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Yaw-Yan

The word Yaw-Yan was derived from the two last syllables of “Sayaw ni Kamatayan” meaning “Dance of Death”. The art resembles Muay Thai in a sense, but differs in the hip torquing motion as well as downward-cutting of its kicks.

ArDigma means for arnis (stick), pandigma (warfare). Arnis is generally classified into solo olisi (single stick) or double olisi (double stick), but in ArDigma, it is a version of arnis without a stick because we use the forearm and shin as a stick.

Hybrid FMA offers Yaw-Yan ArDigma classes in London, under the instructorship of Master Ermar Alexander, personally trained by Master Ekin Caniga in the Yaw-Yan ArDigma Headquarters in Cebu, Philippines.

WHAT IS YAWYAN?

Yaw-yan is a Filipino martial art developed by Grandmaster Napoleon A. Fernandez, a native of Quezon province, himself an undefeated All-Asian and Far-East Kickboxing champion. Since its inception it has dominated the kickboxing scene in the Philippines and has proven very effective against other Stand-up fighting arts such as Karate, Taekwondo and Muay Thai in professional bouts in the Philippines.

ArDigma is the new system that Grandmaster Napoleon “Nap” A. Fernandez created to counter other martial arts such as grappling, jujitsu, and wrestling take downs. The idea is to harden the forearm and shin to use as club when an opponent shoots for the take down. This will also be used when inside of a guard to strike the opponent at close range.

Yaw-Yan ArDigma teaches various techniques to use every part of a strong and healthy body as weapons, not just the fist (kamao), knees (tuhod), shin (lulod), feet (paa), soler (talampakan), head (ulo), and even the calf (bangkod) to attack and defend because any part of the body can play a decisive role in a fight and knock down the opponent.

Yaw-Yan is not purely a full-contact no-holds barred sport martial arts. It is a complete martial training with body-mind coordination and test of enduring indomitable spirit. More than just physical training, it also involves the mental disciplines of focus, concentration, alertness, flexibility, stamina, speed and continuity. Advanced disciples have to go through a rigorous ritual of practice and discipline consisting of actual full-contact sparring, bag hitting, and flexibility exercises. The elbows, knees, and shin are utilized in much the same way as in Muay Thai.