Great classes yesterday, I taught the hourglass in the KORA sword class and some basic striking and hitting in the KORA Serak class. The hourglass comes jointly from my training in the Spanish short sword and the Ilustrisimo sword. I use it to teach the student basics and also faints or enganios. Always grateful toContinue reading “Improving Combat Skills: Insights from Recent KORA Classes”
Tag Archives: Sword & dagger
Ilustrisimo vs KORA: Hourglass Sword Comparison
For those in the KORA sword class, part of this very nice video (around the 3 min mark) shows what they call in Spanish sword, the hourglass, sometimes called the X or half X in FMA. I don’t like to use the term half X because it misleads the student; we want our students toContinue reading “Ilustrisimo vs KORA: Hourglass Sword Comparison”
FMA Life – Lineage Holders – Brandon Ricketts – Kali Ilustrisimo
For those in my weekly sword & dagger class, this will be of interest to you. Some of the subjects we discussed during class this weekend.
KORA’s Successful Year: Safety and Self-Defense Skills
2025 has been a highly successful year for KORA. There have been clear improvements in student skill, confidence, and overall training quality. I have noticed positive developments in my own teaching approach as well. During the first half of the year, the primary focus was on improving intention and awareness. This was within the trainingContinue reading “KORA’s Successful Year: Safety and Self-Defense Skills”
Indonesia: Warrior Arts – Culture – Mysteries
Hi all, I was very lucky. I managed to slot in a podcast with Johnny Silmon whilst resting between jobs and job interviews. Please go and watch on YouTube, and if you can, like it, it helps the algorithm get the episode out. I am very grateful to Johnny for giving me a space toContinue reading “Indonesia: Warrior Arts – Culture – Mysteries”
Continuous Improvement in Martial Arts Education: A Proven Method
In our school year, every class must give 100% to achieve genuine growth. There’s still time to move ahead and make progress. I divide the year into two terms: January to August, and September to December. After forty years of experimentation, I’ve found this structure to be the most effective. It allows my students toContinue reading “Continuous Improvement in Martial Arts Education: A Proven Method”
Mastering Doble Carrera: Enhancing Sword Movement
I taught something important in the sword class yesterday. It was a drill and a must-have movement. I initially dismissed this until looking at some of my 2005 Spanish short sword notes. Doble Carrera, or what we call Flamenco footwork, in our system. The ability to move is enhanced if you are already moving, evenContinue reading “Mastering Doble Carrera: Enhancing Sword Movement”
Why Start Training with Sword Before Stick?
Stick or sword training first? When I began my journey, I first studied Olympic fencing, and then focused mainly on the sabre, while also cross-training in boxing and some combatives. I had some basic instruction in what we would now call Irish stick and some English cane techniques. Neither was a complete system; in fact,Continue reading “Why Start Training with Sword Before Stick?”
The Spanish Arts
I have been receiving many questions about my KORA sword and dagger class. I would like to clarify a few points to avoid any misunderstanding. Unfortunately, many individuals falsely claim lineage or secret training within the Spanish arts. Due to my ongoing research in Spain, I can confidently say that most of these claims doContinue reading “The Spanish Arts”
New Schedule for Sword, KORA Core, and Pencak Silat
Slightly tweaked the monthly class schedule for the Saturday classes. Sword 0900 – 0955 KORA Core1000 – 1055 Pencak Silat1100 -1155 Week Sword Savate Strikes and Footwork 1 Sword Savate Parries and plays 2 Dagger Lutte Throws and Sweeps 3 Dagger Lutte Combined 4 Subject Focus Subject Focus Subject Focus 5 Each Class will feature
Killick Off Road Arts 