy using the most basic patterns with my non-WC Escrima students, I really don't spend much time with it. I'd rather invest my time and develop reliable muscle memory in drills like lat-sau and chi-sau which work better for me. Although I've endeavored to keep my WC and my Escrima separate, after all these years I guess a WC mindset is shaping my Escrima. Any thoughts?