You guys check out Batman yet? Actually based on how well it’s doing, Is there anyone who hasn’t seen it? I wasn’t expecting them to come at me with something so timely and relevant. So why the hell am I talking about Batman on a Muay Thai blog.
Those of you who’ve been around long enough will know that every now and then I’ll profile Non-Mainstream Martial Arts. We’ve done some stuff around Krav Maga, Savate etc. In this post were going to be looking the Keysi fighting system.
Props to Mark for passing this along… It’s essentially a made up martial art that’s been used in a few action movies. I don’t mean to use “Made Up” as negative… there are systems that have adapted techniques and integrated them into their own system. Krav Maga is perfect example of this.
That being said, based on a few vids I came across, I’m finding it a little… stylistic? It’s seems like the focus of it was to look different, as opposed to improving on a system of fighting. It seems that the entire fighting system is based around keeping a tight guard, and throwing head butts and elbows. There demo video looks a little wushu for my tastes.


















12 responses so far ↓
1 beatngu // Jul 30, 2008 at 9:33 am
First movie @ 1.56. They stole Zidane his trademark!
http://www.mikepaulblog.com/blog/media/Zidane%20HeadButt.jpg
2 Gusnark // Jul 30, 2008 at 10:54 am
beatngu LMAO!
That’s hilarious man. I’m still laughing…
phuuuu…. ok, this Keysi technique looks interesting to watch, but thing in a real fight is a different thing. And also using only your elbows I find it sterile. As I see it’s effective only in close range. If you counter with knees, he’s out.
3 Gio // Jul 30, 2008 at 11:23 am
Yeah, I can see a tight and dedicated elbow game being useful in a really cramped street situation, which is what these guys seem to be focussing on, with their talk of having a fight ‘whilst sitting next to a person’. Might be worth some cross-training.
The thing that gets me though is that they demonstrate nothing approximating live sparring. All their drills are canned and coreographed, and to be honest, some of the fancy manoeuvres they pull with their elbows don’t seem like they’d work if the guy was struggling.
4 tong po // Jul 30, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Looks cool, but I still like MT and boxing better.
5 Gusnark // Jul 30, 2008 at 6:51 pm
“Looks cool”
Exactly, and that’s probably the whole story about it.
“I still like MT and boxing better”
Of course! Is there an alternative?
6 Ezrie // Jul 30, 2008 at 7:26 pm
The first video looks a lot like Kali (Arnis/Escrima) empty hand fighting. We used to call it “Cadena de Mano” when I studied Filipino martial arts.
As an aside, I always find it strange when people are touted as experts/masters and developers of new martial systems because they, “looked at everything out there and created this new system based on the best form all the other arts.” I very much agree with Bruce Lee when he proffered his theory that you should seek to cut away inessentials rather than creating an amalgamation of everything available. (I am paraphrasing now),
7 spydaman // Jul 30, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Watching the second video…..
“The essence of KFM is the cultivation of instinct………As KFM lives in the blood but not in the accumulation of techniques.” - So u start the video with a Bruce Lee-ish theory by basically stating that your system is not based on rehearse techniques but on cultivated instinct. Then u proceed by displaying exactly the opposite by showing us different techniques (which I’m sure must be rehearsed over and over)….You even went as far as to actually name them.
Correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t techniques in any in martial arts repeated over and over so that it becomes second nature??
Now my real question is, how can u cultivate someones instinct without the accumulation of techniques???
8 mlucas // Jul 31, 2008 at 6:03 am
Batman was in a secret society of ninjas remember? Batman is bad ass. Ninjas are bad ass.
I don’t like all you ninja haters. I was a bad ass ninja before I got kicked outta ninja school for being too mouthy. I’ve learned the error of my ways but wasn’t allowed back in. My failure to attend ninja university made me downgrade to muay thai.
Matt Lucas
9 natemuaythaimaster // Jul 31, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Interesting guard, nice use of head movement, good movement for rushing a opponent, but very limited.
10 spydaman // Jul 31, 2008 at 7:10 pm
MLucas…..ur post was freakin’ hilarious, man….I can’t stop laughin everytime I read it
11 Gusnark // Aug 2, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Is anyone familiar with a television show Fight Quest? It’s broadcasted on Discovery Channel.
There was just 1st season filmed with 10 episodes, each presenting some martial art:
1 Kung Fu (Wushu; Sanda)
2 Kali
3 Kyokushin Karate
4 Boxing
6 Savate
7 Hapkido
8 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
9 Krav Maga
10 Kajukenbo
It’s realistic and wild. Kajukenbo and Krav Maga looks like a real deal. If I would train karate, it would be only in Kyokushin way. I’m a bit disappointed for not presenting Muay Thai. Still, awesome show.
wiki link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight_Quest
12 subversivejosh // Aug 3, 2008 at 8:43 pm
It would seem that more and more of these new fighting styles are popping up all over. And they all take elements from various martial arts “that work” and combine them.
At the school where I study MT they also teach a style called Vee arnis jitsu. Some of you may be familiar with it. I personally do not study it so I can’t give an accurate discription. It does however look to be a very effective style for real world self defense.
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