How To Kick Ass

I've been meaning to write about this for a while now, but just haven't gotten around to it. So, here goes...

In the beginning of September, I started taking some martial arts classes at a nearby gym. Towards the end of August, I had an epiphany that I wanted to take some type of self-defense class. Mainly for fitness and to get more "in tune" with my body, but also to increase my self confidence. K jumped on this rare demonstration of interest in exercise from me and found a place just up the road from us: Minnesota Kali Group UK. I was prepared to "think it over" for a while (as I normally do), but before I knew it, I was signed up for an introductory class with Brendan Westwood. When you first go there, he gives you a free 30-day trial and after that, if you like it, it costs between £3.00 - £4.00 per class depending on which plan you are signed up for. Brendan is a great instructor and the classes are a lot of fun, so I signed on as soon as my trial was up. I've been going to two classes per week ever since. I alternate between Panantukan (Filipino Boxing) on Mondays , Jeet Kun Do on Wednesdays, and Kali on Saturdays. He also teaches Muay Thai kickboxing and Grappling, but those aren't really my cup of tea.

Some info about the ones I do take...

Panantukan (aka Filipino Boxing, aka Dirty Boxing) involves a lot of punching, elbowing, low kicks and blocking with the fore-arms. It can be very rapid-fire when you get the hang of it. The "Dirty Boxing" part of it comes in when you get into the head-butting and eye-gouging. Sounds a lot more gruesome than it is and we only practice on focus mitts (no sparring). Here are a couple of videos of the style: Panantukan Intro and Eskrima/Panantukan.

Jeet Kun Do is one of the forms that Bruce Lee practiced. It's similar to Panantukan as far as the types of moves (minus the head-butting and eye-gouging) but is a bit more fluid and kinetic. A lot of the techniques focus on taking out the opponent's means of attack and driving them back. And there's a bit more kicking. Videos: JKD Streetfighting (a bit cheesy and 80s looking) and JKD Trapping.

Then there's Kali. This is basically the same art as Panantukan with the addition of a 3' bambo stick (or two sticks) and sometimes a dagger. A lot of the moves are the same with the exception that you're holding a stick. I really like this class, but it's not much of a work out. It's just very mental and a bit meditative. Lot's of hand-eye-coordination involved. Videos: Dan Inosanto demonstrating Kali and a Police Training video.

I felt like such a numbskull for the first month or so, such a beginner. It was at times frustrating because I just couldn't get some of the moves and then I felt guilty because the person I was training with wasn't getting much of a workout. Now I'm definitely not a "noobie", but certainly not ready to go up against Bruce Lee (even if he were still alive)!

Here's a couple of extra videos that cover all of the above (and more):

FMA/JKD Promo (a bit cheesy)

Behavioral Defense