Tips and advice for beginners?

[Bob Hubbard]

What advice would you give a beginner starting out in Modern Arnis?

While I don't have the benefit of decades in, I've been a newbie, and worked with quite a few of them.

My tips:
- Be patient. It seems like a lot, but it's really just a matter of a little time.
- When striking with the cane, think "hammer". (Got this from Rich Parsons a few years back. It helped alot!)
- Keep your eyes open. (I hear this alot...that tendency of mine to close my eyes LOL!)

What else?

[ryangruhn]

"If a person can teach me one thing, they are of value to me"


Don't limit youself.


Gruhn

[Alakd'an]

One thing I have been taught is to relax and have fun. I also teach this in our group.
I have many years of experience with Martial Arts that teach from a boot camp mentality. It's a constant barrage of calisthetics and punishments ( more cals ) for mistakes.
There is a place for some very tough cals and workouts. This creates discipline and work ethic, but you can lose some good students if not balanced with "relaxed motivation". When you see there progress because they desire to do well and not because of fear, you get a great attitude from them.
Please, don't get me wrong, you have to train hard, but there are some different ways of going about it.
Train to have fun and relax!
Remember, "Practice is the mother of learning!" - GM Remy A. Presas.
Salamat! Ben www.alakdanarnisador.com (http://www.alakdanarnisador.com)

[KrissOfSweden]

[quote=Bob Hubbard]What advice would you give a beginner starting out in Modern Arnis?
quote]

Even though my experince is not that long within fma or martial arts generelly but my advice and tips are these:

- Relax, make sure your shoulders and the rest of your body are relaxed. Relaxtion allows you to learn to flow easier.

- Don't stress, when learning a new technique or training a tecnique that you have some problems with, don't try to do it fast or hard, this will only decrease your learningprocess. I know it's real fun to do all the techniques fast and hard, but in the begining it's more useful if you do it in a slow pase so your body can get it in your musclememory.

- I always train (when i train at home) i go four trys, the first two i do it as slow as i can, and the last two i do fast, and sometimes i try to do it as fast as i can. Thing that i notice is that when i do as dast as i can, i cheat, that's why i try to do the last two fast more often then i do them the fastest i can. Do i make any sens? i hope so.

This was some easy and basic tips, but i believe they are truely important. Maybe it was to basic for the question i don't know. I hope somebody finds it useful.

[arnisador]

For those coming from another martial art, it's important to recognize that you don't have to have your elbow exactly a fistlength from the body, you must move your feet more, and you're free to innovate from the beginning!

Apart from that, beginners should focus on a good grip (no thumb sticking out along the stick), triangular footwork, and striking with the blade (not flat).

[KrissOfSweden]

For those coming from another martial art, it's important to recognize that you don't have to have your elbow exactly a fistlength from the body, you must move your feet more, and you're free to innovate from the beginning!

Apart from that, beginners should focus on a good grip (no thumb sticking out along the stick), triangular footwork, and striking with the blade (not flat).

another tips on elbow, have openhands, don't make a fist when you throw a elbow, because this will only restrain your strike. I have seen many from the budo arts that makes a fist while they strikeing there elbow and that's fine if you like that, but try once or twice do your elbows with and openhand.
Even the great jet li strikes his elbows with a closed hand.. :karate:

[Rocky]

Always remember when swinging sticks, if your partner says " DUCK" for petes sake dont look up to the sky and say "WHERE"



Rocky

[sames]

Don't get hung up on the details when first learning a new technique. Get the general movement/concept and then smooth out the details.