This is the third in a series of articles by Master Ron Saturno on Espada y Daga. In case you missed the first article, please read:
Espada y daga, part 3. Put a 28" in your hand and make a strike, keep your elbow tucked into your side. The "sweet spot" is about 24-26", measured from the elbow. Most people don't hold their stick, at its very end, we have to account for the lost inches. It is about 10" from elbow to hand and from your hold on the weapon another 16-18" to the "sweet spot", altogether the 24-26", this I have already mentioned. How do we use this knowledge? Angel Cabales gave you very little to hit, but in order to hit someone with his elbow tucked in to his side, he "had" to come "in" toward his opponent. Serrada is a medium fighting style, not a close fighting style like some believe. A medium fighting range, allowed him to still "see" things develop and still allowed him to take advantage of developing events while fighting. He liked to hit with his body, not his arms. Many people do not know that firmly striking someone with a weapon with the body behind the strike adds a lot of free power to the strike. Yes, we can strike with incredible speed with our sticks, but we have to account for weight. Remember, the theorem of power is based upon speed and "weight". 70 mph with a .75lb. stick, does "not" generate the power of 60 mph srick with 200lbs. of body weight behind the strike. Angel Cabales being a smaller man, needed to be behind his blows with "all" of the weight he could behind his strikes. Noodle arm hitting does "not" usually develop fight ending power with a stick. Oh, it hurts like hell, but you don't ask for the license plate of the truck that hit you when you wake up in the hospital: Like you do when hit with body weight behind a blow. This is one of the reasons you see basics taught with "you" facing your opponent's weapon in Serrada. Yes, there are many reasons, but I love my idea anyway. He had to turn his hips into the blow to generate power "if" he was hitting from an elbow tucked position. I know that many have never seen very much of this actually done, but it works.
If you were to hit someone on their wrist/hand from an elbow tucked position: "You" would be in range of "his" weapon. This is why Serrada blocks are done with the hand! Yes, the hand. The stick is only used for stopping your opponent's weapon. Everyone gets sloppy and they start blocking with their sticks, but the basic blocks are "all" hand blocks. In order to tuck and not offer much to our opponent, we almost "have" to perform basic, hand assisted blocks, or become really good in our ability to angle. We can already figure out that espada y daga "can" be really up close and personal. The foot work of Serrada is based around espada y daga. Quick replacement stepping allows the left foot to be brought forward and the left hip to be swung around into the blow/stab. If I were to give an inside block, from the elbow tucked position and you somehow were not hit, your opponent would be coming back around with a number two angle strike. a quick replacement step allows you to quickly and efficiently "face' the next blow, if we can't, we stay and pass the oncoming blow. The female blocks, or tip down blocks: I call them "stickdown" blocks are there to allow you to pass blows without directly "facing" the blow. "All" stick tip down blocks are female blocks, to help you survive a strike when you are not in a position to strike first. OMG! I just realized that I am trying to teach espada y daga in writing. It is just too damn hard to do. Just know this: Angel Cabales came in close, remained close and with his knowledge of Espada y daga, which included footwork, proper angle entries, picking and reversing, he was hard to deal with. I hope to show more espada y daga on Youtube and at my seminars. I hate to cut this short, but just don't want to confuse anyone enough to "not" want to learn espada y daga. I hope as usual that everyone is in the very best of health and that all is well in your lives. God Bless.
Other articles by Master Saturno:
- Basic Movement Theory
- Basics in Defense
- Basics of Serrada
- Freight Training! (Body Alignment & Power Transfer)
- The Secret to Surviving Fights
- "Your fight is with time"
- Vidclips of Serrada Basics and Angles of Attack
- Audio Interview (97 mins!)
- The Very Heart and Soul of the Filipino Martial Arts
- "A reason to live is the greatest gift that a teacher of FMA can ever give."
- "You have to teach everything you know, because this forces you to learn more."
Notes
My deepest gratitude to Master Ron Saturno for his kind permission in allowing me to repost his articles to my site.
My deepest gratitude to Master Ron Saturno for his kind permission in allowing me to repost his articles to my site.
You can contact Master Ron Saturno via:
Email: 5masterserrada@gmailNOSPAM.com (take out the "NOSPAM")
Phone: 209-513-8027
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ron.saturno
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