Q for experts..

[Dijos]

Which of the fma's has a pretty big emphasis on empty hand? I've seen that many forms translate well between different weapons and no weapons, but some must do it better than others. thanks, joe

 

[DancesWithKnives]

I wouldn't call it an "FMA style", but Paul Vunak's fighting system incorporates a fair amount of empty-hand FMA. www.fighting.net .

 

[hank_rearden]

as taught by GM leo gaje, includes several empty-hand filipino fighting techniques like suntukan (literally 'boxing'), dumog (literally 'wrestling'), and sythesis styles (like grappling while wielding a knife). there's even a technique for fighting with a knife while in the water. tarzan and james bond, take note.

 

[John J]

I guess it also depends on what you consider FMA because there are other systems of combat known in the PI aside from Arnis & Eskrima.

Although most weapon base systems from the Philippines include some sort of empty-hand(E-H) training, not all approach it in the manner most commonly seen today. In other words, hubad, destructions, panantukan and dumog are generic and relatively unknown in the PI.

IMO...the E-H fighting systems indigenous to the Philippines that focus heavily on empty-hand are: Yaw-Yan, various Kuntao/Kuntaw styles, Sikaran(foot-fighting), Buno(wrestling) and even Silat.

John
BAKBAKAN International

 

[Samurai6]

I think the best empty hands stuff is the Indonesian/Maylaysian/Filipino Silat and Kuntao.

 

[thekuntawman]

most of the empty hand styles you are going to find in the philippines are the empty hand style of one arnisador or eskrimador. there is very little kuntaw or silat that is known outside that teachers own town, so good luck to find one, especially on the computer. but dont let the idea of "kuntaw" "silat" "yaw yan" "sagasa" as filipino words prejudice you. in the philippines, even karate shotokan and shoring ryu or tae kwon do and kung fu has a flavor all to itself as philippine based fighitng arts. most of the empty hand style in the philippines has those arts in them anyway. what is going to make those fighting arts separate as "Filipino" is, how they practice and lived the art.

in the philippines a karate tournament is a big deal, and even a point tournaments you are going to see knock outs and bloody noses. no matter even if you are practicing aikido, they fight. have you ever seen an aikido man fight. i have, but only in the philippines. the way they perform the kata, the way everyone and i mean everyone goes to fight in a tournament, this is what makes those arts filipino, and that's why i can call the gonzales brothers shoring ryu a "philippine martial art", or fernando's "kyo sho" arnis karate a "philippine martial art", they take the art, and make it filipino.

if you can go to the philippines i can recommend any school there is a good school. i dont thing i ever saw one commercial "kim's karate" in the philippines, probably because we would recognize its bullshit and shame them into closing down.

the schools i know about anyway, who have a lot of it empty hand, is philippine kuntaw association in olongopo, arjuken yaw yan and bakbakan in manila, modern kuntaw karate association in dau and angeles city, black knights in timog and angeles city, philippine tae kwon do association and bay hapkido both in angeles city. but that was 1990 and i dont know who is still where. ernesto presas arjuken and yaw yan are in the same building in manila/QC

i cant remember that much.

 

[thekuntawman]

"Although most weapon base systems from the Philippines include some sort of empty-hand(E-H) training, not all approach it in the manner most commonly seen today. In other words, hubad, destructions, panantukan and dumog are generic and relatively unknown in the PI. "

and i have to say TRUE TRUE TRUE!!!!
i been saying this ever since i went to my first form in 1999, and been saying it since 1990 when i started to meet "FMA guro". of course john, nobody wants to hear that, and now we have filipinos back home who say they teach it, so me and you dont know what we are talking about.

 

[Brandon96]

Here in the Philippines, the traditional way of teaching empty hands was to teach the techniques after some time of doing weapons work. At this latter stage they would mix up the empty hands with the weapons work. Traditionally, there was no separate subsystem formally organized the way things are in the USA and Europe where the instructors eventually decided to formally organize subsystems under names like "Mano-Mano", "Pangamut", "Sikaran", "Buno", "Dumog", "Kinomutai", etc.