Ron Saturno - The firstest with the mostest is the bestest.

I like simple. I like perfected basics. I like to be the one who walks away, if I can. I like to walk away from a fight and if I do have to fight: I like to be the one who walks away. Obviously, I've used a lot of "I's" and I like to walk away one way or another. When I decided that "I" was important to me and that I'd like to be the one who walks away from fights: I started looking for someone who could teach me how to do this. Angel Cabales ended up teaching me how to get home safely. He had used his martial skills to save himself in many a very bad situation. You don't go to a man to learn how to lay bricks if he has never layed one. I went to a fight survivor when I wanted to learn how to survive. I am a first generation student of the late great Angel Cabales. Much of what I share today will be directly from his lips. Some will be my interpretation of his training and methods. Some information will be from me alone. Listen to me or not, it is your a$$ not mine. We have to learn to be able to closely scrutinize any and all information which comes our way. We are all survivors and survivors must always be aware of everything which comes our way. What to keep and what to throw away is the game. It's what keeps us breathing. I've hit a lot of sh!t in my life. After a while you figure out that your power, your maximum power, is really only maximally transferable into something within a very short range. It doesn't matter if it's a foot, a fist or a weapon. If you really want to transfer energy into something: You have to put the target in its proper range and you have to do your part to accomplish this. This is the basis of hitting hard. Knowing what you're doing and why is a big part of accomplishing this. The art part is accomplishing this when the b@stards keep moving around and thwarting your goal.

 

There are rules to most things that we do. If we want to hit something first than we should get out rule one. Hit it right away. The firstest with the mostest is the bestest. Get to 'crackin. Usually the first real telling blow is the beginning of the end of the fight. This holds true for hands, feet and weapons. Rule two. If you are unsure of rule one, look at rule one again.

 

Can it really be that easy? More than half of surviving a fight is the will to fight. A man who has decided to fight, should simply step up and get busy. Some men want to belittle you before a fight. Some men want to look good before his friends. They like to run their mouths. What this also means is that they are pumping up. They are getting their adrenaline dumping into their bodies. They will be harder to deal with, after the adrenaline dump. Whatever the reason, putting your fist in his mouth is not only satisfying, but has a lot of survivor value. A loud man who has approached you with clenched fists etc., gives you a reasonable belief that he is offering you imminent danger. Hit him until he drops and if someone is around stop. I am trying to get to the nuts and bolts of things, but I was told to keep it short by the boss. I'll get back to writing this after dinner. 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."
• Espada y Daga
• More about Espada y daga
• Espada y daga, part 3
• "Espada y daga properly performed violates common sense." 
• Comparison of Short stick vs Long stick
• "Every hit 'must' have the potential of ending the fight, period."

Notes

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