PTI Blog

  • PEKITI-TIRSIA IN MARTIAL ARTS MAGS 1970s & 80s

    by WILLIAM McGrath
    Here are some scans from old martial arts magazine articles. I believe all of these magazines are out of business, so there should be no copyright issues with my posting them here. In some pictures you will see a skinny kid with a mop of black hair on his head acting as a target for Grand Tuhon Gaje. Good times.
    Posted in Organization, PEKITI

  • UNIFIED FIELD THEORY OF FMA FOOTWORK

    by WILLIAM McGrath
    I’ve been playing around for many years trying to draw a diagram with all the footwork patterns of Pekiti-Tirsia on a single grid. This experiment started after seeing so many FMA teachers adding various triangles, diamonds and other patterns to the floors of their schools to help their students understand FMA footwork. I thought it was a great idea and wondered if it might be a fun mental exercise to try and have as many patterns as possible within a single framework. Call it my Unified Field Theory of FMA/PT footwork.
    Posted in FOOTWORK, PEKITI, Training

  • ALPHABITO, NUMERADO, OFFENSA-DEFENSA IN THE PEKITI-TIRSIA SYSTEM

    by WILLIAM McGrath
    This video contains samples from the Alphabito, Numerado and Offensa-Defensa sets; one of the last techniques I learned in the Pekiti-Tirsia syst...
    Posted in PEKITI, Training

  • MEMORIES: 1981 SILAT & PEKITI DEMO

    by WILLIAM McGrath
        Eddie Jafri, myself and Warren Brown during a performance at the June 1981 Philippine Independence Day celebration at the World Trade Center i...
    Posted in PEKITI, SILAT

  • How to measure Pekiti-Tirsia long and short swords.

    by WILLIAM McGrath
       I have been asked many times to give the measurements of the Pekiti-Tirsia long sword shown in the PTI logo. The information on the measurement...
    Posted in how to measure a pekiti sword, pekiti-tirsia sword, sword

  • PTI POLICE BATON: Baton vs Knife

    by WILLIAM McGrath
    The specific purpose of this article is to gives details on the PTI Police Baton vs Knife Instructor’s Notes video and to explain my thinking as to why each technique was chosen. 
    Posted in police baton

  • GUN VS KNIFE TRAINING

    by WILLIAM McGrath
    Dear Certified Firearms Instructor: Think of this article as a way to help decide which tools you should pull from your toolbox first, when teaching LEOs and CCW citizens basic handgun defenses against a knife, coming from someone with long experience in both types of weapons.

  • PTI ADVANCED HAND VS KNIFE: Part 2

    by WILLIAM McGrath

    The way I teach Pekiti-Tirsia advanced hand vs knife has evolved over the years.

    When I first learned the system from Grand Tuhon Gaje, hand vs knife was divided into two stages:

    Posted in Training

  • The Purpose of Timing Drills

    by Bill McGrath
    A few techniques from the Sagang Labo drill of Pekiti-Tirsia. There is much more to this drill than what you commonly see at seminars. Sagang-Labo translates to “Block” and “Hack or Slash” in the Hiligaynon version of Visayan from the island of Negros.
    Posted in Training

  • MODERN TRAINING TIME: HOW FAST VS HOW MUCH

    by Bill McGrath
    Grand Tuhon Gaje would often tell the story of how he began Pekiti-Tirsia training at the age of six, under his maternal grandfather Conrado Tortal. Conrado began young Leo’s training with three long years of footwork. Conrado started Leo on a rickety old table in the home, moving in forward and reverse triangles, while his grandfather tapped his leg with a stick at the apex of the movement to get him to move faster. After a few weeks of this Conrado moved his grandson to training on the halves of three coconut shells, while stepping with only one foot at a time on each shell.
    Posted in Training

  • Big Blades for your family’s Get Home Bags.

    by WILLIAM McGrath
    Choosing a blade for your own emergency bag should be fairly easy job: but what if you need to choose blades for the rest of your family? Here are my choices for my own family and how I made the decision on each one.
    Posted in Survival

  • THREE NEW PTI TUHONS!

    by Bill McGrath
    Three longtime Pekiti-Tirsia instructors have been promoted to the rank of Tuhon by Tuhon Mike Popolizio. Read their martial arts biographies belo...