From: eskrima-digest-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com To: eskrima-digest@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Subject: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V7 #375 Reply-To: eskrima@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Errors-To: eskrima-digest-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Precedence: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest Wed, 2 Aug 2000 Vol 07 : Num 375 In this issue: eskrima: Re: Stray dog gatherings... eskrima: RE: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V7 #374 eskrima: Favorite knife to Carry eskrima: Re: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V7 #374/Straight Blast philosophy eskrima: Re: Good technicians/fighters eskrima: to teach or not to teach eskrima: Head gear eskrima: Re: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V7 #374 eskrima: Re: good technician/fighter eskrima: . ========================================================================== 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: Cplr50@aol.com Date: Wed, 2 Aug 2000 00:24:56 EDT Subject: eskrima: Re: Stray dog gatherings... Arlan, Good for you guys, Although I'm becoming a bit green. We east coasters don't seem to have such a robust life when in comes to impromptu gatherings. Oh well, just the cross we "other coasters" have to bear. Just for the record though.. I thought that you guys are supposed to be the "mellow" ones? Oh Well, I must have gotten it confused. Stone In a message dated 08/01/2000 11:14:33 PM Eastern Daylight Time, eskrima-digest-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com writes: > Subject: eskrima: Stray Dog gathering > > We had a nice little get together this weekend here in Santa Fe. Eric and Ed > "Hot Dog" came out, and Kalani Grimm came up from Las Cruces. We only fought > one day, but good fights. Not a lot of ground fighting but grappling at 7000 > ft. can suck the juice right out of you. There were a number of good > finishes on the ground (personally, I can say a stick in the arm pit can > br ------------------------------ From: "Steven C. Drape" Date: Tue, 1 Aug 2000 22:15:19 -0700 (PDT) Subject: eskrima: RE: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V7 #374 Service Brought To You By http://WWW.DWP.NET - -------------------------------------------- >One of Cacoy's stories about the very well known Saavedras... One of the >three was perhaps the best Eskrimador of his time (the 1930s), yet he could >not teach. One of the others was an excellent teacher, yet he could not >fight. I would agree with Ray here, from personal experience. When GM Pasa teaches, he prefers to teach at a level that won't interfere with his own abilities. Even though I already had 13 years of eskrima training and was an instructor in two other systems, he had another of his instructors teach me until I was up-to-speed in HIS system. Only then did he begin to teach me personally, because I was able to allow him to keep his own skills at a high enough level. A person who trains to be a great fighter must have his reflexes, his reactions and his mental awareness at their peak at all times. I'm not talking a sports fighter, whose fights are planned and then prepared for, but someone who tries to keep an edge at all times. If that same person then must teach someone a great deal less skilled than they are, they must slow everything down, pull punches/strikes, allow the student to succeed, etc. In the end, they will take the edge off their own sharpness. I believe that many great fighters fail to become great teachers because they can never bring themselves to take enough off their own level to give to someone else. On the other hand, if I trained in a system steadily for many years, have a complete knowledge of that system, I can teach it to someone else. My own relative skills at using that system to fight with are not relevent. My skill level changes continuously, depending on a great many things, and where I am at any given moment doesn't change what I teach to my students. I believe one can be a great teacher without being a great fighter. Steve Steve_kbs@dwp.net http://www.geocities.com/eartes/KBS_System_index.html ------------------------------ From: "Daniel J. Pittman" Date: Wed, 2 Aug 2000 00:35:39 -0400 Subject: eskrima: Favorite knife to Carry Some asked about favorite knives to carry. I'm by no means an authority, but I know what I like. I'm a police officer in Va, and the knife that I favor for on/off duty carry is the Benchmade Stryker auto. It has a chisel tip, and the blade is partially serrated.(3 1/2") The handle is some type of metal alloy. It's very durable. It also has a very small lock on the back of the handle that has to be slid down before the button can be pushed. It can be carried in the locked or unlocked position. For those who don't have access to auto knives, Benchmade also makes a standard Stryker Folder. It is no less reliable, and it's a little less expensive. I also sometimes carry a Spyderco Endura with a serrated blade, and a cheap off brand that is similar to the Spyderco. These knives supplement the Benchmade. I wouldn't mind losing these as much as I would the Benchmade. In my truck, I carry an Ontario Knives Spec Plus Air Force. 10 1/2" total with a 5 1/2" blade. Rubberized handle, and fairly well balanced for having a weighted handle. Not much for concealment though. I am looking for a folder that is a little bit longer for that extra "get you in there", if anyone has any suggestions. For those of you that carry folders, trainingblades.com carries trainers that resemble most popular folders. They only have the "folders" that are fixed blade now, but they are working on an actual working folder. Training with one is definitely a different experience, especially if your partner has a longer knife. When I use mine, I really have to choose my strikes carefully. Thanks for letting me put in my two cents worth. Danny Pittman ------------------------------ From: rob pugh Date: Tue, 1 Aug 2000 21:58:41 -0700 (PDT) Subject: eskrima: Re: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V7 #374/Straight Blast philosophy E-D list, I'm primarily a lurker on the digest, and enjoy the discussions a lot. This is the first post I've made i probably a year and a half. That being said, and with respect to Ray, who apparently disagrees, I think the Straight Blast quote is pretty dead on. You can't be a good martial arts technician without being a decent fighter. We are martial artists, emphasis on martial. I think the distinction that isn't made in the Dundee analogy is one of technician vs. fighter vs. coach. Thornton speaks to those who look pretty, but can't pull it off in a real fight, i.e. "technicians" vs. fighters. Coaches are in a slightly different category. I would be very surprised if at some point Dundee wasn't an amateur or professional boxer. (Please correct me if I am wrong). As Dundee got older, perhaps he chose to place his emphasis on coaching. But I'd say his effectiveness as a coach probably had a great deal to do with his real experience fighting in the ring. It's only through sparring and fighting can you have an idea of what works in Eskrima and all martial arts. If you don't fight/spar, it really doesn't matter how pretty your technique is. I'll take ugly effectiveness over pretty pattycake anyday. Chad, I lived in Hawaii from 95-99 and am sorry I missed training with you guys, but I moved away (I think) just before you guys starting your weekend fights. Me and some guys used to swing sticks and knock each other around on the windward side on the weekends. If you like the Straight Blast philosophy and training, I'm sure you know Burt Richardson is on Oahu. His stuff now closely parallels (and contributes to ) SBG. I got to train with him about 7 months. Highly recommended. Take care, Lurk mode on, Rob __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Kick off your party with Yahoo! Invites. http://invites.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ From: Cplr50@aol.com Date: Wed, 2 Aug 2000 00:53:03 EDT Subject: eskrima: Re: Good technicians/fighters In a message dated 08/01/2000 11:14:33 PM Eastern Daylight Time, eskrima-digest-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com writes: I think that Matt is a bit narrow sited in his belief. A tech. is a person that knows a subject well, regardless of his ability to perform. Knowlegde brings insight and with it the ability to teach and use it. If you take his viewpoint to an extreme, it looses credibility. What he is stating is, if you can't do it then your knowledge is not valid/realistic. Hmmm? That's a statement from an immature mind set (rather a young man's perspective), that focuses on only what the body is doing. It's a perspective that ignores the factor of time. As you get older, your body slows down, doesn't heal quite so well, etc etc etc... It completely disregards factors such as wisdom and experience. I was fortunate to me Prof. Vistacion (Prof. Vee as some people know him) a few years back at a picnic. He made a casual observation about my techique (movement related) that took me years to actually appreciate and understand what he meant (so I think). By taking Matt's position, Prof. Vee, an elderly man, had nothing to offer me, because he couldn't do it for "real", therefore his Tech. knowledge wasn't "authentic" or "usefull".... in essence to take it serious (the comment) would have been "insane". I would rather think that it would be "insane" to disregard experience like Prof. Vee's. Just my 2cents Stone P.S. Last time I checked, most basketball coaches in the NBA are shorter white guys, who wouldn't last 1 second on the court with the likes of any REAL NBA player. Well its just fortunate that those players just do what they "know" what to do and ignore those pesky little coaches on the sidlines.. :) ------------------------------ From: Ray Terry Date: Tue, 01 Aug 2000 22:37:52 PDT Subject: eskrima: to teach or not to teach > I believe that many great fighters fail to become great teachers ... Agreed. Actually -most- folks that are great at anything are rarely able to be good, much less great, teachers. Sure, there are exceptions, but in general those with exceptional talent have a difficult time teaching their art/sport. Why? It was too easy for them to learn, it was natural, they didn't have to analyze it, it just happened for them. The best teachers are typically those that had to struggle to learn and master the material/art/sport. Me? I don't claim to be a great fighter or a great teacher, so make no assumptions... :) Ray Terry raymail@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com ------------------------------ From: "william schultz" Date: 1 Aug 2000 23:52:53 -0700 Subject: eskrima: Head gear Greetings, Just thought I would weigh in a quick post on the head gear thread. The hockey helmet is a viable choice with a few modifications. I like to use a standard Joffa helmet with a goalie face guard attached. The guard comes down far enough to offer some neck protection and retain good mobility. It is made of high impact resin/fiberglass - made to stop hard rubber pucks flying at you at 100+ mph! The cage is really more like you would find on a football helmet, kinda thick and rubber coated. Crafty brought up a good point about thrusts getting into the cage, and I believe Doc mentioned the training knife scenario --all things I considered. So, I removed the cage and took 1/4" steel mesh and covered the it using zip ties on either side of every junction to fasten it on. You have to do a little shaping and be sure to roll the edges to make sure there are no sharp points for your opponent to find. After about a year of use it's still holding tight. It offers plenty of protection all around, stays on your head, and your vision is not hampered in any way. So far it has held up to punyos, thrusts, and dummy blades. Also, the reverberation from taking a good head shot will prevent you from developing that nasty habit of taking a shot to get into corto range. My instructor asked me to retro fit a pair of motorcycle helmets with a similar system. If you want more detailed info on how to retro your own helmet you can drop me a line but it would be a week or so before I could back to you. Going to the hospital tomorrow morning for the delivery of our second child. Ima goin to be busy! Take care.(hope this helps some) William Schultz PCMA/MCAC PS. Preston, the goods are in! ------------------------------ From: SReiter000@aol.com Date: Wed, 2 Aug 2000 03:19:53 EDT Subject: eskrima: Re: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V7 #374 << Only have the barest knowledge of Silat & need more. Are there similiarities to MT? >> in some systems there are "muay thai" type kicks in some silat systems - according to danny I., the systems which evolved closest to the thai bordehave the most thai influence - makes sense to me- steve ------------------------------ From: Chad Date: Wed, 2 Aug 2000 03:14:07 -0700 (PDT) Subject: eskrima: Re: good technician/fighter I knew I could count on Ray to make some sense of it. What kind of person says boxing is not fighting? Actually, maybe the kind that says stickfighting with hockey mask and gloves is not? Yes some people have really good eyes and have an attribute to pick up what a person may or may not be doing good and be able to apply it to another fighter. But does this make him a technician or a coach? Sometimes I play the role of a coach when trying to show a 115 lb. to fight. He obviously won't be able to use his weight like me. Which is a bit ironic, in my eyes, because when I first started, I was a little disappointed. Here I am at 6' and a little over 200 lbs. learning from a man at 5'3" at about a 110 lbs., trying to learn his style of fighting. So I say to myself, OK, this 110 lb. man really knows how to use his body mechanics and positioning and weight to really apply some power, so if I can do the same thing, with the extra weight, I should really be able to apply some really strong power. Now that I can apply these things, I obviously will progress into whatever I can do using my weight as an advantage at times, but still have to back it up and digress(sp?) it for a guy that is close to the weight of someone that I learned from. Anyway, that might be a little off subject. So, back to the topic now- good point Ray. So the coach knows what he is talking about because he is developing good fighters. Now what if the coach is developing only coaches who in turn are developing only coaches and none of them developing fighters. SO in a sense, these coaches have proof that they know what they are talking about. Wow, Ray, you almost had me stuck there, thats what happens when you quote someone else and get questioned for it. Whew. ===== Chad chad@fullcontacthi.com Full Contact Stickfighting Hawaii http://www.fullcontacthi.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Kick off your party with Yahoo! Invites. http://invites.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ From: Ray Terry Date: Wed, 02 Aug 2000 7:01:11 PDT Subject: eskrima: . ------------------------------ End of Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V7 #375 **************************************** 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.