Same sh*t, different spoon.

Sensei Ryan Nicholls here, owner of, and head instructor at RKD Martial Arts, welcome to my Blog, Martial Arts Perth.

Yesterday, my dojo hosted a workshop on the Filipino Martial Arts run by Grand Maestro Greg Henderson and Maestro Andrew Roberts of Diamondback Eskrima. GM Greg ran through a number of eskrima related activities before Maestro Andrew taught some pangamut (Filipino boxing) and dumog (Filipino grappling).

GM Greg Henderson demonstrating the unarmed aspects of eskrima

GM Greg has a saying I have heard him use a number of times, "Same sh*t, different spoon". What he means by this is that it doesn't matter what your martial arts background is, at their core, all martial arts have the same concepts. I once explained this same notion in a less concise way, saying that if all traces of martial arts were to disappear from the planet, as long as there remained a need (to defend yourself), that most of what was lost would be recreated in some form or another. The reason for this is simple - the human body can only move in so many different directions. The core biomechanical structure we have is the same for every single person on the planet. Until such time as we evolve beyond out current physical state, the core concepts at the heart of most martial arts will always be the same. Given this, it is ridiculous how much the martial arts is plagued by politics.

Maestro Andrew Roberts demonstrating some dumog

No Egos Martial Arts is a charity group to bring martial arts schools together, to experience different styles and techniques from other styles while raising funds for charity. As the founding members of No Egos Martial Arts, Diamondback Eskrima, RKD Martial Arts and Aus Wing Chun have a similar philosophy in relation to the martial arts. That philosophy is that all martial arts have something to offer and the politics that plague the martial arts are of no help to anyone involved. As a greater community the martial arts community should be embrasive of other styles, to learn from each other, and to paraphrase Bruce Lee, adopt what we find useful. Anyone who says that their style is the best is wrong, and an idiot. Many martial arts produce outstanding martial artists, but martial artists get old - someone younger, faster and stronger will always be waiting in the wings ready to replace you as the best. 

Participants from all styles at the FMA workshop

When you hear about a seminar being run in another style, see if you can go. Experience as much as you can within the martial arts rather than sitting in the bubble of your style - there is a whole world of possibilities out there and you don't know what you're missing out on unless you give them a try. Even if you only learn one thing, the cost of the seminar is worth it. Now not all seminars are great - I can recall a seminar I attended run by an American "Master" which was atrocious - his and his assistant's technique was sloppy, slow and completely impractical. It was choreography, and bad choreography at that. It was the only seminar I've attended that I thought was a complete waste of time and money. But you will occasionally take away an absolute gem of a technique, or just a different way of looking at something. In one of the workshops I have done with Royce Gracie I learnt a ground position that was perfect for the way I fight on the ground - it wasn't a standard BJJ position but was developed by Royce as part of his MMA experience. I've still never seen it taught anywhere else (except by some of the instructors who attended the workshop), and I wouldn't have learnt it if I hadn't gone to that workshop - that one position made the cost of the workshop worthwhile.

At the workshop yesterday a few of us had a go at the sport side of eskrima - putting on the armour and helmets and whacking each other with sticks. It is a far cry from the self defence aspects of eskrima, but it was a hell of a lot of fun! These types of experiences are what you miss out on when you close yourself off to the idea of other martial arts.


With our diverse community, there are seminars being run all the time in Perth, so leave your politics at home and experience what other martial arts have to offer - you'll be a better martial artist for it.

Thanks for reading – until next week make sure you subscribe to the blog, and if you have any subjects you would like to see covered, post them in the comments section below.