FMA Workshop in Toronto

The 2nd Annual FMA Workshop will be held on Sunday April 13th, 2008 in Toronto, Ontario. I have been invited to teach a short session as this event

Arnis Canada has graciously donated training space to hold this event. According to those who were there last year (I was not there as I was still in Columbus), last year's workshop was a great success and showcased some of the diverse styles and systems from the Philippines. This will again be a free event to participate in, but a freewill donation is encouraged to the host school to assist with any expenses incurred. Registration will also be required this year so that numbers of attendees can be managed (more to follow...).

Additional events this year will include an optional live stick sparring session coordinated by Arnis Canada. So bring your own equipment for those wanting to participate. A vendors table will also be set up for Ontario based Warrior Metal International, who make aluminum training blades (custom orders also available).

Please note that prior experience in the FMA is not required to attend this event or take part in the training sessions. Some of our instructors this year will include:

Punong Guro Rudy Cosico - Arnis Canada (http://www.arniscanada.ca/index.html)
Guro Sean Tyler - United Martial Artists of Canada, FCS Kali (http://www.teamumac.com/index1.php), (http://www.fcskali.com/)
Guro Jason Arnold - World Modern Arnis Alliance, J.A.K.S (http://www.wmarnis.com/)
Guro Brian Johns - International Modern Arnis Federation, Ontario Modern Arnis (http://www.modernarnis.net/home/index.shtml)

So pass this along to your friends and training partners and mark your calendars! We'll see you there. More event details (registration info, location etc...) to follow in the coming weeks.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact Mike at ontmodarnis@sympatico.ca

or me at ontariomodernarnis@gmail.com

Thanks !

Book Review

Recently, I read “The Straight Lead” by author Teri Tom. Hands down, this is one of the best martial arts books I have ever read. In summary, this book describes the history, science, and mechanics of the core punch of Bruce Lee’s JKD, the straight lead. The author is a student of Ted Wong’s and writes regular columns for “Inside Kung Fu” and is a very talented writer. Unlike the vast majority of the “how to” martial arts books on the markets, Ms. Tom goes into detail the science (notably using Newton’s Law of Physics) of the straight lead and illustrates the science with numerous illustrations and photographs. She provides a fascinating insight into Bruce Lee’s development of this punch and reveals that Bruce based this technique largely on Western fencing and early 20th century boxing. The result was the development of a non-telegraphic punch that combined speed and power. She starts with the proper stance, progresses to footwork, the mechanics of the punch and finishes with the delivery of the punch, all the while, explaining the scientific foundation for each aspect of the straight lead. I highly recommend this book.

While this book does not directly talk about Filipino Martial Arts, it does illustrate a concept that many FMA practitioners have long known and that is the most difficult attacks to defend against are thrust type of attacks (like angles #5, #6, #7, #10, and #11 of Modern Arnis) for the reason that it is difficult to detect and defend against such attacks. Like the straight lead, thrust type of attacks are difficult to see. For example, it is extremely difficult to detect a #10 thrust (to your left eye) as you don’t see as much of the cane as you would for a #1 attack. Likewise, there is not much time or margin for error for detecting and defending against a #5 thrust to the abdomen, particularly if you are in the medio or corto range. On the other hand, you have a better chance of success against angles #1 through #4 for the reason that they are easier to see. For those reasons, the thrust type of attacks deserve extra attention in the dojo.

Successful Leaders and Organizations

I was pondering the other day the question of why some organizations (whether it be martial arts, sports, banks etc) succeed and others fail or fade into mediocrity. In many cases, I think that it comes down to visionary leaders who relentlessly push the organization to become successful. I believe that there are two kinds of leaders in an organizational setting. There are those who are successful leaders. And there are those who are, at best, ineffective leaders and, at worst, failed leaders. Organizationally, there are goals and objectives that need to be met in order for the organization to move forward, advance, obtain market share, and prosper. Very often, this requires that a leader not only clearly define present and future plans, but also puts in motion the execution of these plans. I do not have a business degree or the equivalent, but I think that a successful organization needs 4 things in order to succeed:

(1) A strong leader;
(2) A vision;
(3) plans to implement the vision; and
(4) execution of the plan.

If any of these elements are missing, the organization will not be successful. A strong leader is one who consistently strives for excellence and encourages others to do the same. When that leader fails to do so, how can he expect the rest of the organization to follow suit ? The vision is more or less the mission statement of the organization. The plan or series of plans is intended to make the vision a reality. Execution is needed in order for the organization to be successful and survive in an often cut throat business or sports environment. A good leader is one who oversees all these aspects. If one or more of the aforementioned elements are missing, it is virtually guaranteed that the organization will decline, fail, fade into obscurity or lose credibility. Particularly damaging is a situation where a vision and plans are in place but are rarely executed. When a leader lays out a vision, formulates plans/initiatives and then fails to follow up with timely execution, a loss of credibility is inevitable. However, if all elements (strong leader, vision, plans, and execution) are in place, then the organization has a reasonable chance of succeeding.

Take, for example, Tae Kwon Do. Back in the 1970’s, the powers that be in South Korea developed a vision whereby TKD would become a sport and eventually gaining Olympic status. The plan was to use the Kukkiwon, a training/preparatory school for TKD instructors and encourage them to immigrate to other countries to serve as apprentices to other TKD instructors. They would, in turn, after a number of years as apprentices, open their own schools in the country they immigrated to. As a result, TKD has been phenomenally successful in spreading itself. Other martial arts such as Aikido (coming out of Hombu Dojo), Shotokan Karate (through the Japan Karate Association) and Brazilian jiu jitsu (through the Gracie and Machado families) have succeeded quite well. The point is that each of them had strong leaders, a vision, a plan and executed them. Other martial arts/organizations have not succeeded as well as the aforementioned arts. Some of them suffer from a lack of vision; others have a vision but no plan to implement the vision. Still others may have the vision and a plan but lack the follow through or fail to execute. It is unfortunate for martial artists to be part of mediocre or stagnating organizations.

Very often, this comes down to failed leadership. Successful leaders are those who push the vision, the plans and follows through in a timely manner. Let’s place this in a non martial art context......take a look at the New England Patriots. Coach Bill Belichick and GM Scott Pioli have done an incredible job of coming up with a vision (getting high value intelligent football players with multiple skill sets at reasonable cost), planning (looking at the current roster and identifying current areas of need and targeting players they are interested in) and execution (signing those players they need). Admittedly, this is a bit simplified. But, this is an example of strong leadership, a vision, plan, and execution of that plan. No wonder, as of now, they have had one of the greatest seasons in NFL history.

A leader risks losing a great deal of credibility when there is a lack of execution or follow through of announced plans or initiatives. Once that credibility is lost, it is often very difficult to regain. Others will start ignoring that leader. Once that happens, the organization will become stagnant, decline or die. Simple as that.

On the other hand, a strong leader will most assuredly always retain credibility by consistently exercising his leadership skills with strong vision, viable plans and execution of those plans. There are personality characteristics to these type of leaders. They are the go getters, who never stop thinking about ways to improve, who seek out ideas, and whose desire to excel is never extinguished. It is those types of leaders who lead successful organizations. I think that the same applies to martial arts organizations. The truly successful martial arts organizations will almost always have strong leadership at the top.

Happy New Year !

Happy New Year to those of you who read this blog ! I hope that your holidays were full of joy and happiness and that 2008 is fruitful. Hard to believe that the decade is nearly over, eh ?

A friend of mine discovered that the Professor Vee video clips that I linked up has been taken off the YouTube website. Therefore, I have deleted the links to those respective clips. I will search for other Professor Vee clips in the near future and will let you know.