Deltona Kali Silat training Group meets on Sunday at 1pm in Campbell Park, Deltona, Fl.
We do Sinawali in many variations: double weapon, single weapon, uneven weapon, empty hand, and even unusual weapons and combinations.
Training Sinawali this way keeps you in continuous flow, and makes you have to “think” less about whether you are using a weapon or not, because you are combatively functioning regardless.
You are the weapon, everything in your hand is only a tool!
Want to say good work to everyone who came to train, and to Stefano, who came to try it out for the first time. Stefano, hope you enjoyed it, and especially hope you took home some skills which can contribute to your personal growth.
These are relatively exotic skill sets, and it always amazes me how fast people can catch
on. I think it has to do with how much more natural the movements are than with for example the hard styles of Karate or the complex styles of Kung Fu. Another thing I think is a big plus, is that there is no belt system (not that I use), no certificates, no testings, no uniforms, no time limit. Just skills to learn and develop for yourself, to your own personal best.
Although there’s a lot to learn, every time you learn, you learn immediately practical and useful material. Drills. “Do the drill to learn the skill, learn the skill, you can forget the drill…” learn it for yourself, and then, “Make it your own.”
We may be adding training locations and times soon, and will look for a local source for sticks.
Keep practicing.
At 1pm under the shade trees or in the shelter.
There are variations on the 64 attacks and the abecedarios. Here’s a friend and instructor, Dennis Ocampo, doing the version I train and teach, then showing his sinawalis. SinaTirsiaWali Kali Silat.
And older video doing “bag work” Kali style. Arnis, Escrima, Silat practitioners should all do hitting practice…
On Meditation
Too much meditation practice, without physical activity is not good for you; it can leave you unbalanced and spacey. Many people today meditate using one form of it or another, but; martial arts practice makes you “put your money where your mouth is” by physically challenging your meditation to demonstrate its effect on your whole self.
Meditation (Photo credit: Moyan_Brenn)
When you can still the mind, you can control the mind. At the highest levels, the martial artist’s mind must be quiet, but aware, and active. Some call this level “the unified field of consciousness,”, others call it “the gap between thoughts,” still others call it “the zone.”
Self Awareness.
Sometimes if you watch the boxing documentaries you’ll see the coach and fighter watching video of an upcoming opponent. They’ll watch and study his stances, his balance, his favorite punches, his footwork, how he covers and defends. They want to “know” him, to reduce him to a predictable quantity for which they can develop skills and strategies to defeat him.
In spite of that, sometimes the fighter looses, because they didn’t know how he himself would respond or react to certain changes or stimuli. They knew the opponent but didn’t know themselves. I like for my students to know their skill levels and abilities, and their limitations. I also like them to consider the possibilities for transcendence. To know yourself and achieve this transcendence, you need time and space. Meditation will afford you that, and it’s why I teach and encourage it, not only in relation to martial arts, but to personal growth as well.
A little review.
The term meditation is used to describe both the activity and the state of being. Context will easily tell you which is which. The most mystical part of meditation for most people is not the act itself or the technique, but the lingering after effects: mental and emotional calmness, clarity of thought, diversity of views and approaches to situations, self confidence, and more. The more you practice, the deeper and more consistent the benefits.
Make time for the practice. One teacher told me that if you meditate for 24 minutes a day you infuse 24 hours of the day with that blessing or power, and that it didn’t have to be all at once! You can do like 12 minutes in the morning or afternoon, and 12 minutes in the evening, of course you can do more, but always remember moderation! That said, here’s a couple of techniques for you to try out.
Meditative technique one: So Hum.
This is the very first meditative technique I ever learned and one I still use as often as I want or feel I want it. It involves the use of a mantra. A mantra, is a sound, often a word or even a name. In this case it is a word, but the meaning of the word is not important with this one.
The significant aspect of this mantra is that is mimics the sound of calm, deep, breathing. It is an “silent” or internal mantra, meaning the sound is not made with your voice. You imagine the sound in your head, “so” as you inhale, “hum” as you exhale. The “sound” doesn’t even have to be precise. Do you pronounce the sound in your head with a hard O and soft U, or soft O like with “ohh”, or U as in “hum”, or “haam?” It doesn’t matter.
The variables of language, and accents, and speech, make this one much more flexible than what is taught about some other mantras. You are mimicking and echoing calm deep breathing. You are creating a metronome of one pointed consistency. Thoughts will come and go, passing in around and through your inner chanting of this mantra, like when a pianist is playing a melody, and the metronome is still clicking in the background. With practice and consistency, the melody of thoughts will turn its volume down, and even off, but the metronome of the calm deep “So Hum” continues, it can even fade away, and return.
You do this in a casual and relaxed way, with no stress even about doing this “right.” Generally, you will be awake, aware, and alert. This is not for going into a trance, this is for developing one pointed mental focus, whether for one fleeting second during the meditation, or the entirety of the session. Do not grade yourself about it. Enjoy the relaxed stillness you are practicing. Set a timer if you can for whatever time you want. I recommend starting with twelve minutes twice a day, but don’t stress this either, how about once a day to start? Sure.
So here it is:
That’s it! This is a well known meditation technique that never looses its value. Among the benefits of it are overall relaxation, developing one pointed focus, the ability to isolate thoughts, stabilizing of the circulatory systems, and a sense of peace and calm. These are some important elements in how the mind works and the critical thinking process, among the reasons meditation is helpful overall to living and functioning in the world.
For martial arts purposes, in a high speed high, stress situation, like a fight or a self defense situation; the ability to function spontaneously, reflexively, with a clear head, without preconceptions, and without the confusion of the constant swirl of competing thoughts in your head may mean the difference between timely and effective action or having to endure harm. This meditation technique sets you into a practice of calm, active, alertness that can come into play as needed. The balance to improve on this is to actually train the physical skills as well. As I said at the start “Too much meditation without physical practice is not good for you; it can leave you unbalanced and spacey.” As much as possible, be rounded and balanced.
A final note on this technique: Our teacher was once asked “I often fall asleep doing it, what should I do?’ The teacher replied, “don’t worry about it, it is a Holy Sleep!” With regular and consistent practice you won’t often fall asleep, but if you occasionally do, enjoy it.
Had a good practice today. 
Added to the sinawalis, reviewed the abecedario, and drills, “we have drills for everything!” Mas Guru Greg Alland.
Oh, and a stick got broke!
That’s why it’s good to use sticks of same weight and density in drills practice, or keep duck tape handy, oh well.
Good work you guys, again, slow, and steady, and relax.
A reminder that we will meet at Campbell Park on Sunday at 1pm for Kali Silat Practice. We will continue the 64 attacks, sinawalis, empty hand training and more.
Here’s an older clip of one of my teachers Mas Guro Greg Alland, doing double stick freeflow:
We had a good session today. Abecedario, Sinawalis, Twirls, hand strike sparring, empty hand applications.
Sayoc-kali (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Kali training is not something you can easily set into a 45 minute class format. For me the most effective class time is 1 1/2 -2 hours. In that time frame I can review past skills taught and fine tune them, teach some new skills, begin the installation process, and explain some historical, conceptual, or technical details to put it all in context.
It’s my experience, and I try to share it the same way, that the learning part of training (the other parts being continual practice and excelling) should be light and easy, even fun.
The art itself can be deceiving. Because a lot of the actions and movements follow the natural articulations of the human body, you can adapt them a lot faster than artificial fist on the waist, locked front stance, rigid head movements of say traditional or classical karate. That in turn, causes some students to think they’re progressing faster than they are. I often find myself calling out “Slower! One at a time. Just cause it starts to feel good doesn’t mean you should go crazy…” Hmmm. I remember hearing that a bit myself!
Slower movements teach precision, precision makes that very first twitch movement effective, if that first move is effective, everything that follows is more effective. Once you’ve got precise effectiveness going on, speed and strength can pile on without the loss of quality that occurs when you try to bunch them together. From there you can more efficiently progress to adding speed, strength, and non-compliance training onto a good foundation.
So even when it seems easy, take it slow and make it smooth, the rewards can be a life saver.
It was Shotokan Master Gichin Funakoshi who wrote that training and practicing karate ten minutes a day was of greater benefit than one hour once a week. Same goes for most any pursuit.
Let me recount an episode I like from the book Siddartha by Herman Hesse.
Siddartha by Doze Green at Jonathan LeVine (Photo credit: C-Monster)
I read this book when I was about 15, probably standing in the aisle of a bookstore somewhere, and it is a story of exploration, growth, development, and ultimate fulfillment.
Jump to the part where he is a young man, an ascetic in the forests, naked except for a loincloth, covered in dirt, lonely and alone. He sees a procession go by with a stunningly beautiful courtesan being carried aloft. He’s enamored, blown away by this beautiful, desirable, sexually seductive woman. This is a new emotion and drive for Siddartha . He is attracted, and knows nothing other than he wants her.
He manages to get her attention, yet she mocks and scoffs at him. She is curious though. He is oddly interesting and beguiling. She taunts him that he is just a forest ascetic and has nothing to give to her, she’s used to affluent young men fawning over her with money, gifts, and gems. She points out he has no money, clothes, or even shoes, and asks him “what can you do that would buy the pleasures I have to give?”
He promptly answers “I can think, I can wait, I can fast.” The boy was confident in these intangibles! Well, long story short, after dazzling her with some poetry, he turns these invisible treasures, into material success and riches, marries Kamala, has a child…that’s another story!
The thing here is that he had the tools to improve himself regardless of circumstance, in any situation of his choosing, from being a forest dwelling ascetic, to being a high powered businessman.
The skills and tools he had were laying in wait for the motivating reason and the opportunity, which by the way, he made by facing the unknown with confidence,also an essential skill. He names three of the keys to his future success: critical thinking, time management, and activity!
Next, some details and insights regarding this story, applying the principals to martial arts training and to better living
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Better Living Personal Development & Martial Arts 