Arnis Hubad lubad Q+A

[Kyosanim]

Hi I am new to arnis, and I recently learned hubad lubad from my instructor, and I am very impressed with the drill and its many applications.

I was wondering if someone on here would be so kind as to fill me in on FMA and hubad lubad, and where it leads to.

My instructor already showed me a take down off of it, and showed me how strikes can be applied, but I would like to know a bit more about hubad, and FMA as a whole.

I can already see the nearly unlimited applications of this technique, and how it could improve almost any martial art. Being a TKD black belt I already see ways to break down what I know, and I even see where it would be advantageous in grappling styles like BJJ. It seems somewhat in direct but at the same time I can see where that is part of its strength. Any info is welcome, and I would just like say that this is a fantastic martial art system.


PS Have I seen Bruce Lee do this in his Jeet Kune Do? Because it looks familiar.

 

[geezer]

PS Have I seen Bruce Lee do this in his Jeet Kune Do? Because it looks familiar.

I'm no JKDer so I can't say for sure. But in our group, hubud is practiced more as a "sensitivity" and flow drill. As such, it is a close cousin of Wing Chun chi-sau and of course, Wing Chun was Bruce Lee's foundation. And, like chi-sau, hubud patterns can branch off into many many kinds of attacks. Granted the parallels between these two ways of practicing, it's hard to imagine that Dan Inosanto wouldn't have shown hubud to Bruce Lee, or that the insatiably curious Lee wouldn't have wanted to explore what hubud has to offer.

Now you also said, "...it seems somewhat indirect..." which is somewhat true compared to chi-sau. In WC you attack more directly to your opponent's body, getting there with fewer movements than in hubud. I qualify this statement with the word "somewhat" since in hubud, the intermediate strikes are often used as guntings or "limb destructions", or also as surrogates for body shots, but maintaining the rhythm and pattern of the drill. Still this creates problems for me as I sometimes forget and take a more "direct path", eliminating a step or two and short circuiting the hubud pattern. IMHO it's a great drill, but too much time in any pre-arranged patten can be problematic in actual application.

 

[David43515]

I don`t think I would call it "indirect". It has a very different and specific goal than alot of other drills. The full name is Higut Hubud Lubud and it means "to open and close" which is just what it`s for, opening and closing center-line. Alot of styles emphasize dominating the center-line and working on the inside. (Wing Chun, White Eyebrow,some of the harder Karate styles, etc) Filipino arts all come from a bladed background, so the emphasis is on moving to the area outside the centerline, sometimes called moving to zero pressure, so that you can use two hands on your opponant while he can only use one on you.

Like Geezer pointed out, either one or both of the hands you use to contact the opponant`s arm can be a nerve/joint strike, or a cut if you`re armed.So while it may not look "direct" in a TKD sense, you`re attacking right frrom your first contact. You`re just attacking the arm before moving on to the head and trunk because the arm is closer.

As for variations....try it with sticks, practice knives, elbow strikes instead of hand blows, one person using hands another using elbows so you have to change ranges, add footwork (forward, back, side-to-side, circular, etc). Try occationally changing the 3rd point of contact (generally an arm control down) to an arm control up and strike to the low line. Or change it to an elbow nudge across thier center line and add fotwork to move behind them. Or just use Hubud as a base drill to move into and out of your other drills. Work lockflows into your Hubud. like you said you can make the variations just about endless.

But like Geezer mentioned, don`t let the drills become your art. All it is is an entry drill. What you do after you`ve entered is a whole other ball game. (A trip to the mall doesn`t end just because you made it to the parking lot.)

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Good points above. It is definitely a good drill and skill set to work on. Getting outside and having the opportunity to have two hands to one and also the opportunity to possibly get behind your opponent is very, very important in a bladed encounter, stick encounter, empty hand encounter, etc! In the end though as mentioned above it is just one of many, many drills that work specific skill sets and the skill set is what is important in the end not the drill.

 

[geezer]

Alot of styles emphasize dominating the center-line and working on the inside. (Wing Chun, White Eyebrow,some of the harder Karate styles, etc) Filipino arts all come from a bladed background, so the emphasis is on moving to the area outside the centerline, sometimes called moving to zero pressure, so that you can use two hands on your opponant while he can only use one on you.

There's a lot of "off-lining" and outside-gate entry in the Wing Chun I train too. But reading your comments makes me realize that I have probably been focusing on this aspect a good deal more because of my DTE Eskrima work!

 

[Kyosanim]

I'm no JKDer so I can't say for sure. But in our group, hubud is practiced more as a "sensitivity" and flow drill. As such, it is a close cousin of Wing Chun chi-sau and of course, Wing Chun was Bruce Lee's foundation. And, like chi-sau, hubud patterns can branch off into many many kinds of attacks. Granted the parallels between these two ways of practicing, it's hard to imagine that Dan Inosanto wouldn't have shown hubud to Bruce Lee, or that the insatiably curious Lee wouldn't have wanted to explore what hubud has to offer.

Now you also said, "...it seems somewhat indirect..." which is somewhat true compared to chi-sau. In WC you attack more directly to your opponent's body, getting there with fewer movements than in hubud. I qualify this statement with the word "somewhat" since in hubud, the intermediate strikes are often used as guntings or "limb destructions", or also as surrogates for body shots, but maintaining the rhythm and pattern of the drill. Still this creates problems for me as I sometimes forget and take a more "direct path", eliminating a step or two and short circuiting the hubud pattern. IMHO it's a great drill, but too much time in any pre-arranged patten can be problematic in actual application.

Well he has a black belt in arnis too so who is to say where he first learned it, but I have seen some of the other things mentioned in my training with him.

Very good drill, and thanks for the enlightening post.