Why.........

[Master of Blades]

Did you start the FMA's? Only thing around or it interested you or what? Thanks :asian:

 

[progressivetactics]

well, it certainly wasn't close to me. To me, it seemed like a very interesting new idea. Coming from a hard fist, straighl line linear art, to move into trapping range, using sticks and knife ideas were completely new. Nothing like that in the area.
Now, I am still very much a beginner in FMA, but man, do i feel alive with the little bit of new knowledge I have gained.

 

[K Williams]

The 1989 Combat Knives Magazine(published by Guns & Ammo) introduced me to FMA. It took about 10 years before I started formally training in Arnis though.

 

[dearnis.com]

One of my karate teachers said to me "Remy is in your area a lot; you should go train with him. You'd like his stuff."
He was right.

 

[Seigi]

My instructor showed me some Kali/Escrima he learned at an Inosanto seminar , then another one showed me Modern Arnis & i was hooked on it ever since!

Thank-God!

 

[Mormegil]

Cultural ties. I wanted to get back to my roots.

 

[Cthulhu]

I actively sought out my FMA instructors. I was attracted by the emphasis of flow, the relationship between weapon and empty-hand techniques, and the deceptively effortless adaptibility of the FMA. Even after getting pounded by rattan in a series of sparring matches this morning, I'm loving every minute of it.

Cthulhu

PS-AldonAsher bites!

 

[moromoro]

apart from beign part of my culture it was also part of my family (4 generations before me), my uncle started teching me way back in the 80's, (1986)..

and i love it

 

[John J]

Aside from my father introducing me to Arnis de Mano, I was already heavily into the martial arts. It seemed only natural to show my Pinoy pride and give it a try. I was born in the U.S. and it was these arts that brought me closer to my culture & heritage. Now I have a chance to introduce a little history & culture to other Filipino-Americans.

 

[streetwise]

I grew up in the '60s and '70s on Navy bases, started training some FMA with Filipino friend's fathers/uncles, etc. Imagine my suprise when FMA started being formally taught openly!


Edited for spelling!

 

[Dan Anderson]

I found out through a Kung Fu buddy of mine. I liked it because it was a sensible weapons art andmy training had been lacking in that.

Dan Anderson

 

[pesilat]

Originally posted by Master of Blades
Did you start the FMA's? Only thing around or it interested you or what? Thanks :asian:

A friend introduced me to it, but he lived a couple of hours away. I thought, "Interesting, but not worth the drive. Especially since I'm content with my Goju-Ryu training that's only 20 minutes from my house."

Then, the same friend, met another guy and started training with him in Kali and Silat. I finally got around to checking out the class. First, this new guy was considerably better at the Kali than the first guy. I was very impressed, but my initial reaction was basically, "Cool. Toys." In the Goju-Ryu, we had very little weapons work and I hadn't had any real training with weapons at all yet.

Then I saw the Silat. My first thought was, "Bull! They're falling for him. There's no way that little guy could throw those big guys around that easily." Then he threw me around like a ragdoll and I thought, "OK. I don't know how you're doing it, but I want it!"

So, every weekend for a year, I drove 2.5 hours to train with this guy, then 2.5 hours back to work on Monday. After a year, I packed up and moved. It also helped that I had started dating a woman who lived near my instructor ... she's now my wife

So, what I was really interested in was the Silat. The Kali was part of the package deal, though (my instructor teaches a hybrid of Kali and Silat called "Sikal"). After I really started getting into the Kali, though, it became more than "toys" and now I love it. But my passion is really still in the Silat

Mike

 

[arnisandyz]

At first I had no choice. My dad made me learn from my uncles for self-defense reasons. I didn't like it very much. I was too young and thet were pretty hard on me, plus at the time, I didn't really appriciate what they were trying to give me.

Since those first early lessons, I 've done other types of Martial Arts through my teen, early adult years. TKD mainly because all my friends were doing it. But my Arnis lessons stayed with me and I did practice that also, but not as much as TKD.

Now that I 'm older (and I hope wiser). Its come full circle. I have an appriciation for the FMA that I probably would not have had if I didn't experiment with other styles. What is funny is now I'm tutoring a couple of my nephews (pretty young) and am trying to make it fun for them so they stick with it.

 

[Rob Wilson]

I had been looking for a martial art for quite some time- probably ten years. I was not really brave enough to join a class ( I am pretty shy I guess) but I did spend a lot of time surreptitiously observing other styles at various locations and learned that I did not really think Karate was for me, Tae Kwon Do was perhaps not something that spoke to me either but Aikido was certainly interesting as was jiujutsu. However, it was not until I found myself in a tiny room full of plants and books ineptly swinging a rattan stick and goggling at how fast and dangerous this Filipino guy could make his stick move did I realize, " I 've found it. I 've found what I want to do for the rest of my life." So I guess you could say that I never really found the art- it kind of found me.

Thanks

Rob

 

[Rich Parsons]

I was having a tough time in life , and a friend and instructor asked me to come to class to check it out for maybe some stress relief.

I stayed because I liked it, for numerous reasons.

 

[Rommel]

I've been attacked twice by complete strangers in my life when I was a teenager and my combined experience in Karate and Wrestling did me little good so I sought out training in more effective self defense methods. My journey took me to Wing Chun, Ninjutsu, etc. I have a very open mind and I decided to check out a modern arnis seminar that was taught by Remy Presas in 1986. I was amazed how he easily disarmed his opponents. He was the first great master of the martial arts I had been fortunate enough to see in action. After this, I attended a seminar with Cacoy Canete of Doce Pares and was once again impressed. I went to the ministry in the Philippines and studied there and fell in love with the art. Being a Filipino-American I also felt as if I was going back to my roots but I also knew that this was an actual combat effective art taught to many special forces groups, which was what also drew my to Russian systema. Lately, I studied Sayoc Kali privately under a great teacher, Pat Consing of Kapatid Martial Arts/Sayoc Kali, who teaches in the Rockland, New York/Pleasantville area. That guy is amazing with the knife!!!(914)741-5550 or patconsing@sayoc.com