How much European DNA is in the FMA you practice?
Honestly, when I first started training Rene Latosa's PMAS Escrima in the early 1980s all I cared about was that it was a legitimate martial art taught by a real master who happened to be Filipino-American. I didn't care how traditional it was, just that it had a genuine lineage and it worked. Rene was one of the first US students of Angel Cabales, Leo Giron, Maximo Sarmiento and his own father, Juan Latosa, and he trained with the likes of Dentoy Revillar and others. Plus Rene's top students like Brady Brazil, Cedric Concon, etc. had real cred in those days.
Later I worked with other guys, such as Martin Torres' DTE group. It was not traditional, but it worked too. I still learn from those guys when I can, and now for the last eight years or so, I have run my own club, PCE or "Practical Combat Escrima", based on the concepts I learned along with a little Wing Chun influence.
Since starting the PCE club, people have asked me if what we teach is really "traditional" and if it is practiced in the PI? I would respond that historically most FMA was never so much "traditional" as functional. It had to work or you, and possibly your family, friends, and entire village could be wiped out. In modern times, we don't face such threats, so what I teach is based on concepts that have roots in the old FMA but it a modern, evolving art as well.
So there is a lot of modern American DNA in the adobo of what I learned. And there is old stuff. But even the old stuff was already a mix. And as I learned talking to a friend who is a martial artist, historian, and passionate HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) teacher, a lot of the old escrima in our system was heavily influenced by European swordsmanship.
Understandably, Filipino national pride has led to de-emphasizing this, but a great deal of FMA was heavily shaped by Spanish sword play, especially the kind of practical swordsmanship used by sailors and soldiers wielding cutlass and saber. In short, the name eskrima/escrima ....or in Spanish, esgrima just means fencing. Swordsmanship. And according to my Hema practicing friend, my escrima, traditional or not has a lot of Spanish DNA.
I guess you could say it's very functionally oriented mix of European, Filipino, perhaps some Indonesian, a little Chinese, and definitely some modern American methods of combat, all unified by core concepts I learned from my teachers. Asian, European, American. A global martial art for the 21st Century.
So much for my stuff. How about you guys. What is the DNA of what you do?
Honestly, when I first started training Rene Latosa's PMAS Escrima in the early 1980s all I cared about was that it was a legitimate martial art taught by a real master who happened to be Filipino-American. I didn't care how traditional it was, just that it had a genuine lineage and it worked. Rene was one of the first US students of Angel Cabales, Leo Giron, Maximo Sarmiento and his own father, Juan Latosa, and he trained with the likes of Dentoy Revillar and others. Plus Rene's top students like Brady Brazil, Cedric Concon, etc. had real cred in those days.
Later I worked with other guys, such as Martin Torres' DTE group. It was not traditional, but it worked too. I still learn from those guys when I can, and now for the last eight years or so, I have run my own club, PCE or "Practical Combat Escrima", based on the concepts I learned along with a little Wing Chun influence.
Since starting the PCE club, people have asked me if what we teach is really "traditional" and if it is practiced in the PI? I would respond that historically most FMA was never so much "traditional" as functional. It had to work or you, and possibly your family, friends, and entire village could be wiped out. In modern times, we don't face such threats, so what I teach is based on concepts that have roots in the old FMA but it a modern, evolving art as well.
So there is a lot of modern American DNA in the adobo of what I learned. And there is old stuff. But even the old stuff was already a mix. And as I learned talking to a friend who is a martial artist, historian, and passionate HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) teacher, a lot of the old escrima in our system was heavily influenced by European swordsmanship.
Understandably, Filipino national pride has led to de-emphasizing this, but a great deal of FMA was heavily shaped by Spanish sword play, especially the kind of practical swordsmanship used by sailors and soldiers wielding cutlass and saber. In short, the name eskrima/escrima ....or in Spanish, esgrima just means fencing. Swordsmanship. And according to my Hema practicing friend, my escrima, traditional or not has a lot of Spanish DNA.
I guess you could say it's very functionally oriented mix of European, Filipino, perhaps some Indonesian, a little Chinese, and definitely some modern American methods of combat, all unified by core concepts I learned from my teachers. Asian, European, American. A global martial art for the 21st Century.
So much for my stuff. How about you guys. What is the DNA of what you do?
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