From: eskrima-digest-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com To: eskrima-digest@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Subject: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V6 #269 Reply-To: eskrima@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Errors-To: eskrima-digest-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Precedence: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest Thurs, 24 June 1999 Vol 06 : Num 269 In this issue: eskrima: Happy Birthday to us [none] eskrima: Women (?) and self defence eskrima: Fight or Flight eskrima: Women's Self Defense Videos eskrima: womans selfdefense eskrima: looking for Arnis or Kali Vest Uniforms. eskrima: TJQ and FMA eskrima: Wavemaster? eskrima: Men, Women & Self Defense eskrima: . .......................................................................... Eskrima-Digest, serving the Internet since June 1994. ~1100 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: Ray Terry Date: Wed, 23 Jun 1999 21:41:01 -0700 (PDT) Subject: eskrima: Happy Birthday to us While I do not know, nor can I tell, the exact date we began the Eskrima-Digest, it was just about this time of year. So, always looking for any excuse to party... Happy 5th Birthday to us!!! Ray Terry ------------------------------ From: Luis Pellicer Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 15:57:28 +0800 Subject: [none] HAs Dan Inosanto ever been to the Philippines? If not would anybody know why so? LSPIII ------------------------------ From: "Farthing, James" Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 09:55:06 +0100 Subject: eskrima: Women (?) and self defence Me again. First, I'm glad I started the post as it's created an excellent and non-flaming argument/discussion. As for those who say that they should be able to walk where they like, I totally agree. In an "ideal world" we'd be able to go where we please as and when without the threat (real or possible) of attack. But at the end of the day I would rather walk home the safest way than risk it. Even my supposed male bravado doesn't stop me from being wary when I'm out and about. Whether I believe I'm the toughest guy in the neighbourhood (I don't by the way) or it's my right to walk that way as it's a 'public right of way', it's not going to stop somebody jumping me from behind or a group of people over-powering me. What is going to stop this is me walking a safer route home. I know some people will say that you could be attacked walking the 'safe' way home. This again is true, but I believe it's a case of 'risk limitation'. Anyway, back to work now...........and let the discussion rage on!! Thanks all, James Farthing JFarthing@colt-telecom.com ------------------------------ From: TGAce@aol.com Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 07:59:57 EDT Subject: eskrima: Fight or Flight In regards to all these "I refuse to be made afraid to walk through a dark park at night" arguements. It seems to me that you all are saying you would rather fight than avoid unnecessary danger. Which in my opinion is dangerous and counter to what any responsible instructor should be teaching. The basis of any self-defense instruction should be avoidance first, fight last. Avoidance isnt fear, its common sense. A soldier doesnt walk down a road he knows is set up to ambush him because he "refuses to be made afraid". He takes an alternate route and fights on his own terms. Tom Gerace ------------------------------ From: "BILL MCGRATH" Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 08:11:57 -0700 Subject: eskrima: Women's Self Defense Videos James Farthing wrote, on the subject of women's self-defense videos: "This sounds a bit dodgy to me - surely the best 'self-defense would be to teach people (women??) how not to put themselves in situations where these skills could be needed. I was told a true (?) story once: A woman did some baby-sitting every Saturday night and walked to and from the house through a dark park. She was a bit wary so she decided to do a 'self-defense course. After completing the course she commented that she "felt much safer now when walking through the park". Surely it would have been better to teach the woman to take that extra five minutes and go the long way round, past houses and under the street lights etc. The 'self-defense course just instilled a false sense of security. I hope you "get my drift" as it were with this." James raises a good point, but we need to go further. I have a mental drill I have students play (and I am sure many teachers on this list do the same) called "Play the mugger/carjacker/rapist". Basically the student looks over his/her daily routes and put themselves in the place of a criminal looking to do them harm. I give them some different criminal tactics and have them pick out good ambush points along their daily routes for an attack. What do criminals look for in a victim? What visual, body language or verbal clues tell you that something bad is about to happen? They ask themselves which routes are safe during rush hour, but would be dangerous to go through if you were late leaving work? Do they have an alternate route worked out? If they are armed (this gets a snicker in a Pekiti class) can they reach their weapon while seated in a car strapped in by a seat belt? If they can't go armed, do they dress in a way that someone can tell that they are not armed? Sometimes though, things can go very wrong in broad daylight in a populated area. In yesterday's paper was the story of a woman attacked this past Monday afternoon in a supermarket parkinglot in Lindenhurst, (Long Island) N.Y. She was grabbed from behind while loading groceries into the back of her jeep. Her attacker pushed her onto the front seat of the vehicle, got in on top of her and slammed the door. She began to scream and for the next five minutes was beaten by the attacker who tried to get her to give up and drive them both away. She knew she would end up dead if she did so, so she continued to fight. He finally tried covering her mouth with his hand. She bit down and refused to let go, which caused the attacker to stop hitting her and concentrate on getting his hand free. Just then another woman came upon the scene and began screaming for help. The attacker tried to flee and was caught by an off-duty cop who heard the second woman's screams from inside the market. Sometimes plans change unexpectedly and that puts you in danger. Some years ago a petite' but tough female Pekiti-Tirsia student was driving to work. Her route took her along a well traveled highway. One day a construction detour brought her through a very bad section of Newark, NJ. As she stopped at a red light she felt her car door open (she is a fanatic about locking her doors now) and was pulled from the car. On the way out she grabbed the two rattan sticks she always kept at the side of the door. She smacked the man grabbing her and found herself surrounded by four very evil looking fellows. They tried to grab her but she held them off by whacking them in the hands with her sticks. This went on she estimates for about 10 to 15 seconds when one of them backed off and said words to the effect of "back off, let me shoot her, then we'll rape her" (change of plans). This froze her for a second and they were able to knock her to the ground. Just then a car came round the corner, saw what was going on and charged the group with his car driving the bad guys off. My experience with the subject of violent crime avoidance comes from growing up in NYC, visiting friends in Harlem and Bed-Sty and, on my job as a court officer, listening to the testimony of crime victims during their attacker's trials. There are two authors I would like to recommend who can do a far better job of relating methods of violent crime avoidance then I ever could however. They are John Douglas and Gavin De Becker. John Douglas was the FBI's head serial killer profiler. The character played by Scott Glenn (Jodie Foster's supervisor) in "Silence of the Lambs" was based on Douglas who was a technical advisor on the film. The two Douglas books I have read are: "Mindhunter" and "Journey into Darkness", I strongly recommend you read these books and get your students to do the same (he has a third book out "Obsession" which I am just getting into now). If you have a student who has a "no one would really hurt me" or a "I don't think I could really hurt anyone" attitude then these books will really wake them up and spark their protective instincts. Gavin De Becker is the author of "The Gift of Fear" and the head of a private company that does "threat assessments" for corporations, Hollywood stars and the Federal government. When our "gut" tells us something is wrong with someone we meet, but we can't put our finger on what it is, De Becker can. He has a knack for giving a name for the body language and verbal clues that tell us that another person is dangerous or lying. He gives case histories of rapes and assaults (mostly on women) and shows what psychological tricks rapists, stalkers and other sociophaths use to gain control over their victims. I think as FMA instructors, while we should be telling our students how to avoid trouble, our students come to us asking what should they do if trouble comes looking for them. I would hit on a few key points on avoidance and then recommend the above books because the authors are experts in that field. As FMA instructors our expertise is mainly in the other side of the coin - defensive tactics if avoidance has failed. I remember going over some stats from the FBI's Uniform Crime Report on victim's resistant in rapes, murder attempts, assaults, etc. as research for a lecture I gave. While those victims who used a firearm to defend themselves had the lowest incident of injury (no surprises there) those victims who used a knife did fairly well also. I use this analogy with my students concerning a larger stronger opponent: if a caveman can kill a cavebear 10 times his body weight with a pointy piece of rock tied to a stick, then a modern women should be able to defend herself successfully against a man only twice her weight if she has a pointy piece of steel. Regards, Tuhon Bill McGrath PS. When I was in my teens I liked to think I was being macho by going into some very bad neighborhoods in NYC. I felt I should be able to go any where I choose to go. I now have a badge, 24 years in the Pekiti-Tirsia system and go about town with enough hardware that goes bang or has an edge on my person to outfit a Seal team, and these days ... I WOULD NOT GO INTO MOST BIG CITY PARKS ALONE AT NIGHT! I hope the people on this list will have more sense than a "macho" teenage boy when they think about where they can walk at night. ------------------------------ From: "Bodnar, Stephen A" Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 08:57:51 -0400 Subject: eskrima: womans selfdefense Ref ED#267 With regards to the women's self-defense class: First of all I've taught classes also to women and they were successful. Please consider the following. Point. 1 No 1 day, 1 week, 1 month class is ever going to teach anyone how to defend one's self. I believe it makes one, more aware, it awakens them to the fact they can cause damage, it enlightens them to situations we hope they will never face. But if it gives them more confidence to go were they don't belong/ or don't use common sense. Then the wrong message was sent. Point 2. Men are no different then women, all are attacked, big and small. No one is going to react with timing and skill after only a short period of training. Point 3. There are as many aggressive females as males both in words and physical abilities. Thanks to Todd and Jocelyne I think they tried to get these points across T As teachers of self-defense we have to recognize this assumed confidence about dealing with men and address it. Women do regularly contest with men and win under circumstances where physical violence is never used. We have to take into account that while there are "mice" in this world, there are just as many, if not more women who don't hesitate to go head to head with men. However, that doesn't extend to handling a rapist coming out of the bushes. Furthermore, as males we have to recognize that we have an assumed understanding about this swallow pride/blood issue that is not common among women. If we are to teach women we have to understand the difference between the intellectual "I'm a woman, I've lived with the fact that I could be raped" vs the actual experience of being physically picked up and slammed against the wall. Big difference, and the only people who don't know it are the ones it hasn't happened to. J However, I also know enough that IF it ever occurs, I will (probably) not freeze in panic - my body is trained to react, and I am more confident and aware of possible situations. My body language reflects the fact that I will refuse to be a victim. Instructors should teach their female students to be aware of their surroundings and to be mentally aware etc., but should also train them so that IF THEY CHOOSE to walk somewhere less safe, or of necessity must do so, they are able to take care of themselves. Men generally take it for granted that they may walk where they choose - it is accepted that they understand the risks involved. Women should be able to do so also. We do not want to be attacked, any more than a man does; but neither, I think, do women generally want to be made to feel that they shouldn't or can't go certain places simply because they are women. You can't do a job well unless your trained. Experience is the best teacher. Big difference between being smart and having common sense. MHO - meant not to insult or injure... just to make you think.... ------------------------------ From: Mike_Worth@cfins.com Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 09:24:10 -0400 Subject: eskrima: looking for Arnis or Kali Vest Uniforms. Good morning, all!! Well, it's come to this... :) I've been looking for a formal FMA uniform, not the wraparound vest, but the open, half-sleeve vest. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find anyone who sells them. Does anyone know where I can purchase a FMA top? My first choice is Modern Arnis (black with red trim), but a traditional Kali vest (black with gold trim) is also very nice. If anyone has any info, that would be much appreciated (and as a time waster, I challenge anyone to find an Arnis uniform on the web!! It's pretty @#$&% hard!!). Thanks all, and may you all have many clean destructions, Mike Worth ------------------------------ From: Paolo Valladolid Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 09:21:29 -0400 Subject: eskrima: TJQ and FMA One category of Taijiquan practice I've incorporated into my own training is the Taiji Ball exercises from Chen Taijiquan as taught by Chen Qing Zhou, a senior member of the Chen family who still teaches actively in Chen Village, China (said to be the birthplace of Taijiquan, but I won't get into the politics here) and still an astounding martial artist for one his age (I was his favorite demonstration dummy at the San Diego seminar - he picked me because of my youthful appearance). These exercises are ideally done with a "Taiji Ball", a hollow ceramic ball with filling and some kind of object inside which is designed to chime like a bell if you perform an explosive movement correctly in the Taiji way ("fajing"). The ball that CQZ brought to the seminar where I saw him was about the diameter of a basketball, maybe a little wider, and weigh approximately 22 lbs. There are other Taiji balls which are said to be even bigger and heavier. I like these exercises because they are a way work on movement principles which are fundamental to Taijiquan without having to practice long, time-consuming forms. In and of themselves, they will not make you a great Taijiquan fighter (you still need a competent teacher and training partners for that) any more than a pair of sticks and videos will make you a great Eskrimador by themselves. However, these exercises have taught me, and continue to teach me, a lot about how to use the abdominals, back, and legs to generate power (if I don't use them and instead try to use just my upper body, my arms and shoulder fatigue very quickly). The real Taiji balls (no jokes, please :)) are hard to find outside of China and are said to be prohibitively expensive to arrange for shipping out of China so folks who use these exercises in the U.S. try everything from used bowling balls to old basketballs filled with sand. I personally use a 12 lb. medicine ball so that I can bounce it off walls without damaging them. So far the most substantial result of this training I can report for myself is that I played catch with a medicine ball with a well-built fitness instructor long enough so that when he was ready to quit due to shoulder fatigue I felt I could keep going all day. CQZ's writeup on the Taiji ball can be found at http://www.nnrs.org/sphere.html The American branch of CQZ's association can be found at http://www.nnrs.org/cqzma.htm. If there is a video available of the exercises I described, they might know about it. BTW, like I said, I do not practice Taijiquan and have no political affiliation with anybody in that world, even though I have personally met some members of that association. I just happen to enjoy this little gift I received from Mr. Chen and think anybody can benefit also. Cheers, Paolo ------------------------------ From: Paolo Valladolid Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 09:25:11 -0400 Subject: eskrima: Wavemaster? I'm considering a couple of options as far as getting a heavy bag into my 2nd-floor apartment - one I would use for hitting not only with my own body parts but also sticks (rattan, of course). The Wavemaster seems to be the most convenient solution for this. Anybody use these things (Wavemaster original or Wavemaster "boxerobics" edition which is longer, skinnier, and comes with light gloves)? Thanks, Paolo ------------------------------ From: David Fulton Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 10:31:59 -0400 Subject: eskrima: Men, Women & Self Defense Where to start???? First of all, *as a general rule* I don't think women can 'hang with the boys' when it comes to raw, physical violence. It's a genetic thing that men are *generally* stronger (physically), more aggressive and more violent. Men are by our nature more physically driven than women. Look at who is more likely to:get drunk & rowdy; get into fights; practice MA's; race someone on the road, etc. Crafty .... what is the ratio of women (to men) fighting at the 'Gatherings'? I'm not saying that women can't be:strong, aggressive, violent, etc...just that it's man's nature makes us more predisposed. Men & women are different and that's nature's way. We're supposed to balance each other (yin/yang). I know my wife has saved my bacon a few times by helping me to see that it was better to just walk away, while my gut was telling me to stand my ground. Second, any woman who takes the attitude that they can walk where they want, when they want, etc is asking for trouble, and the same holds true for men. I'm not a 'professional bad a**' or even a semi-pro bad a**, but I'm more than competent. Still, I always do my best to avoid being in places where there's an higher risk of running into trouble and when I can't avoid them I take all precautions possible. It's just plain common sense to do as much as I can to avoid trouble. Not to accuse or offend anyone here, but I think *most* self defense courses are a waste of time. In order to learn to defend yourself (or loose weight, quit smoking/drinking/etc) there must first be a change in attitude or mind set that will provoke a change in life style. Most courses don't adequately address the attitude necessary to defend your self, and no technique will help you without the right attitude. Self defense is about mind set: being aware of your surroundings, displaying a quiet confidence and alertness (so you don't look like an easy victim) and simple, efficient, honed techniques. Here is my second beef with SD courses....most people do not practice the techniques once they go home, but they have this false sense of security that they'll be able to pull them off 'under fire'. IMO the ideal would be to organize a SD course in a club setting with regular training sessions where people could learn and practice basic SD rather than a MA. It would cover proper attitude/mind set, evasion, basic striking techniques, some grappling/BJJ (how many women get raped while standing up), and weapons (some stick and knife but mostly "improvised weapons" to help them to see the potential weapon in everyday items & how to use them). The idea would be to teach them how to fight back, not turn them into "fighters". Respectfully, Dave Fulton dfulton@computerpackages.com "Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie!'...'til you can find a big stick." ------------------------------ From: Ray Terry Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 07:42:25 -0700 (PDT) Subject: eskrima: . ------------------------------ End of Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V6 #269 **************************************** 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.