“Don’t worry about speed. Just hit to break it.”
-Mike Pana
The quote above takes courage to say in the martial arts world, where everybody wants to be Jet Li, not Marvin Hagler. I took it from a video of Mike demonstrating boxing techniques on a bag, in a nice boxing gym by-the-way, for the purpose of self-defense. I was pleased with his understanding of boxing on both a technical and cultural level. Rarely do you see a man, particularly one so young, engaged in the combat arts, who takes time to consider his art in context; with the realization that an art must adapt differently from one context to another.
I have viewed a dozen or so of Mike’s short videos. Mike deals with boxing, Filipino Martial Arts, and behavioral and practical self defense, all areas that are often home to narrow interpretations. Let me provide some examples of his insightful and open-minded approach:
1. Virtually all practitioners of Asian-based martial arts teach their students that someone with boxing experience will jab first and move around in a ‘street-fight’. Now, I only know a few boxers of the hundreds I have been involved with who have ever jabbed in an altercation outside the ring. Sucker-punching is the rule, because boxers tend to live in armed environments and they want things over quickly. Mike gets that, as exemplified by his quote above.
2. FMA people and freestyle contact weaponry folks alike uniformly shun the stick and dagger as a weapon set because it is so difficult; such a four-way biomechanical conundrum. Mike not only embraces it but practices the hardest weapon art in a contact setting. Almost nobody does that.
3. Many, many instructors do not get involved in their community’s ‘crimescape’; do nothing what-so-ever to place their students’ preparation in real context. Most teachers rely on archetypal scenarios from as far back as the 19th Century. Mike networks with law enforcement and security personnel, and has obviously investigated assailant behavior. ‘Sure’ you say, ‘that is his job’. Yes it is. But, most of his counterparts do not take this simple step. For example I conducted over a thousand interviews concerning acts of violence in Baltimore. Only one martial arts instructor in this town is the least bit curious about my findings. I have firsthand accounts of how people are getting attacked right in front of their studios, and they can care less? Mike is rarer than he seems.
4. Mike gets the cultural aspect of martial arts and everyday aggression. Through his videos Mike has demonstrated a grasp for how these elite traditions and everyday behaviors interact.
But really, the thing that sold me on Mike was his mention of Gabriel ‘Flash’ Elorde, pro boxer of the 50s and 60s, who fought anyone. Thanks for letting me know he was an escrimador Mike. That doesn’t get a mention in my Boxing Geek encyclopedia.
Check out Mike Pana at www.bayaniwarrior.com . There is a link on our network page.
