My Martial Art Journey So Far...

I've been playing around with FMA and Silat for a little bit. By chance I discovered that my local community college was teaching Kali Silat so I enrolled in the spring class of 2008.

My first encounter with FMA was around 2002 when I met a homeless man in Northern California who wanted some change for some coffee at an IN&OUT fast food. I just got him a burger and drink instead of coffee (I don't think they sell coffee). He told me about Escrima Serrada. I never heard of any Filipino Martial Art. I knew nothing about angles. As a kid I grew up learning Korean Martial Arts (TKD, TSD, Hapkido) and Aikido in college.

We would meet once a week and he taught me Escrima Serrada for $20 a lesson. After about a year he would move down to Los Angeles.

When I moved down to La La Land I looked around for a martial art to study again. Using the internet I discovered Chinese Street Fighting (Kung Fu San Soo mixed with FMA) at a local Japanese-American Community Center. We would meet once a week during the weekday and Saturday morning to train. The instructor appeared to have a difficult time showing up to class so a higher rank student would teach. I decided to find a Kung Fu San Soo school that trained all week. I did a free class and the instructor knew his art well. The people there were cool and kind. The head instructor would use me to promote his art (in the kids class) because I was able to break my fall from my Aikido training. He also had other students practice on me as well. It appeared I was the only one that could break my fall at that school. We did no workouts. We hit no bags. We did not spar. We pretend to hit each other with light contact. There was no testing. You get a belt after the instructor felt you have improved enough for the next rank. After three months I looked for another art to study.

I discovered, MartialTalk, a martial art forum. I came across American Kenpo Karate. I found out that Bryan Hawkins had one of his school near my home. I asked around the web about him. Quite a few people gave glowing recommendations about him. I did a free class with him. He answered all my questions. I stayed with him for about 8 months until school started.

A member at MartialTalk left a post for free Kali Silat training over at South Central. I met the instructor at Leimert Park (South Central LA). He wanted to improve the neighborhood.