From: eskrima-digest-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com To: eskrima-digest@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Subject: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V8 #343 Reply-To: eskrima@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Errors-To: eskrima-digest-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Precedence: Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest Wed, 1 Aug 2001 Vol 08 : Num 343 In this issue: eskrima: Re: Reply to Animal's post eskrima: Re: Reply to Animal's post eskrima: ABCDEF eskrima: 3 minute interval training eskrima: . ========================================================================== Eskrima-Digest, serving the Internet since June 1994. 1400 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 Michael G. 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: "Buz Grover" Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 12:46:10 -0400 Subject: eskrima: Re: Reply to Animal's post Jay asks: "Perhaps you could bless us with what J Diamond has to say about that. Any anthropologist (except for a South African one) would support my statement." Jared Diamond's book "Guns, Germs, and Steel" would hardly bring comfort to a European ethnocentricist. If memory serves, Diamond is of the opinion that the Western place in the international pecking order is largely a matter of happenstance, questionable practices, and dumb luck. He posits, for instance, that sleeping with domesticated animals, both literally and figuratively, brought herding cultures into contact with animal pathogens that the herders then developed immunities to. When these cultures came into contact with hunter/gatherers, the pathogens often wiped the latter out, allowing the former to increase their range. As herders became seafarers the process continued. In another instance, Diamond suggests that the incivility and instability caused by all the fractious, warring late middle age city/states contributed to Western military ascendancy. Stable imperial powers like China had the infrastructure and wherewithal to quash innovation seen as destabilizing. The small, warring European states, however, were always seeking better ways to off each other from afar, leading to ever more effective killing technology and conquest. Diamond, in short, debunks the notion that Western ascendancy was caused by the sort of innate superiority folks like white supremacists cling to. Instead he does a pretty good job of providing context for the whorling matrix of variables that led to the current state of affairs. Though I think Diamond could certainly be accused of painting with a broad brush, I think his thesis and perspective are well worth considering. It certainly puts a different spin on things if some gents with poor hygiene and questionable tastes bedding the livestock had more to do with the current order than did a fellow with a pure heart and firm virtues holding the barbarians off at the gate. Regards, Buz Grover ------------------------------ From: AnimalMac@aol.com Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 14:26:09 EDT Subject: eskrima: Re: Reply to Animal's post From Marc MacYoung From: "jose saguisabal" writes: << This was a response to my statement that the obviously African-descent "Negritos" and mix of Malays that were from "Negro slaves __brought__" to the region was an ethnocentric explanation for their presence. I stated that there was trade and trans-oceanic travel long before the arrival of Portuguese to the Philippine region. >> There once was a comment that I loved made about the debate on how plants, animals, people and other influences reached various islands and continents. "Historians apparently believe that anything can float across the ocean except a boat" These historians tend to cling tenaciously to their timescale despite solid evidence that proves humans have been around far longer and were far more technologically advanced than their current timescale allows. A major point of contention is sea travel. Evidence strongly suggests that seagoing trade routes were established and in use through out Asia and Africa long before the barbarian honkies had quit wearing fur and barking at the moon. The question really isn't if there was sea travel/commerce between Asia and Africa in ancient to even medieval times. That it existed is obvious. The questions that do remain however are "How much?" "What was its nature?" "How significant was its influence on the local people?" AND "What happened that it was lost?" Political and social upheval has a tendency to wipe out these connections as apparently happened with the Vikings in North America and the Chinese in South America. And as time goes on the references and knowledge is lost to the general populace, as apparently happened with the "Indian" influence in Indonesia and Australia. Or local history is rewritten to conform with the "local-centric" version as apparently happened with the with the slave Roman Legion in China. >My question: are you disputing my statement? Or were you simply trying to cast doubt on the notion that African travel is explained as being "brought" via the Slave trade? Or are you denying that using such explanations are ethnocentric? It is obvious that you disagree with my statement...what about it do you disagree with? Pre colonial African travel is not "another fill-in-the-blank-centric revisionist bit of history," as you so colorfully put it. Perhaps you could bless us with what J Diamond has to say about that. Any anthropologist (except for a South African one) would >support my statement. It seems you don't. To assume that the African presence in Malaysia was solely through the slave trade is a mistake. Seldom is just one simplistic explanation the correct one in history. On the other hand ruling it out entirely is just as erroneous. The slave trade did exist and it existed LONG before the "white devils" showed up and took their turn at the biz. Unfortunately, what a great many people don't want to admit is that a major source of the slave trade has always been the Africans themselves. Tribal divisions (read racial hatred) have long been the source of raiding, warfare and strife. And many of these people taken as prisoners were sold as slaves. So while we should not categorically accept that the African presence in Malaysia was because of slavery nor should we utterly discount the possibility that it had its influence either. Because face it, slave trading WAS commerce. >What gets me is anti-political correctness and the defensive attitude many people take when Eurocentric history is challenged. Instead of challenging the fact at hand, it seems like some folks prefer to soft shoe around the subject and make it look like one is guilty of the same ethnocentrism in order to make up for what happened in the past. We are all educated men: support your (however soft) suggestion that i was guilty of the same bias. Jay, number one, I am about as politically correct as a shotgun blast in a titty bar. On the other hand, I definitely have problems with racism...no matter who is doing it and no matter how justified someone feels about their stupid generalizations about other cultures and other races. Number two, I have absolutely no guilt or remorse that my ancestors were better killers than other people. That is because I learned something a long time ago, and that is just because someone got their asses kicked DOESN'T automatically make them nice people. Conquest, torture, slavery, corruption, racial genocide, oppression and social inequality are pretty much common traits of any group that is ruthless enough to get into power. I don't really care about either side of "white guilt" of "blaming the white races" for past crimes game. I consider either stance to be pretty much BS -- especially when you look at the track records of the regimes AFTER they have thrown out the "Imperialist invaders." Number three, in the same vein, that I consider the idea that all good things come from the white race and that an area's history started when the honkies showed up to be horse pucky, I seriously question the validity of the current fad of over emphasizing local "pop" version. Unfortunately, since someone else had shown up and either rewritten history or forgot about old connections a lot of the area's own history has been lost to us, which leaves us guessing as to what really did happen. And with that in mind we cannot fully trust either the "white" version or the "local" version, we must instead look at the evidence we have at hand. Finally, don't assume I was accusing you of a bias just because | mentioned a book that seriously challenges many of the assumptions of modern historical viewpoints and practices -- especially since it might just help support your contention. As to your contention that I was 'softly implying" anything, I try to be reasonable as long and as often as I can, but as people who have been nailed by me can attest, if I was coming at you, it wouldn't be subtle. You would know. You may be touchy about the issue, but I wasn't attacking. Nor was I challenging your contention that slavery might not have been the sole source of the African presence in Malaysia. In fact, I agree wholeheartedly. Now the question remains though, "How'd they get there?" ------------------------------ From: "Marc Denny" Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 14:11:27 -0700 Subject: eskrima: ABCDEF Greetings: Mike wrote: > Over the last several months it has been brought to my attention that there > are some SERIOUS questions about Dr. Gyi's military and academic background. > After discussing these issues with a number of people I have found that > their misgivings are valid. From inconsistencies with rank, divisions and > locations, to personal anecdotes that EXACTLY mirror movies plots Dr. Gyi > has woven a web of ficion that has entangled numerous people. > > While I have enjoyed training with Dr. Gyi and have a healthy respect for > his abilities, I am greatly distressed by the efforts he has made to > misguide the martial arts, military and law enforcement community. I can > only hope that he will preserve what is left of his good name and make a > full accounting of this situation. > > Michael A. Krivka @ Martial Arts Koncepts I'm here taking it easy for a couple of days after our Training Camp but wanted to briefly comment on this. Although Dr. Gyi has asked for no response to these accusations (and indeed I am not qualified to discuss them), as may be remembered by many here I had some e-mail contact with some of the individuals involved and would offer some additional observations. 1) A quite substantial portion of the accusations are anonymous. What weight should be given to anonymous accusations? What to make of a campaign that says that anonymous accusations are OK? 2) Some of the accusers claim to have been with Dr. Gyi for decades. Why did they stay so long? and leave now? 3)There is more than one possible reason for silence. Dr. Gyi is 76 and not on the internet. Is he supposed to get hooked up so he can spend his days learning to use the internet and chasing down anonymous accusations? Each will decide for himself what to make of this and I raise these questions NOT THAT THEY BE ANSWERED TO ME OR HERE, but so that the consideration of these questions should be part of the equation. That is all. Woof, Crafty Dog ------------------------------ From: RAFAEL MIER Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 17:45:36 -0600 Subject: eskrima: 3 minute interval training To stay in shape and to complement my arnis training I recently followed coach Budd Coates beginner's routine, from coach potato to 30 minute runner in 10 weeks, published in Runner's World Complete Book of Running. Thanks to this program I now run 45 minutes every other day. Now I am looking for a similar time tested program to run 8 to 10 sprints of 3 minutes, alternating with rest periods, to build stamina for 3 minute sparring rounds. I have not found yet an interval program in minutes that guides me week by week. The schedule may look like this: Week 1 - 10 minute warm up, 1 minute sprint, 4 minutes light running, repeat 5 times. Week 2 - 10 minute warm up, 1.5 minute sprint, 3 minutes light running, repeat 6 times. ... Week 13 - 10 minute warm up, 3 minute sprint, 2 minutes light running, repeat 10 times. When to increase the number of sprints? When to decrease rest periods? When to switch from medium speed to full speed (max VO2?), all this without getting injured? Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Rafael. ------------------------------ From: Ray Terry Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 22:18:58 PDT Subject: eskrima: . ------------------------------ End of Inayan_Eskrima/FMA-Digest V8 #343 **************************************** 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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