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Permalink Reply by Patrick Lee on December 3, 2011 at 2:54pm

Thanks for your post Marc.  This is a great point.  Having served in the Marines, we had a saying that rang true no matter what you were doing; it seemed to especially work well in fighting, "Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome."  This is not always a common sense look in our current age.  Yet, I teach this in my classes and try to apply it in everything I do.  It is a focus of success.  In combat, either individual or group, I must win in order to save my own life and/or the lives of others.  What am I wanting, needing or able to achieve?  This attitude lessens obstacles and creates a mind of solutions.  We can learn many things from FMA, your point being one at the top of the list.  Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by Tom Frederick on December 3, 2011 at 5:09pm

I feel the spirit of FMA is to "flow and go". Whether I am empty handed, have a stick, have a blade, have a bathroom plunger, have a straightedge ruler, whatever. I can move with purpose and function to achieve victory or survival. It is a method for overcoming and adapting and is not exclusive to "being on the mat" or "being in the ring" or "being in the cage". It is flexibility of mind, body and spirit. It may be the the use of a certain set of words that de-escalate conflict or avoid conflict all together. FMA like most arts is really what you make of it. 

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Permalink Reply by Edward jonathan Dockrill on December 3, 2011 at 5:55pm

Great topic Marc Lawrence

Spirit of fma I belive one must have inner control of mind and body to have the

control and the flow of both weopons and empty hand techniques and understanding

the history and the origion of FMA.

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Permalink Reply by Mataw Guro David Battaglia on December 6, 2011 at 8:50am

I feel the spirit of FMA is liberation. Just as our Filipino forefathers liberated themselves from oppression. When I developed confidence, not cockieness, I felt liberated from being bullied, boredom, a lack of direction, and stagnation.

Maestro Dave

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Permalink Reply by Michael Cardenas on December 9, 2011 at 1:40pm

 Very interesting topic Mark,

I instill in my students that what we do is for survival, with or without the use of weapons and to always practice and train as if your life depended on it. My instructor GM Gonzalez once attended a martial arts workshop that had many different styles and or systems represented there. He was invited and asked to teach at this camp, apparently he had not given much thought into what he was planning to show until he happened to look down during a walk and saw a big rock, he picked it up and said I will teach how to use a rock as an improvised weapon. Apparently his improvised course was a big success and it offered students outside of FMA to appreciate the value of using your environment and what ever may be around you as a possible weapon and resource. The bad news was that I heard it was a bad day for the uki, my friend and senior instructor Jorge Magana. LOL  Thanks for the post.

 

Guro Mike Cardenas

www.dsdo.org

 

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