OLD SCHOOL TRAINING I remember watching a great boxing match between James Tony and Evander Holyfield. Both men giving everything theyve got to knock each other out. But it was James who was destined to win that night. James Tony was a product of old school training. He had a style that resembles Floyd Mayweathers Philly Shell or also known as the Shoulder Roll. He could definitely stay inside the pocket and would be so slick that opponents punches just kept missing or being rolled out with the use of his shoulder and cutting thru body angles with a devastating counter. But unlike Mayweather, he was more aggressive with his opponents. Tony hated jump ropes, heavy bag training, punching mitts but really love sparring. And in his fight against Holyfield he prepared himself by engaging with around 300 sparring match. In Eskrima, there are still those who practise this way. They learn alot about how to handle pain early on during their first days of training and if the master likes the student he receives alot more beating which in the long run toughens him up. Until the master knows that hes student could stand up against any challenge. Although this would definitely sound cruel and out of place in todays teaching standard, nevertheless I am an advocate of old school training. But of course with a balance of the modern ways too. I believe in hard sparring but without going beyond the safety of everyone. Proper gears should still be worn especially since most of us have jobs to do. It is also important to prepare new students gradually and not to let them getting all beat up especially on the early stages of training. All things should be in order. But then again since we are old school we continue to practice by spending more time in live sparring than drilling. Although I would never say that practice of forms and drilling are unimportant. On the contrary they are very important in laying the proper foundation for the students learning process but sooner or later he/she must be put to the test in order to know if he or she could do well to survive under pressure. I was asked one time if I were to choose between sparring or drilling regarding the best method for learning and preparing for a fight. I immediately said: sparring of course Nothing beats real time experience and any fighter knows that. GM Tony once told me when I went to visit him a year ago at the Luneta when he was still very much alive that one thing that he likes about what Im doing is that I am not just someone who writes but also who knows how to actually fight. He has seen me and my students sparred hard with live sticks and only head gears and he like what he saw but at the same time would be very caring and tell me to ensure safety measures especially with sparring from others. He gets irritated by those who merely boasts of their abilities by merely writing without ever been seen doing or actually performing. Even when he has mellowed down as he got older, he is still very much willing to duke it out with anyone who tries to outsmart or spew unwanted side remarks regarding Tatangs system. This warrior spirit is what I probably got from him and from my teacher in Silat Oong Maryono who was not just a researcher and writer but was also a 3x world champion back then when Silat competitions were still at its early stages of introduction as a sport which included alot of painful techniques such as punches and elbows to the face, knees and kick to the legs, catching, throwing and locking and the use of Tenaga Dalam even (Old school Silat practitioners knows this). This is the same spirit which I try to pass to my students as well. I remember a true story of Antonio Tatang Ilustrisimo when he was asked to participate in a stick Fighting contest together with all the known masters and grand masters of the different styles and systems present there on that occasion . Hes reply was: IF ANYBODY WANTS TO TAKE OUT MY REPUTATION, LET IT BE DONE WITH THE USE OF THE SWORD! No one accepted his challenge. Tatang after all was indeed a true warrior and a master of OLD SCHOOL. Bong Abenir abenirkalis Eskrima Street Defense is available at amazon
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 22:25:46 +0000
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