BATTLEFIELD KALI SINGLE STICK

By the time you pass all the tests for Antás 1-4, and become eligible to take the Battlefield Kali single stick 1st degree Instructor Test, you have already completed at least 360 two-minute rounds of sparring. If you think that sounds like a lot, you are right! I insist on this, though, because I know that anyone who spars all of these rounds will become a very competent stick fighter.  After passing your Antas 4 test, you will need to log another 140 rounds before taking the 1st degree Instructor Test, for a total of 500 rounds before becoming certified as an instructor. Although 500 rounds are a lot, you will actually be able to complete them in a fairly short time frame.  

• If you train two times per week, and do five rounds of sparring each session, that will mean that you will do ten rounds per week. At this pace, you will be able to take your Battlefield Kali 1st degree Instructor Test in just fifty weeks, which is just less than a year.
• If you train three times per week, and do five rounds each session, it will take you about thirty three weeks to complete the Battlefield Kali 1st degree Instructor Test. That is about eight months of very consistent, effective training.

            Now you might ask, “Can someone really become a good stick fighter in only eight months?”  Absolutely. I see it all the time with my own students. The keys are knowing the most functional techniques and doing the rounds of sparring. Six months of sparring twice per week and almost every student is quite formidable. Quite often I have visiting students who are already instructors in a weaponry art. When the light, safe sparring starts, it usually becomes clear that they have no sparring experience, as students with only a few months of training out-perform them. Why? Because of proper technique and sparring experience.

            Want more proof? In World War II, warriors in the Philippines were trained for just one week with the long bolo knife before being put into combat against the Samurai sword wielding Japanese soldiers! Just one week of intensive training in the most efficient basics, along with sparring with the sheathed blade. The annals of war show that the Filipinos did very well when thrust into combat against the more prepared adversary, and ultimately defeated the invaders. Compared to one week, eight months to a year of training seems like an eternity!

            Besides having more time to train than those brave warriors, we have the additional advantage of great protective equipment so that we can spar at full speed with little risk of injury.  Because we get to spar with a greater safety margin, we should be able to improve much faster than our ancestors in the art.  And, we have the luxury of another important point in our training: having fun!

            Train hard, train realistically, train safely, but make sure that the training is enjoyable.  If you keep it fun, you will practice more often, progress faster, and you will simply enjoy life more.  That alone makes the training worth the effort! Be sure to take care of your partner’s safety. Don’t do anything that might injure your partners, as that takes all the fun out of the training.   

            After passing your Battlefield Kali single stick 1st degree Instructor Test, you will be eligible to train for and take the Battlefield Kali single stick 2nd degree Instructor Test after completing your tests for Antás 5&6. After passing Antás 7, you will be eligible to train for and take the Battlefield Kali single stick 3rd degree Instructor Test. After completing Antás 8, you will be able to train for and take the Battlefield Kali single stick 4th degree Instructor Test. The specific requirements for each test are listed under each test heading.

            The entire idea behind this program is to produce highly skilled instructors who are fighters and teachers. I know that anyone who does enough sparring will become proficient. Anyone who follows the detailed teaching on the DVDs will learn all of the points necessary to pass on the art in great detail. With your help, this unique training and testing structure will help to spread this amazing art to people around the globe.

Click on Page 2 (below) for 1st degree Instructor test guidelines
Click on Page 3 (below) for 2nd degree Instructor test guidelines
Click on Page 4 (below) for 3rd degree Instructor  test guidelines
Click on Page 5 (below) for 4th degree Instructor  test guidelines