Beginner Escrima?
- Thread starter fixer27
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- Joined
- Feb 28, 2002
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- 7,636
My instructor has a bunch of videos taken from Kali/Silat/Kung Fu seminars, some of which feature stick work, all on YouTube:
http://youtube.com/user/pisau77
I know he has some videos that he sells on DVD that are much more complete, but I don't recall if any of them feature stick work. You could always contact him through the links there and ask.
http://youtube.com/user/pisau77
I know he has some videos that he sells on DVD that are much more complete, but I don't recall if any of them feature stick work. You could always contact him through the links there and ask.
Modern Arnis by Prof. Remy A Presas (there are a few volumes)
The sound quality isn't great but there is no question that he is one of the greatest arnis/escrima/kali practitioners of all time.
Congratulations and good luck with your training. If you ever get the chance go catch a seminar or a camp.
The sound quality isn't great but there is no question that he is one of the greatest arnis/escrima/kali practitioners of all time.
Congratulations and good luck with your training. If you ever get the chance go catch a seminar or a camp.
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2007
- Messages
- 811
The two previously mentioned sources are excellent places to start.
Like you, I don't have the luxury of an instructor being close by.
The closest active instructor is about 300 miles away.
"Arsenio Advincula Volume I" was the first instructional DVD that I purchased,
and is great for learning the basics. The presentation is quite monotone, and
I'm told can be difficult to stay with although I had no issues with it. The
material is very good and is presented in a straight forward manner.
"Modern Arnis by Prof. Remy A Presas" is one of the first FMA books that I
got that had great straight forward instructional steps in it. I'm not sure if
Prof. Presas put out a DVD or not, but I was lucky to have obtained some
footage from seminars that has been very helpful in my training.
To add to the book by Prof. Presas, I would recommend getting the Fast
Track Arnis Training Program DVD put out by Prof. Dan Anderson (one of
Prof. Presas's senior students).
It is a very straight forward, condensed (nothing but the meat) introduction
to Modern Arnis. Info on Prof. Presas, the history of Modern Arnis, and
contact information for Prof. Anderson can be found at
danandersonkarate (dot) com/arnis.html
At present, I am working from the Balintawak DVD series put out by GM
Bobby Taboada. I am finding that I really enjoy it.
If you want info on that, GM Taboada's website is located at
worldbalintawak (dot) com
This little list wouldn't be complete if I didn't mention the Dog Brothers.
dogbrothers (dot) com
Any offering from them is good to have....period.
They are also a source for training equipment.
Hope this helps a little.
Cheers
Dave
Like you, I don't have the luxury of an instructor being close by.
The closest active instructor is about 300 miles away.
"Arsenio Advincula Volume I" was the first instructional DVD that I purchased,
and is great for learning the basics. The presentation is quite monotone, and
I'm told can be difficult to stay with although I had no issues with it. The
material is very good and is presented in a straight forward manner.
"Modern Arnis by Prof. Remy A Presas" is one of the first FMA books that I
got that had great straight forward instructional steps in it. I'm not sure if
Prof. Presas put out a DVD or not, but I was lucky to have obtained some
footage from seminars that has been very helpful in my training.
To add to the book by Prof. Presas, I would recommend getting the Fast
Track Arnis Training Program DVD put out by Prof. Dan Anderson (one of
Prof. Presas's senior students).
It is a very straight forward, condensed (nothing but the meat) introduction
to Modern Arnis. Info on Prof. Presas, the history of Modern Arnis, and
contact information for Prof. Anderson can be found at
danandersonkarate (dot) com/arnis.html
At present, I am working from the Balintawak DVD series put out by GM
Bobby Taboada. I am finding that I really enjoy it.
If you want info on that, GM Taboada's website is located at
worldbalintawak (dot) com
This little list wouldn't be complete if I didn't mention the Dog Brothers.
dogbrothers (dot) com
Any offering from them is good to have....period.
They are also a source for training equipment.
Hope this helps a little.
Cheers
Dave
- Joined
- May 9, 2007
- Messages
- 226
There are many good videos out there. Many of the videos suggested in this thread are very good. There is no substitute for live instruction though. You will make many mistakes practicing alone, mistakes that a live instructor would see and correct. It is also exceedingly difficult to get the speed, flow, and footwork that is necessary for good escrima from studying and practicing only from a video.
Since you are far from any instruction/instructor, here are a few suggestions:
When practicing from a video, the pause button is your friend. Stop the video and go over each skill set repeatedly, then play the video, see the next skill set, pause and practice.
Get yourself a tire, some rope, at least 4 escrima sticks, and some bungee cords. Make a tire swing and bungee cord 2 of the sticks to the tire so they stick out like arms. You now can beat the snot out of the tire with your other 2 sticks, which develops a lot of grip strength, speed, etc., and you can practice hitting, tapping, trapping, bridging, "defanging the snake," etc. on the stick/arms. Make sure you move in, engage, and move out, step laterally, etc. In other words, develop your footwork.
Try to attend a seminar or two and attempt to develop a bit of a relationship with the seminar instructor. You might be able to get a competent instructor to critique your techniques on a long-distance basis if you have attended a couple of his or her seminars. What I suggest is filming yourself doing the skill sets you have practiced and forwarding it to an instructor. While not as good as face-to-face instruction, this would help correct a lot of bad habits and give you some valuable feedback. I heard that Ray Floro was thinking of doing a long-distance video instruction series and was planning on reviewing student videos as suggested above. You might want to check with him.
In the meantime, feel free to check out the videos on my website (www.albokalisilat.org) and email questions to me. I'm busy as hell right now, but always try to make time to answer my emails and try to help out good people who are truly interested in the Filipino Martial Arts.
Since you are far from any instruction/instructor, here are a few suggestions:
When practicing from a video, the pause button is your friend. Stop the video and go over each skill set repeatedly, then play the video, see the next skill set, pause and practice.
Get yourself a tire, some rope, at least 4 escrima sticks, and some bungee cords. Make a tire swing and bungee cord 2 of the sticks to the tire so they stick out like arms. You now can beat the snot out of the tire with your other 2 sticks, which develops a lot of grip strength, speed, etc., and you can practice hitting, tapping, trapping, bridging, "defanging the snake," etc. on the stick/arms. Make sure you move in, engage, and move out, step laterally, etc. In other words, develop your footwork.
Try to attend a seminar or two and attempt to develop a bit of a relationship with the seminar instructor. You might be able to get a competent instructor to critique your techniques on a long-distance basis if you have attended a couple of his or her seminars. What I suggest is filming yourself doing the skill sets you have practiced and forwarding it to an instructor. While not as good as face-to-face instruction, this would help correct a lot of bad habits and give you some valuable feedback. I heard that Ray Floro was thinking of doing a long-distance video instruction series and was planning on reviewing student videos as suggested above. You might want to check with him.
In the meantime, feel free to check out the videos on my website (www.albokalisilat.org) and email questions to me. I'm busy as hell right now, but always try to make time to answer my emails and try to help out good people who are truly interested in the Filipino Martial Arts.
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2006
- Messages
- 2,192
Good advice from KaliGman. If his vids are as good as his advice, they must be great!
Also, I've always enjoyed seeing Marc Denny's ideas. Hence the reason I own 10 Dog Bros. videos.
I'm not exactly sure where "two minutes from midnight" is located 
, but if you live the U.S. a lot of the big name kali/arnis/escrima instructors do seminar tours around the country from time to time. So, it's not out of the question that one of those stops might be near your neck of the woods.
No doubt, there are the costs to consider--the typical seminars I've been to (five yrs. ago, btw) ran about $100-$150 for the full weekend. That doesn't include travel and lodging, either, if the seminar ends up being more than a few hours drive away from home. However, you might end up meeting some folks who live nearby with a similar interest and find a training partner that way. You might even get a line on a qualified instructor who just happens to teach out of his garage or basement in a town near you.
, but if you live the U.S. a lot of the big name kali/arnis/escrima instructors do seminar tours around the country from time to time. So, it's not out of the question that one of those stops might be near your neck of the woods.No doubt, there are the costs to consider--the typical seminars I've been to (five yrs. ago, btw) ran about $100-$150 for the full weekend. That doesn't include travel and lodging, either, if the seminar ends up being more than a few hours drive away from home. However, you might end up meeting some folks who live nearby with a similar interest and find a training partner that way. You might even get a line on a qualified instructor who just happens to teach out of his garage or basement in a town near you.