Sinawali patterns?

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Hello Everyone,

Sinawalli is a great drill for coordination, if you only have 1 stick you can insert your free hand into the drill as a punch or eye jab etc. Also include the other "counts" for sinawalli, such as 2,4, 6, 8, 10 etc.

On top of those basic pieces implement lower body aspects such as footwork, reverse the footwork etc.

Add changing the rhythm(add broken rhythm, fluid rhythm, half beat...)

Add non crossing of the hands

Add non mirroring of the left and right side

Add various twirling/florete motions in between the beats

Sinawalli as with most drills is only a starting point, and is only limited in how you train it by your own imagination.



Train Hard it is the Way!

Gumagalang
Guro Steve L.

www.Bujinkandojo.net

 

[Emptyglass]

It sounds crazy, but there have been times when I would watch tv or hum/sing a song as I was doing it to 'get out of my head' for exactly the reason that Doxn4cer mentioned.

Try chewing gum when you are practicing your sinawali.

Rich Curren

 

[Guro Harold]

I like Tuhon Ray Dionaldo's approach to siniwali...

Siniwali is not just a set stick pattern but it can also be how you weave through your opponent and how you weave your opponent around you and your technique!

 

[Tgace]

At some point it becomes helpful to find a willing tree to actually strike something with your sinawali. Sometimes the "disconnectedness" of just swinging your sticks through the air makes it hard to "see" why you are doing what you are doing....

 

[Flatlander]

At some point it becomes helpful to find a willing tree to actually strike something with your sinawali. Sometimes the "disconnectedness" of just swinging your sticks through the air makes it hard to "see" why you are doing what you are doing....

I think that this is fundamental to "getting the point" of what's going on. I have experienced trying to do sinawali in a partner drill, and just being totally lost because something was getting in the way, thus causing me to stop. So, good point.:asian:

 

[loki09789]

Try chewing gum when you are practicing your sinawali.

Rich Curren

Come on Rich, I can't do that and you know it .

Seriously, I think it would work well. I remember trying to think if it as the same mentallity as when you are just batting the ball back and forth in tennis instead of trying to compete. Just let it happen.

 

[Emptyglass]

Come on Rich, I can't do that and you know it .

Paul:

That was more for Ceicei than you. I was just using your quote as the base for a similar notion.

Rich Curren

 

[Ceicei]

Paul:

That was more for Ceicei than you. I was just using your quote as the base for a similar notion.

Rich Curren

And chewing gum is supposed to help me in coordinating my hands with sinawali??

- Ceicei

 

[Rich Parsons]

And chewing gum is supposed to help me in coordinating my hands with sinawali??

- Ceicei

Chewing gum is just an example of doing multiple things at teh same time.

Hence you have both hands moving, now you add in your foot work, and then you add in chewing gum, or singing, or talking. It is just a way of raining multiple parts of the body at the same time.

It is also considered a private joke amongst friendsm that they are unco-ordinated and cannot walk and chew gum at the same time.

Go slow and work what you can. Going to fast and adding in to much too soon will only confuse, or complicate the learning process, in my opinion and experience.


:asian:

 

[Emptyglass]

And chewing gum is supposed to help me in coordinating my hands with sinawali??

- Ceicei

Hi Ceicei:

No joke was intended. I know it sounds a bit unlikely, but chewing gum while doing sinawali may help your coordination by giving you a steady, rhythmic internal beat to pace yourself too. Also I've found that many folks are a little overly conscious of where their hands and feet are while starting out with sinawali and chewing sone gum while trying to get the patterns into your muscle memory helps.

Give it a try and see what happens, it probably can't hurt.

Good luck.

Rich Curren

 

[Ceicei]

Hi Ceicei:

No joke was intended. I know it sounds a bit unlikely, but chewing gum while doing sinawali may help your coordination by giving you a steady, rhythmic internal beat to pace yourself too. Also I've found that many folks are a little overly conscious of where their hands and feet are while starting out with sinawali and chewing sone gum while trying to get the patterns into your muscle memory helps.

Give it a try and see what happens, it probably can't hurt.

Good luck.

Rich Curren

Rich,
Intriguing thought, thank you. Chewing does have rhythm and should be able to transfer over. It definitely is worth a try...although my instructor might think it's strange (laugh). If it'll help with muscle memory, I won't object. Unorthodox methods have their places.

I'll let you know how it goes.

- Ceicei

 

[pakigbisog]

Maybe it would help if you focus on your targets: for the first set of alternate strikes (1-2-3) the single target is your opponent's left temple, and for your next set of alternate strikes (4-5-6) the target is your opponent's right temple.

After working-up a good amount of sweat practicing with your shadow, gradually add some right forward and backward steps, and alternate with left forward and backward steps, simulating a simple Sinulog dance. When you get better at this, then simulate the bobbing and weaving motions in boxing with your head & upper body plus your newly acquired dancing steps. When you do all these in a fluid motion, you body will relax and your mind will begin to seek out where your opponent should be. By this time, you'll begin to realize that Sinawali is one good source of aerobics exercise.

I find teaching and learning Sinawali as the easiest thing to do. I've tried it with everyone I've met who asked me about arnis or FMA (at the office or anywhere) and so far, they all got it in less than 15 minutes. Right away, they could do contact drills with me until our arms grow tired.

Sinawali is viewed by some as a bait or as a commercial tool to entice a novice's interest in arnis--novice gets a sense of accomplishment during his/her first session resulting in optimism or confidence of his/her ability to learn and master more skills in the future. It is also used by some arnis school operators to kill time--for reasons such as absence of qualified instructors or just teacher purely ran out of techniques to share.

Sinawali has its own merits and purpose--it's awesome to see movie stars do sinawali with 2 swords to ward off arrows or bullets! Good for your arms and cardio-exercise. Standard moves and variations look impressive in live exhibitions and would surely make your neighbors curious about what you're doing in your backyard. And that's about it.

Sinawali can't get the same effect as the Amarra in teaching the eskrimador the instinct of effective and powerful combination strikes (as in combination kicks done routinely in Tae Kwan Do and less in Karate). Amarra strikes 1-6 (set 1), 7-9 (set 2), 10-4-10 (set 3), 11 (set 4), and 12 (set 5). Yet, the Amarra is much easier to learn than Sinawali.

Yes, not a lot of eskrimadors know the Amarra--the most basic of them all.

 

[lhommedieu]

One consideration for double stick techniques:

If you are facing the opponent with one foot forward and one foot back, the rear hip should rotate forward as the rear strike occurs to obtain the maximum power from the strike. This won't make your double stick technique look as pretty, but turning your hips into the strike (and generating double stick strikes from the legs in general) will change the force of the strike and get you out of the mind-set of merely generating patterns.

Best,

Steve Lamade

 

[Toasty]

Hello,

Would it be possible for you to describe these "amarra sets" in more detail (I know that writing is a poor substitute for feeling, but if you could do your best ).
My particular FMA uses neither sinawalli nor amarra.

Thanks in advance
Rob

 

[pakigbisog]

Rob,

Amarra is an in-place kata designed to develop an instict of delivering quick, powerful combination strikes. Imagine a taekwando fighter delivering a roundhouse kick followed by a turning jumping ax kick and punctuates it with a straight punch--all with no hesitation, just automatic.

These Amarra forms are done with a single stick.

All forms done with back stance: right foot forward when using your right hand and left foot forward when using your left hand.

Ready stance is your striking arm raised with elbow shoulder level & stick held 45 degrees back. Your other arm horizontal, parallel and kept close to your body.

I'll try to describe set # 1 (6 forms).

Amarra #1: Diagonal strike to your opponent's left temple followed by a diagonal strike to his right temple--swing down freely and use the momentum to bring your arm/stick up to your left shoulder to deliver the next strike--then back to ready stance.

Amarra # 2: Two diagonal strikes to your opponent's left temple followed by two diagonal strikes to his right temple--by using a rolling or circular path w/ your stick after your first strike to deliver the 2nd (of the pair)--call this the double roll to the right and to the left--then back to ready stance. (You should see my instructor hit a flying bug with these strikes).

Amarra # 3: Horizontal flywheel strike to his left temple, horizontal flywheel strike to his right temple, downward rolling strike to his crown, and diagonal strike to his right temple--then back to ready stance.

Amarra # 4: Diagonal strike to your opponent's left temple followed by a diagonal strike to his right temple (like # 1), horizontal strike (plantsa) to his left body, downward rolling strike to his crown, and diagonal strike to his right temple--then back to ready stance. A very useful amarra for tournaments (WEKAF or WFMAA) when delivered in rapid fire succession--you'd get points all over the place and could knock opponent's stick off his hand (using the downward rolling strike to weapon hand).

Amarra # 5: Two diagonal strikes to your opponent's left temple (like # 2) followed by horizontal flywheel strike to his left temple, horizontal flywheel strike to his right temple (like # 3), upward strike to his groin, a downward snap to his crown, and diagonal strike to his right temple--then back to ready stance.

Amarra # 6: Horizontal flywheel strike to his left temple, horizontal flywheel strike to his right temple (like # 3), vertical flywheel to the right, vertical to the left, downward rolling strike to his crown, and diagonal strike to his right temple--then back to ready stance.

If you are serious about learning the amarra, I suggest you attend the following of which my grandmaster is a guest instructor.

April 23rd-24th, WFMAA Spring Camp, Northridge, California
Camp Instructors:
Punong Guro Myrlino P. Hufana (HTAI)
Guro Jay De Leon (Modern Arnis & Inosanto Kali, Murrieta, CA)
Guro Roger Agbulos (De Campo JDC-10 & Lameco Eskrima, North Hills, CA)
Guest Instructor: Guro Larry Alcuizar (Durex Arnis & Doce Pares Eskrima, Los Angeles, CA)
Location & host by Jon J. Felperin, The Martial Arts Institute, 9349 Melvin Ave #7, Northridge, CA 91324 (818) 775-1545
Saturday (9:00am - 5:00pm), Sunday (9:00am - 3:00pm)
Camp Cost $125.00

Pls. visit http://www.arnisador.com/ for more details and other venues.

 

[Toasty]

Cool, I get it now...

Thanks for the info (good descriptions by the way).

see ya
Rob