self defense

Updated Practice

Updated practice 10/26/2020

I get out of the house and went into my own world, my own head, for about an hour. This is a practice I do to prevent utter dullness of mind when I find myself a little too sedentary and occupied with the cares of the world. Sometimes it’s not even martial, it’s mystical, it’s like a vacation! With social isolation for the past year almost, I should be doing more of this. Sometimes the music in my earbuds is Chill and new age, sometimes an old school Jimi Hendrix playlist. Either way, I end up refreshed.

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Shout out to the training group

Shout out to the Kali Silat crew this weekend.

We went a little more structured and in order.  Normally I take a look at the students and look to give them what they want or need, but sometimes you have to bring them to what you want to give them.

This week in our Kali Silat training Group class we:

  • Covered #’s 1-12 of the 64 Attacks, r &l hand, full power, double force, broken & fluid strikes.
  • 4 wall blocks
  • Seguidas # 1-6
  • Combat striking set
  • 5 count offensive set; stick, knife, and empty hand
  • Blitz punching
  • 1 counter with takedown
  • Review of basic entries for a lead hand strike and for a 1-2 punch

We had fun doing it, and we fine-tuned at every step of the way.

Good work everybody.  You should always be refining what you’ve learned previously, and adding to it.  The idea is to have material you can develop for yourself and your loved ones all your life.  If you like what we do, feel that you’re learning valuable skills and concepts, having fun while at it, then tell a friend, bring a friend.

My teaching style may not be for everyone.  I’m not a 6″5, 300 lb gruff killer looking individual, I like to joke and clown a bit.  I don’t stress you about you’re not grasping or performing fiercely right away, in fact, I’m rather gentle.  I don’t hold students hostage to the art, or to me.   That’s why I say “every thing is homework.”  Learn whatever I can teach you, personalize it for yourself  (the art was made for man, not man for the art), own it, share it, live.

See you all next week!  Vid image

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Kali Silat, Always Learning Always Growing.

It’s always a good day when you can learn, train, have fun, not get hurt, and work within your abilities and capabilities.  This is a great group.  I’m always learning too.

Rick Vargas Kali Silat and Self Defense Training Group

Check us out sometime.  For more information contact me, see below.

 

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Kali SIlat

Kali Silat

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SELF DEFENSE MARTIAL ARTS KALI SILAT (Central Florida)

Interested in Martial Arts but can’t decide what to take?

There’s Karate, Kung Fu, Taekwondo, you know about those but you’re not sure what to commit to.
There are lots of MMA gyms cropping up, but they’re generally for young athletic fighter types, it may not really be your thing, the training is discouragingly tough and possibility of frequent injury is higher.

Try training VARGAS KALI SILAT.

 We train skill sets from various martial arts with Filipino Kali and Silat predominating. I call it MASS training, Martial Arts Skill Sets. I’ll tell you which art or practice what you’re doing comes from. If you like something you may want to go elsewhere to learn more of that, that’s ok.
  • It’s not Sport Based, so you don’t have to compete or “beat” anyone. It’s personal development based, and self defense oriented.
  • It’s not for Children,16 with parents approval, 18 and up. Currently my students are in their 40’s through 70’s.
  • It’s not athletic or fitness based. Fitness is important, you may need to outrun an attacker. I don’t run a killer conditioning class. You won’t have the luxury of a warmup and stretching during an assault or ambush, you’ll need to act as you are with what you have. It’s geared to the average person, it’s a thinking person’s martial arts training.
  • Time: 10AM Saturday Mornings. But call to confirm before coming, sometimes we train off location, outdoors, sometimes we reschedule.
    Place: Black Lightning Martial Arts in Debary, Fl
    Fee: $15 per session

    Instructor reserves the right to decline anyone’s participation at any time. This is serious stuff, not for play, not for people with a bad attitude or unsavory character.  I make that determination.

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Personal keeping’ on!

High’s and low’s, we all have them.  Getting up from a down is necessary for a long and full life.

I’m looking to accelerate my fitness and conditioning and trying a new thing: a weighted fitness vest!  It’s a total of 20 lbs.  It feels heavier in the hands than on the body.  But I do martial arts with much, much younger people so, not that I’m trying to match individuals 30 and 40 years my juniors, I’m trying to be above average of my own age group.

Shees! Eight rounds is my standard workout:  shadow boxing, heavy bag, stationary bag.   I’m tired and hungry!

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All Around Fighting

For several years now I’ve been training an eclectic mix of martial arts for myself.  In a single session I often train Kickboxing, Reality Based Self Defense, Kali , Jiu Jitsu, Silat, and Karate.  That’s why my training sessions have to be about 2 hours long, after a warm up.

I’ve trained these exclusively at times, meaning all I did was Kickboxing or Kali or Systema  to the exclusion of the  others, for weeks, months, or years.  Now, after almost 50 years in the martial arts, I am comfortable mixing all of them to my joy and delight.

I’m not a professional competitor, I don’t own a chain of schools, I don’t pay dues to masters above me, I’m not locked in to any particular style, and I’m not adoringly worshiping of any instructor.  Some will view this as disloyalty to my “masters” and consider this standing as “not traditional.”  Well, if you’ve read any of my other stuff you’d know I don’t value tradition as much as some.  I think that often along the way students and teachers of the martial arts miss the point that, to paraphrase something else “The martial arts were made for man, not man for the martial arts.”376063_289617814408826_327184943_n10176159_744530215584248_2897955722894680788_n

Sure, it’s good to have a solid foundation in any one of them, realizing the benefits of the style or training, and recognizing the liabilities of each.  Training a particular martial art’s skills sets make for solid skills that those who try to do it all at the beginning lack in. Look at MMA’ers who have done nothing but MMA.  Yes they kick and punch and throw and choke.  But so often their kicks look amateurish, clumsy, unbalanced.  Their punches look like schoolyard haymakers and nothing else.  They look for volume and brute force, not precision.

Then look at someone like Cung Le or Geroge St Pierre.  Cung Le has one of the best looking and most effective lead leg side kicks in the business, and George all round demonstrates abilities that only come from exclusive Karate training.

But these are professional athletes who will do whatever it takes to win in a competition.  They are also subject to protocols us civilians are not, like starting face to face in a ready stance, having a referee who will restrict them to the rules, having a particular space to fight in.  We need to recognize some subtle differences between training martial arts for fight sports, and training martial arts for self defense.  1044576_529145147122757_405149113_n

 

 

 

 

I’ve had my fun training for competition, won and lost.  I’ve had a couple of real life encounters, won and lost.  Losing a real life encounter is a lot different than losing in a tournament.  Hell, the entrance to each is a lot different.  In real life there will probably NOT be a get ready face to face start.  Your real life opponent may be a better boxer than you.  You, a good stand up boxer may find yourself on the ground in a flash at the start.  You, a good Judo/Jiu Jitsu person may be attacked by multiple attackers.  In a multiple opponent scenario “pulling guard” on one person can be suicide.

Random violence is chaotic.  I’ve learned that much.  I’d hate to be the instructor who spent lots of time on an upward block against a stiff armed front punch from a static training partner, so that it “looks good,” then the student out in the world easily gets sucker punched and “Philly dumped.”

Instructors need to think and choose what they want to teach and train.  So I train a variety of skill sets. Each with its own progressions, but in no particular order. 529515_398388640198409_789226797_n

In any training session with me you may do some boxing, knife tapping, take downs, ground work, self-defense scenarios.  Does that sound chaotic? When you step outside the dojo, I don’t know what you may encounter, if anything, and hopefully never.  When you step outside the dojo, even on the first day with me, I want you to be at least familiarized with more than one of the many chaotic possibilities you may encounter.  We can’t cover them all every time, but we can certainly go over more than just a rising block against an uninspired front punch.

For those who’ve asked; No I don’t teach Shorin Ryu Karate. I don’t teach Tae Kwon Do.  I don’t teach an exclusive brand of Filipino Martial Arts, I don’t teach American Kickboxing, etc.  I teach skill sets from these and other martial arts that I’ve trained along the way, and I’m still learning.

If you’re looking for a black belt in something or other, a certificate as a guru, I don’t offer those, you can buy them or make them up for yourself like many have done.  If you’re looking to train all around fighting and random self-defense skill sets for your own personal edification; then I may be the one to call!

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RICK VARGAS

Kali Silat & Self Defense Training Group

(386) 320-3075


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A discovery!

I found some self defense training videos I made years ago.

They are instant downloadable files. I think the content is exceptional, check them out for yourself.

I’m making them available for pennies to make it easy for more non- martial artists to have a resource to learn, some distance learning.  See more:

Self Defense Videos   Elbow