From: eskrima-digest-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com To: eskrima-digest@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Subject: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V8 #113 Reply-To: eskrima@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Errors-To: eskrima-digest-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Precedence: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest Tues, 27 Feb 2001 Vol 08 : Num 113 In this issue: eskrima: Grab Liabilities eskrima: To hair or not to hair? eskrima: Re: A Fistful of Hair eskrima: waterfights eskrima: GM Ben Largusa Article eskrima: . ========================================================================== Eskrima-Digest, serving the Internet since June 1994. 1300 members strong! Copyright 1994-2001: Ray Terry and Martial Arts Resource The premier internet discussion forum devoted to Filipino Martial Arts. Provided in memory of Mangisursuro Mike Inay (1944-2000), Founder of the Inayan System of 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 the online search engine for back issues of the Eskrima-Digest at http://www.MartialArtsResource.com Mabuhay ang eskrima! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: kalkiusa@netscape.net (Mikal Keenan) Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 15:13:27 -0500 Subject: eskrima: Grab Liabilities Mik (me) said . . . > Whether we like it or not, anything that someone > can grab and use to inflict pain is a potential handicap. Let me rephrase that a bit ... a little bit of thinking turned up some off-the-wall interpretations of that line :-) I'm only talking about things that are not parts of our physical bodies. Scalp and beard/mustache hair, particularly scalp hair, are not functional parts of our bodies because we got hats mon ... and socialized males tend to shave the facial stuff (well, I like my short beard thank you). Bear with me here, think of how functional clothing can become a liability ... I'm not advocating streaking here ... just a little thinking re: things like coats, jackets, sweaters, etc. When I was a kid my mother used to tell me to zip or button my coat/jacket or take it off. Now I tell others the same but for different reasons. The outerwear can be yanked down over your arms to render you nearly defenseless long enuf for someone to take you out. No matter how good some of us might be armed or unarmed, if some jerk pulls your open jacket down over our arms we're in trouble city until we get that thing off or back up onto our shoulders. Back up onto the shoulders provides a readily grab! bable extension of our bodies which can easily be used against us. So, a tangent on the hair thread turns up a new one that might make a big difference in sombody's life. Try it ... put an open jacket on a training partner. Yank the jacket down around his/her wrists and then everybody, reevaluate the sitchiation :-) Alla you knife, grappling, etc. goes out the proverbial window. Mitakeyu Oyasin :-) Be well, Mik __________________________________________________________________ Get your own FREE, personal Netscape Webmail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com/ ------------------------------ From: "big Joe A." Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 14:24:57 -0800 Subject: eskrima: To hair or not to hair? Hi All, De lurking after about a year of silence. Sorry about getting in on this thread so late but I haven't checked my e-mail in about 2 months. I've been busy at work. I figured I would put my two cents in on the hair thread. I've been to both extreme's having hair long enough to reach halfway down my back to my present cue ball look. What changed my view of Long hair you might ask? Well the biggest thing was an experience I had while studying Ju-Jitsu in a friends garage. I had long hair at the time and we were in a tussel real near the garage door which was one of those sectional roll-up deals. Well I was working from my guard and my friend was driving forward which ended up pushing me into the garage door. So we continued for awhile till I managed to reverse positions. Unbeknownst to me as I was in the middle of the reversal My hair happened to catch on a bolt just above the rubberband holding my hair in place. All I have to say about that one is OUCH. That coupled with a few other experiences of being reversed and pummeled during training by hair pulling "Dirty Tactics" (Which by the way our group motto was "What ever Works" and it did work.)convinced me to cut my hair short. Well after graduation from high school I changed my hair style to a normal length cut what we call a "Fade". Well after somemore training which again involved hairpulling coupled with a very hot summer (and also to win a wager that I couldn't bring myself to do it) I shaved my head bald. I have found that there are some really good things about having a shaved head of which i will list my top reasons for maintaning this hairstyle: 1. NO More Hair Pulling. 2. If you let grow out afew days before shaving it again the stubble is very sharp and coarse. Great for grappling and clinching. I lost count of how many arms I have caught from people trying to keep me from grinding the top of my head in their face. 3. It allows you to enrage your opponent by irritating him which lets you screw with his mental balance. An angry opponent is a stupid opponent (can also be more dangerous sometimes). 4. Very Low maintenance (Shampoo everyday condition once a week and shave every week and a half). 5. Timeless style. No need to worry about changing with current hairstyles. Looks as good in jeans and a tee as in suit and tie. Now for some of the bad things about my prefered hairstyle. 1. Staying under the sun for a long period of time is a b***h. No shade. I have invested a bit of money in hats for summer time now. 2. Sweat in the eyes while working out. ( solved with bandana or other such head covering.) 3. Easier to cut your head from a blunt impact (i.e. from headbutt and such)no hair to cushion. 4.Dry scalp problems during winter. Like with all other things in life there are tradeoffs. Ultimately it is up to the individual to decide if the aesthetic benefits of having long hair outway the tactical problems it COULD cause you. Well that's enough rambling for now. Your Bald friend in training, BIG Joe A. "The only constant in LIFE is Change." -N.B.S.- _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ From: "Roaring Girl" Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 19:44:49 -0330 Subject: eskrima: Re: A Fistful of Hair Hi Mik :) > Sure ... but I would ask you to try considering it from the vantage point of > examining factors that weigh for and against success in self defense. That > was my frame of reference. well, yes. I understand that. And in the context of self defense, I agree completely that very short (or no) hair is obviously of greater advantage. I think I was trying to point out that most people in their daily lives are not that focused in their thinking...or else we'd all be going around bald :D...and probably armed to the teeth (well, those of us who aren't already ;) > > I also wonder if the issue is a little bit different for guys vs > girls... > > There it is ... my comments were quite narrow ... I apologize. I quickly forgot about the female perspective in pursuing my "hair logic." I'm not saying that women are all more hair or fashion oriented...but culturally speaking in some instances there is more of a focus on it. As with many things, there are still certain behaviours or practices which are considered more appropriate for one gender or another, although this also varies from culture to culture. I'm sure most men on this list see nothing wrong with wearing a sarong (skirt-type garment), but in certain contexts in our culture it would not be considered appropriate. Personally, I think all women should shave their heads at least once in their lives, and men wear a skirt of some sort. It's very mentally freeing as well as physically freeing :) > yeah, understandable ... my wife lost her hair for awhile during chemotherapy. It was the least of her/our concerns at the time. Had a student who went through chemotherapy come to class without her wig ... she had fun doing it :-) Whipped off that wig with a big grin. Values? Exactly. and more power to people who take a possible disadvantage and make it work for them...which I guess could be a very useful way of looking at what we learn in the FMA. In fact, when I ask if I'm "doing something right", my guro often says to find the way that works for me. > My thinking was that the hair adds nothing to our chances for success in the fight scenario and may carry a high liability. > It's unnecessary for survival, and for most i sjust an adornment. > Nothing wrong with that. Just considering it as a factor in a purely -logical-, specifically narrowed thought process. yes. and I agree, within the fight scenario. > > I have luckily never been grabbed or attacked, and given where > > I live and my lifestyle, it is less likely than for, say, a > > security officer or someone living in a big dangerous city. > > Holy man once told me: "WHEREVER you go, there is everything to help you and everything to hurt you." People lose some of their instinct by assuming the delusion of false security. It's true, but again we have to choose how far we are willing to go to be secure. Not taking unnecessary risks, evaluating our lifestyle for risky behaviour/environments, taking precautions, etc. is all very important, but at some point I guess we do have to assume a certain level of safety, based on what we know and our awareness of the situation. Otherwise we'd be living in a constant state of high-level alertness, which I guess could have serious mental effects after a while...? i'm just guessing. I'm probably a couple of levels higher in my awareness than most of my friends, simply because of my training and educating myself about possible "situations"....and of course now I'm thinking of cutting my hair again ;D > Question for the LongHairs: Have any of you ever caught your weapon in your hair? I personally haven't, as it's usually tied back...although when I do spin kicks in practice, i sometimes whack myself in the face with the braid :(...however, occasionally I pin my hair up with chopsticks or pencils or whatever...and voila, mini-stix close at hand! cheers, jocelyne ------------------------------ From: Kristine Strasburger Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 16:20:03 -0800 (PST) Subject: eskrima: waterfights Recently Marc Denny posted, "But with the surface being so slippery only a handful of kicks were thrown all night without the kicker slipping and winding up on his ass. It was so slippery that many punches caused the puncher to slip and fall as well. And many a fighter who went to shoot would slip and fall upon his face. The net result was the most fighters were taken utterly out of their game. Unwilling to punch, kick, or shoot for lack of traction..." Yeah! I am going to incorporate this info into my regular training curriculum. Everyone knows how slippery a soaking wet lawn can be. So in the summertime (hey, I'm snowbound in Nebraska in the winters) why not finish off class by doing some training under the sprinklers on a very wet lawn? May not do the lawn any favors, but it will add a new and unpredictable edge to training. This could be fun! Kristine Strasburger __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail. http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ From: Danny Alvendia Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 17:16:56 -0800 Subject: eskrima: GM Ben Largusa Article Check out the Pentjak Silat USA website and go the links section. In there yu will find an article on kali with GM Ben Largusa. Interesting reading ... www.pentjaksilatusa.com ====================== Danny Alvendia dannya@mayannetworks.com ------------------------------ From: Ray Terry Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 18:22:22 PST Subject: eskrima: . ------------------------------ End of Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V8 #113 **************************************** To unsubscribe from the eskrima-digest send the command: unsubscribe eskrima-digest -or- unsubscribe eskrima-digest your.old@address in the BODY (top line, left justified) of a "plain text" e-mail addressed to majordomo@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com. Old digest issues are available via ftp://ftp.martialartsresource.com. Copyright 1994-2001: Ray Terry and the Martial Arts Resource Standard disclaimers apply.