From: eskrima-digest-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com To: eskrima-digest@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Subject: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V6 #149 Reply-To: eskrima@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Errors-To: eskrima-digest-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Precedence: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest Mon, 12 April 1999 Vol 06 : Num 149 In this issue: eskrima: Re: Illustrisimo eskrima: Re: Gurkas eskrima: RE: Seminars/Demos eskrima: Re: Peace Loving Special Forces Operators eskrima: pencil-thin rattan, aluminum blades n stuff eskrima: Re: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V6 #147 eskrima: re Illustrisimo tapes...... eskrima: Re: "Baggage" eskrima: GM Presas Changed My Life eskrima: The sound of fear eskrima: . .......................................................................... Eskrima-Digest, serving the Internet since June 1994. 1050 members strong! Copyright 1994-99: Ray Terry, Inayan System of Eskrima, Martial Arts Resource Replying to this message will NOT unsubscribe you. 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 To send e-mail to this list use eskrima@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com 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: jmfrankl Date: Sun, 11 Apr 99 18:32:06 -0400 Subject: eskrima: Re: Illustrisimo >Please do not spread rumors. As I mentioned, I offered only "possible explanations." As for rumors, I was merely conveying what I was told directly, no heresay involved. John Frankl ------------------------------ From: jmfrankl Date: Sun, 11 Apr 99 18:39:13 -0400 Subject: eskrima: Re: Gurkas >"If the kukris is drawn, the blade has to see blood". The Gurkha told me >that's a story they spread around to stop di#kheads like me from asking to >borrow it to chop some wood. Which brings up a point, if you are in the >middle of the jungle and you have to cut yourself every time you get out >your knife, you get some jungle rot infection and die. > >"Gurkhas can fight" True, a friend of mine queuing to go to the toilet, at >a mess party we were both at took a pee in a pot plant rather than wait. It >splashed too near to a group of Gurkhas and they did a number on him. I >thought it was fair and continued to try to chat up the bar maid as they >(very efficiently) beat him up. A very good post. I have one anecdote from my years in Korea. There is a permanent but small Gurka force in Seoul as part of the U.N. Honor Guard. They are the only ones to my knowledge permitted to carry their knives at all times (i.e. off base). Well there are also a lot of Nepalese and other South (East) Asians working in Korea for pennies and generally being exploited and treated poorly by the native capitalists (they have learned well). Some Gurkas were off base and mistaken for lowly workers and harassed by some Koreans the end result of which was a Korean with a slash that basically ran ear to ear through his mouth. This is not one of the myths--though it is bound to contribute to the myth--and if pressed I can find the newspaper article. John Frankl ------------------------------ From: Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 19:16:13 EDT Subject: eskrima: RE: Seminars/Demos Hello, Does anyone know of any seminars or demos coming up in the Southern Calfornia area? Thanks, SDR ------------------------------ From: Mike Casto Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 17:38:49 -0700 (PDT) Subject: eskrima: Re: Peace Loving Special Forces Operators JYCHOW wrote: << Truthfully speaking, I do not think they are the self defence types. Not from what I heard. But then, I may be wrong. They may be the most wonderful peace loving people with a heart of gold who would never harm anybody. It is a matter of perception and opinion. You have yours, I have mine. >> While this is an interesting discussion, I don't want to get into it directly. However, I do want to take a slight tangent. The above statement by JYCHOW reminded me of a quote I once heard. I don't remember who said it, or the exact words, so I'll paraphrase: "Only someone who is intimate with war can truly and totally appreciate peace." Mike === Mike Casto Assistant Instructor Asian Fighting Arts Filipino Kali/ 5099 Springboro Pike Indonesian Pentjak Silat Dayton, OH 45439 Phone: (937) 293-5520 URL: http://www.guild-hall.com/afa/ _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: tenrec Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 04:08:28 +0100 Subject: eskrima: pencil-thin rattan, aluminum blades n stuff Herr John Frankl wrote: (2) Kali illustrisimo, being a fighting art, does not look impressive to those used to seeing people whipping around pencil-thin rattan and aluminum blades. Who exactly? tenrec tenrec@avcorner.com /* When you open up a can of worms, you might as well go fishin'*/ ------------------------------ From: Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 00:09:09 EDT Subject: eskrima: Re: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V6 #147 >>>Any of such crack units, as they are what are sent in to kill......... It does not matter whether they are of the army, police or in some countries, the para militias. Gee, I guess instead of participating in numerous medical and civic action missions where the main goal was to help the host countries' people we were really suppose to just kill them. And all that time that I spent training other nations' military units and trying to impart on them some principles of democracy as well as trying to ensure that their armed forces were capable of handling threats so that the U.S. would not subsequently become involved in another war was just a waste of time. >>>You are a great giant in your own right. I am only a tiny fry, qivering in the small breeze. That is me. I was speaking for myself. As I said, each to his own. I am so weak that I can not stand the thought of killing someone. It is my weakness. I am glad you have such strength and power. More power to you then! No, I am simply an individual that stood in the arena, like police officers, correctional officers and other current and former military members. We have done this and continue to do this so that individuals like yourself, who critique from the stands, can continue to enjoy the freedoms that you have. >>>Your critirai for discipline and stability may mean they can endure running for 100km non stop, take horrific abuse from their sergents, go without food for days, endure hard physical suffering, ....etc. Are you sure this is not a training of toughness rather than discipline and stability? And maturity? ....etc. Well, as I stated before no selection program is perfect. What the training does do however is produce individuals that persevere through hardships, can make rational decisions under extreme stress, come to recognize both their strengths and their weaknesses, and are more self confidant and thus not as likely to have to "prove themselves" against weaker individuals. I personally find all these attributes to be desirable for individuals that are learning self defense, however if you have different criteria, please elaborate. >>>I have heard of some stories, like ....hhmmm... Wow, you heard some stories? Do you even know any special operations individuals? I would assume that you do since you stated "I turned down an offer to teach the Special Forces years ago." Again I will ask, exactly what unit asked you to teach them? Do you base your opinions on special operations individuals that you know or stories that you have heard? >>>I would rather use martial arts to build strong healthy robust citizens who will be an asset to a community that loves peace and order. You and the others in the stands enjoy that peace and order in your community due to the personal sacrifices of the individuals that you so readily deride. >>>The truth of the situation is, and I must repeat and stress, that I dare not teach to any individual who I think may have some oppotunity to take life or harm another. And in closing I will ask you once again sir; exactly how do you determine who to teach? What criteria do you use? You obviously use some type of criteria to determine who you will teach. You seem to possess the ability to judge individuals simply by having heard various stories about them. Please enlighten the rest of us unenlightened individuals about how you accomplish this. Take care, Rob McDonald Eagle556@aol.com ------------------------------ From: "JYCHOW.AU.ORACLE.COM" Date: 12 Apr 99 15:07:57 +1000 Subject: eskrima: re Illustrisimo tapes...... Hi folks, Hope we don't get into a deep squable here. Things are getting out of hand.= I think it is general concensus that Tatang, Tony and Chris Ricketts are skilled FMA'ists to be reckoned with. We also have somebody who thought that the tapes were not really that impressive (hopefully that is what I read into the email, and there is nothing degoratory about the skills of the persons).= Having learnt under those very persons both before and after the tapes were = made public production, I do admit that the tapes were made to a specific introductory purpose to a general public. Yes, the techniques are there, but, not the exact way they would have been normally performed. At least not the way I perceived it. I can appreciate the critique's point of view and I accept your critique. Nevertheless, the tapes are valuable for any enquirer who wishes to be introduced to the style. It must be remembered that the Illustrisimo group has only ventured out from relative obscurity and secrecy and therefore, may be a bit cautious about what is to be presented to the public. Same techniques are presented, but the real gist may be hidden. When Tony taught me in Luneta years ago, he always repositions me to block out views from others. His eyes alway shift = about to see who is looking. And he sometimes can, come to the gym afterwards, too many people here. He does not teach openly to me even in the presence of other students. In other words, the video is not a true reflection of his ability. This is what John Frankl is trying to put across. Certainly, I was surprised when I saw the video. Does not look like Tony. I would say, Tony has shown the moves, but craftily hid the 'chef's secret'.= For those who wish to advance further after an initial glimpse, please go to an instructor of Kali Ilustrismo, and eventually to Tony. For the record, I have no quams that the critic had no negative intentions. In short, everybody who expressed their views on the matter was quite valid, and taking all views into account, we have a better understanding of = the situation. They seem to be all right. On whether Illustrisimo group are pleased or not with the videos that have been produced, it is a matter of perception again. It is best if you go to the source to ask. That is perhaps a fair statement? Cheers! John Chow ------------------------------ From: "Sovann D. Pen" Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 02:34:55 EDT Subject: eskrima: Re: "Baggage" Travis wrote: "Right On! But I had a bad experience where I was left beat down and for dead and survived but for the grace of god. Truth to tell I have some "baggage" from this experience. I recounted this experience sometime back on the digest if an effort to get it off my chest but I still have moments of discomfort from it." Hi Travis, You didn't ask for advice, but you might want to try some counseling to work through that. You might have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. God Bless, Sovann NW Karate for Christ ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ From: "Al \"Got This Fish On The Move\"" Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 07:56:21 -0400 Subject: eskrima: GM Presas Changed My Life Recently someone wrote about one of the Oriental World of Self Defense Shows that featured GM Remy Presas over 25 years ago. I was there and it changed my life completely. Growing up watching Kato, Flint, Mifune, then David Chiang, Ti Lung, Chen Ku Tai, I studied Korean and Japanese Karate. Then I attend this show at Madison Square Garden and Aaron Banks announces something like "A demonstration of Modern Arnis by Grandmaster Remy Presas from the Philippines". Arnis? "What is Arnis" I said to myself. Then I saw a demonstration by a man wearing a red gi that changed my life forever. Fast, furious, a magnificent percussion of sticks. It would be another 3 years before I would be able to learn Arnis. Since then I have studied 3 systems (Modern Arnis, Pekiti-Tersia, Garimot) and my best friend (Jun) is a Filipino. My martial arts changed, my life changed and I will always remain forever grateful to GM Presas for being the catalyst. Respectfully, Al Sardinas Student of Garimot System of Arnis ------------------------------ From: Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 10:00:05 -0700 Subject: eskrima: The sound of fear There was a stabbing near my house Saturday night. I live around the corner from a Veterans Hall that rents out for lots of parties, mostly Hispanic weddings. Late Saturday evening I was working on my computer, with the tv on in the next room, when I heard two screams from a woman. Now I often hear screaming from this place, and it's usually young kids running and playing, but this cut through everything - walls, background noise, half a block away - straight to my consciousness. I listened carefully and heard another scream. Didn't sound like kids this time. I thought perhaps an attempted rape was going on in the parking lot so I ran, barefoot and empty handed (right past a pile of sticks and several blades) into the condo parking area across from my house, where I could see down hill into the Veteran's lot. There I saw a group of 25-30 people milling around. I heard a woman saying "Why did he do it", and then the sound of a beating -loud, hard smacks. Clearly something was amiss, and I didn't know if there was a payphone there, or if anyone from this group would even call the cops, so I did the 911. Dispatch wasn't in a rush; my name, how many people, did I actually see a weapon etc, so I kept it brief and just said they better check this out. In the time it took to put on shoes and jacket, the first patrol car was there, followed by a fire truck, ambulance and 3 more cars. One guy down, but not dead, from the stabbing, and one very drunk guy rolling on the ground trying to get away from the cops. Eventually they hog-tied him. As the cops finished taking statements and were preparing to leave (about the time the helicopter showed up as transport to a hospital) they told me "Good call" on recognizing what was going on. Having a background in m.a. and security certainly makes it easier to distinguish events, but sometimes there is a primal quality that is unmistakeable; that's what I heard in the screams. Jeff "Stickman" Finder stickman@autobahn.org ------------------------------ From: Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 11:17:18 -0700 (PDT) Subject: eskrima: . ------------------------------ End of Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V6 #149 **************************************** 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.