Unlike many other schools that seem to emphasize the "Art", Vee Arnis places more value on the "Martial", meaning they are more concerned that the techniques they teach people are Effective, & less concerned with whether or not they just look good. Looking good isn't enough to save your life. What I think sets them apart even more than their excellent techniques is the fact that they teach you concepts, they will explain why some things will work & others won't, & under what conditions something might or might not work. If on the extremely rare occasion an instructor doesn't have the answer, they won't make one up, they will get the right answer for you. At Vee Arnis, they SPECIALIZE in Practical Street Self-Defense as well as fitness, & the program adapts so that anyone, any size, any shape, fit or not, can learn to protect themselves against others who would seek to cause them harm. Even better, the way we train emphasizes adaptation because in reality, the bad guy isn't going to give you a perfect this or that, they're not always going to come at you the way you practice, so are you going to ask the bad guy to stop & do it over again a certain way? And what do you do if you're injured when it does happen, are you going to ask the bad guy to come back later when you're feeling better? That's not realistic. Vee Arnis prepares you for what IS realistic. We don't train to be pretty. We train to be effective, to save our lives no matter what happens, no matter what shape we're in, no matter what surprises come our way. And it's the system as a whole that prepares you for it. A few techniques may help you to some degree, but having the knowledge you get from Vee Arnis along with the techniques makes all the difference in the world. And it doesn't take years to learn enough to be effective.