PTI Blog

Four fighting timing styles to help you understand what may work best for you.

For many years I have been diagramming Pekiti-Tirsia weapon techniques. I was even able to do this in the pre-desktop days, drawing by hand, since my diagrams were so simple.  However, I have not been able to create diagrams of empty hand techniques as easily. I really should do a better job on the empty hand end of things, so I have a request.

The main factors that separate beginners from experienced fighters are the latter’s level of understanding of distance control and timing.
Distance control in striking arts is usually accomplished via footwork: while timing is the ability to use specific elements of fighting at the correct time.
Getting good at these skills helps you be in the right place, at the right time and using the right tools to accomplish your goals.

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.