From: eskrima-digest-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com To: eskrima-digest@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Subject: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V7 #196 Reply-To: eskrima@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Errors-To: eskrima-digest-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Precedence: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest Tues, 25 April 2000 Vol 07 : Num 196 In this issue: eskrima: re: Your lucky to be my instructor eskrima: Bisio Seminar eskrima: Re: "You're lucky to be my instructor" eskrima: san diego [none] ========================================================================== Eskrima-Digest, serving the Internet since June 1994. 1100 members strong! Copyright 1994-2000: Ray Terry, the Martial Arts Resource, Inayan Eskrima 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 five years worth of digest issues at http://www.MartialArtsResource.com Mabuhay ang eskrima! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Patrick Davies Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2000 15:40:29 +0100 Subject: eskrima: re: Your lucky to be my instructor I read with interest some of the things you wrote here Rocky and I have had similar thoughts over the years. From: Rocky Pasiwk Is it me or has the attitude of martial arts over the last 10 years or so real gone down hill snip I guess maybe I am old fashion, or getting old before my time or something, I can't figure it out. Maybe I am just on a rant, but I have to believe that others out their have had to have the same feeling. If anyone has figured out how to change the declining attitude that people seem to have towards people with knowledge to offer please post it snip I don't know if the attitude of the arts has gone down hill or whether people approach it from a different angle nowadays. I can remember days when I had to wear a clean uniform, barefoot and practice kata. I had to bow before entering, instruction, after receiving instruction etc etc etc Then I started travelling twice a week a 5 hour journey there and back to Rick Young in Edinburgh for the Kali and Kickboxing. We wore shoes and shorts and had these tee shirts no one else had. Yet we all respected every ounce of instruction we got and you could always see the discipline of Ricks students over some others. But now I go to Inosanto seminars and see people saunter up and take their attendance certificate of him without showing the proper respects. Its explained to my guys what is required and what it means but still I think some just don't really get it. Here in the UK, I have witnessed certain individuals be in constant debt because of their willingness to travel to LA to further their skills. Because of their endeavours we now have a decent structure in the UK and yet there are others riding on the back of these guys and helping themselves to the rewards. There was an argument a couple of years ago through the UK press when one now semi-prominent instructor listed his instructors yet missed out the pioneer who had given it all to him. Without that pioneers efforts the newcomer on the scene would have had nothing. This lack of respect and honour to ones lineage is hard to understand. In the UK I hope people realise that when Rick Young, Guro Inosantos senior representative over here, credits Bob Breen as the father of JKD in the UK he is epitomising this respect. For many in the UK, it is through Breen bringing Guro Inosanto over that resulted in their exposure of the FMA and JKD. That is why Rick Young always credits Bob for his endeavours because without it people might have taken a totally different route. I have witnessed my instructors financial losses as he hosted seminars in which only the dedicated turned up to. He may be reaping the rewards nowadays but there were times when it wasn't rosy. For this I will always show him my respect and try and support him in his endeavours. However, its on a plate for many nowadays so the ball game is different. Have you where you lived found tourists coming to see something that is on your doorstep and yet you have never seen it? You take it for granted and they relish the opportunity to travel to take part in something that they don't have. Pat Aberdeen Martial Arts Group www.amag.fsbusiness.co.uk ------------------------------ From: Stuart Pauker Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2000 10:51:07 -0400 Subject: eskrima: Bisio Seminar Rocky wrote: >So if anyone ( and who in their right mind wounld't be ) interested in attending a seminar in the area with Tom Biso, please E-mail me privately, so I can get this rolling. It is my intention if Tom will have me as a student, to study San Miguel under him.< Actually, Tom no longer actively teaches San Miguel on a regular basis. Two of his former students teach out of his studio in Manhattan. They are James Seetoo and Hoi. You can reach them at http://www.Eskrima.com They're both excellent practitioner's - I briefly studied with them. Regards, Stuart - -- Stuart Pauker =>mailto:sbp8@mindspring.com Muay Thai (Coban Lookchaomaesaitong) -> Ultimate Gym, NYC Pekiti-Tirsia Kali -> www.Pekiti-Tirsia.com Renzo Gracie Academy -> www.shazbot.com/renzo/ Twin Towers Wrestling Club -> Hamilton Fish Recreation Center, NYC ------------------------------ From: Mike Casto Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2000 11:00:04 -0400 Subject: eskrima: Re: "You're lucky to be my instructor" Great post, Rocky! I agree wholeheartedly. I don't, though, have any ideas on how to slow (much less stop) this decline. I don't know whether this attitude is "old school" or not. I consider myself an adolescent in the martial arts (i.e.: I didn't fall off the turnip wagon yesterday, but I'm still very young) and I feel the same way. I do have a theory about this downward spiral, though. 20 years ago, in Anderson, Indiana (when & where I started martial arts), there were only 2 martial arts available (that I was aware of anyway ... granted, I was only 8, so my worldview was pretty limited). There was Tae Kwon Do or Okinawan Goju-Ryu. I started in TKD then (when my instructor had to quit teaching to pursue her career) I moved to Goju. While training in Goju, I did also get some exposure to Judo from a fellow student who had moved to the area. However, that was it. I don't know what the scene was like anywhere else but I assume that the options were limited nearly everywhere. Now, I'm not saying that TKD and Goju were bad (far from it in fact). The TKD I trained in was very good (a far cry from some of what I've seen taught these days) and the Goju was excellent ... but neither of them really suited me personally. Consequently, when I got older, I dabbled in other things ... looking for a better fit. After several years of dabbling, I found nothing that suited me better than Goju, so I went back to it ... where I was at least content, if not fulfilled. Then, 5 years ago, I was introduced to Kali and Silat. They suited me. I drove 2.5 hours (from Indianapolis to Dayton) every Friday night after work to train on Saturday ... then I drove 2.5 hours back to work every Monday morning. After a year of this, I decided that I should move to Dayton (my decision was helped immensely by the fact that my girlfriend lived in Dayton too). Now, I haven't studied Goju-Ryu in 5 years. However, when I left, I was careful to explain my situation (i.e.: having found a path that suited me better) to my instructor and we parted on good terms. I still drop by and visit the old dojo when I am in town and Shihan Davenport and I still shoot the breeze. I think that part of the reason I was willing to drive so far was because it took me so long to find what I was really looking for. I had a guy ask me once if I regretted all the years I'd "wasted" (his word, not mine) in TKD, Goju, and the others I dabbled in. My answer was an unequivocal "NO." Those gave me a solid foundation to build a good house (in Kali and Silat) on. Without my previous experience, I don't think I would really have appreciated the Kali and Silat ... and I probably wouldn't have gone through so much hell to get it. As far as the "my instructor has never hurt me" comment ... I cannot imagine this. There's a school in Texas called "Lansdale's Self Defense." I visited them while I was working down there. Lansdale has a motto on his shirts that I love (and is very suiting to this topic). "It hurts because it works." In the FMA (as I've been told, anyway), there's a philosophy of learning (a triangle, of course) that requires "seeing, doing, and *feeling*" You have to "see" it done correctly from the outside. You have "do" it and be corrected by an instructor. And you have to "feel" it done correctly. Without these three elements, you're not getting the whole picture (one of the drawbacks to video and/or book learning). If you're instructor has never caused you pain, then you're obviously missing the *feeling* part of the triangle ... IMHO, anyway :-) Regards, Mike - -- Life is like a grindstone - whether it grinds you down or polishes you up depends on what you're made of. -- Unknown _____________________________________________ NetZero - Defenders of the Free World Click here for FREE Internet Access and Email http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html ------------------------------ From: Fritz Schneider Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2000 09:01:23 -0700 (PDT) Subject: eskrima: san diego Hello all. My FMA instructor (Gary Fletcher) has experienced some explosive growth with his (non-MA) business and suddenly it has become nearly impossible for us to schedule time to train. He has suggested a few places to continue training but for various reasons I thought I'd ask around to see if there is anyone in the San Diego area that is looking for a training partner or might be accepting students. I've only been training with Gary since the first of the year so I'm still a beginner; however I enjoy it tremendously and have every intention of continuing to train seriously. Style doesn't matter to me nor does training environment (we have been training in the alley behind his clinic). Formal classes, informal instruction, or even going through videos and practicing are okay with me so long as Im not learning fluff :) I live in Pacific Beach and work in the La Mesa area but am perfectly willing to travel... I have looked around for Carlito Lanada but apparently his dojo is now closed and no one in his organization seems to be responding to email. Gary also offered to give me an introduction to the Babao academy (which I still might capitalize on) but from all accounts the students are rather protective of master babao's time. I'm aware of James Stacy who is teaching up in Vista and plan on stopping by but as it is a long haul for me I was hoping there was something a bit closer. Hmm. I also seem to remember that there was someone teaching largo mano in the mira mesa area? Thanks in advance for any helpful pointers! - -- fritz ------------------------------ From: Ray Terry Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2000 11:42:16 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [none] ------------------------------ End of Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V7 #196 **************************************** To unsubscribe from the 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. Copyright 1994-2000: Ray Terry and the Martial Arts Resource Standard disclaimers apply.