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Understanding Sumbrada

What is Flow?

That's not a very smart thing for me to answer with words, I would need a hellishly good
grasp of the English language to even make the attempt. Defining the flow, or the fluid
situation, really can't be grasped on paper. This is because it exists solely as an intangible,
abstract concept, not a physical one. For instance, you can't really define the word "Love".
Bobbe You could give the categorical definition, list the characteristics of the element, such as
Member "Adore", "Erotic", "Compassionate". But you can't really narrow it down much more,
because it is a feeling, and it's characteristic definition will change from person to person.
"Flow" has this same element. It is the culmination of spontaneity, relaxation, focus &
dexterity, but that doesn't really give you a clear picture. "Flow" is your ability to receive
any attack, respond to it, and maintain physical and mental equilibrium. “Flow” is
encountering an obstacle in your path, and immediately finding a way around, through,
over or under it, without breaking your stride. This understanding naturally spills over
into other aspects of your life as well, but I’m not aiming for a philosophy degree here.
Suffice it to say that flow is what occurs when you meet the challenges of your life
(martial or otherwise) and dealing with them doesn’t stop or slow down your momentum.
That’s about as close as anyone can get to describing an abstract idea in print.

"The Fluid Situation" is, quite literally, a fight. More to the point, it's what occurs IN a
fight. Two fighters exchanging blows, defending and attacking, each trying to gain the
upper hand and simultaneously counter the other. Both combatants must adapt to
environment, ground and surroundings. This calls for a higher level of focus, relaxation &
dexterity. The fluid situation is the alive situation, it is the place where anything can
occur, and your training allows you to respond to the attack and deal with it instead of
freezing up.
As strange as it may sound, flow actually begins in your basic static drills. The purpose of exercises such as ABCdarios and Sinawalli

is to ingrain muscle-memory actions into your body, to such a degree that they become a second-nature response. The comfortable

level of play you achieve in these drills leads to relaxation while practicing them, and THAT leads to flow. There are, of course,
many more points to achieving flow, but this is a critical element: Anybody who can flow has mastered relaxation in the drills.

Understanding Sumbrada

Drills in martial arts focus on different things, depending on the desired outcome:
Stamina, Cardio, Footwork, Coordination, Etc. Flow drills focus on exactly that: Flow.
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The idea of relaxation, natural reflex & muscle memory ingrained from a standard series
of strikes or motions. Flow drills allow you to work technique with a partner in a fluid, or
"alive" environment. There is a large gap between static strike – block – counterstrike
drills (ABCdarios,) and free-flow sparring. Several attributes are missing for the
practitioner, making it difficult, if not impossible, to jump right into sparring & try to
achieve the flow. This is particularly true if you have no concept of motion and interaction
with a partner, and I don’t simply mean the static “One strike with 58 counters” type of
drill with very little footwork or body English. Simple one-two & three step
attack/defense drills are referred to as "Dead". This is due to the fact that the interaction
between attacker and defender is static, & lacking any real play between the two. Usually,
the attacker makes one or two strikes and freezes his position, allowing the defender to
work around him while he remains stationary. Although this drill serves a purpose, it is
used primarily for beginners. As you progress in skill, and gain better control over your
body movement, relaxation & weapon control, you move into "alive" drills, working
towards what is commonly referred to as "The fluid environment", or “Flow”.

To understand the drills in Sumbrada, first understand that Sumbrada is a STYLE, a

method of approaching combat. The idea is instant counterattack, one beat and return
fire. During the initial clash at Largo an attacker will often inch forward with the strike,
hoping to gain some closer range or an inside purchase on the next shot. If the defender
doesn’t do anything but block then the attacker has just achieved a small territorial
advantage, and if the defender doesn’t hit back a second or third time he can kiss his
range goodbye. Even worse if the defender backs up during the measuring shots, whether
you know it or not you’re now retreating. All the attacker has to do from here is gain
momentum. So when you practice the Sumbrada drills (any of them), start with the first
two moves and train them with some serious intent. Attackers step in and aim for
something. Defenders block and return fire at the next target. Get the footwork involved,
and learn how shuffling, stepping and step-slide integrate with the pattern. You will
discover what the message Sumbrada is trying to tell is pretty quick, if you haven’t
already: BACK OFF!

That’s what you, the defender, are saying with your counterstrike to the attacker when he
enters: Get the hell away from me. I will hit back.

Sumbrada also takes the practitioner out of fundamental step-strike-block linear style
patterns, and into more complex activity: It develops the basic attributes learned in the
static drills, and applies them with interactive motion. In static-type drills, one person
feeds a line and holds that position, while the receiver works his technique. In Sumbrada
BOTH participants work technique simultaneously, developing the interactive attribute
(exchanging varied technique with a partner while in MOTION). When a basic exchange,
or “Flow” is achieved, more difficult & advanced elements are added to the basic game.
Sumbrada, like Hubad, is excellent for this, because it allows you to add, subtract, or mix
‘n match any number of skills, ranges, footwork, etc. However, many people lack flow, or
only have the most basic concept. Sumbrada, coupled with other flow drills such as
Hubad, can be the stepping stone into flow.

A flow drill operates in a very basic structure, usually between 3-5 moves, with basic
angles of attack. The principle of this is simplicity, a fundamental pattern & tempo to
build off. Once you have achieveda comfortable level with the basics, you add variations
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to the basic idea, i.e. disarms, double weapons,knife, empty hands, traps, & limb
destructions. The depth of variation really depends on your own imagination and ability.
Experiment with different footwork patterns & attack angles. Remember to start simple
and build to the complex, keeping the idea of flow in mind. Remember, flow drills are the
MAP, not the TERRITORY. Flow drills commonly act as a bridge between static or
"Dead" drills, & sparring. It's easy to get hypnotized into thinking you are a fighter simply
because you work the punyo sumbrada really well. Pretty to look at & fun to do, many
people STOP at flow drills & never progress to sparring. This is a mistake. Therefore, free-
form sparring should always be the next step after you familiarize yourself with
sumbrada.

Sumbrada helps to ingrain specific reactions, and open up neuromuscular pathways that
would be very difficult to develop without drilling. The basic drills contain single strike &
block techniques, with minimal footwork. This is due to the fact that beginners can
usually concentrate on only one action at a time, particularly when dealing with weapons.
Sumbrada introduces multiple attacks, defenses, & various lines of engagement from
oblique angles. This teaches you to bring several attributes together at once (Footwork,
blocking, checking hand, striking & zoning) while interacting with a partner. Of course,
you won’t really fight “as it is written” in the sumbrada, but you WILL use the reactions
(attributes) it develops, and this in turn prepares you for the level of control you have to
bring to the game when you move on to sparring. You take the essence of the
counterstrike and apply it to your standard guard at Largo: Whatever your attacker sends
over, deal with it and RETURN FIRE. Don’t let him think he just got a free ticket to take a
tour of your defenses, he didn’t. Make him understand this.

Whenever you practice sumbrada, there are always a few points you should keep in mind:

1: IDENTIFY THE MOTION

Pay attention to what the drill is trying to tell you. Since a good sumbrada usually works
several skills at once, it may take a while for you to discover all the uses & variations of
the drill. Break the drill apart & isolate each line of attack to discover the application of
each movement. In many cases you can substitute or interchange one technique for
another, such as a thrust for a strike, a disarm for a parry, an entry for an angle of attack.
Advanced Sumbrada usually works in several variations anyway, so you should get a good
feel for investigation early in your training.

2: CLEAN LINES = CLEAN TECHNIQUE

It’s easy to let yourself go in the flow of sumbrada. Often a (beginner) student gets so
wrapped up in the flow itself that he allows his weapon to wander from the prescribed
path. THIS IS A MISTAKE. The drill works these predetermined lines so the student
can safely train strikes, blocks, checks & disarms at high speeds. Although advanced
practitioners often leave the sheet music to play freely, the beginning student should pay
attention to every point being presented to them in the drill. This is also good discipline
for striking and targeting in other drills, and mastery of this will aid you in training
different areas. If you find yourself flailing about, slow down & recapture the basic lines.
If you are doing it wrong and go faster, you are merely making mistakes at a high rate of
speed. Remember: FAST is not the flow, CONTINUOS is the flow.

3: CHECKING HAND
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Sumbrada is the place where you leave the tapi-tapion drills & employ the practical
application of the checking hand. The checking, or “live” hand is vital, it is your second
weapon, and used correctly it can act with more fluidity and versatility than any of the
other weapons. This is because it can BE any of the other weapons at any given time, as
well as alternate between roles. It is a grasping appendage, and can trap or pass instantly,
and better than the other weapons of the game, which makes it the perfect tool for end-
zone defense. Gaining comfort in the flow of the drill, you begin to develop the use of your
live hand to maneuver your opponent’s weapon hand into check for a trap or disarm.
Working the sumbrada at full & half-beat timing allows you to experiment with different
tempos between the weapon and the checking hand, and cultivates temporal coordination
around objects in it’s path, i.e. opponent’s weapon, your weapon, opponent’s live hand,
etc. The importance of the checking hand becomes apparent at this stage, particularly
against a larger or stronger opponent.

DANGERS OF SUMBRADA

Although there is a wealth of knowledge to be gained from Sumbrada, it is not a drill you
should learn without a knowledgeable instructor. There are a few conditions to define
before you explore the drill:

1: Most sumbrada drills work off an attack/counterattack basis, where the blocks are stick
against stick. Right off the bat, this does not teach proper targeting, and can give rise to
misconceptions about the mechanics & effectiveness of a block, if not viewed objectively.
Therefore, your basics must be securely in place, with a firm, clear understanding of what
you are doing, before you train sumbrada.

2: The response the drill gives for any attack may not be the response an actual attacker
gives. Sumbrada drills encourage you to stay & play, whereas a real attacker may break in
& out of range, never allowing you to establish a “flow”, or patterned attack on him. Do
not allow yourself to become comfortable or complacent in the drill, be alert for openings
on yourself and your opponent. Later in the drill, you should move on to adding
extraneous attacks within the flow, to try to catch each other unawares. Training with
partners of varying sizes, strengths & skill levels will help to prevent any type of knee-jerk
preconditioned response in training, as well as actual combat.

3: I mentioned earlier about the benefits of working with a partner. It is understood that
“Partner” does not mean “Opponent”. The physical intent of a drill is NEVER the same
way as a real fight. A serious attacker will be aiming FOR YOU as opposed to aiming for
your stick. He will be trying to injure or kill you, and his mental equilibrium will probably
be twice that of yours. Furthermore, the force with which he attacks will be much more
powerful, with erratic angles. Recognize that Sumbrada in its drill form is not a sparring
application. You cannot fight with it, it is meant for developing attributes that you CAN
fight with. Again, it is essential that the fundamentals of attacks & blocks be established
before training sumbrada, so you are not training with preconceived misconceptions.

As I mentioned earlier, you really need a knowledgeable instructor to give you all the
insights and clarity with Sumbrada. There are dozens of variations and uses of the drills if
you see the essence of the style itself. Don’t confine yourself to the simplistic “Box
Pattern” training so many Eskrimadors fall victim to, just repeating the same steps
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continually with no thought or variation behind it.

Rhythm & Tempo

As you progress through these & other flow drills, there is a single, constant principle that
is always present, whether you realize it or not: Rhythm & tempo. These two elements are
what dictate the speed and style of the flow, and you cannot ACHIEVE flow without them.
Whatever pattern you are training, when you are with a partner you should try to
recognize & catch the beat that lies within the drill you are doing. There are several
methods that give you simple two and three beat tempos, such as Hubad and Tapi-
Tapion. However, Sumbrada will take the tempo of strike and block into a set rhythm that
will enhance your flow & abilities. To train for this, try working sumbrada to a medium-
paced song. If you fail to grasp it, go back to Hubad using the song and see if you can pick
it up from that. You will discover the various, seemingly unconnected concepts in
Sumbrada coming together in a flow, and your motion will improve. Footwork is critical
to this, as is the ability to adapt to sudden changes in the tempo itself. You should also
train with a variety of weapons, long and short or both at the same time (i.e. Espada y
Daga) This will teach you how to change the beat of the tempo, without LOSING the beat
itself by breaking in and out of ranges, as per the weapon used. You can also use this to
break your opponent’s rhythm, causing him to lose sync with the fight. This allows an
excellent opportunity for attack you can capitalize on, if you train for it.
Understanding the Dynamic Principle

The dynamic principle is change. It is adaptation & improvisation to whatever occurs in

the fluid situation. It is the Living Principle under which actual combat occurs. To
understand the dynamic principle is to develop and evolve. You must look at it with as
few preconceptions as possible, asking yourself "Now what is this thing doing"? Simply
put, if you find your comfortable level of training suddenly upset by a more skilled
practitioner, a better teacher, or even your own ideas, YOU MUST ADAPT, or you will be
left behind. You must grow. You must change. That is the Dynamic Principle.

Growth of any kind rarely occurs under pleasant circumstances, it’s usually a violent
catalyst, often accompanied by explosions and a lot of blood. This is the meaning of the
phrase "Order from Chaos". A person who takes the banal & ordinary, and illuminates it
in a new way can be terrifying, especially if we were clinging to those ideas as dogma. We
do not want our ideas changed, and we feel threatened by such demands. "I already know
important things!" we say. But then a change occurs & destroys that which we thought
was the truth. That is called growth. Only the fluid mind can accept this, you cannot be
both rigid and adaptable in the same breath.

Bobbe Edmonds
Edmonds Martial Arts Academy
Thick As Thieves

"Magic is practice" - Harry Houdini

[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

Bobbe, Nov 23, 2007 #1

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Bobbe said: ↑

What is Flow?

That's not a very smart thing for me to answer with words, I would need a hellishly good grasp of the
English language to even make the attempt. Defining the flow, or the fluid situation, really can't be
grasped on paper. This is because it exists solely as an intangible, abstract concept, not a physical one.
For instance, you can't really define the word "Love". You could give the categorical definition, list the
kuntawguro characteristics of the element, such as "Adore", "Erotic", "Compassionate". But you can't really narrow
-== Banned ==- it down much more, because it is a feeling, and it's characteristic definition will change from person to
person. "Flow" has this same element. It is the culmination of spontaneity, relaxation, focus & dexterity,
Click
but that doesn't really give you a clear picture to expand...
"Flow" is your ability to receive any attack respond to

Very well said- BRAVO!!!!

Family, friends,and memories are the true measure of wealth......

Guro Brian "Buzz" Smith

Founder and Executive Director
American Maharlika Kuntaw Association
www.kuntaw.org
www.kuntawguro.blogspot.com

kuntawguro, Nov 23, 2007 #2

Good article and well written.

www.islandwarrior.com
robertlk808 Island Warrior Martial Arts \ NSI808
Member
robertlk808, Nov 23, 2007 #3

Mr Edmonds' writings are highly informative and well put, which is why I like his blog so
much. I hope there will be more coming from him...

"Fundamentals...fundamentals! If you don't have them, you will run into somebody else's." - Virgil Hunter
gagimilo
gagimilo, Nov 24, 2007 #4
Member

Laaaa!

*Clouds part*
*Light shines*
*Heavenly chorus sings*
*Clue Fairy descends and smacks the assembled upside their heads with Her Magic Clue

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tellner Baston*
New Member

Great article, Bobbe.

tellner, Nov 24, 2007 #5

I enjoyed this, but I was especially glad to see the section on Dangers of Sumbrada. It's a
fine tool but indeed it includes points where the defender waits for a strike in order to
block it, and that "waiting for impact" period is a bad habit. But if the practitioners keep
this in mind and use it for what it's good for--I especially think of the checking hand/tapi-
tapi benefits that Bobbe mentions--it can be useful.

arnisador It's an interesting experience to have to think harder about this drill after all this time!
Active Member Mr. Hartman will well recall that I really disliked this drill when I first learned it
(sometime in 1987-9). It was a long time before it grew on me, then I disparaged it
somewhat again, and now the past few years it's become a more regular part of my
workout.
arnisador, Nov 25, 2007 #6

Understanding Sombrada

There was a phrase I heard a long time ago which summed it all up for me

"Intelligent soultions to non-existant problems"

deetee After training and teaching them for over 20 years, I no longer touch Sombrada, Hubad,
New Member Punyo Sombrada, Tapi Tapi and the likes.
deetee, Feb 24, 2008 #7

Some of these I like more for beginning students than more senior ones. Hubbud is a
good drill to start learning some entering technqiues, locks, etc., for example, but
becomes less useful as time goes on.

arnisador, Feb 24, 2008 #8

arnisador
Active Member

I believe that's the point of most of the drills in the first place. I've never been in a fight
that goes exactly like a drill, but I have use parts of these drills and the timing and flow
they develop.

www.senkotiros.org
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Brock Brock, Feb 24, 2008 #9

Asha'man

Brock said: ↑

I believe that's the point of most of the drills in the first place. I've never been in a fight that goes exactly
like a drill, but I have use parts of these drills and the timing and flow they develop.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that drills don't have a place in what I do, I'm saying
that these type of drill don't. These type of looping drills don't do anything more than
deetee teach the student to flow and keep flowing just for the sake of it. I know you can do a
New Member
thousand and one things with them and you can turn up the heat to make it real hard but
after 27 years in the FMA I have come to the realisation that all these drills do is detract a
student from the reality of a confrontation. They do not instill the mindset that "I have to
finish this encounter as quickly as I possibly can". There are quicker and better ways to
prepare a student for sparring or fighting than using these drills which are nothing more
than games.
deetee, Feb 24, 2008 #10

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