From: eskrima-digest-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com To: eskrima-digest@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Subject: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V6 #64 Reply-To: eskrima@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Errors-To: eskrima-digest-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Precedence: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest Fri, 12 Feb 1999 Vol 06 : Num 064 In this issue: eskrima: Tinikling eskrima: Re: Tinikling eskrima: The bladder as a target Re: eskrima: The bladder as a target eskrima: Size Does Not Matter - "Highest Skills" category eskrima: Whose got the edge? eskrima: Tinikling an' stuff eskrima: Razor Knife comment eskrima: Size/Strength eskrima: Draw back eskrima: Re: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V6 #63 eskrima: Re: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V6 #18 eskrima: Training to exhaustion eskrima: Groins etc. eskrima: Mental eskrima: RE: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V6 #62 eskrima: Some DB/PT Background, Part 1 (fwd) eskrima: . .......................................................................... Eskrima-Digest, serving the Internet since June 1994. 1000+ members strong! Copyright 1994-99: Ray Terry, Inayan System of Eskrima, Martial Arts Resource To send e-mail to this list use eskrima@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe eskrima-digest" (no quotes) in the body of an e-mail (top line, left justified) addressed to majordomo@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Replying to this message will NOT unsubscribe you. See the Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) FAQ and online search the last two years worth of digest issues at http://www.MartialArtsResource.com Mabuhay ang eskrima! Ray Terry, PO Box 110841, Campbell, CA 95011 FMA@MartialArtsResource.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Barry Regan Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 11:40:37 -0500 (EST) Subject: eskrima: Tinikling My Arnis instructon (Guro George Brewster) has used tinikiling (sp?) in our classes a few times. Initially to try and teach us lead footed people a little rythm and then we would incorporate striking drills while doing it. It did seem to help me become less stationary when sparring. I'm stillnot light on my feet butit definitely help me learn to move. Barry Regan "I'm an ocean of muscle. Ebbing and flowing on the tide of studliness." -Johnny Bravo ------------------------------ From: "Peter A. Kautz" Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 11:47:30 -0500 Subject: eskrima: Re: Tinikling >Quick question: I know of tintakling( sp??) being used as a musical >timing drill.... > > >I've heard of "tinikling" the folk dance with the long bamboo >poles...IMLE, no its not traditionally used in MA training... > Though if you do the "double sinawali" or "heaven 6" while doing the tinikling it looks cool as hell! Get long poles and 2 people dancing it, one starting on each side - realy nice for demos and does get the footwork and cardio going. Good co-ordination between the footwork and the hands, too. Pete Kautz Arnis-Kali Ithaca ------------------------------ From: "Tom Meadows" Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 08:44:47 -0800 Subject: eskrima: The bladder as a target Greetings, Last issue Allen Eastwood wrote" "Additionally, the bladder itself makes a nice secondary target. If there's much fluid in it at all, a sharp blow can cause a nice rupture. And apparently, the pain involved is a lot worse then the testicle attack." I knocked out my aiki ju-jitsu instructor with a bladder kick. I used to pull my reverse spinning back kick in sparring,and he would always crash me when I pulled it. He didn't understand why I was doing that till I finally got tired of his crashes and actually applied it one evening,straight into his bladder. His eyes got real big, he stopped sparring, and ran out of the dojo. He spent the next 15 minutes in the bathroom trying desperately not to "pee his gi". And he stopped crashing me. Oddly enough I learned this technique as a rank novice sparring with the "big boys" at the Inosanto academy. (Marc Denny being one of the few who would sink to the level of helping the new students). I used to get half turned around under their attacks and I learned to come out of it with a reverse spinning back kick. The reason I mention all of this is that the bladder attack is considered a lethal kick.I know we covered this before but I did want to re-iterate that if you use this attack you must accept that it has the potential to kill your opponent without medical attention. Source of this information "The Medical implications of Karate Blows" And on a side note about the Stanley construction workers knife: It has a 6 inch handle and a 1 inch blade: Good luck disarming one of these babies, they don't get in your way at all when boxing with it in hand , and they make a very good throwing item in general even when closed. For the "collectors" : I do believe it comes in a a gold spray painted 50th anniversary model. Tom Meadows tmeadows@fix.net ------------------------------ From: Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 10:01:01 -0800 (PST) Subject: Re: eskrima: The bladder as a target > "Additionally, the bladder itself makes a nice secondary target. If > there's much fluid in it at all, a sharp blow can cause a nice rupture. > And apparently, the pain involved is a lot worse then the testicle > attack." > > I knocked out my aiki ju-jitsu instructor with a bladder kick. I used to > pull my reverse spinning back kick in sparring,and he would always crash > me when I pulled it. He didn't understand why I was doing that till I > finally got tired of his crashes and actually applied it one > evening,straight into his bladder. His eyes got real big, he stopped > sparring, and ran out of the dojo. He spent the next 15 minutes in the > bathroom trying desperately not to "pee his gi". And he stopped crashing > me. Folks have probably seen students come to attention in your average Karate/Taekwondo class. The attention stance with the hands/fists in front of the body. That motion, not realized by many, is really a double fisted punch to the opponent's bladder. Works best if the opponent has been drinking a lot of beer... Ray Terry raymail@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com ------------------------------ From: "Al \"Got This Fish On The Move\" Sardinas" Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 13:00:44 -0500 Subject: eskrima: Size Does Not Matter - "Highest Skills" category For those who did not correctly comprehend what I wrote in my email "Size Does Not Matter", I was originally referring to the use of the stick in unpadded competition. A person with the "highest skills" will overcome any opponent in any range. I'm confident that many of our different system's FMA instructors fall in this category. In respect to grappling, the same also applies. Personally, my instructor Gat Puno Abon who is equally adept with both the stick and buno (grappling), among other things, falls in to this category. And speaking of size and strength in general, would not Bruce Lee and the former UFC Grazie champion fall in to this category? Maybe some other ED members can fill us in as to who else would fall in to the category of "Highest Skills" - skills that are 99.9 % flawless. I will start off by saying that my instructor's father, the late Felipe "Garimot" Baet also falls in to this category. Who else? Respectfully, Al Sardinas Student of Garimot System of Arnis ------------------------------ From: Drew Zimba Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 10:44:03 -0800 (PST) Subject: eskrima: Whose got the edge? Al's reply to Jeff's statement: - ------------------------------------------------------- "I am physically bigger than the Filipinos I fought, but smaller than the Australian or British fighters I faced, and they were tougher for me. There's nothing particularly unusual for bigger/stronger people to have an edge in competition, in any sport." In padded competition the above may be true, but in unpadded competition size will not matter only effective techniques. I am more than twice the size of my instructor Gat Puno Abon but that makes no difference. It's like David and Goliath. Through my training with him I have come to realize that the person with the highest skills will overcome any weight, size or strength. Respectfully, Al Sardinas Student of Garimot System of Arnis - ------------------------------------------------------- Notice in Jeff's post he said "an edge", not "*the* edge". BIG difference! Your being twice the size of your instructor IS an edge, but that alone is not all that is needed to best him! Drew _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: "Joshua Hutchinson" Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 10:46:52 PST Subject: eskrima: Tinikling an' stuff Yeah, it's a folk dance, but I've heard of a lot of different folk dances, etc., being used to help develop timing. Does anyone have ay input? Fry Bread Boy ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ From: "Haumann, William A." Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 14:21:04 -0500 Subject: eskrima: Razor Knife comment Tom wrote: > I have rather carefully avoided the knife discussions for many reasons. > But I will interject this thought .The best legal knife you can carry is a > Stanley razor knife like the kind construction workers carry. They come in > two sizes, one of which is designed for your keychain, they are totally > legal in all cases to possess and carry, they have changeable razor > blades, and they cost three dollars (if the need comes to leave it behind) > and they will reach and cut effortlessly to 50% of the major arteries in > the body through most common clothing. > Just a comment on the presumed legality of the razor knife. Such knives are not necessarily legal to carry in New Jersey, and I would urge anyone to check their own state's code carefully on this matter. In New Jersey, the relevant issues are not just the length and type of blade, but also whether there is an "explainable lawful purpose" for carrying the knife, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-3(e), and whether the circumstances are "manifestly inappropriate for such lawful uses as it may have." N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5(d). As an example, under these standards exacto knives can lead to prosecution if carried in a suspicious manner. So at least in New Jersey, it is not only what type of knife you are carrying, but also the manner in which you are carrying it. Keeping a pocket knife in your pocket should cause no problems at all, but taking that same knife, locking it open and strapping it to your forearm would likely violate the statutes and lead to an arrest. Please note that "self defense" is NOT an "explainable lawful purpose" in New Jersey. So just be ready to explain exactly why you are carrying that razor knife, personally, in New Jersey, I'm more comfortable with a pocket knife. Check your local statutes carefully. - - Bill Haumann ------------------------------ From: Kalki Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 12:54:18 -0600 Subject: eskrima: Size/Strength Yah, size & strength do matter, but considering this ... > there is no way, even with good technique that she can do much to > him. Some techniques, are impossible for her to do to someone that size. > ... she could break his leg, yes? I know that may not be standard fare in TKD ( I used to get chastised for far less during TKD training), but in the real world that is one of the first things that I would teach her ... take out his wheels. The presentation goes something like this: "Someone tell me what I should do to stop a tank?" Somebody gets around to saying treads or wheels. At that point we shift to Mr. Tank and think technique to target, don't care how big he is, where he came from, what he did there ... if we can slam one through the side of his knee he can't chase us home. During adolescence I got challenged on the way home one day while passing thru an alley on Capitol Hill (D.C.). There were other kids around so I summed up the situation as "better save face or be chumped [maybe jumped] later." So, squared off with the boxing-wrestling experienced bad guy who was ready with his hands up. Slammed a kick to his lead leg and walked home without a worry as he writhed in the alley telling me how much he was going to "get me." After I hit the leg I could have done anything that I wanted ... could have stomped him like he and his friends liked to do to one of us who were not a prat of his crew. He was much bigger than me and far more experienced at fighting. I was faster than he and "tricky" in his book. If I could do it, so can the lady mentioned above ... not in class sparring maybe, but it might be helpful for her to get to look at similar scenarios as "can do." Otherwise her training may leave her with the feeling that faced with a bigger opponent there is nothing that she can do. Every creature has weak points ... maybe she could learn to focus on those. She may need that some day to get home in one piece. BTW, that guy never bothered me again. Sadly, he later died of a heroin OD. Be well, Mik ------------------------------ From: Kalki Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 13:04:57 -0600 Subject: eskrima: Draw back > Your move depends on your follow-up. Chess players think several moves > ahead. One plays checkers counter for counter style. The stop hit for > example puts you a move ahead by interception. The follow (your arching) > can put the stick out of play to draw. The meet (your thwack) can nulify to > attack by combination. These are examples of possible paths each of which > have merits. No one is best. The key is gaining the experience to put the > play in which maximizes your attributes at that point in time. > I think something got lost there ... my question was simply re: the specific move of bringing the stick down to thwart the #4, not possible variations on handling the #4. The intent was to focus on just that particular answer, then question: should the trajectory of this particular move be just a downward travelling thwack or a thwack that draw back in slightly before doing the only next strike under consideration in this particular deliberation, the thrust #5. That's all. So, considering this exact sequence of attack and response, what should be the quality of that movement? Only for the sake of discussing the benefits of drawing the weapon back. End intent was to lead the mind through the logic of control, the "drop stick" approach (per physics) is less characterized by control for follow-up than the same movement with a slightly returning arc. Limit the consideration to just these paths, not all possible paths, then the question ... what contribution if any does drawing the weapon back in towards the body make? Further, what contribution does it make as habit in general? I may be mistaken, but I think this can be seen in most PTK work ... with the elbow bent the weapon always arcs back towards the body after a slash, yes/no? That's what I was getting at, pursuing a generalization from a specific example. Thanks for the comments. Be well, Mik ------------------------------ From: Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 15:26:52 EST Subject: eskrima: Re: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V6 #63 With reference to the discussion on the strength and size of combatants, a wise man once said, " A good big 'un is better than a good little 'un." On another point, somebady wrote a while back about FMA in Japan. I might well be going there soon and would appreciated being pointed in the right direction. It seems a bit of a travesty, going to the land of the rising sun to seek a Philipino art, but there is no accounting for taste and I'm nothing if not a heathen. Thanks, Kit ( famwenz@aol.com) ------------------------------ From: SPIRIT DANCING IN THE FLESH - KING HARI Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 12:48:14 -1000 Subject: eskrima: Re: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V6 #18 On the comment of people dying in training - My friend whose relative still train old style with bolos in the P.I. believe that when someone dies in training their soul goes to heaven to fight Magellan in the ancient battle of Mactan. They are originally from Mactan, and their ancestral lineage goes to a neighboring tribe who did fight alongside Lapulapu. My friend's grandfather lost his brother this way. His brother died in training with a bolo strike to the neck. Several of the trainees my friend said had unusual injuries - missing thumbs, fingers, and one guy even had a damaged eye (all you could see is the white). People are a product of their environment. Erwin Legaspi - Spirit Dancing in the Flesh - "The head is only an advertisement. It is the ego looking for recognition." - Swami Satchinanada "If we were humble, nothing would change us - neither praise nor discouragement. If someone were to criticize us, we would not feel discouraged. If someone were to praise us, we also would not feel proud." - Mother Teresa ------------------------------ From: Michael Koblic Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1999 04:10:52 -0800 Subject: eskrima: Training to exhaustion This is an interesting insight (see post by Tuhon McGrath). I doubt that low blood sugar plays any part. If one's metabolism is normal it takes a while to reach true hypoglycaemia. I suspect the effects described are due to accumulation of lactic acid. I am fortunate to have an expert living locally who advises on endurance training to a number of world class athletes (Martina Hingis is one of them). He developed a portable lactate meter and measures lactate on athletes while they exercise. He maintains that athletes who are insufficiently aerobically competent to clear lactate from their bloodstream while exercising make mistakes and errors in judgement. Their brain processes are simply impaired. My personal experience agrees with this. I do not seem to learn well when my brain is flooded with lactate and am surprised that the training method mentioned in the above post would be effective in imparting permanent retention of a new skill. Perhaps the point is something else, i.e. the skills are not new and are simply moved into the "subtentorial" portion of the brain by flooding the frontal lobes with lactate. Another though occured to me while reading the description of the symptoms: what role does adrenalin play in all this. Peyton Quinn quotes some interesting studies in his book suggesting that learning occurs much faster under a high adrenalin condition. He feels that his students retain martial art skills much better if they are placed under stress. I am not sure how totally valid is this either, as under stress some people simply shut down. I know that a little adrenalin is a good thing - I do perform better under stress and certainly facts learned under stress tend to stick with you. I am not sure whether the same would work under the total bowels-turn-to-water situation. There must be a lot of military or LEO personnel out there who have experience with training under all kinds of stress. Mike Koblic, Quesnel BC ------------------------------ From: Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 18:21:01 EST Subject: eskrima: Groins etc. >>The effect during the fight? Well, my eyes widened a bit, it stopped my advance at the time, I recovered quickly, ignored the pain and kept sparring the rest of the night. Then I went on and worked out the rest of the week, and weekend with the aid of a little extra support.>> Got to agree with this one. Just consider it another tool to throw, not a fight ender. I've taken a few groin shots during fights and didn't feel a damn thing until the adrenaline wore off. Then you get that queasy I'm going to turn my insides out pukey feeling. I even took a rock to the head once and it didn't faze me one bit...until later. Adrenaline is an amazing thing. Take care, Bill wschpunyo@aol.com ------------------------------ From: Kalki Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 17:32:26 -0600 Subject: eskrima: Mental > Much of Leo's training involved visualization. It made you more rather than > less focused mentally. > Reading this reminded me to point out that mental rehearsal (which involves visualization) requires both relaxation and concentration. If we are not relaxed there may be more "noise" in the way of the "signal" that we want to send to the important places in our kinesthetic make up, in other words the signal-to-noise ratio will be lower than it might be if we were relaxed. Also, if the mind is not clearly focussed it's pretty much a waste of time. without composure and concentration the process will be far less productive (less efficient, less effective). This suggests some of the reasoning behind mental/psychological training in some systems and the Samurai appreciation for the psychological benefits of the Zen promoted by Daruma (Chan promoted by Ta-Mo/Bodhidharma). Bodhidharma, a Dravidian yogi (Dravidians are the "Afroid", shorter people of South India), supposedly taught Kalari Payyat and/or Vajra Mushti (at Shaolin). Kalari Payyat and Vajra Mushti both supposedly involve some of the stages of classical yoga training, including ethics/morality, physical conditioning, respiratory training (like Chi Kung), relaxation training, concentration training, etc. Concentration training often included mental manipulation of "visual" images and patterns, sequences, etc. After this kind of preparation the mind can be focussed in any way required, including combative training, including mental rehearsal as in the visualization described by Tuhon McGrath. Indian martial systems often included Yoga Tantras. Rmenants of these traditions and practices continue in the Buddhist Mikkyo schools (e.g., Ninpo) which have a lineage that goes back through China to Tibet (Mikkyo = Mi Tsung [Mi Zong]). By the way, I don't mean to imply that Da-Mo was the only person from India to go elsewhere and teach martial stuff. The word "Indochina" has a lot of obvious implications, eh? People have always been moving around ... latest I heard was that there is evidence of visits to this continent by multiple Asian peoples, Africans and Europeans -before- Columbus. Old news: Chinese anchors were found off the coast of South America long time ago ... on the other side of South America there may have been Africans assimilated into the Olmec (???) culture ... Japanese may have visited the area that we call our West coast: archaeological finds suggest that there was another Asian visit by people other than those who came down through Alaska ... sea-going route instead. How about that? I digress, so 'nuff awready. Be well, Mik ------------------------------ From: "Brian T. Henderson" Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 17:02:03 -0800 Subject: eskrima: RE: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V6 #62 Does anyone know how I can get in contact with Master Teofisto "Toby" Tobosa in Hawaii. Toby is currently living in Pearl City, Hawaii, and is actively running the Tobosa School of Kali/Escrima and actively promoting the arts of his Filipino heritage. Bebot Co Jacksonville, FL You did not include your email address. Please contact me privately and I will forward your email address to one of his students for you. God Bless You, Sifu Brian T. Henderson Bthondo@ix.netcom.com ------------------------------ From: Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 19:00:22 -0800 (PST) Subject: eskrima: Some DB/PT Background, Part 1 (fwd) Sent to the wrong address. Please send part 2 to the address given in the digest's header. Thanks. Ray - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Forwarded message: Subject: Some DB/PT Background, Part 1 From: Eric Knaus To: Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 12:11:42 -0700 Organization: Eric Knaus Bark! Top Dog here, for this once delurking to set the record = straight concerning the claim, which pops up from time to time, that = Pekiti Tirsia fighting in the 1970's was the same as Dog Brothers fighting = today. To state matters gently, this claim is an overstatement. Perhaps a = bit of history is in order. Be warned! In order to work in some names = I feel deserve recognition, I may be pretty lengthy. Most of the fighting done in PT from 1976 through ' 81 on the = east coast was done with Tuhon Leo Gaje in Jamaica, Queens in an alley = behind the building that Leo lived in at the time. Tom Bisio and I would = take the subway there and train all day Saturday and then return for more = of the same on Sunday. Our fights at that time were with the heavy = Kendo masks which were all that we had available at the time, and what I = would consider LIGHT rattan sticks. =20 =20 On the surface, it sounds similar to what is being done today = ..... The only thing I would like to see brought back from those "good old = days" of is that we did not wear any hand protection, and in that vein for = the last couple of years I have been wearing only some baseball batting = gloves that Marc gave me. They offer no protection at all from stick hits, = but do mostly protect my hands being grated by my opponent's mask when = the fight closes. And it should be noted that Arlan goes gloveless = sometimes.=20 I would also point out that in my opinion, given the weight of = the sticks used today and the lightness of the brand of street hockey gloves = worn by Marc, and some of the others, at least equals what we were doing = in the 70s with regard to hand gear. =20 =20 I loved the fighting part of training and Leo made a point of = separating out students according to their aptitude - I was singled out by = him to be=20 a fighter. Tom was by far a better technician. He had superb = body control and stick movement. He was my original instructor (as I was his = original student) and to this day I still do the footwork drills and stick = warm-ups that we practiced in Morningside Park so many years ago. Tom and = I had a certain blood lust for the Truth in what we were doing and the = drills that Leo showed him (I did not start training directly with Leo until = after being with Tom for about 6 months) we in turn dissected, digested = and then either adapted or modified to fit our own evolution.=20 Our favorite drill was knife sparring which we did with long = (12") wooden knifes with points (another thing I would like to see = brought back) that could and occasionally did impale the fencing masks right = through to the eye. That was a blast! These masks, however, were never a = regular part of Leo's equipment when we stick sparred. In fact, there = were several times when we would have to wear full body armor (which I hated!) = for "safety reasons". =20 =20 The way the fencing masks came about was that Tom had = originally trained in a part of the gym of Columbia University where the = fencing team had their practice sessions. Tom noticed these old beat up masks = that the fencing guys used for target abuse and either asked (or didn't = ask, I never asked) if he could use them for his stick training. The original = gloves were another design of Tom's and they consisted of a gardener's = glove with a piece of surgical tubing over the index finger and thumb. = Occasionally, we would bring out a pair of Kendo gloves but they had simply = too much padding and made quick movements difficult. Besides, everybody = in the group wanted to feel the real deal and wearing all that = protection was considered a detachment from the "Source". =20 =20 There were roughly 12 of us that formed the original core = group and of that, Tom was the leading man whereas I was roughly 5th or 6th in = line.=20 Billy came along about a month or two after, and while I was = around was more of a student of Eddie Jafree's than Leo's - but that = changed when Eddie went back to Indonesia and Leo took him in. =20 =20 If anyone exemplified PT at that time in terms of fighting, = toughness, skill and grace it was Tom - by far. And it was with Tom that I = took the first steps towards what we would eventually call "Real Contact". = One of the first major show case moments for the PT group on the east = coast back then was the Playboy Tournament in Great Gorge, N.Y. This is = where I met the legendary (even then!) Dan Inosanto for the first time and it = was the first of many matches he would referee for me over the next = several years.=20 There are some good stories to tell some day. The protocol in the tournaments of this era was very similar = to what WEKAF and other tournament-oriented styles do today - lots of = body protection, no grappling and the emphasis on striking a la Fred = Flintstone with not too much concern for blocking or other defense. Even = though all the fighters were encouraged to show technique, everyone knew = that the more you hit, the more points you would get and the better the odds to = advance to the next round. I don't remember the judges ever giving much = weight to realistic defensive skills and every one knew it and the fighting = showed it. Other subsequent tournaments had their nuances in terms of = rules and armor but for the most part they were the same and remained so = for almost all of the 80's and into the early 90's. Marc has shown me some = footage of Alan Sacetti's tournament and I would say that it is a definite = advancement over previous tournaments. =20 Anyway, I knew I was born to fight and pursued the "bleeding = edge" of fighting technology as much as possible with Tom - he had a = remarkably open architecture to martial arts in general and a "let's-find-out" = approach to anything that seemed far fetched. Tom was lightning quick, and = his body type was quite different from mine - while I am long and lanky, = he was much shorter, had long orangutan arms, a long body and relatively = short yet very athletic legs (to which I attribute his precise footwork) and a = mind that was constantly searching and absorbing anything it came in = contact with when it came to training tips, body movement, power - you name = it. Its no surprise to me that his path has taken him into other arts, = including healing. The healing path, I should point out, is that part of = his evolution that I admire most particularly in how it retrofits to one's fighting = art and ultimately=20 one's life. My healing art is hand reading - it's different from = Tom's but=20 integrates in the same way. The common ground was that we wanted to know what would really = work under fire and what would not.. This, of course, led to a lot of experimentation and the development of drills that would isolate = a certain aspect of movement. "Fighting" with Tom (not that we actually = fought that much, and in fact, we never faced each other in a tournament) was = not the "brutal action" that many have seen the Dog Brothers Real Contact = tapes but much more of a dance, a match of high speed and precise chess = movements where few pieces are exchanged. It was much more of a carenza, = beautiful to watch and even more beautiful to do. Curiously, not once did = any type of grappling enter the scene. We had assumed that if you wanted to = stop a grappler, you would simply whack him either in the head or hand as he entered. It wasn't until I moved to California and began to really escalate the fighting, did I find out how na=FFFFFFEFve this was. After Tom won the big tournament in the Philippines, we continued to train together regularly. Fortunately, we both attended the same college, Columbia, where he was one year ahead of me. And after his = graduation, we lived less than a block apart for several months before I decided = to move to California. End of Part One, Part Two to come in about a week Bark Top Dog ------------------------------ From: Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 19:02:12 -0800 (PST) Subject: eskrima: . ------------------------------ End of Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V6 #64 *************************************** To unsubscribe from this digest, eskrima-digest, send the command: unsubscribe eskrima-digest -or- unsubscribe eskrima-digest your.old@address in the BODY of email (top line, left justified) addressed to majordomo@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com. Old digest issues are available via ftp://ftp.martialartsresource.com, directory pub/eskrima/digests. All digest files have the suffix '.txt' Copyright 1994-99: Ray Terry, Inayan System of Eskrima, Martial Arts Resource Standard disclaimers apply.