What is it about the
Pekiti-Tirsia Kali System that produces such competent and skilled
fighters, technicians, and instructors? The Pekiti-Tirsia system
of Kali, as taught by Grand Tuhon Leo T. Gaje Jr., combines beauty of
motion with practical and effective combat techniques. Yet
Pekiti-Tirsia stands out from the myriad of other styles as a complete
well-rounded system known for its power, versatility, and
effectiveness. From its ranks have come a number of highly skilled
instructors and fighters.
It is the system’s ingenious
structure and training methods, rather than any group of techniques
that produces such skilled fighters. The three principle systems of
Pekiti-Tirsia; the DOCE METHODOS, Advanced CONTRADAS, and the
CONTRA-TIRSIA DUBLA-DOS are designed to teach an orderly progression of
skills. Each step adding to the foundation laid down by the previous
steps. The essence of that teaching can be found in the maxim: Learn
the drill, Master the drill, Dissolve the drill. While the training
method itself is unique to Pekiti-Tirsia, its principles can be applied
to almost any combative art. Upon close examination, you will see that
the stages the student progresses through during his or her training
are much the same as those all truly advanced martial artists
experience.
Pekiti-Tirsia Kali is made up of
three distinct stages. The first stage, learning the drill, means
learning the basic techniques and body mechanics of the system. Here,
the emphasis is on footwork and mobility, so that in the midst of
movement, you can change direction at will.
Pekiti-Tirsia stresses footwork
more than most other Filipino styles. A beginner will spend most of
his/her training time on this one aspect, often devoting an hour or
more to working on the footwork drills and principles. These drills are
executed with/and concentrate on the following attributes:
1.) Speed 2.) Timing 3.) Power 4.) Fluidity
Focusing on these attributes will
help the student develop light and centered stepping, as well as
offensive and counter-offensive mobility. Why do Pekiti-Tirsia students
spend so much time developing footwork skills? Because, footwork is the
key to all fighting strategies. Footwork provides protection, offensive
and counter-offensive maneuvering and quartering. Regardless of how you
employ your weapon, footwork is vital to survival.
Also of vital importance to the
beginning Kali students are proper striking mechanics. Students must
perform thousands of basic strikes, honing the movements until they can
deliver a perfect, powerful strike every time. Striking drills are
executed with/and concentrate on the following attributes:
1.) Proper chambering/striking positions 2.) Blade Orientation 3.) Precision in form & movement. 4.) Slow execution 5.) Fast execution 6.) Repetition.
The next step in this stage is
combining the strikes with footwork. Techniques are synthesized through
proper body mechanics and appropriate timing. When combined with
tactical applications the student learns to cut his/her opponent’s
angle and strike the opponent first, without getting hit in return. It
also allows him/her, through application of proper body mechanics and
by moving the body as a unit, to deliver blows with awesome power while
remaining relaxed and ready to change his/her position in accord with
his/her opponent’s movement.
Mastering the drill, the second
stage, involves the use of two-man drills. These exercises consist of
flowing patterns of strikes and counters and are designed in such a way
that neither participant ever gets hit. The strikes are taken on the
stick (Pasugat) or avoided completely by means of footwork and flows
with your opponents attack (Pasunod). The participants are able to
practice with full speed, power, and at the advanced stage, with live
blades as well, without fear of injuring their training partner. Each
drill is designed to teach the practitioner techniques for a given
range and different qualities of sensitivity. These combative drills
are then combined in a freestyle yet controlled manner through the
different ranges of combat. Each drill will move through four
progressive stages:
A quote by Pekiti-Tirsia instructor
Tom Bisio defines the purpose of this structure. “All of the drills
teach angling, rootedness, and the ability to go from a powerful attack
to countering the opponents counter. You have to lock these patterns
into your body so the responses are instantaneous; this is not the time
for the student to engage in free-flowing drills. At this stage, he
still does not have his weapon under complete control and will often
try things that are not necessarily workable or practical, wasting a
lot of time. The whole point of having a system is to cut a lot of that
wasted time, to have you do things that are proven to work. At the
advanced level, then it can become your system.”
After each drill has become
thoroughly mastered, the student begins the process of combining the
drills. This is the third and highest stage, that of Dissolving the
drill. As you add the drills together, you start to see how the
techniques interconnect, and you see the transitions through the
different fighting ranges.
The advanced level of Pekiti-Tirsia
is more than just avoiding an opponents attack and countering. The
advanced fighter must anticipate several moves ahead and have a
suitable response should the opponent counter his counter. This cannot
be done at a “conscious” level. You have trained the techniques and
drills to the point that your responses become instinctive so that you
unconsciously know where to go. Pekiti-Tirsia has a very large
repertoire of techniques, but the principles are very simple.
Pekiti-Tirsia instructors believe
that the entire process of learning a combative art can be symbolized
by the shape of a diamond, or two triangles back to back. At the bottom
point, the student starts with nothing. As he/she progresses through
the first and second stages, he accumulates what seems to be an immense
number of techniques and principles, symbolized by the center of the
diamond, its widest point. As he/she advances into the highest stage,
however, he/she finds that the thousands of techniques can be reduced
to a few principles, so that in the end, he/she has a few principles
from which to make any number of techniques.
In Pekiti-Tirsia, you first learn
the strikes, counters and drills by rote. Then you begin to disassemble
and mix the drills and techniques experimenting with what has been
learned. At the advanced level, you dissolve the drills and eliminate
them completely. At this level, the emphasis is sets of core movements
from which you can create an infinite number of techniques.
The goal of Pekiti-Tirsia Kali is
not to program people to respond in set patterns, but to use these
patterns to free the student and produce creative fighters,
technicians, and instructors. But creativity must come from discipline,
from a firm grounding in correct principles and body mechanics. Only
after you have learned and mastered the system, can you dissolve the
system. Only after you have gone through all three stages of
Pekiti-Tirsia Kali, can you transcend the art.
Written by Guro William Schultz
Source material from:
Mandala Tim Waid
Tom Bisio
Jeffrey Kelly
