It's Platforms all the way down...

None of the ideas presented here are “originally” my own. Rather, they are a consolidation, and in some cases, reconciliation of a few particular terms and concepts that I have heard used between multiple instructors. This is really more of a presentation, and preservation, of my current understanding of these terms and how they play with each other.

Platforms

We consider two platforms - Weapon Platforms and Drill Platforms.

• Weapon Platforms — What weapons am I using (single stick, empty hand, etc. etc.)

• Drill Platforms — Sequences of strikes and counters put together in some way

Symmetry

• Symmterical Weapon Platform — When the weapons in use share some parity in range and application

  • Double Sticks, Double Knife, etc.

• Asymmetrical Weapon Platform — Where the weapons differ in range and application

  • Single Stick/Sword — your empty hand is the other weapon

  • Double Knife where each knife is held in a different grip — I recognise that the difference is potentially illusory, but I think it matters enough to be considered asymmetrical.

  • etc. etc.

When it comes to Drill Platforms - before we can really talk about symmetry, I think we need an understanding of different types of drills:

1. Feeder Drills — Where one partner feeds sequences to another

   1. At it’s most basic, this is like when partner is feeding a strike and the other partner is learning how to counter it

2. Mirror Drills — Where both training partners are doing the same thing and these strikes are interacting with each other in some predefined way

3. Loop Drills — Movements are not mirrored

4. Non-looping Sequences — The drill ends in a reset, rather than allowing for a smooth transition back into another loop

Of these, only Mirror Drills would fall under a Symmterical Drill Platform, while the rest would be considered Asymmetric. Essentially:

• Symmetrical Drill Platform — where the drill is made of sequences that are repeated on both sides

  • When done with a partner, these are often seen as mirror drills

  • Sinawali, like Heaven 6, is a good example of this

• Asymmetrical Drill Platforms — Where there is no symmetry between sequences in the drill.

  • Loop Drills —Both partners doing the same sequence of movments, but the movmements interact with each other at different points

    • Like Qol de Mama, or the more commonly known drill - Sumbrada.

    • In QdM, there are 6 moves in total and the strikes are paired like 1 and 4, 2 and 5, 3 and 6.

  • Non-looping sequences — like our Asymmetrical Palusot Drill, which simply resets at the end of the sequence