You'll Never Move Like Me

See Guro Fred's Amazing Karenza.  Every time I watch him I feel excited. I feel...jealous.  I want to move like that.

One day after watching his solo training / shadowboxing, Guro Fred noticed I was following his movements intently.  He told me "You'll never move like me."
My heart sank.  He was right.  After a lifetime of martial arts training, a Kung Fu World Championship, a stint in the French Paratroopers, a cupboard full of black belts and instructor certificates in just about everything, and so on and so on.
OF COURSE I WOULD NEVER MOVE LIKE HIM...I gave a deep sigh...

That's when Guro Fred smiled and said "you'll move like YOU".

Mind. blown.

Each of us are different.  Not only physically.  Some of us are taller/more flexible/stronger than others.  Some of us are visually impaired or even missing a limb.  Some of us have long-lasting injuries we are recovering from that may limit what we can do at a given time.  In some arts this is a barrier to progression.  As it is said in Kenjutsu "there are no left handed swordsmen".  Meaning that no matter what, we always train right-handed with the katana (the truth is, many schools have a left-handed draws and techniques for the katana as well...shhhh...don't tell them I told you...).  Officially anyway, everything is right-handed.

In Filipino Martial Arts, "handedness" almost does not exist at all.  We spend time from Day 1 working with both hands including double sticks as well as espada y daga and various other combinations.  In our empty hand flow we often have both hands doing different movements simultaneously (and sometimes our feet, too).  In boxing/kickboxing we are comfortable to fight in either orthodox or southpaw stance with no handicap.

Beyond this, however, our flow is OUR OWN.  It is not just about who we are physically.  It's as much about who we are emotionally, spiritually, ethically.  We move with differences because our intentions in each encounter are different from each other.  Two people rarely react exactly the same way to anything - fighting is of course the same.

As a student, the goal is to master the vocabulary of the art - sounds leading to words leading to phrases leading to sentences leading to paragraphs.  In the beginning there are patterns and expressions, but the goal must always be to express yourself in your Kali.

As a teacher, we are guides on this learning journey with the mission of enabling students to explore and find their own unique Kali "voice".

This is materially different from the ideas behind many traditional styles and, to be honest, I love it.  It's a major reason why Kali will be with me for the rest of my life.  It's who I am.

So don't worry about the person next to you.

Move Like YOU.