Speak and be heard.
Martial Arts: Training
Sometimes keeping the training engaging is as simple as changing the landscape.
#msmb #kalimundo #ptta #ptkwf #webelieveinlife #traineveryway #traineveryday #ptk #silat #grappling #capoeiraangola #boxing #mma #wellness #fitness #health #outdoors #community #martialarts #selfdefense
Martial Arts: Methodology
By Njoli Brown
Combat Geometry: I’d heard that language used quite a bit but it always seemed somewhat abstract to me. When I arrived at my first Semangat Baru silat class with my roll of blue painter’s tape it was very clear that geometry was the law in that space. We measured out strides 2.5 foot lengths, worked tirelessly off the langka (tiga, sliwa, etc.), and methodically investigated balance, angle, body position and timing. I’ve enjoyed this style of penjak silat because of its emphasis on close quarter fighting. I’ve continued in this practice because of this both practical and academic attention to detail and the way it has informed much of my teaching pedagogy.
#msmb #semangatbaru#kunomartialarts #webelieveinlife#traineveryway #traineveryday #health#wellness #fitness #science #itsnotmagic#martialarts #selfdefense #community#poc #indonesia #penjaksilat
Capoeira Angola with families is more than an opportunity to cartwheel and kick. It’s a practice that integrates physical, emotional and historical learning. It takes all of those things we learn (or don’t learn) in schools and puts them in the context of real lives and real people. And, yes, there are cartwheels too…
Martial Arts: Massage
By Njoli Brown
About 3.6 million people actively participate in the martial arts industry in the United States each year. Some of those people, over some short period of time. But many others determine to make their martial practice part of their lifestyle. The fatal mistake can often be an incomplete understanding of the physical benefits of the practice along with the necessary responsibilities we have to take on in order to maintain our bodies and perhaps to grow forward. This is where self care and, perhaps more specifically, massage comes in.
Muscles undoubtedly receive huge benefits from massage. But did you know, an array of research supports the understanding that massage:
The rewards end up being both physical and psychological, increasing our capacity to think clearly, maintain psychological balance, recover quickly and utilize our muscles to their maximum potential. 
Massage is also a tremendous support of tendon health. We cannot isolate tendons from the rest of the physical structure. Tendons are fairly resilient if we’ve managed to bank some muscle health. Because of the limited capacity of tendons to contract or relax, they rely on the pliability of muscle. Imagining the burden we place on them by allowing that muscle tightness to present constant tension, we can imagine how tendons under this level of stress are more prone to rip or tear.
The martial artist is the human animal in need of the optimal access to his/her tools. Vertebrate animals exploit the elastic properties of their tendons, saving metabolic energy as tendons stretch and then recoil. Whether in the arena of sports or in a self defense practice we are constantly working to manage or energy in order to have it to draw on when most vital. Tendons store and return elastic strain energy while losing and regaining kinetic energy. They also, recoil elastically much faster than muscles can shorten, enabling us to jump further to strike and retract with more rapidity and to change direction more quickly. This elasticity affects the control of muscles, enhancing force control.
Mental health, muscle health, tendon health. Along with the over all sense of internal wellness, we can see there are very pragmatic reasons to make massage an essential part of our martial practice.
We’re back! BLACK BOX FS spring session is coming! This quarter our focus is GRAPPLING: Take downs & maintaining top position. BLACK BOX is the MSMB lab for developing well-rounded cqc skills and testing them in application. Beginning March 21st… Get in touch for more info contact@msmbnyc.com *As always, free for our MSMB comprehensive members.
#msmb #traineveryway #traineveryday #webelieveinlife #blackboxfs #kali #silat #capoeira #boxing #wrestling #grappling #cqc #fightscience #health #wellness #martialarts #selfdefense #womeninpower
It’s been such an honor to have Guru Robert as a teacher, facilitating my silat journey. His patience, humility and deep understanding have been as engaging as his skill and I figured it’d be a pleasure to get his take on just 5 Questions about his ideas on teaching his student journey.
Robert Hilliard of Kuno Silat talks back to 5 Questions from Njoli Brown at NoPaper.
…
I’ve been around martial artists my entire life. I had two brothers that studied Okinawan karate. They where basically my first teachers. When they would see me and my friends imitating martial arts moves, they would came and make corrections. Occasionally they would let us spar with them. This would typically end with me and my friends on our backs, or a bit bruised up. The younger of my two brothers, who was ac
tually a black belt, had a friend who was opening a Kung-Fu school in a local community center. My brother thought that would be good training for me, so he enrolled me and another of my siblings at the school. I trained there until I finished high school. After college, I ran into a friend that was studying Wing Chun. I loved the efficiency of that system and trained for over ten years. After that, I was introduced to silat by a neighborhood friend. I was instantly drawn to it’s effectiveness and completeness.
…
My experiences have been varied. I try hard not to look at them through the lens of good or bad, but as learning opportunities. I’ve had some teachers that were, what some would consider heavy handed, while others were nurturing and accommodated. Early on, some of my teachers pushed so hard that I got injured during training. When this happened, they would frankly state that it was not the training methods that caused the injuring, but my lack of conditioning, etc. Those were unpleasant experiences, but they taught me to listen to my body. It also taught me that good teachers don’t push their students beyond their physical limitations. I should note that those experiences happened while I was studying others systems. The vast majority of my experience with silat have been incredibly positive.
As an instructor, I try to create a warm and welcoming environment where people can come to class, work hard, and enjoying their progress. I teach my students that success in martial arts, or life for that matter, is not a straight line. It’s okay to struggle and fail as long as you are “failing forward.” As far as my student’s aspirations go, I want everyone to be ambassadors of the art and have confidence in their ability to execute what they’ve learned with confidence in class or in the street, if need be.
…
I manage my personal practice by making sure that I carve out time during the day to train all aspects of the art. I learned that it’s easier for me to train early in the morning (around 5:00 am). Of course, you can’t train everything in the system in one day, so I focus on certain aspects throughout the week. The jurus (forms), I train everyday. I also try to make sure that my general fitness is good. I’ve also learned to listen to my body, so I don’t train when I’m sick or injured. Instead, I give my body time to heal.
To make things relevant in my daily life, I use the two basic principles of silat: adat and hormat. Adat is how you conduct yourself. Hormat is respect for all around you. As a instructor, I believe that I should be a mirror for my students outside of class as well as inside.
Robert Hilliard
Robert Hilliard is a student of Senior Guru Tim Anderson and a long time promoter of this Indo-Dutch system of silat as Head Instructor of Kuno NYC. He additionally has an extensive background in Wing Chun. Robert brings his classes alive by consistently imbuing them with a community feel while committing his students to a highly technical and detail oriented practice.
Semangat Baru is the name of our specific style of Pukulan Pentjak Silat. It translates to “New Spirit” and reflects our new way of viewing and teaching the ancient art of Silat. We operate free from any kind of “secrets” or “martial politics” that can become attached to coveted knowledge. The style itself focuses overwhelming an opponent with strikes, while finding leverage points to take their balance and ultimately subdue them.
Silat is a collective word used to describe martial arts originating from South East Asia, such as Malaysia and in our case Indonesia. Pukulan is a word that means striking. In this case denoting a silat system that places a heavy emphasis on hitting. Pentjak is generally considered to refer to the movements and performance of forms where “Silat” is an expression of those motions for use in combat. So “Pukulan Pentjak Silat” could be seen to mean something like “Striking form based Indonesian Martial Art”.
*Special “thank you” to Jelena Antanasijevic for the photos.
A lot of layers here
Each one paper thin
And fuzzier as my vision fades
I’m resistant to the skin
and mindfully obsessed with the Sandy bottom
And talk talk talking
While the skin petrifies and the cambium deteriorates
By Njoli Brown
One of the most powerful things we can give to our youth is 
the realization that they have an actual capacity to effect change. In my autumn projects in Brooklyn and the Bronx I decided to utilize concepts from civil engineering to develop
a sense of the importance of design in the nature and timbre of a community. But even more importantly, the objective was to mature the capacity to critically evaluate our environment to recognize ways in which it could be changed and/or supported.
The process was collaborative and grounded in the work of establishing leadership skills, common values and collective empathy. Through discussion, writing, movement and art we dove deep into the most difficult work of putting language to our ideas, debating and, at times, compromising.
We concluded the project by creating an interactive public gallery wherein participants could post questions as a pathway to research and activism.
By Njoli Brown
Every summer I spend about a month and a half out in the Northwest. I’m getting my hiking in, connecting with family and friends, yeah, hard life. But I also consider this the time where I earn my keep. I hit my boxing training a bit harder, I work my silat, try to make the rodas and capoeira classes I can and I double up my gym time when I’m not in the mountains.
Back in NYC I have a fantastic group of students and colleagues who’ve been generous over the past few years to work with me as I develop and to dedicate their time to learning what I have to teach. Now, I’m lucky in having some fantastic teachers who’ve spent years giving me the tools and the kind of support it takes to let me feel confident imparting their gifts. But all this being said, the worst thing an instructor can possibly do, is rest on his/her laurels. How many of us have seen the result? Too many.
Now this is obviously taking into account those with debilitating injuries, mental or physical conditions (ie age, disease), etc. Even so, I recall an event where my capoeira teacher taught his workshop from crutches. I also know a student who spent her year of physical recovery translating articles and interviews of old mestres from Portuguese to English. I figure, the least I can do is model the kind of consistent growth I ask of my students.
So, what does that look like. No, it doesn’t have to mean an extra 4 days a week at the gym or a complete overhaul of your training regimen. But what it does mean, is taking a good look at the holes in your game and exhibiting the kind of diligence it means to clean them up. Conditioning slipping? Perhaps show up that 20 minutes before class to jump rope (low impact on the knees and high return on the effort). Be okay with showing your students what it looks like to work before you work. Feel like you’re losing those fast hand mechanics? Get yourself to a boxing gym and ask folks who know the science to help you clean up your technique. Speed is as much muscle elasticity as it is strength. When was the last yoga class you hit. Local community center… free. Maybe I’m hurt and out to the physical game for a while but am I innovating in ways to train my mind?And maybe, just maybe, you need a reminder of what it’s like to not be good at something.
Push yourself, find the time and earn your keep.
*Thoughts? Suggestions? Definitely kick them down.
By JL Umipig
It’s been 2 years now since I arrived to Central Park on a spring evening and was welcomed by Guro Njoli and two of my brothers of Pekiti Tirsia Kali (PTK) Vin and Chris. And I recall so distinctly why I returned after that first moment- it was the feeling of being held in a process of betterment and strengthening through comraderie. From day one, my brothers of MSMB and PTK held me to a caliber of that encouragement to better and strengthen my being.
I a
m one of the few Womxn who consistently trains with the brothers of PTK Elite and MSMBNYC. In two years I have watched sisters come through and I emphasize to them why I continue to train which consists of the reasons that most people do, to have consistent physical regiment for my fitness and health, to be able to defend myself when the time comes, and to strengthen my body and confidence. But also I continue and commit to PTK and MSMB because of what I felt in that initial moment that I began learning with this circle: the camaraderie and mutual betterment of self as a practitioner that I feel growing with my brothers. There is a real pride we have for the betterment of one another, the push to excel as a family unit, detached from competition amongst those in our crew. They push me to go hard, to be able to hold my own amongst anyone, no matter their size or their strength level. There is a belief that I feel from the respect my brothers hold for me, that when we train, our genders have nothing to do with our ability to train hard, and be able to step up to the challenges of body, mind and spirit that our practice teaches us to stand up to.
Our guros hold us all to our strengths, and also hold us to strengthening our weaknesses. I see how each of them in their teachings see the value of each individual in the group, and I watch the camaraderie between them that is model to us all. It roots our circle, the way they are able to respect and hold one another in collaboration and in unique styles of giving knowledge to our training. And as the little sister in the crew they rarely mention my gender, only with the recognition of how to apply their teachings to the very real degradation and violence Womxn face on the daily and how to use the learnings for my protection and ability to be prepared should I be confronted with the realities of misogyny and gender violence in this world. They teach me to use my size to my advantage, and help me understand my power to survive.
When we talk about Kali, we orient the learnings around the ability of Pilipino ancestors to fight and survive in battle with their colonizers, who were often larger and more equipped than them. These teachings of Pilipino Ancestral practices and traditions is the other reason I stay. My guros value this and respect the roots of the a
rt, they help us understand the context and it brings me closer to my ancestors in a new way of understanding. I feel them in my movements. I feel their spirit of survival and resistance. And they and my brothers make room for me to share my learnings and cultural practices and values as a healer, activist and artist in connection to our training- another way they welcome what I have to contribute to our circle of my strengths.
“Respect everyone, Fear no one” our MSMB mantra is core to the way we train, is core to the way we learn, is core to the way we build camaraderie. Every time I come to train, I feel valued, respected and cared for as a member to this circle of warriors. I believe that is how my ancestors intended this practice to be upheld. So I bring myself fully to every training and every gathering, ready to step into my power. Sure, every now and then the testosterone is real, the frustrations of having to deal with my femininity being sometimes a hindrance because I can’t hide I am a Womxn physically and there are instances of societal stereotypes that surface (that’s real), and the moments of having to step it up extra notches to have new members that are men see me the way my brothers who I’ve trained with from the beginning is real as well. But what outweighs all of that is that my brothers will always remind me I am valued, that I am seen and I am held and so the humanization is real, the honoring is real and the love that makes me feel Family in this circle of brothers is real.
Jana Lynne (JL) Umipig is the creator of “The Journey of a Brown Girl” www.thejourneyofabrowngirl.com Director, Producer, Actress, Educator and Organizer she currently resides in NYC. JL 
has worked with different community organizations developing curriculum and programs that integrate theatre and visual arts with activism and leadership development, working with schools, community organizations, detention facilities, and rehabilitation and support group centers. She believes in the power of the arts to activate and move the human spirit for individual toward community empowerment and transformation. She creates with the intention to connect human experience and spirit between all communities.
