From: eskrima-digest-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com To: eskrima-digest@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Subject: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V6 #497 Reply-To: eskrima@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Errors-To: eskrima-digest-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Precedence: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest Wed, 1 Dec 1999 Vol 06 : Num 497 In this issue: eskrima: Happy Holidays eskrima: Re: Briton charged after church sword attack eskrima: Re: San Miguel & Edge to Edge Impact eskrima: Clearing Away Clouds eskrima: Gotch Seeking Orthopedic Surgeon eskrima: Re: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V6 #496 eskrima: . ========================================================================== Eskrima-Digest, serving the Internet since June 1994. ~1100 members strong! Copyright 1994-99: Ray Terry, Inayan Eskrima, and Martial Arts Resource Replying to this message will NOT unsubscribe you. To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe eskrima-digest" (no quotes) in the body (top line, left justified) of a plain text e-mail 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 four 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: "Jason Inay" Date: Wed, 01 Dec 1999 14:56:35 PST Subject: eskrima: Happy Holidays On behalf on the Inayan System of Eskrima and the Inayan Training Organization, I wish all of you out there in the Martial Arts community Happy Holidays! May you all eat well and enjoy the holiday season. Jason Inay Chance favors only the prepared mind..... Pasteur "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Historical Review of Pennsylvania ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ From: "BILL MCGRATH" Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 18:02:42 -0800 Subject: eskrima: Re: Briton charged after church sword attack - ----- Original Message ----- From: BILL MCGRATH To: Cc: Sent: Monday, November 29, 1999 9:00 PM Subject: Briton charged after church sword attack > Briton charged after church sword attack > > > > > > > > WIRE:11/29/1999 12:24:00 ET > Briton charged after church sword attack > > > LONDON (Reuters) - Police charged a 26-year-old man with attempted > murder Monday in connection with a samurai sword attack on a London > church in which 12 worshipers were hurt. > Scotland Yard police headquarters identified the man charged as Eden > Strang. > Britain was stunned by the attack, in which a naked man burst into a > packed church Sunday, slashing members of the congregation with a > ceremonial sword and a kitchen knife. > Scotland Yard said one man, aged 55, remained in a critical condition > after suffering deep wounds to his face and neck and losing a thumb > and > forefinger in Sunday's attack. > Five other people were being treated at Mayday Hospital in Croydon, > south > London, where their condition was described as "stable." > It was one of the worst such incidents ever seen in Britain. In 1996, > three children, their teacher and three other adults were hurt in a > machete attack in the Midlands city of Wolverhampton while they were > on a > nursery school picnic. > The Independent newspaper carried an eyewitness account of the > attack, > written by journalist John Cobb who was among the 300-strong > congregation > when the naked man burst into Saint Andrews Roman Catholic Church in > Thornton Heath, south London, Sunday morning. > Cobb graphically conveyed the horror of the attack as he described > how > four worshipers, among them off-duty policeman Tom Tracey, > overpowered > the man with the help of a crucifix-topped pole and a length of organ > pipe. > "As the swordsman swipes wildly, one man grabs hold of his body and > Tom > has the arms that hold the sword. Still he won't go down and wrestles > with a madman's strength. He is slim, quite muscular, and wildly > strong. > It takes four of us to bring him to the floor and still he struggles > on," > Cobb wrote. > Home Secretary Jack Straw Monday extended his sympathy to the victims > of > the attack and applauded the courage of the churchgoers who had > intervened to overpower the swordsman. > Straw called the attack "absolutely terrible." > "Any crime is terrible, but it's hard to think of something worse > than to > have the serenity of a church service shattered in this way," he > told > BBC radio. > Scotland Yard said 12 people were injured in the attack, which > happened > as the congregation celebrated morning mass. > Most of those hurt suffered stab or slash wounds. > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------ From: "BILL MCGRATH" Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 18:11:42 -0800 Subject: eskrima: Re: San Miguel & Edge to Edge Impact - ----- Original Message ----- From: BILL MCGRATH To: Sent: Saturday, November 20, 1999 12:16 PM Subject: San Miguel & Edge to Edge Impact > RE: San Miguel: > > Tom Bisio showed me some of the San Miguel form shortly after he first > learned it from Momoy. I recall a good percentage of "flywheels" in the > technique. > I thought it was a graceful and fluid technique not > "liniear" at all (if by liniear one means the opposite of fluid). It > differed from Pekiti-Tirsia Espada y Daga work in that San Miguel (at > least the little I saw of it) was much more heavily weighted towards the > long weapon (about 90% from what I saw) compared to Pekiti's 50/50 > distribution between the espada/baston and the dagger. San Miguel > appeared to me much more largo oriented than Pekiti. I would be interested > in seeing if > the movements in San Miguel translate into double knife the way Pekiti > Espada y Daga does. While the San Miguel I saw was very different from > Pekiti-Tirsia, it still seemed to me very worthy of study, especially from > Tom, who (when we trained together in our teens and 20's) was one of the > best martial > artists for his age that I have seen. From what I have heard from students > who train under the both of us, he has only improved with age. Tom is not > only an excellent fighter, but someone who can pass those skills along to > those who study under him. > > RE: Edge to Edge Sword Contact: > > Two schools of thought on the issue, both have merit when dealing with the > right type of sword. > > The "edge to edge contact is okay" school has merit for the swords designed > for that technique. I can see how the dull, medium temper blades of the late > medieval period (designed to bludgeon a man in heavy armor to the ground) > could easily survive contact edge to edge. Obviously there is also good > mechanical advantage to this type of contact. It is at the same angle as a > strike. > > The "don't make edge to edge contact" school makes perfect sense when one > sees the swords of the people who hold to that rule (like the Filipinos). If > your sword has a hard, sharp edge, then edge to edge contact will chip out > your edge, possibly creating a stress fracture and thereby making your sword > weaker. Another factor is the manufacture of many Filipino swords. Not > everyone had a well made, sturdy borong. If your "sword" was a simple > inexpensive farm tool, how much contact could it take? I am told that one > method of fixing a sword to a handle was to drill a hole in the wood of the > handle, get the tang of the sword red hot, put some blood down the hole and > press the hot tang in. That's it; no cross pin, butt cap, nut or other > mechanical fixture. One of my students told me of his doing a demo with just > such a blade and making edge to edge contact to throw some sparks for > dramatic effect. He gripped the handle of the sword tightly so it would not > fly out of his hand and it did not. The handle remained firmly in his hand > as the blade went flying off into the audience (fortunately no one was > hurt). Many years ago, another student did the same type of demo, but with > machetes. This time the low tempered edges bit into each other and one of > the machetes was pulled out of the hand and went flying into the audience > (again with no injuries: audiences at Pekiti-Tirsia demos must have special > guardian angels assigned to them). Therefore, my advice is don't make ANY > hard contact with swords at public demos. If the sword doesn't give, your > grip might. In addition to the examples I gave, machettes vary widely in > strength and some may break if you use them to strike a hard > object. > > From my own experiments, I feel that a two handed sword can deal with the > shock and pull of edge to edge contact in combat better than a one handed > sword. Interestingly, the Japanese, with a two handed grip and a sword with > a very hard edge, strove to avoid edge to edge contact whenever possible. > > As for contact with the side of the blade in a one handed sword; I have > worked with items such as light bolos all the way up to heavy kampilans, and > the area where the blades makes contact, the angle of the hit, as well as the > follow-through make a BIG difference in how the force is deflected. If one > has to make contact, sword to sword, with a hard edged sword, I would choose > to make contact with the side or back of the blade, but you have to know how > it is done. It is not a static block, but an aggressive attack upon your > opponent's sword, not to stop the force, but to deflect it. However, after having said that I should point out that in > most Asian styles I have seen, the mark of a truly great swordsman is no > contact sword to sword at all. > > Tuhon Gaje designed a sword that has the best of both worlds (strong > edge/sharp edge). It has a long dull portion to make contact with and a good > sharp edge for cutting. You can see it on the Pekiti-Tirsia International > logo. > (see www.pekiti-tirsia.com) > > A good source for information on medieval swords can be found at: > www.vikingswords.com > The administrator of the site and I lectured at the same knife and sword > making seminar this past September and I was very impressed with his > knowledge. He brought actual examples of viking, celtic and other > medieval swords to the lecture and has traveled extensively throughout > Europe examining swords at the arms museums there. > > I'll leave you with a quote from "The Walls of Jolo" a book about a U.S. > solder's experiences in the Philippines in 1905. > > "They sharpened their weapons daily, and the trade in the hand-beaten bolo > was brisk. The blacksmiths squatted over their charcoal fires and their > anvils, hammering out kris and talibong, bolo and capilain, quinbasi and the > fearful barong. The handmade blades where finer than the famous Japanese > steel, and they honed them to an astonishing degree of razor sharpness..." > > Regards, > Tuhon Bill McGrath > > > > ------------------------------ From: Ray Terry Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 16:21:05 -0800 (PST) Subject: eskrima: Clearing Away Clouds On the plane flight back from Ohio today I finally read Stephen Fabian's book Clearing Away Clouds: Nine Lessons for Life from the Martial Arts. It had been recommended to me a few months back, I picked it up but then it sat in my 'to read' stack until the trip to Ohio. Imagine my surprise, Fabian was a student under the same TKD instructor that I was -and- at the same time! He was at our branch dojang in Champaign, Illinois, while I was at the 'home' dojang in Bloomington, IL. The various branches only got together once a year, if that, for sparring competition, so unfortunately I don't remember the author. Fabian talks a lot about the lessons we both learned at the same time (late '70s & early '80s) from Master NK Hyong. Master Hyong was my first TKD and Hapkido instructor, although I had previously studied TSD and Judo. It was surprising that Fabian, like me, also had previous martial arts training before studying under Master Hyong at the University of Illinois. I was leaving the U of I at about the time he arrived there, but I only moved 50 miles down the road to work at Illinois State University in Bloomington, where I first met Master Hyong. Fabian's lessons relate to far more than just martial arts. The lessons are: Embrace a Way, Accept Responsibility for Your Actions, Control the Breath, Focus, Develop Self-Discipline, Train Hard - Seeking Aesthetic Refinement, Be Patient and Flow, Persevere, Cultivate the Mind of No-Mind. Portions of a couple of the lessons... 'By "letting it happen", as Master Hyong so frequently advised us, we are not so much in a rush to get to our objective that we make things harder for ourselves getting there. ... Rushing headlong toward mastery will keep you far from it, like grasping for something in water, only to send it further away... Paradoxically, attempts at self-mastery of the Way actually requires a diminishing of ego. As we strive to develop our self, we in fact must diminish self-importance. ...' Important lessons in life. Ray Terry rterry@best.com ------------------------------ From: Kilap@aol.com Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 19:52:47 EST Subject: eskrima: Gotch Seeking Orthopedic Surgeon Hi Ray, Perhaps this could be forwarded to the eskrima digest? It comes from mailer1@submissionfighting.com and Matt Furley... 28 November, 1999, at 6:54 p.m. It is not often that I ask for help ... but today is different. This is a grave situation and I pray to God that someone can be of assistance. As most of you know, I moved to Tampa, Florida, in September to train under the guidance of the "God of Pro Wrestling," Karl Gotch. Despite the fact that both of his hips need to be replaced, Karl has taken me under his wing and taught me, first hand, many of the all-but-lost secrets of catch wrestling. At first Karl was able to come to the school with me, but in late October the pain grew to the point where we agreed I should meet him at his home with no other students around, as it was hard for him to accept other people seeing him in such great pain. Today when I visited Karl he was no longer able to walk his dog. He is in complete agony. Even sitting in a chair or lying in bed is torture. Meanwhile, the surgeons who were supposed to replace his hips months ago are playing "ring around the rosey." Karl has a Medicare policy, but the surgeons feel it is in their best interests to refer him from one doctor to the other, all telling him the same thing ... that they'll do the surgery very soon ... then a month later saying they no longer accept medicare and "we are now referring you to another doctor." The new doctor pulls the same drama as the first, then refers him to a third doctor. Now Karl has gone full circle ... back to the first doctor who referred him to the second. This drama, no doubt, has created a desperate situation and Karl's health has continued to decline. I am sending this email out in the hopes of finding a reputable orthopedic surgeon who will accept Medicare and perform the surgeries. I will fly Karl out of state, if necessary. If anyone knows an orthopedic surgeon who can help us ... please, please, please contact me right away by email (mattf ------------------------------ From: tweeder199@aol.com Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 20:14:30 EST Subject: eskrima: Re: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V6 #496 GRAAAAAAAAABE!! Miss kita! Ingats ------------------------------ From: Ray Terry Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 18:50:05 -0800 (PST) Subject: eskrima: . ------------------------------ End of Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V6 #497 **************************************** To unsubscribe from this digest, eskrima-digest, send the command: unsubscribe eskrima-digest -or- unsubscribe eskrima-digest your.old@address in the BODY of an email (top line, left justified) addressed to majordomo@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com. Old digest issues are available via ftp://ftp.martialartsresource.com in directory pub/eskrima/digests. 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