Do you practice/teach the Modern Arnis anyos (forms)?

[Mark Lynn]

In my Modern Arnis classes I teach the Modern Arnis stick forms as well as the empty hand forms. I know the empty hand forms are more of a North American invention, but I was wondering how many MA instructors still teach them?

For myself I tend to use them for several purposes like instance; as a way to teach different principles or techniques (i.e. like brush grab strike as a strike and or a throw), as part of rank advancement, personal growth as we work out different applications found within the form etc. etc.

Last night in class as we were working on Anyo Tatlo (form 3 empty hand) we came to a part which for myself and my assistants has always been a struggle. However between my assistant, a student (who was the receiver), and I; we came up with appeared to us to be a workable translation (application of the technique) which was different than what GM Remy showed. It was a process of discussion, exploring new ideas, putting them to work (applying them) while trying to stay within the confines of the template (the anyo) and we had a productive time for all of us learning something new.

So this got me wondering how many instructors of Modern Arnis still teach the MA anyos taught by the Professor and what do you use them for? Do you teach applications/translations of the moves? Do you modify the anyos to fit your needs in class, I mean like adding or removing techniques because you disagree with how they are presented? (In truth that was actually part of our discussion about this one part of the anyo.)

If you do practice or teach the anyos, then please check out my next discussion as I ask about how do you teach a particular technique.

 

[Rich Parsons]

Yes, I do teach them, both stick and empty hand. I am lenient on them, yet find that some need them to transition from a forms based system to a flowing system.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

I think they are an add on that The Professor felt compelled to create for students from Karate and Tae Kwon Do that he taught. So no, I do not train them anymore or teach them. They in my opinion are not really needed!

 

[Mark Lynn]

Yes, I do teach them, both stick and empty hand. I am lenient on them, yet find that some need them to transition from a forms based system to a flowing system.

Hi Rich

Thanks for the reply. What do you mean by being "lenient on them"? Are you meaning that you teach some people and not others, some forms and not others, or perhaps your not to strict on movement within the anyos? Just wondering.

Now that I think about it what do you mean by needing them to transition from a forms based system to a flowing system?

I'm just wondering how people who do teach the anyos approach teaching them and whys behind how they choose to teach them.

 

[Mark Lynn]

I think they are an add on that The Professor felt compelled to create for students from Karate and Tae Kwon Do that he taught. So no, I do not train them anymore or teach them. They in my opinion are not really needed!

Brian

Thanks for the reply. I've heard from other senior MA practitioners that the empty hand anyos were an add on, perhaps even a marketing angle in that he was adding something that was expected by the Karate/TKD/Kung Fu students that he was picking up in the early years.

However it can be argued that it appears that the Professor put some thought into the creation of the anyos and that he taught them from a high view so to speak. What I mean in a "high view" was that he wasn't so concerned in perfect form execution rather it was more from a personal expression and application view point in the execution of the anyos.

For instance as in my case where in another thread I talked about what position the hand should be in on the X found in form 3. I don't think the Professor really cared as long as you could make it work, it still is an X block. Yet as an instructor who teaches it I do need to be concerned in a sense for consistency sake within my school (and my school only).

I didn't get this at first when I was at camps and we practiced the anyos I thought they all needed to be the same, in fact it drove me nuts to be quite honest, when I was at my first camp and my work out partner did Anyo Isa preying mantis style and the Professor says "You got it!". In truth his Anyo Isa had all sorts of preying mantis strikes and it didn't look at all like we practiced except his form had the same basic structure to it.

However I think his anyos are structured pretty well, they have good techniques that represent self defense applications much more than say the sparring applications are commonly taught for the karate/TKD kata even if they were inspired by them. So in truth I believe they are not just an add on, but they can be more than that term implies.

Are they needed? I agree with you, not really, however I don't really see them as useless, out of date, just something that was thrown together as a marketing (as a way to promote his art) thing.

 

[Mark Lynn]

This of course could be a whole different discussion but I'll through it out here since it was really the Professor's and Modern Arnis's influence that impacted this point of view.

One of the benefits of practicing forms and the anyos in particular was that the Professor helped me to see through his teaching, that moves can have multiple interpretations. He also showed this on his 80's VT/DVD series where he showed multiply applications for moves in the anyos. You could also argue that he showed that the anyos could be done differently as well, since Jim and Judy Clapp did the forms differently but with the same structure.

Not only of course the Professor but others as well have taken the anyos and then showed different applications, and different methods of training them, Dan Anderson, Kelly Worden come to mind, regardless the spirit behind teaching them from a higher view (so to speak), has allowed me to translate and look at other forms (kata) outside of MA and experiment with them as well.

For instance I learned a boken kata about 25 years ago, after realizing that I wasn't going to be studying the Japanese sword (I had other interests in the martial arts) I put that kata aside. Yesterday prior to class I found a video of the kata and I thought hey let's see how it compares to the stick form Anyos of MA, so I went over it and relearned the general body mechanics behind the form. Later during the course of the day I then applied the same basic kata structure to the Jo. Now for grins I was thinking about adapting the kata to a double weapon like the tonfa and the sai.

I don't think that had I not had the background in applying and teaching the anyos, with the freedom of altering them like what has been taught through MA, I wouldn't have the mindset to do that. I mean I had a challenge to stay within a particular structure (the kata) and to look through the techniques to see what the applications were (and possibly intent), and then adapt it to a completely different weapon. Thus it helped me to better understand each weapon in the long run.

And if tomorrow I decide to throw away both kata, the original boken kata and my interpretation of it with the Jo, it isn't a big deal, because it served it's purpose.

 

[Rich Parsons]

Hi Rich

Thanks for the reply. What do you mean by being "lenient on them"? Are you meaning that you teach some people and not others, some forms and not others, or perhaps your not to strict on movement within the anyos? Just wondering.

Now that I think about it what do you mean by needing them to transition from a forms based system to a flowing system?

I'm just wondering how people who do teach the anyos approach teaching them and whys behind how they choose to teach them.

I am lenient, as in if someone turns differently or does a different application during a test, I do not hold that as a negative.


And yes, the transition from a hard stop form system to a flowing system as I can get them to move and flow in the form and then hopefully outside the form.

 

[Dan Anderson]

"So this got me wondering how many instructors of Modern Arnis still teach the MA anyos taught by the Professor and what do you use them for?"

Nope. I stopped teaching the empty hand anyos years ago. They were roughly 95% shotokan karate moves. replaced them with what I call Tactical Forms. These are 8 empty hand actions that come from Modern Arnis actions. They can be done solo, linked together or interchangeably.

I taught them in Germany at Dieter's event a couple of years ago. He videotaped the class and put it on a DVD. I also put them on a DVD entitled "Fast Track Arnis Training Program Vol. 4 - Empty Hand Tactical Forms."

 

[Mark Lynn]

Nope. I stopped teaching the empty hand anyos years ago. They were roughly 95% shotokan karate moves. replaced them with what I call Tactical Forms. These are 8 empty hand actions that come from Modern Arnis actions. They can be done solo, linked together or interchangeably.

I taught them in Germany at Dieter's event a couple of years ago. He videotaped the class and put it on a DVD. I also put them on a DVD entitled "Fast Track Arnis Training Program Vol. 4 - Empty Hand Tactical Forms."

Hey maybe when you are here in September we can go over them. I remember you saying something about getting rid of the anyos and going towards your tactical forms in another discussion a while back.

You know the funny thing is I use your Anyo book and your Mano y Mano book as the primary references in class for the anyos you don't teach. In fact your DVD on the anyos is also a primary source as well, if we get stuck on one.

 

[Mark Lynn]

I am lenient, as in if someone turns differently or does a different application during a test, I do not hold that as a negative.

Rich
Thanks for the reply. I understand where you are coming from. In regards to testing I've seen (at least in my students) them do it so many times before I (or they wouldn't be out on the floor testing) that I wouldn't hold it against them either. If they totally fail at that one form then hey do it again, get it right the next time.

In regards to showing a different application in my mind that would be cool, in fact I'd rather see a different application which shows they are thinking and trying to apply the technique than just going through the motions.

And yes, the transition from a hard stop form system to a flowing system as I can get them to move and flow in the form and then hopefully outside the form.

I tend to teach the anyos in a semi flow rather than a flowing motion such as Tai Chi. Dan Anderson on his Laban Solo DVD shows the anyos in a flowing manner that to be reminds me of Tai Chi, I not there yet in my practice. I believe the anyos have the Shotokan or the Japanese karate influence but also the flowing and wrapping motions found in the brush grab strike moves, the pushes and shoves in (beginning of anyo 6), the wrapping motions of found in the 2nd half of Anyo Isa, etc. etc. to were I tend to switch from flowing motion to hard strikes etc. etc.