The 12 Principles of Presas Arnis - Learn From Everyone

We are big believers in continuous learning at Kindred Protective Arts.

This Albert Einstein quote is VERY relevant to how we think.

We 100% agree.

That’s why the 9th Principle of Presas Arnis is LEARN FROM EVERYONE.

When we say, “Everyone”, do we mean, literally, EVERYONE?  It’s a given that we learn from senior students and qualified instructors with more experience than we have.  But what about:

• People with less experience in our art than we have?

• Our peers?

• People in martial art styles that aren’t our own?

• People in non-martial arts sports and performance arts?

• People who aren’t very good at any of those things who try to instruct others?

Our answer is:

And we're ALMOST as enthusiastic about it.

Everyone has something to teach us.

So let’s consider how we can learn from all of those people.

Working with Arnis players who are less experienced than you often puts you in an instructor role when you work together.  This process is one we refer to as “Learn by teaching”. Having to explain material you know to someone who doesn’t often requires you to find many different ways to present the same information, because people learn in different ways. This process makes the instructor learn what’s being taught themselves in a more deep and meaningful way (and often results in people making connections they hadn’t made before between techniques).

KPA Blue Belt Daniel instructs a white belt and a new KPA student in the basics

Working with peers - people equal to ourselves in skill - allows us to collaborate with them. This collaboration process, without the watchful eye of a teacher or the need to explain to a junior student, allows a person to explore and “own” the material for themselves, and creates training relationships with fellow students (those relationships are often the best part of training).

Cross training in other styles is a great way to critically think about what you do and how and why you do it.  Different strategies help you understand and find weaknesses in your own training, some you might not see if your strategy isn’t challenged.  Additionally, you find those points of commonality between all of us (remember, IT IS ALL THE SAME) so if you decide to cross train, you may be able to pick up on what they do faster than you might have otherwise.

Engaging with non-martial arts sports and performance arts helps inspire you creatively and helps you pick up on emerging trends and best practices in biomechanics, sports medicine, exercise science, and sports psychology.

We sometimes get objections to this principle from people asking, “What about people who aren’t good at martial arts?”  At worst, we can learn what NOT to do from fraudsters and fakes that unfortunately exist in the martial arts world.  So yes, they have things to teach us too.

Ultimately, by being open to Learning from Everyone, students at Kindred Protective Arts develop the habit of being life-long learners, become good at evaluation of the information they run across, and inspire them to become the best they can be.

Ready to learn from us (and show us a thing or two yourself)? Click HERE and let's get you in for a free trial class!