Senkotiros
Basic Concepts
Symbols Of Senkotiros
Many times, simple symbols or shapes or can trigger a level of understanding in the mind of an individual, where it could not otherwise be achieved. A complex idea or an abstract concept can be understood by relating it back to a simple shape, common to all people, ingrained in the mind. The simplicity of the shape can somehow soothe the mind and trigger the comprehension of the complex interactions of the martial arts.
The movements in Senkotiros can be broken down into several simple shapes. They are presented here to assist the beginning practitioner with their understanding of the basic concepts of the style.
Circle - The circle symbol represents the circular movement of Senkotiros. Movement in an encounter follows a circular pattern as one maneuver around an attacker. This circular pattern of movement is called the Tayada. Many times, the hands working together follow circular patterns as well, and the body often torques with a circular movement.
Triangle - The triangle represents the footwork of Senkotiros. Many times the footwork patterned to defend or attack follows a triangular pattern.
Cross - The cross symbolizes the defense applications of Senkotiros. The style teaches that there is only one method of defense: to cross the baston with the opponent's. This is explained in greater detail later.
Star - The star represents the five angles of attack and defense. These five angles are represented in each line of the star.
Senkotiros, Basis and Highlights
Senkotiros is unique when compared to many forms of the Philippine martial arts in that it is taught and practiced to be a free-formed style of martial art. In its purest form, the movements, counters and fighting techniques of the style are based on some very simple rules and concepts. These rules and concepts are the building blocks of the style, rather than the patterned or repetitious responses and techniques common to many other styles. The response to an attack is based on what the Senkotiros practitioner feels and senses in response to what is presented by the attacker.
Free-Form, Non-Patterned
Many Philippine martial arts teach patterned movements as the method to respond to an attack. If the attacker does this, you do that, is often the way encounters are dissected. The responsive techniques are practiced over and over. The Senkotiros practitioner, however, does not respond to an attack with a single prescribed or predetermined technique. The Senkotiros practitioner views a counter attack as a response with an infinite number of possibilities. In any combat encounter the interactions are unpredictable, complex and varied instantaneously. Senkotiros looks upon the response to an encounter as the ability to respond to anything, with anything. The actual movements or techniques are based more on the dynamics of the situation and combined with what the practitioner senses at the given moment of the response.
Sensitivity Concept
The style is taught and practiced in such a way as to allow the experienced practitioner to react and respond instantly to the situation presented by the actions or movements of his opponent. What the practitioner sees, feels (with the hands, arms and arnis stick) and hears is combined with the intuition he has developed over the course of the training. It is commonly referred to as the Sensitivity Concept.
This heightened level of awareness comes naturally as the practitioner comes to understand the complex interactions of his and his opponent’s movements. The Senkotiros training helps the practitioner to integrate this with the physical techniques that one is taught in the Philippine martial arts. Such traditional techniques such as distance, angle of attack, hand and foot position, footwork, etc., when combined with this high level of sensitivity, enables the Senkotiros practitioner to respond in a way that is sudden and devastating.
Senkotiros Principles and Theory
Several of the more important principles and theories presented here are at the foundation of the style of Senkotiros. These are based on the teachings and philosophies of Professor Max M. Pallen.
Unique Aspects Of Senkotiros
Fighting Style
Senkotiros is a fighting style. All Filipino martial arts were ultimately developed to defend their homeland from the many invaders they encountered over hundreds of years. Many modern day styles of the Philippine martial arts have come to emphasize different elements of arnis. Some have come to stress elements of other martial arts such as locking and jujitsu type moments. Further confusing this, the Philippine martial arts has been integrated into other martial arts styles and presented as a part of those styles.
Senkotiros emphasizes fighting and is based on the traditional method of self-defense practiced in the camarins of the Bicol region of Southern Luzon, in the Philippines. The style represents a fighting system that addresses all aspects of combat (from all distances or ranges) between individuals with much emphasis on striking (with the baston or hand).
As a testament to this, the Senkotiros system has produced several WEKAF World Champions and its practitioners are always competitive in national and international competition.
The Five Angles
Senkotiros measures strikes different from other arnis styles. Strikes are measured by angle and direction. Striking areas are more simply illustrated. Senkotiros targets the most vulnerable areas of the body such as joints (fingers, wrist, knees, etc), shallow bones (forearms, shins), nerve endings or pressure points, and vulnerable areas of the body (eyes, nose, ears, groin, solar plexus, etc.).
Senkotiros measures all strikes by three factors:
- The direction of the strike (from the right or left side, or from overhead).
- The angle of the path of travel of the tip of the baston (horizontal, angled downward or angle upward).
- The motion of the strike created by the rotation of the wrist.
Senkotiros has only five strikes, each measured as described, by direction and angle. Each can be delivered from the right or the left side of the striker’s body. They are referred to as.
The Five Angles of Strikes
- Angle One Strike: Horizontal angle at a plane parallel to the ground.
- Angle Two Strike: Downward at an angle (plus/minus 30 degrees).
- Angle Three Strike: Upward at an angle (plus/minus 45 degrees).
- Angle Four Strike: Any thrust with the tip of the weapon.
- Angle Five Strike: A witik strike (a very fast whipping motion with the wrist) from either side, or from overhead downward.
This is how the Senkotiros striking techniques, both offensive and defensive, are measured and taught. These are the base techniques and much of the methodology and terminology is built from The Five Angles.
The Cross Section Defense
There are many methods of defense in the Philippine martial arts. Many styles emphasize force-to-force blocks or defecting blocks, checking to the hand or arm, etc. Senkotiros uses all of these types of blocking techniques, but there is an emphasis on one aspect of defense: the Cross Section Defense.
The Cross Section Defense involves using an object placed perpendicular to the force of an attack, and placed between the strike and its target.
The Cross Section Defense places the center of the blocking object at the center of the force of the attack. If the attack is with a baston, the Senkotiros practitioner will place his baston at a perpendicular angle where each baston meets in the approximate center, thus forming a cross. This cross, when properly applied and supported (or braced), intercepts the strike and shields the Senkotiros practitioner from the force of the blow.
Shielding
Shielding is the combat application of the Cross Defense. Senkotiros uses many different ways to counter an attack. Sometimes a check is used, or an intercepting strike to the hand. Other methods can be used as well. But the retraction to place the weapon between an attack and its target in the form of a cross is the most common technique of defending and setting up for a counter attack. Senkotiros teaches to use this technique as the best method to respond to an attack, if no better options are available. This is referred to in Senkotiros as Shielding.
The Second Hand Concept
The philosophy of dealing with a follow up attack of the second hand is called the Second Hand Concept. The Senkotiros practitioner’s training is geared to developing the ability to instantly deal with a follow up attack by the second hand of an opponent. In the Philippine martial arts, this is often the open hand (the hand without the baston) performing some type of control technique in the form of a punch, grab, trap, etc. Many times the second hand contains a long or short knife, a baston or some other type of weapon. The Senkotiros practitioner is taught to see, feel or sense this attack. They are taught to instantly respond to the second hand with some kind of defense such as a block, intercepting strike with a baston, check, grab, etc. Senkotiros Practitioners are trained to do this quickly and with authority, without breaking the rhythm or the flow of their actions.
Senkotiros Training Principles
Family
One might consider family an odd quality to find listed as a basic principle of a martial art. The Senkotiros Grandmaster and his closest Lakans (Black Belts in the Philippine martial arts) are a group of men and women dedicated to the cause of Senkotiros and traditional values such as home and family. While many martial artists will pass their art on to any who can afford to pay, only the finest people and those most dedicated to the perpetuation of the style, reach the highest ranking in Senkotiros. The Lakan Disciples of Senkotiros are spread all over the country, but are bound by a common respect for the Grandmaster and a love of Senkotiros. They look upon each other as brothers and sisters, their group as a family, and their leader as the head of this family.
The Flow
Senkotiros is based on the natural movement of the body. As the practitioner comes to know and understand these natural movements, he begins to move in a seemingly effortless manner as the techniques are executed. This is just not limited to the execution of physical techniques, but rather depends on the mind and inner spirit of the person as well. One must be at peace in their mind, relaxed as they move and in tune with their body. When all this occurs, they have achieved the Flow. The Flow is smooth, graceful execution of movements in harmony with the mind. Practitioners that have achieved this will know, as they will feel it. Achieving this level of harmony with the body and mind is the goal of every practitioner of Senkotiros.
Train Slow
Something happens deep within the subconscious mind whenever a weapon is picked up or one looks across another person holding one. Adrenalin starts to flow; the inner mind becomes excited and forces the body to become quick to react. This is most likely from millions of years of the development of the human mind. It is part of the preservation instinct that we all have. It brings on a level of sudden and jerky movements instead of the smooth flowing movements required for the smooth execution of Senkotiros and other martial arts. This is very common in lower ranking students new to the Philippine martial arts.
This reaction can affect the quality of our training and limit the ability of our mind to absorb information and distracts our muscles from learning the movements. Train slowly, in a relaxed manner and atmosphere to relax the body and mind to focus on the teachings and beauty of the art. The weapon should not become a threat to ones self, but a tool to learn the movements and beauty of the art.
Any technique unto itself will not produce speed. Learning proper execution of a technique will produce speed. Senkotiros practitioners train slowly; they learn the moves the way they should be learned--then speed things up!
The Concepts Of Movement
Circle Concept
The circle concept refers to the many movements in Senkotiros that use a circular motion. This circular motion is applied in many ways and many of the hand combinations and the footwork follows circular patterns. The strikes, twirling patterns, and the baston-open hand combinations follow this type of pattern. The Circle Concept represents all of these motions and is an important concept in understanding the movements and patterns of Senkotiros.
The Torquing
The torquing is the circular movements made by the entire body while executing the offensive and defensive movements of Senkotiros.
The torquing movements are found in the striking motion, the shielding (defensive) motions, and footwork and in the simultaneous use of the hands. A common philosophical element in Senkotiros is to move off the center of the attack, or off of the center of the force applied by a punch, kick or grab. Movement to escape, jam or counter the attack can include backward and forward movement, either on a straight line or at angles, is a common and effective method of response in many styles of the martial arts. Senkotiros uses all of these but also emphasizes a torquing type motion against an attack.
Cushioning Or Absorbing
Cushioning or absorbing is a method that is often used in close range fighting to help extend an opponent and draw them in close to the body of the Senkotiros practitioner. This is done to get better position for a counter attack. Intercepting an attack and then cushioning its force inward for a counter such as disarming, locks, traps, takedowns, etc, is a staple for the defensive and countering applications of Senkotiros. It is a key component in Shielding and in the Methods of Blocking.
Levels Of Sensitivity
Seeing Without Seeing
Seeing Without Seeing is a byproduct of the Sensitivity Concept. As one develops this higher level of awareness and sensitivity in the outer appendages, they began to sense the movements of their opponent through this interaction. The Senkotiros practitioner begins to feel where the person is going, how they are turning, if they are going to strike or kick, and which hand or foot they may be attacking with. After a time, reactions are made instantly in response to the information picked up by other parts of the body, not just the eyes.
Often times these movements are picked up by a contact made during the interaction of the encounter or may be sensed with a simple touch of the open hand. The movements, angle and direction of an attack can be understood with one's own body, if one knows how to sense these things, without depending on the eyes.
Anyone can see the advantages to this type of perception in the martial arts. The reaction time can be cut to split seconds. One responds based on actions that are sensed in the attacker and are picked up on in an instant. One can almost respond with the proper counter before the attacker has even completed the attack. The effects can be devastating.
When one reaches this level of sensitivity and can execute it to a high level, it is said that they can see without seeing.
The Third Eye
The Third Eye is a higher state of mind where skill, and intuition meet. It is the highest level of martial arts perception. It is the state of mind one achieves when all of the elements of perception, touch, seeing, sensitivity, etc., are combined with advanced martial arts skill and technique. It is where all of these things come together that allows the practitioner to know what is coming next, and how to respond, without looking. It is the level where you no only sense, but seem to know what is coming next, and when, and how to how to respond, without seeing or thinking. An individual that is strong in the Third Eye has a kind of sixth sense that allows the fighter to know what the opponent is doing almost before they do themselves.
Conclusion
Senkotiros, as with most Philippine martial arts, is simplistic in its basic approach to self-defense. Any motion or technique in the style is straightforward, short, and makes the simplest of motions. With this simplicity comes speed and power.
Senkotiros is also based on the natural movements of the human body. For instance, bringing the hands up to block an attack is an instinctive action and one that comes naturally to us all, passed on from thousands of years of our ancestors defending themselves from the attacks of others. Senkotiros simply uses this instinctive motion, in much the same way, to achieve the same goal. In many instances students need not learn new techniques, but give in to the instinctive motions they already possess.
This also makes the basics easy to learn and quick to understand. The real challenge exists where one must put all of the small simple movement together as one. Many times every part of the body will have a different job to do, or a different technique to execute, all simultaneously. This is what makes the style so challenging and interesting. To many, it is addicting. |
