International Martial Science Federation

The International Martial Science Federation™ (IMSF) is unlike other martial art based systems in that the IMSF is multi-faceted. The IMSF is open to all styles and levels of practice. The IMSF is comprised of highly skilled martial artists from various schools of study, law enforcement and personal protection personnel, medical and scientific professionals; all of whom are committed to continual scrutiny, research and development. The Martial Science and Bubishi Knowledge of the IMSF provide practitioners with skills and training not commonly found in most existing martial art styles or personal protection systems.

The IMSF provides group training sessions and workshops throughout the world as well as ‘in-house” training by qualified and vetted instructors. IMSF instructors are not only experts in this specialized field of study, they are heavily cross-trained in various martial systems. This allows IMSF instructors to provide personal and direct training to those interested individuals and groups seeking refinement of their current practices.

The study of “Vital Points” gained widespread attention in the 1980s, with numerous experts and organizations emerging. However, over time, many of these organizations faded, and even those that remained struggled to integrate vital point applications into practitioners’ base arts, as mastering one system is already a challenge. While the intention was to benefit the martial arts community by sharing knowledge and providing training resources, egos and individual promotion ultimately undermined these efforts, leading many martial artists to distance themselves from such organizations.

Despite modern science confirming the physical existence of meridians and pressure points, a true connection between these sciences and martial arts was missing, complicated by the evolution of martial arts over the last 150 years. This gap became apparent during clinics taught by Hanshi Luis Morales and Shihan Rusty McMains, who, over their combined 25 years of teaching, found that many martial artists struggled to reconcile the old and new ways. In 2005, Hanshi Morales founded the International Martial Science Federation (IMSF) to address these gaps, with the goal of creating an organization that prioritized the needs of its members. With a combined 90 years of experience in martial arts and 55 years in martial sciences, Hanshi Morales and Shihan McMains lead the IMSF as two of the foremost experts in the field.