This video offers an introduction to the Sayoc Family's blade system. Their concept is "all blade, all the time" which I prefer in a knife system. There aren't a whole lot of empty hand moves and they pretty much come right out and say that some of the their moves have no defense.

The first section covers their philosophy on the feeder based system. They go through explaining about the importance of having a partner for their system and how the feeder controls the situation in the drilling.

The next section covers:

*Right hand 3 of 9 vital template
*Left hand 3 of 9 vital template
*Double blades 3 of 9 vital template
*Solo drills for right and left vital template
*Left Hand defeats Right (loved this concept)
*On the ground vital template
*Long blade template

They also cover the True Left template which really starts to bring together the empty hand with the double blades. This is also a good concept IMO. The tapping that they go over covers empty hand but directly relates to the double blades. The final section covers knowing the "bad hand" and also goes over the bodies natural reaction. This section is very thorough as far as the effects of cuts to vital areas. Chris Sayoc goes into detail regarding what the body will do when certain muscles, ligaments, and other vital areas are slashed. Listening to Tuhon Sayoc speak on this subject shows the great knowledge he has on how blades are used in combat. At the end, there are clips of Tuhon Kier demonstrating some techniques. I was impressed to see how easily he integrated wrestling into the system to make a brutal combination of wrestling with a blade. There is a nasty front headlock variation that will damn near butcher someone!

There are a lot of drills used that may seem impractical but as the video progresses, they show how everything falls together. It is also stressed that the guy with the knife is pretty much in control of the situation. There are things that the unarmed guy can do but most of the control is in the knife.

Unlike most FMA knife vids I have seen, Sayoc Kali appears to be one of the most practical. However, if your idea is to use your knife to merely defend yourself so you may escape................this system isn't for you. The reason is that everything I have seen from Sayoc Kali is on effective killing. The knife attacks are all to vital areas and is pretty brutal. On this whole 60 min video, there isn't one non lethal cut demonstrated. Some guys train the knife arts to "defend themselves" but I view this video as a video on "how to kill a man quickly and efficiently in 4 seconds" as opposed to a defense video.

I loved this video because in my opinion, if you whip your blade out...........your intent should be to kill. I would definitely recommend this video to others interested in the knife arts. I usually don't find too many videos that I consider practical knife instruction. I would take this video and add it to my rare list of good knife instruction videos.

                                                           ~ Review by Alan Moore

 

   ***This DVD can be purchased here: "Sayoc 3 of 9 Vital Template"