Whether you are looking for a teacher or striving to become one, there are a few traits that you should look for when considering what makes a great instructor. If you are looking for a teacher, then it is in your interest to find one that is best prepared to help you with your goals. If you are a new instructor, then your training is not done. You can now focus on developing teaching skills that will allow you to give the best training experience to your students.There are numerous qualities that comprise the makeup of a great Filipino martial arts instructor. Some should be given and others take years to develop. There are a few standards that should be prerequisites for an instructor. These are qualities such as professionalism, integrity, and care for the student. The focus of t...

Are you training the transition?  If not, the expression "change or die" may have a more real and immediate meaning to you. What I mean by transition, is the transition from one technique or tactic to another. Though a curriculum may contain many great techniques, it may not include a training approach that specifically prepares the student to switch to another technique when one fails or is inaccessible because of position, injury or environmental conditions. When I started teaching law enforcement personnel in the mid 90's with Erwin Ballarta, I saw a huge disconnect between empty hands and firearms training.  This was actually true in law enforcement as well as in the firearms community of private citizens.  Though there has been some improvement over the years, it is sti...

If you aren't tailoring your warmups to match the mechanics of application and technique you may be wasting an opportunity to make more progress in less time.  Whether you are teaching a class or just preparing for your own training there is a lot more you can do with a warmup than just touching your toes and doing a few lame jumping jacks.   A good warmup will increase the heart rate, speed blood flow, increase the respiration rate, raise muscle temperature, and stimulate fluids to lubricate the joints.  It should start with simple, multi-joint movements that do not require much coordination.  The intensity should start low and gradually increase.  You will know that your warmup is working when your students start sweating.  I usually start my classes with fo...

Recently, our level 1 Pekiti Tirsia students have been working on the Four Walls method (a.k.a Quatro Cantos and Apat na Paligid). Progress is good so far, but the key will be in their understanding. We started the training with basic coordination and body mechanics. We then developed timing and proprioception through repetition of the entries. We added combinations to the entries and developed more dynamic movement - removing hesitation and artificial pauses. Once the coordination was right, we added reaction training to embed the skills in the student. I have found that though very simple, the Four Walls techniques are often misunderstood. The misunderstanding often lies in the perception of how the technique will be applied. If you want to be successful, you must really understand the t...