Hubud or Hubud-Lubud (to tie and untie) is a flow or energy drill common to Kali and other Filipino Martial Arts. Most folks learn the basics of the drill at a seminar or, perhaps, as part of a video and leave it at that, a basic understanding. Guro Shaun Eastman takes it to the next level in his video, Hubud Master Series Volume 1.
The video begins with a very clear explanation of the terms and techniques used in Hubud. Once he has laid that foundation he begins teaching the drill itself. He does this by breaking the basic drill into beats. For example, the initial punch is beat one, the cross body parry is beat two, the tan sao is beat three, the pak sao is beat four. The count begins again when you then feed your partner a returning straight punch. Eastman emphasizes correct technique but not at the expense of the flow of the drill. Flow is the strong suit of these drills. Done properly they come alive and promote a much steeper learning curve then repetitious drilling of static techniques.
During the initial learning phase Eastman emphasizes crucial points such as covering the centerline and checking the partners arm on the elbow/humerus.
The side switch is covered nicely, something that is unusual when this drill is taught, especially on video. The switch consists of how to go from right to left side and back again while in flow. It’s done in a clear concise manner that is easy to follow.
After covering the full beats Eastman goes into the half beats of the drill. Things really start to rock here. Hitting on the half beats is one of those ‘secret techniques’ that everyone ‘knows’ but few actually do.
Eastman finishes up by showing some more combative applications to Hubud as well as working the drill at elbow range.
The content of the video is very good. Eastman knows his material and demonstrates it well. The only complaint I had was the sound quality made it difficult to understand what was being said a few times and I had to go back and re-view the section. Having said that, I would recommend that you add this video to your library. I’m looking forward to his next release.
