Andy_S wrote:
In fact, I'd go so far as to say that his well-honed system is on the cutting edge of his subject. If other posters take my point, I look forward to them backing my to the hilt on this.
It is a good clip no doubt but not cutting-edge if you look at what the Indonesians have been doing for...ever. I can only speak of William DeThour's Kuntao Silat but I guess one of their basics is on contact moving the opponent's weight onto the back foot and 'stuffing' the attack. Their method is more what I would call a xingyi-type where it's more straight-in with very tight angles, which we can assume is for a reason being what's behind and to the sides of the opponent. There's a saying about Indonesian knife fighting: how do you know it's effective? answer- the teacher has lived long enough to teach it.
I would call Tanswell's stuff more circular or like bagua, which I personally like better, but it begs the question of what is the surrounding situation and should the practice be altered, or I think both deal with the first and a possible knife in a second hand equally well but which one addresses the friends of the primary attacker who also have knives?
The answer is, in a sense, that xingyi takes the front ( of the opponent) and uses their back as a shield against the others, while bagua seeks to take the back of the opponent, and uses their front side as the shield, so we have 2 distinct options but in the Tanswell method if you do flank to the side you should always seek the back afterward.
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