Date: Thu, 10 Oct 2002 12:12:22 -0700
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Copyright 1994-2002: Ray Terry and Martial Arts Resource

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Mabuhay ang eskrima!


Today's Topics:

   1. One of my teachers in the Philippines (Ken McDonough)
   2. Politics (Ray Terry)
   3. Derobio Escrima: A Quick Look (Ray Terry)

--__--__--

Message: 1
Date: Thu, 10 Oct 2002 05:44:03 -0700 (PDT)
From: Ken McDonough <maganda44@yahoo.com>
To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net
Subject: [Eskrima] One of my teachers in the Philippines
Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net

Repost with attached comments.

I thought I would pass this along to interested readers.

One of my teachers is staying with my inlaws in PI. 

Peace,

Big Ken

<Well in the last installment I had actually planned to be leaving Bangkok
in a few days but as to the best laid plans of mice and men I wound up
there another week.
My host father had his 85th birthday party which turned out to be quite the
bash.I have never been to a birthday party were they hire massage
therapists to work on anyone in attendance!They wound up having it at a
hotel and the person of honor was pretty spry for 85 actually he appeared
about 65.Of course Karaoke was booming the whole time as people seemed to
get more and more eager to sing as they consumed more and more
liquor.Myself being the only Westerner present was coerced into singing a
variety of American song from Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons to
Elvis.Any thoughts that I had about having a decent voice quickly faded as
I heard myself in surround sound.There were many there who howled just as
passionately as I, so at least I did not feel too bad.There is actually a
Karaoke bar across the street from our residence and many of the patrons
there wail and howl as if they are canines getting neutered without the aid
of any anesthetic. With that to compare to I think some of people at the
party sounded pretty good. Of course the end of the party was the best.
People were getting carried out in various states of illness due to their
eager consumption of fermented fruit beverages. I got to explain to my Thai
hosts the various American slang terms such as praying to the porcelain god
and ralphing.The night ended with us carrying a very close family friend
all the way to the van and then back ! into the house which was
entertaining in it self and took three of us plus two of the house staff to
accomplish. 

I guess the end of the whole Bangkok scene was my host volunteering his
motorbike to me as transportation.Bangkok traffic is not fun…!Especially on
a motorbike! The shifting mechanism was on the handle which was totally
foreign to me.So trying to shift, weave in and out of traffic without being
killed and breathing in all the pollution is quite the experience the first
time around.Most people drive around here with face masks on similar to
what a painter wears when painting a house as the pollution is that
bad.Combine their limited sight due to the smog and face masks with the
fact that they make up driving rules as they go make it even more fun. You
can actually go the wrong way down a one way street as long as you stay to
one side…or so people seem to do anyway. If you can’t beat them join them.
I don’t think driving in the US will ever be so much fun again. 

My last day in Bangkok I was starting to get the hang of driving, or so I
thought.While doing a U-turn I started to loose control of my bike but
managed to pull over and discovered a flat tire was the cause.Well in the
US its bad enough but in Bangkok were I didn’t know were to get it fixed so
it was a little more complicated. I tried to drive it home after about a
block I realized this was not a good idea though some onlookers found it
quite interesting if not amusing. After this failed attempt I decided the
only way to remedy this was to push it the remaining 4 miles home in the
heat and pollution of the afternoon.I found that ones enthusiasm quickly
wanes after about 1 mile or so after you are soaked from sweat and the
monsoon like rain as well as asphyxiated from the air pollution.Luckily in
Bangkok they have these trucks which haul people around and I was able to
flag one down and put the scooter in the back and get home.This is harder
than it sounds when none of us spoke the same language.Of course the
clincher to all of this was once I got home one of the servants showed me
that a spare is actually kept in a hidden compartment on the motorbike.I
didn’t even try to tell him that there was no way on earth I was going to
try to take apart the whole rear section of the motorbike in the middle of
Bangkok traffic to replace the tire! Actually the whol! e time there I
didn’t communicate with the servants that well except in an ongoing process
of grunts, gestures and blank looks and smiles of bewilderment! 

As I write this now I have arrived in the Philippines and all the Thai
language that I have managed to learn has now become quite useless.It is a
very good thing that most of the people here speak English as well.It’s
strange jumping from one country to the other and I was very fortunate that
one of my students in DC made arrangements for his in-laws to pick me up at
the airport.I think the driving is the worst I have encountered here up to
this point in my trip.Not only do the drive crazy but they drive fast! 

I have been very lucky to get along with the family I met to the point that
I will be staying with them during my duration. This being the case I get
to learn the local culture much more and get fed the local diet three times
a day.So far we have been dining on things varying from goat stew to
chicken embryo though the goat was much more appealing.This has also helped
with the driving problem as I now get driven around and get to avoid having
to do it all myself. 

One of the brothers I am staying with is very interested in working out and
martial arts so he is helping me canvass the city and get networked in for
martial arts and performs as a tour guide and translator as well. This in
itself has been a godsend. 

So far the Philippines have not been exotic as the rest of the places I
have visited but I really came here for martial arts which I have found.I
think I know what they mean when they say go to the source now.They say if
you want to improve you should surround yourself with people who are
superior in your field and well that seems to be the case since arriving
here.The martial art I can here to study is a Filipino art which centers
around stick and knife fighting as well as empty hand techniques. This
evening while training I was feeling more like a rug that got hung out and
beat with a stick than a martial artist. I am sporting many new lumps and
bruises and actually have an ice pack on my head and resemble a Warner
Brothers cartoon character as I write this butt I have found what I can
here looking for. As long as I don’t use the language lessons the family is
teaching me I should be safe. So with five and a half more weeks to go we
shall see what happens.I hope that everyone is doing well back in the
states and I enjoy hearing from all of you! 

  

All the best, 

Karol>






__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Faith Hill - Exclusive Performances, Videos & More
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--__--__--

Message: 2
From: Ray Terry <rterry@idiom.com>
To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net (Eskrima)
Date: Thu, 10 Oct 2002 10:13:14 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Eskrima] Politics
Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net

Vaguely interesting, but very sad commentary on the politics within the 
Serrada ranks...

http://www.dennisservaes.com/martial_truth.html

Ray Terry
rterry@idiom.com

--__--__--

Message: 3
From: Ray Terry <rterry@idiom.com>
To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net (Eskrima)
Date: Thu, 10 Oct 2002 11:15:51 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Eskrima] Derobio Escrima: A Quick Look
Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net

A good article.  But 6th Degree Black Belt in only 7 years???

Forwarded message:

Derobio Escrima: A Quick Look

A brief introduction to the Filipino martial art of Derobio Escrima.
The Filipino art of Derobio Escrima was introduced to the public by the
late Grandmaster Braulio Tomada Pedoy. Grandmaster Pedoy was born in
Ormac, Leyte, Philippines on October 16, 1898. Pedoy ran away from home
at the age of six after receiving beatings from his father. He traveled
through a dangerous forest for four days until meeting General Faustino
Ablinwho became his teacher. The General was a hermit hiding in the
forest with a reward on his head for his efforts in the war against the
Spanish and later the Americans. Grandmaster Pedoy studied Hilot
(massage) and Escrima (stick fighting) untill the age of 17. After 11
years of study, his final test to become a master of the art was to
fight in actual combat with his teacher, each armed with two bolo
knives. The match lasted three hours. When it ended Braulio Pedoy had
sustained cuts to his face and hands, but only the tips had cut him, not
enough to show a lapse in his defense. The General was unharmed.

Grandmaster Pedoy spent the next three years traveling to other islands
to learn different methods of Escrima. In 1924 he settled in Hawaii and
lived there for the remainder of his life.

Derobios New Mexico, USA Regional Chief
The Derobio Escrima practiced in New Mexico comes through US Chief
Maestro Daniel Medinas lineage. Chief Medina began his study of the
martial arts in the mid-70s while in the Navy. There he studied many
different disciplines and earned many black belt rankings. In 1985 he
met and became a disciple of Grandmaster Pedoy and in 1987 was promoted
to Maestro by him, later in 1991 he was promoted to Chief Maestro. In
1990 Chief Medina was relocated to New Mexico by the Navy and has been
teaching his methods of Derobio, including its subsystems of arnis
kuntao, black masters sphinx karate, sikaran and others.

Fighting Methods
Derobio Escrima uses 12 angles of attack and defense to familiarize
students with principles of motion, rather than static technique.
Derobio is quite different, in that all defenses are done by passing the
strikes to their zero point of power rather than the more common method
of a la contra or against the force. This is taught from the beginning.
Once strikes are passed through, the Derobio practitioner is able to
close the gap on the opponent using any number of weapon or empty-hand
strikes, using basic to advanced patterns, disarming, joint locking,
limb destructions, takedowns and more. This may take place with
minimized danger to the practitioner.

What makes Derobio truly unique is its sophisticated use of counter
locks, of which there are 144 in total. These counter locks begin where
there appears to be no counter to an opponents lock and subsequent
counter strike. Typically, these locks are done with the weapon though
some may be done empty handed. When the weapon is used, locks are
applied to joints, bone, muscles, tendons, nerve branches as well as
pressure points. These locks can have the effect of causing temporary to
permanent paralysis, bone breaks, muscle tears, and so on. Due to the
inherent amount of damage of these locks, this knowledge is typically
reserved for advanced practitioners of this style.

The art of Derobio Escrima is yet another testament to the genius and
inventiveness of the Filipino people, as well as their will to overcome
all odds. It is our hope that in sharing this rarely seen and beautiful
system with others, that this art will contribute to the ever-growing
body of knowledge the Filipino martial arts has to give.

About the Author
Brandon Jordan is the protege of Chief Maestro Dan Medina having studied
with him continuously for 7 years. On December 13, 2001 he was promoted
to full-instructor status and holds the rank of first level Red shirt
(6th degree Black Belt equivalent).


--__--__--

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