Sinawali: Missed Strikes.

[arnisador]

I don't think there's any problem if sticks occasionally don't click when doing sinawali. If someone is doing Heaven Six with his partner and there's no click one time out of every 50 strokes, say, I don't see that as a problem in need of correction.

But as I'm (temporarily) studying Eskrido, I'm learning lots of new sinawalis. All of the Modern Arnis sinawalis are symmetric in that if you start chambered on the right and do three strikes, you end up chambered on the left, then do the same three strikes from there, returning to a right chamber. In Eskrido we have been doing many sinawalis that start chambered on the right, do (say) five strikes, then return to a right chamber, without ever having been in a left-chambered position. We do that for a while and then switch to an initial left-chambered position so as to train it on both sides.

The bottom line is that I'm learning lots of new and different sinawalis and so I occasionally throw the wrong strike. My partners typically have even less FMA experience than I do--it's a relatively new school--so they are in the same boat as I am: They often throw a low strike when a high strike is called for in the pattern.

I find myself questioning what the most appropriate thing to do is. Sometimes, if we're going slowly, I just hold my strike until they throw theirs. But if we're at the point where we're moving at a slightly faster clip, I am always torn between a.) Doing the right strike, as I'm supposed to be doing, or b.) Meeting their strike, so I'm not ignoring an incoming attack. The former seems to me in the spirit of drilling--I do my part correctly, as instructed--while the latter seems more in the spirit of developing useful skills, by not training to ignore an attack coming at me. Either way the flow is interrupted to some degree, of course.

I usually err on the side of a.) because I am typically working with people with less experience than I, and I'm more likely to be doing the correct motion. I figure that demonstrating the right stroke is the best way to help them and get us back on track. (Again, not that I'm not messing up some of the time too!) But I always hear a nagging voice in the back of my head that says, Shouldn't you block that?!? It's an issue of partner training etiquette, of what will get us back into the drill most efficiently and with minimal disruption of the flow, and of what are good habits for me to training.

[bart]

Hey There,

There are a few different schools of thought concerning sinawali. This is my opinion only, although I think that a lot of Doce Pares people follow the same suit.

With rank beginners when you're actually teaching them, the pattern is more important. But usually this is only for the first few repetitions until they get the pattern and can repeat it a few times. Some people need more time than others.

Once they get the basic pattern down, the object of the training is usually the "flow". Flow goes both ways. You want to flow through the pattern, but also flow through the way the pattern is progressing on its own. As usual this means that you have to think on more than just the level of getting your stick to hit theirs.

At that point I usually follow this set of guidelines:

1. continue the pattern without pause
2. protect yourself at all times
3. don't get attached to the pattern
4. eliminate pausing between iterations of the pattern
5. express a lesson through the pattern


The way I was taught eskrima, we avoided formalization of sinawali patterns. In my own classes I purposefully do different patterns in each class and build a pattern extemporaneously. IMHO this helps curb "freezing" in combative application. It also challenges the students to be able to think on their feet and gives them practice at being flexible in a semi-stressful situation.

[Rich Parsons]

Just in Wednesday's Class I was discussing this same issue about missing strikes in a sinawali pattern.

If both are attempting to hit with the last inch or less of the cane then they will miss just a little less. If the more experienced of the two ( usually *) tries this then it will be less, as the "junior" student will be more about the pattern and expect their strikes to meet about in the middle.

Yet, when you find a person always missing strike "X" or missing it with only the left hand "y" % of the time, then you address the issue, by brining it to their attention on what you see. Sometimes this does require a third person point of view, so you may need someone else to watch or have someone else work with them while you watch and learn.

As to the A versus B, in a school I am training in, I go with the pattern first, as this is usually a controlled situation and the distancing is for stick on stick range, not for actual head shots. So if a miss occurs, no knock out strikes are immediate. Yet, when the range is closer I then change to protection as the top priority and then stop and ask them if the striek was supposed to be what they did or something else? In a new school, or totally new person off the street, I always protect myself, with the range or the block because you do not know if they are there to "Check you out" or not.

I like Bart's List though, and it expresses my point of view, just in a list or priority level. :)

[Danny T]

First off what is your purpose in training the patterns? If is to learn the pattern then slow down and lets learn the pattern. Why learn a specific pattern? Attacks don’t come in specific patterns. I teach a few different patterns only for learning the transitions and attacks. As soon as the learner knows the transitions and can attack or defend going slowly I start changing the rhythm and timing of the attacks. The student quickly learns to just continue to flow into the next attack or defense. Then we increase the speed somewhat incrementally working only as fast as they can handle it. I feel practitioners spend far too much time working patterns than working to attack, or counter attack with quickly changing beats of timing and angles of attack. Being able to flow is very important but being able to attack or counter from any movement into any angle of attack within the flow is more so. Doing the different patterns are a great way to learn movement but far too many get stuck in the pattern of the same timing and movement. Looks great for demos but not for combat.

If you are working for someone or yourself to learn the pattern go slow as everyone gets better then the speed picks up and because of the nature of being in a pattern when someone does something “wrong or different” the other tends to freeze or suddenly wants to start over. I find by slowing down and simply continuing to flow the beginner quickly learns to just pick up the pattern again rather than just stopping, getting back into the pattern and going from there. If they get confuse, I simply go slower and slower until they are able to blend back into the pattern. It is when we attempt to move faster than the mind can think that one has to stop and start over. Work slowly and build up the speed. Someone makes a mistake slow down but continue to flow until they blend in again. Once they are able to do that I then have them break the pattern on purpose and then blend back into a different pattern with the partner having to pick up the pattern. Do this back and forth. In my way of think I don’t want to work with my opponent but to show them one thing but to do something completely different.
Sinawali drilling is a great way to learn to do this but not by staying in the same patterns over and over with the same timing and rhythm.

Danny

[arnisador]

I suppose it's true that I'm more sensitive to it now as I am beginning a new style with many unfamiliar sinawalis. Certainly when we do it in Modern Arnis we just switch to a different pattern if that's what happens.