Just got home from about the most fun I've ever had getting stabbed in the face. I've popped in and out from class to class over the past six months or so. Partly because I'm wanting to try out as many FMA styles as I can find to see which best suits me, but mostly because my work schedule is mostly incompatible with training in just one spot.

I work nights, with randomly rotating shifts (Hospital), so if one Guro teaches Monday-Wednesday, chances are I'll only be able to sneak in three classes a month. So, I try to find a Mon-Wed guy, and a Tue-Thur guy, and...etc. So I at least have available training when my random days off appear.

ANYWAY, that's entirely askew from the fucking point, which I'll get to now:

It's the first time I've come across the method, and I enjoyed the hell out of it. Basically, everyone suits up to spar (Gloves and paintball mask/fencing mask/whatever). Spend about 5-10 minutes going over a few entries and techniques, and then spend the next 10 minutes or so contact sparring with everyone in class. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Until the end of class.

Outstanding setup, IMO. I ended up with around a full hour of hard contact sparring, which has traditionally been near impossible for me (I have lung issues, so extended ducking/stabbing/rolling is soon enough just going to kill me).

Second benefit -- Gives you a couple tools to try out and adapt to different opponents before tacking on a couple more tools, and so on. Rather than handing you fifty things and seeing which ones you manage to remember once somebody starts stabbing you in the face.

So... I'm half-assuming that Everyone Does This but ME, and this is going to come off idiotic. *laugh* Though, it's the first time I've really come across it over the course of training with a handful of different styles and instructors, so I was curious.

So was the sparring isolation? Like you were trying to limit yourself to the techniques just worked on, etc?

Sounds like the I-method. Aesopian explains here:

Inquiry Method - No BS Martial Arts (http://www.bullshido.net/forums/showthread.php?t=36273)

EDIT: Just replace Judo/BJJ with the I-method as 1point2 mentioned before I got my post in.


So FMA with a Judo/BJJ methodology....I like it.

When I say Judo/BJJ methodology I mean exactly what you said. A few mins demonstrating a technique and/or tactic followed by live sparring to test it out. I really like it.

Where I'm learning Eskrima we haven't had full contact sparring yet so I'm a bit jealous, but my teacher says we should start sparring soon. Hopefully it will be like what you're doing.

This is a pretty good approach for learning any martial arts or sport. We do this regularly at my FMA club.

So was the sparring isolation? Like you were trying to limit yourself to the techniques just worked on, etc?

No, still 'anything goes'. More of a 'try it out, see if it works... or don't, whatever' sort of philosophy.

I would probably add in phases where both parties are resisting, but you stick to restricted techniques too. Also some techs can be done force-on-force, but are unlikely to come up in a "ritualized male fighting" scenario like most knife sparring (where we both jab), so sometimes artificiality is useful to feed you the energy of someone who's actually intent on just putting the entirety of that knife inside you.

But all-in-all, good approach.