What Kali lacks...

[Shiftster]

I was wondering what the cons, of Kali were. As in something (effective) is missing. (i.e. Strong fast kicks to the middle of the body, ability to deal with multiple opponents ect.)

For example, Akido is very fluid, but takes a while to learn. Jujitsu is great for street fighting. but isnt the best with multiple opponents and has no weapon training..

Correct me if im wrong practicioners...

Aside from this what would be good to learn after/while learning Kali?

[italian_guy]

In our organization (in italy) JKD is usually paired with kali, any Dan Inosanto school throughout the world teach a method based on Kali/JKD/Silat cross-training. Have a look at:

https://www.inosanto.com

[JusticeZero]

I don't think I remember seeing any Kali people kick yet. That's not necessarily a "weakness" as much as it is a value judgement on the part of the founders of the art. Adding kicks takes time away from other parts of the art, and if not enough time is taken, then the kicks don't have much value anyways.

[ninjanurse]

I don't beleive kali is meant to be a "complete" fighting system in the sense you are asking. Defense/offense against sticks, knives, spears, swords, etc., do not necessarily need kicks to be effective. And those that study kali find they can adapt many techniques to counter kicks thrown at them.Kali also blends with other styles very well to give you quite an arsenal of skills. I am by no means an expert but I have experience and can't recall ever thinking about kicking while training.

[SevenStar]

I don't think I remember seeing any Kali people kick yet. That's not necessarily a "weakness" as much as it is a value judgement on the part of the founders of the art. Adding kicks takes time away from other parts of the art, and if not enough time is taken, then the kicks don't have much value anyways.

kali has kicks. and knees. they don't do any groundwork though - or at least we didn't.

[ZR440]

Chinese Kempo influenced some of the striking aspect of FMAs, but I believe Kali focuses on the destruction of the opponents weapon without much kicking involved. Kicking sort of prohibits the flow of weapons-based techniques, in my opinion. Think about this way: You have a stick and your opponent attacks with a knife. You counter his swing by smashing his hand or wrist with your stick. The result is that you eliminated the weapon, and you probably broke his hand or arm. Now, you might follow up with a kick. But why not just finish 'em off with your stick?

That's the Filipino way.

[bart]

The FMA (Filipino Martial Arts - Arnis, Eskrima, Kali) have a lot to offer. Because of the emphasis on weapons, not as much time is spent SPECIFICALLY on developing empty hand (or foot) skills. However, the idea is that everything that you do will crossover and build skills to use when you are "weaponless". Everything in "Kali" should begin and end with the weapon conceptually. How much kicking and punching you do will depend on who is teaching you. Arnis Sikaran employs a great number of kicks. LucayLucay family Kali employs a lot of punches. Cacoy Canete's Doce Pares features Eskrido which employs a lot of grappling. So does the Dog Brothers style of Kali. San Miguel Eskrima features a lot of deceptive trapping and power striking. These are all trained primarily with weapons and the "empty hand" part comes as second nature.

I would say that there is enough in Kali to keep you going, but it might not be spoon fed. If you were going to look into something else though for cross training I think that boxing or jujitsu might be good. Wing Chun would also help. Muay Thai or another kick boxing would be a great compliment as well.

[Shiftster]

I forgot to mention that I was talking about empty hand...But what most of you have said have answered my question pretty well. Thanks for the info guys. If anyone has anymore to add feel free to post.

[ZR440]

Good point, Bart. The concept of applying weapon based techniques to empty hand is probably one of the most misunderstood aspects of the art. And after practicing Korean systems for quite a few years I can honestly say it wasn't easy for me to grasp that philosophy. But once I did it made total sense.

[SevenStar]

Chinese Kempo influenced some of the striking aspect of FMAs, but I believe Kali focuses on the destruction of the opponents weapon without much kicking involved. Kicking sort of prohibits the flow of weapons-based techniques, in my opinion. Think about this way: You have a stick and your opponent attacks with a knife. You counter his swing by smashing his hand or wrist with your stick. The result is that you eliminated the weapon, and you probably broke his hand or arm. Now, you might follow up with a kick. But why not just finish 'em off with your stick?

That's the Filipino way.

we used them, though not quite a bit. Granted, it wasn't pure kali (jun fan/jkd) so that could be why. They have silat integrated with it and we would knee with every takedown - if the opponent's body goes down, the knee comes up. We also did low line kicking and had it integrated with several drills. There is a kali group that trains at out club now, and I've seen them kicking as well.