Introduction

All angles completely defined, all threats completely visualized, all distances and tempos studied, the style of authentic and original Serrada has become popular during 1998 in territories of America, Africa and Asia as a unique study of  Philippine martial arts combat system. In this article I will discuss the Serrada system Lock & Block training method and give some pointers to Serrada enthusiasts on how to teach to students and how to improve the performance and the timing of the Lock & Block drill. 

First and foremost, you should have been taught some of  the blocks  for Serrada strikes 1 thru 6,  from a total of  69 blocks  [according to my count] for the total Twelve Strikes of the Serrada system as taught by the Grandmaster Angel Cabales of Visaya, Philippines.  This style ideally uses a stick 22 inches in length. The Serrada system is a streamlined universal stickfighting system while standing close to the opponent, and your footwork being rooted in a  triangle.  This triangle  can  be shifted forwards, sidewards, and backwards in distance for the required distance of at least 2 feet required between your arm and the arm of  the opponent, for  the execution of  each block to a strike delivered by the opponent. In case it  becomes closer than that you may have to go into Laban or grappling techniques.

Serrada does not use power, Serrada captures and redirects power then shows a hit to your limb, head or torso. But, you can practice power hitting separately  in order to build good hitting and breaking power, and to build your arm healthy and strong. If  you  want to understand the very basic reasoning for the unique structure of  the  Serrada blocking system, think of it this way:  if you hold your stick in your right hand,  the stick can be held in 12 o'clock position facing sky, OR the stick can be held in 4 o'clock position pointing to the floor to your right, OR the stick can be held in 8 o'clock position pointing to  the floor on your left.  So all the stick blocks are from these possible stick positions as the stick is held in your right hand. 

Add to that the possibility that the stick may be unavailable in the hurry of the combat, so you can now utilize your Left Hand in order to catch or guide incoming attacks from your opponent. So, now you have five Empty-Hand Passing techniques [using your Left Hand] as well, in addition to the stick blocks.

In Serrada, the Power of any attack coming at you is not opposed with power, but is captured and passed to the right side or the left side of  your body, at the same time application is made of a Serrada hitting technique on  the forearm of  the opponent. Much practice and understanding is needed before a student will understand this concept.  Among other concepts to learn is the concept of  strictly adhering to the fundamental blocking system for expert timing and simultaneous defense, and also the concept of kali-kali "multiplication"  where one block is multiplied to another block during an engagement that has changed direction.  So, Serrada is not a small curriculum, but takes a couple of  years  to learn and understand in its physics.  You certainly require an expert to teach you, but even if you just adhere to repititious practice of  the basic blocking system [in case you are just a couple of ordinary hombres practicing because of  your own desire] you will suddenly begin to understand the Serrada after a few months. 

Among the important blocks [Foundation Counters] that  you should know before starting  the second stage [Lock & Block] in Eskrima training are these eighteen blocks:

1. Strike no. 1:  Inside 'sweep' block,  Front Cross block, Front Cross block and pull down to sector 3.
2. Strike no. 2:  Side block, Wing block. 
3. Strike no. 3:  Basic Cross block, Advanced Cross block with empty-hand passing after doing the cross block,  Wing block.  Wing block for strike 3 is one in which the hand positions are opposite of the basic cross block, stick pointing downwards.
4. Strike no. 4:  Punch block [or hammer block] in which you slam your stick downwards on the's stick, Cross block, Cross block combined with Abaniko strike to opponent's forearm bone.
5. Strike no. 5:  Basic Cross block, Abaniko or Witik block, Side block, Empty-Hand Pass block.  The side block is the same side block as utilized against Strike no. 2.
6. Strike no. 6:  Inside block, Cross block, Payung  (roof) Block.

As an instructor teaches these blocks to two students,  he must make sure that the distancing between the two students is correct and that they are delivering the strikes with arms outstretched so that they can practice the basics with each other.  At all times they should be aware that the other person has a free left hand. And so while being inside the two arms of  opponent, your attention should be on the free left hand as well as his right foot positioning.

Structure of the basic Serrada blocks

So at least eighteen blocks should be known before you embark on learning the Lock & Block drill. Of course, every day your teacher should add the additional blocks for each of  the twelve strikes to your learning. If  you skip the rest of the required blocks for the Serrada system, then you will be skipping some condition or timing segment that you may encounter  while  being in combat. Since the Serrada system was not very widely known, it is important for all the present existing masters of this art to compare and compile all the blocks and to record them in books and film them on video or  motion picture film for the intent of preservation of information about the basic blocks, and about the advanced training methods of  Serrada stickfighting. 

If  someone adds  a  block from some other style to the Cabales system of  Serrada Eskrima, then you must look for its flow while putting the said block in the Lock & Block drill and then in the Flow Fighting Drill. One important an unique structure in the authentic and original Serrada block as given by Angel Cabales is the sampling system and the ending of the block in the Lock position [strike 4 position].

This is explained as follows:

Assume a center line going thru middle of  your chest, from neck tonavel. Whenever the opponent's arm ends up towards your left side, at this point when you finish your counter you must do a circular samplingto sample whether he will attack  at another gradient again. Afterwards, you utilize your left hand and see if there is anyneed for applying a stick takeaway technique in case the opponent is still holding his stick. 

Whenever the opponent's arm ends up towardsyour right, you apply the counter required, then do a cross-check moveputting  your stick at a slight angle downwards on the forearm of theopponent. In case opponent wants to do another strike 2 or strike 4, youare ready to raise your stick and start a block.  Also, in the"cross-check"  you are ready to protect your head in case the opponentlaunches a strike to your head [strike 2].  You cannot do acircular sampling for the right side condition, as when you bring yourstick down while doing the circle, the opponent's arm is freeto strike your skull. There is also no hand check using left hand  forthe right side condition [opponent's arm being on the right side of yourcenter line], as your arm coming forward while yourstick is in strike 4 [Lock position] will jam your stick under yourright armpit. 

After the basics are understood, it is time to put them intofunctional action to drill in them for sparringapplicaton and to  see why they were designed in such a manner. The basics of the Cabales system have universal utility and reasoning forthe time and distance in which the "Serrada" [Close-Range] fight is being fought. Many other stylists would probably jump out of range and then can do block from their own preferred styles.  If you change anything in the Serrada Eskrima system as given by Angel Cabales,  you may be opening yourself to an injurious situation during combat because the Cabales system is very thought-out in detail and reasoning.Unless, you want to fight out of  the Serrada distance. Among other training features, a Serrada instructor will also teach long range fighting to his student.

The lock & block drill method

The student and the teacher stand at about four feet from each other, facing each other. Student has one 22 inch stick in his right hand.Teacher has one 22 inch stick in his right hand, and one 8 inch gunting stick in his left hand.  Teacher will only attack,  student will defend only. The target for the teacher is the 12 strike targets of  Serrada Eskrima. The target for the student is the forearm of the teacher.  The student steps on triangular base but can shift triangle according to distance needed. In this drill method, the instructor throws regular attacks at the student and the student defends himself/herself using only the basic and original blocks [Foundation Counters].  Care is taken not to actually attack the student during the initial stages of the training.The instructor should go in speed from slow to regular, but the instructor must deliver the attacks in real distance trying to bring his stick upto 1 inch to the strike area on the student's body, but do not use force or push in delivering the strike,  so the student develops good timing and step shifting in method.  As a  'feeder'  [deliverer] of the  Lock & Block  you should make sure that the middle of your stick arrives to the target on the student's body.  The teacher attacks in many formats and tempos. The student acquires fast reflexesand reaction time to an attack.  Footwork is based on an imaginary-  and shifting triangle on the floor. This drill makes the student fluent int he Foundation Counters.  In this drill a student learn show to save his stick holding arm from a poke delivered by the instructor holding a short stick in his left hand.  If  the student regularly comes back to the Lock position after finishing each counter he is in a good position to defend the right fist. 

In fast Lock & Block, the student must als outilize distance changing, and empty-hand pass block, as well in order to avoid getting hit. In the initial stages, a student's big challengeis to apply the Basic Cross block in time to incoming Strike # 3.Eventually, a  student must be drilled in all the blocks from the directory of  basic blocks in order to make him/her fluent in them,and remember them all. A student must not imitate anyone and jump around in step changing, rather the student should keep the feet in control and move them quietly on the triangle on the floor.  During a demo you can show the Lock & Block drill but the public cannot feel the art unless the demo is done in a small room and the onlookers are standing closeby.

Regular & haphazard lock and block

Lock & Block is of  three types:

1. Regular Lock & Block:The feeder feeds the attacks at a regular medium tempo, allowing the student to come to Lock position before another strike is given.
2. Advanced Lock & Block:  The feeder feeds some attacks at regular tempo, then suddenly halving one strike to turn it into another number, or suddenly pulling back and changing strike number after giving a strike number.  There is 'picking' and 'feints' in this type of feedng of attacks, and the student learns how to continuously be aware of the sudden changes and the dodges.
3. Haphazard Lock & Block:  This is the dangerous Lock & Block, looking like the feeder is going to go haphazard and just give a lot of  attacks with unenven tempo, walking straight in at you [closing the distance]. The student should stay his ground and not go backwards and then see  it as a sparring situation. The student should block first one or two strikes and then suddenly launch his own attack at the feeder's skull.

Weight and length of the Serrada stick

If the size of  stick is too long then you may not be able to utlize it with respect to finite timing available while you are in between  the opponent's right and left arms [inside gate], when the opponent is deliviring a  strike from his stick weapon in his right hand and a poking strike from the gunting stick or knife in his left hand. So, the size of your escrima stick should be equal to the length between your shoulders or equal to the length of your arm from armpit to wrist.

This is more understood if you have done Lock & Block of the Serrada system, because many practitioners can be stuck if the  feeder of the Lock & Block upgrades his attacking, as Serrada is done in a Close-Range ['Kareeb/Dikat' Range] situation and the time to respond is very short. If your stick is longer then you should  maybe fight from 'outside gate' from long distance [jao] range.  Then, you can do lots of flower and get him with Abaniko or  repeated Elastico  type hits.   

Weight of the stick is also important. A very heavy stick that places weight on your wrist is no-no.  During front cross block, as you lift this heavy stick in front of your face in order to stop an incoming Strike no. 1 from the opponent, the opponent can use his left hand and tap your right fist backwards, thus making the heavy stick you are holding hit you backwards, smack in your forehead, because your control of  your heavy stick cannot be good.

Blocking the shorter stick in the opponent's left hand

In most medium-  to  close-range systems of  Filipino Stickfighting [Eskrima] arts, there is a particular training method where the instructor holds one long stick in his right hand and a short gunting stick or knife in his left hand and throws attacks one by one at a student holding only one long stick in his right hand.  This is the Lock & Block of  the Serrada system or  Espada y Daga of  other Eskrima styles. The student is supposed to decide when he will stay on the inside of  the incoming attacks from the instructor's long stick and then subsequently from the short gunting stick/knife, OR  move immediately to the outside of  the instructor's right arm. 

In the Serrada system this drill is most defined and has techniques upon techniques which must be refined first in slow to medium speed before putting in full gear.   

One of the most important aspects of fast blocking and reversal at such a close range, and on the inside, is the ability to do Eskrima "sampler"  stepwork. All this is learned if you are taught by a qualified Serrada teacher, and have sufficient years of training and teaching experience yourself.   The most challenging work is how to handle the incoming gunting stick/knife that the instructor has in his left hand.  A student has options to do the following:

1. Use basic side counter for strike # 5, bringing his stick in rising sun and hitting the incoming gunting stick/knife. This way the student makes the instructor's left arm move further to the instructor's left.
2. Using his left hand first to guide the instructor's left hand that is holding the gunting stick/knife further to the instructor's left, and then using side counter for strike # 5.
3. Using the Abaniko counter, if the student's arm can go above the incoming strike of the gunting stick/knife.
4. Stepping back and using Elastico attack on the gunting stick/knife.
5. Moving entirely to the outside of  the instructor's right arm that is holding the long stick. 

This can be done after finishing a counter to an attack from the long stick in expectation that the instructor is going to give you a gunting stick/knife attack immediately afterwards. In the Serrada system, the student never goes to the left of the instructor's left arm.  The student can choose to stay inside between the instructor's right and left arms, or go outside the instructor's right arm.   

In the Doce Pares system, as I have sometimes seen,  the student can choose to go to the left of the instructor's left arm that is holding the gunting stick/knife, in additon to staying inside or going to the outside of the instructor's right arm. There is a triangular stepwork that is used to do such in the Doce Pares style. The Doce Pares uses an efficient garote stick that is longer than the standard Serrada stick, and has many revolvings in its work, as well.

When the student starts seeing all the strikes that you are delivering towards him, you can upgrade your striking methodology.  This now requires that you further break down your Lock & Block training.  So, train the student in responding to repeated sequences of;   

1. Strike 1 and  Strike 2.
2. Strike 3 and Strike 4.   
3. Strike 1 and Strike 3. 
4. Deliver Strike 2, suddenly  pull back and deliver Strike 4 or Strike 9 [low strike to student's left leg].

Delivering a  strike and pulling back and changing to another strike as the student is in the middle of  performing block for the initial strike will teach the student how to change his blocking rapidly and how to shift distance. 

The student will learn automatically how to 'multiply' [kalikali] his blocks, going from middle point of the first block for any strike to start point of another block for a different strike given by the instructor.

Training a lefty

I saw an instructor doing Serrada with stick switched to his left hand. He should always put stick in his right hand. But, an attacker can attack from stick in either hand and you should practice against him but keep your stick in your right hand. 

This is because in technical accuracy Serrada gunts the left side and traps the right side of the opponent. Study block for strike 4 and strike 10.  A  Lefty student should do a lot of  Siniwali in order to improve his right hand manuevers. In emptyhand phase, Serrada will gunt left arm of opponent and trap right arm, as opposed to Wing Chun or karate, which will do balanced blocking of both sides. In case a Lefty attacks you respond to the attack number and not to the fact that he is a Lefty, then you judge whether you should stay on the inside or go to the outside. Practice can show you how to do it.

Weight training for strong skills

It is one thing to learn technicals and understand them in the brain, but another to train the physical body in its own health.  This second aspect is most neglected in Filipino stickfighting schools today. All the practitioners must do at least 30 minutes of running twice a week. Weightlifting, arm curl, bench press, shoulder press and squats are recommended.  Basic gymnastics and parallel bars will improve your balance and make your body active. Internal power training is most neglected in Filipino systems. 

All students must learn breaking,  and must learn to take 30 kicks at least to either side of the body for increased circulation. A student of mine can lie on the ground and we can drive a Mitsubishi Montero on top of him.  All this tough training will build your health and cure the body of  any  ill health.  In addition you will always think clearly and correctly, being knowledgeable that the other guy has never done any tough training like you do and so cannot understand your opinion. 

Afterwards, you will see a marked improvement in your Eskrima applications.  It will be because you physical body and mental body are together. Your tough training will help you in times when you are overwhelmed during an attack by many opponents and are hit many times. You will be able to sustain injuries and recover in health. Breaking training is necessary in case you are kidnapped and locked in a room. You  should be able to break the door and escape.

Flow fighter drill method

This is the counter-for-counter drill between the student and the instructor. The instructor throws an attack at one of the twelve sectors on the student's body, the student reacts with a counter and afterwards throws an attack at the instructor. Both do it without halting, starting from accurate and designed movements, to tough and fast. This develops continuous fight capability with a single stick.

The Foundation Counters at this stage  multiply with each other to give over 500 [seven hundred] combinations.  Both practitioners possess one 21 inch stick in right hand, left hand empty.

First person hits with strike no.1, second person responds with the Inside Block, second person hits with strike no. 4, first person responds with downward Punch Block, first person hits with strike no. 5, second person responds with Cross Block, second person hits with strike no. 2, first person responds with Wing Block, first person hits with strike no. 1, second person responds with the Front  Cross Block, second person hits with strike no. 1, first person responds with the Inside Block, continue again.

Master this structure, then substitute the blocks for next levels of challenge. Change the block after receiving a certain strike number, change a strike number after being blocked for a previous strike. Meaning, you can  alter the format from the first format of the Flow Fighter Drill.  Flow Fighting can also become asynchronous, then you have to adjust and  be ready with timing,  and so it never becomes asychronous. When suddenly it becomes asynchronous, you must be ready to utilize your left hand to catch or pass the opponent's stick, because your own stick may be stuck in some other situation. During a demo you can show the Flow Fighting Drill, and the public can get an image if they are standing close in a small room.

Empty-hand training

Since not many of the oldtime instructors taught the EmptyHand version of Filipino Eskrima, a lot of young practitioners are lacking emptyhand application and defense skills. Some of the senior  grandmasters kept the art to their own circle and then closed up the school, others passed away. So, many young practitioners today use imagination to develop their own emptyhand version of Eskrima [stickfighting arts]. Many find it hard to defend against first entry of karate/taekwondo, because the Eskrima practitioners are not paying attention to where they should look when the karate/taekwondo man is beginning the fight.

Karate will hit with roundhouse kick, axe kick, front kick, crescent kick, turning and hitting with back kick.  He will surely get you with an axe kick to the right shoulder unless you have practiced against it.   

Eskrima will kick below the knee if you understand the Eskrima arm technique basics. But that is for close range.  For long range you must stand so that you can close in quickly and trap the oncoming attacker. Or, you start a attack of your own, and when he blocks you trap and control him, etc.  You should first understand that in the Serrada system the blocks  are different across the center line. The right side is majorly looked at.   

You can derive basic hand defense tactics from counters for Serrada strikes # 1, 2, 3,  6, 7 and # 10. You can choose to stay inside of right arm of opponent or go underneath the arm to the outside [stepping in with your left foot] or over the arm to the outside. Among the recommended teachers of Serrada are Zeff Avalos (a blade expert in California), Jerry Preciado, Jimmy Tacosa, Frank Rillamas, Sultanuddin, Darren Tibon, Mike Inay, and then many others in southern Philippines, and on the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia, and in Africa.   

In Islamic culture, much spiritual recitation and prayer is added to the practice of Muslim Serrada for blessing, security, and guidance from God. The intrinsic characteristic of a person's character [the zat] is important to any work or endeavor as this intrinsic characteristic can be faulty and can demolish the work that one is accomplishing.  A good  practitioner must isolate himself from the public,  must know his self,  his presence before God, must know his own fighting style, and must not disrespect someone else's style or their effort in their own training because everybody is addressing some legal segment of workship in fighting system with respect to their teacher's specialisation

Khalid Khan is an active member of the Practical Martial Arts™ list and is always more than willing to discuss Eskrima.