grunch

Hello, I was wondering why you chose to train in FMA's over hapkido,
wing chun or judo? I ask this in the hopes of getting some,friendly well informed and educated advice. In my area I have the opportunity to train in wing chun, hapkido, judo or a fma which blends kali, eskrima,Arnis,pentjak-silat, penatukan,sikaran,dumog and some thai and western boxing. I cant think of the name of the school right now nor do I know what all those filipino styles/words really mean. Ive heard that it is a very well rounded martial art (stand up,clinch, some groundwork and weapons.)Any and all advice/ comments given will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you , Danny Vega

sikal

Well, as for the words, here's a quick overview:
kali/eskrima/arnis - kind of synonymous for FMA in general, and particularly the weapon aspects of FMA - if they claim to teach all three then it probably means they draw from several systems that use the different words (i.e.: I personally draw from Lacoste/Inosanto blend of Kali, Balintawak Cuentada Arnis, and Doce Pares Eskrima/Eskrido) or they figure that they'll just cover their bases as far as what someone may have heard of.

Pentjak Silat is actually Indonesian. The term Silat is used in the Philippines (specifically in the Southern Philippines) and in Malaysia and other places in Southeast Asia but "Pentjak Silat" is, as far as I know, specifically Indonesian.

Panantukan is a term some people use for Filipino boxing (empty hands).

Sikaran is a term some people use for Filipino kicking.

Dumog is a generic term for Filipino grappling.

OK. Now that that's out of the way I train primarily in a system called "Sikal" which blends many of the same elements that you're referring to from Kali and Silat. The reason I chose it was primarily for the Silat aspects. There are thousands of systems of Silat that run the whole gamut of martial arts types - i.e.: some specialize in punching and kicking, some in locking, some in sweeps/takedowns/throws, some in groundfighting, etc. - most of them deal with weapons. The Silat in the Sikal blend, though, is primarily an infighting system that uses strikes to disrupt the opponent's balance and set him up for sweeps. It suited my body and mindset very well and that really attracted me to it.

When I was introduced to Sikal, I was training in Okinawan Goju-Ryu and the Kali looked interesting just because of all the weapons work - but the Silat is what really interested me.

Mike

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Louisville Martial Arts Academy - Louisville, KY

Asian Fighting Arts - Dayton, OH

Lansdale's Self-Defense - Nacogdoches, TX

grunch

I live in chicago and there are so many schools out here. I guess It's a good thing but its kind of hard to decide.Ive narrowd my choices down judo, wing chun, hapkido and the filipino school.All of which Ive tried and liked. I know any decision I make wont be a bad one . Im just looking for great input (like you gave me mike) so I can have that little push over the cliff to help me decide. Of course I realize for the most part if I go to a judo site for instance that they will favor judo and thats ok I'm just snooping around so I can make an informed decision.
Danny Vega