Function Precedes Form

By Fernando “Bong “Abenir III







Martial arts were developed in order to find practical ways of dealing with self-defense situations. Every aspect of the techniques being used is supposed to be functional and whatever is outside of that simple concept is discarded. The approach must be simple, efficient and direct. No fancy movements, no dancing around, do not beat around the bush. But instead go right thru the heart…

It is not unusual to hear about a martial artist who has won trophies and medals from tournaments but ending up badly beaten in a street confrontation with someone who only had little or no martial arts training at all. Why? The reason for this is that most tournament fighters train only for combat competitions which emphasize technique to score points, rather than techniques for self-defense. There is no denying that the more sparring experience one has the greater his confidence and…

Are Martial Arts which have its origins in the Philippines. The practitioners of these arts emphasize the use of blunt, projectile, hand to hand and bladed weapons. Projectile weapons may refer to spears, bow and arrow, blow guns and knives. (It does not include plates, glass, spoon, fork and other kitchen wares which Filipina wives throw at their husbands during marital warfare.)



Arnis de mano is…

Belting System in the Filipino Martial Arts



Pedro Reyes one of my teachers in Arnis, told me that the only thing a belt does is to hold your pants up (what color that maybe.) Well…..that’s probably true when we’re talking about what we usually practice here in our country, where we don’t normally issue belts to our students but rather we just let our students keep on practicing until he or she becomes proficient in the art and finds himself an apprentice to…

What if…

You just took a short cut through the alley behind the parking lot because you’re very much in a hurry to get home and it is already getting late at night. As you walk alone in this dark alley, you notice a group of men standing besides a post drinking and smoking about 50 feet away from you. Suddenly you have this strange feeling inside your gut as if there’s a big knot, and then your heart starts pounding fast. What will you do?



What…