From: eskrima-digest-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com To: eskrima-digest@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Subject: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V8 #137 Reply-To: eskrima@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Errors-To: eskrima-digest-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Precedence: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest Fri, 16 March 2001 Vol 08 : Num 137 In this issue: eskrima: Balintawak seminar venue eskrima: Tomahawks eskrima: Tomahawks eskrima: Re: Black Seminoles eskrima: Re: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V8 #135 eskrima: The Definitive Dan Inosanto Collection 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: "Bill Lowery" Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 01:17:14 -0000 Subject: eskrima: Balintawak seminar venue Just to let everyone know that the Balintawak seminar in Newcastle upon Tyne, England will be held at the Ouseburn Community Centre. Anyone who is interested should contact me for venue details. Cheers Bill Lowery ------------------------------ From: Joel McNamara Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 17:34:18 -0800 (PST) Subject: eskrima: Tomahawks Couple of Net references: Fighting with a tomahawk (this originally appeared in a Cold Steel catalog last year) - http://www.coldsteel.com/fightingwatomahawk.html American Tomahawk Company - High quality hawk manufacturer making a reappearance after 30 years. Affiliated with Peter LaGana, designer of the Vietnam tomahawk. - http://www.americantomahawk.com/tomahawk/ American Tomahawk's forum at Bladeforums - http://www.bladeforums.com/cgi/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum=American+Tomahawk+Company&number=66 Hand axe fighting - Pete Kautz has some good techniques with photos - http://www.alliancemartialarts.com/axe.html Joel ------------------------------ From: "BILL MCGRATH" Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 22:54:35 -0500 Subject: eskrima: Tomahawks What was the original meaning of the word "tomahawk"? My dictionary lists it as having an Algonquian origin, but doesn't give a literal translation. I have read (I think in a knife mag when "Last of the Mohicans" came out) that the "gunstock" tomahawk was an imitation of the European's "firestick" in the days before Native Americans had access to firearms. Can anyone confirm this. I have a question for those knowledgeable with the penal law in their states. In New York State, we don't specifically list tomahawks in our penal law, but if the blade was over 4" wide I guess it would be defined as a " dangerous knife". Does your state list a tomahawk or hatchet as a prohibited weapon and if not what would someone be charged with for simple possession of one in your area (if a weapon is not specifically listed, it may still fall under some ill defined catch all phrase). Are there any states where one would be legal? Regards, Tuhon Bill McGrath Visit the PTI web site at: http://www.pekiti-tirsia.com/index.html ------------------------------ From: "Buz Grover" Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 00:33:12 -0500 Subject: eskrima: Re: Black Seminoles Mik asks: <> I don't know anything about Black Seminole fighting ways per se, but I did spend a lot of time speaking with an anthropologist concentrating his research in the area of the Gullah, Geechee (sp?) and Black Seminoles and found the whole topic fascinating. In a nutshell the coastal areas of or Georgia/South Carolina were considered prime areas for growing rice in the 18th century. Problem was that folks with rice cultivation skills were few and far between and no one wanted to work in swamps all day. As such the landowners sought labor with rice cultivation skills willing to work in swamps. Turns out there is a several hundred mile stretch in west Africa with a similar environment where rice was the staple crop. Therefor an order went out to slavers to nab people from this specific area; the anthropologist had copies of the slave ship manifests specifying the area the slaves were to come from and the skills sought. Because these slaves all came from the same area, they had a leg up on other groups brought forcibly to America: since they all came from the same approximate place and were forcibly resettled to the same approximate area they had common languages and cultures, thus avoiding the cultural fragmentation and isolation most other slaves endured. They had also evolved resistance to pathogens common to swamplands like malaria. Indeed, the anthropologist I spoke with was of the opinion that many of the blood borne pathogens the slaves were resistant to came over with them, vectors such as mosquitos then passed these ailments on to the white population--a population that was not resistant to said pathogens. These pathogens then killed off or made sick the land owning whites, who fled inland and left their plantations to be managed trustee slaves. Without slave owners around the slaves were free of many of the heavy handed tactics associated with slave ownership. Particularly noteworthy is that these slaves had weapons for hunting, predator control, and protection, and that the absentee landowners weren't around to suppress activities such as education, establishment of family groups and communities, or employ other tactics that kept slaves disorganized and uneducated. Indeed, to keep things profitable, the absentee landowners depended on a degree of autonomy unimaginable in other slave holding regions. So where do the Black Seminoles come in? Spain was nervous that the nascent United States was interested in expanding south into its territory in Florida. Though conditions in the rice plantations were better than in other slave holding areas, it was still a slave existence. As such many slaves escaped away from U.S. jurisdiction south into the northern Florida swamplands. Spain felt it was in its interests to have a buffer between its territories and the U.S., so it armed and supplied the escaped slave and indigenous populations in the area, the so called Black Seminoles. These folks not only "fought off" the U.S. armed forces, they kicked their butts. They used tactics adapted to their environment and ran circles around military units using the tactics of the day. Though I haven't done justice to the topic, I think there is a lot that can be gleaned from it that is applicable to martial arts study. One is that bad tactics trump good training. The U.S. military of the time, though more powerful and arguably better trained, was not able to adapt its tactics to the environment and paid for it. The anthropologist I spoke with had some source materials consisting of letters from officers describing the folly of their tactics; the powers that be of the day, however, refused to believe that a bunch of escaped slaves could put up that kind of fight and so did not heed the lessons of the defeats. I can't help but wonder what might have been different about our little foray into Vietnam if the national memory of U.S. losses in a tropical environment at the hands of indigenous peoples supplied by a hostile power hadn't been swept into the dustbin of history. Vietnam was not the first time we were hip deep in the Big Muddy. As Animal Mac intimates, your skills can become irrelevant when you are fighting by someone else's rules. I think it's also worth noting that a comparatively lightly armed population held an army at bay. Forgive me Ray if I fan any flames, but folks seeking to abrogate the second 10 percent of the Bill of Rights often argue that a civil right to keep and bear arms is irrelevant because the military is far more powerful than an armed citizenry. What's the point of owning guns if you can be cluster bombed? It's not too hard, however, to find examples throughout U.S. history where an armed citizenry significantly altered public policy. In the case of the Black Seminoles, they negotiated a treaty with the U.S. that allowed them to be relocated to the west with all their possessions, including weapons. Their westward relocation was on terms far more favorable than that of the Apache, for instance, and when the Black Seminole arrived in the west they continued kicking butts and taking names. The anthropologists I spoke with mentioned records of Texas Rangers attempting effect arrests in Black Seminole resettlements. The Rangers were so decisively driven away that they never returned. The bottom line is that a tight knit group of folks with martial skills took on an army and won. Though this forum often focuses on individual skills, I think all martial artists would do well to think about collective power and its appropriate uses. One does not have to look too long or hard to find oppression; what threshold thereof demands a response and how best could a martial arts community live up to precedents set by people like the Black Seminoles? Mik: I hope something germane to the question you raised resides within this long winded screed. To everyone else: I apologize for my fondness of polysyllabic tangents. Regards, Buz Grover ------------------------------ From: Jesse Manibusan Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 22:55:28 -1000 Subject: eskrima: Re: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V8 #135 From: Ray Terry > Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 20:48:22 PST > Subject: Re: eskrima: MARINE COURTESY > >> WRT the story about Pres. Bush and the Marines: >> I spent two years as the XO of the Marine Detachment aboard USS Midway >> (CV-41) and I never heard of this courtesy. Sounds to me like some jarhead >> was pulling the reporter's leg. Maybe some Leatherneck with more experience >> than me can comment? > > The Marine guard off Marine 1 extends this courtesy to Bush. But then it > was also extended to Clinton. It was just a bogus email going around that > apparently fooled many. > > Ray Terry > raymail@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com For us Marines, extending military courtesy to any superior is always required and never optional. _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: Patrick Davies Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 10:53:40 -0000 Subject: eskrima: The Definitive Dan Inosanto Collection When over in the UK last November Guro Dan Inosanto recorded a new set of videos which have to be seen to be believed. He is also interviewed throughout the videos and the stuff is superb. Assisted by Erik Paulson and Rick Young the videos cover: Jun Fan Gung Fu Jeet Kune Do 1 - 3 The Filipino Martial Arts 1 - 2 Dan Inosanto focuses on the kickboxing, Trapping and Grappling phases of Jun Fan Gung Fu and Jeet Kune Do. Dan Inosanto introduces us to the Filipino arts of Panantukan and Dumog available through Rick Young in the UK and the Inosanto Academy in the US. Pat Davies Aberdeen Martial Arts Group ------------------------------ From: Ray Terry Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 7:22:56 PST Subject: eskrima: . ------------------------------ End of Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V8 #137 **************************************** 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. 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