Before I begin, I would like to thank a few people for giving me the inspiration for this article. So, I would like to thank Glen llamador, Stephen Shy, and Prof. Felipe Jocano! If it were not for their comments on my previous posts, this article might never have happened, so please keep commenting and questioning.

In FMA, there is always a private and a public curriculum that is taught by the Masters and Grandmasters. This could be compared to the outer (omote) and inner (ura) teachings of many Japanese Ryuha. The public curriculum is just what it sounds like, and generically speaking it usually consists of basics with other elements added into it. Personally, my experience of a public curriculum with Grandmaster “Nene” Tortal, consisted of a heavy dose of basics with a stick, disarms by the ton, and a great deal of grappling. Nevertheless, the private curriculum is always hidden behind the public curriculum. If your teacher never teaches you the all-important hidden pieces, then one may never or rarely ever make the connections on their own. Now, the private curriculum of “Nene” Tortal is the sword, and things do change when you’re applying sword techniques vs. stick techniques - please read my previous posts for more context.