>To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net >Subject: Eskrima digest, Vol 10 #202 - 8 msgs >Date: Wed, 28 May 2003 15:11:04 -0700 > >Send Eskrima mailing list submissions to > eskrima@martialartsresource.net > >To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://martialartsresource.net/mailman/listinfo/eskrima >or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > eskrima-request@martialartsresource.net > >You can reach the person managing the list at > eskrima-admin@martialartsresource.net > >When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific >than "Re: Contents of Eskrima digest..." > > ><<---- The Sudlud-Inayan Eskrima/Kali/Arnis/FMA mailing list ---->> > >Serving the Internet since June 1994. >Copyright 1994-2003: Ray Terry and Martial Arts Resource > >The Internet's premier discussion forum devoted to Filipino Martial Arts. >1600 members. >Provided in memory of Mangisursuro Michael G. Inay (1944-2000). > >See the Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) FAQ and the online search engine >for back issues of the Eskrima/FMA list at http://MartialArtsResource.com > >Mabuhay ang eskrima! > > >Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: FMA in Raleigh NC (geezer883@juno.com) > 2. The Matrix 2, take 2 (Marc Denny) > 3. Giron Arnis Escrima (Steven Lefebvre) > 4. RE: Titles & such... (Mike Casto) > 5. Contact info of Bobby Taboada? (abanico-video-knuettel@t-online.de) > 6. RE: Kali in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill (mmciver@mindspring.com) > 7. Titles (Khalkee@netscape.net) > 8. Movie fight scenes (bill m) > >--__--__-- > >Message: 1 >To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net >Date: Mon, 26 May 2003 15:50:32 -0400 >From: geezer883@juno.com >Subject: [Eskrima] Re: FMA in Raleigh NC >Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net > >David Ng of Triangle KungFu Arnis Academy teaches Modern Arnis. David is >a great guy and knows how to have fun while he trains. Highly >recommended. > Rob > >--__--__-- > >Message: 2 >From: "Marc Denny" >To: >Date: Mon, 26 May 2003 15:33:56 -0700 >Subject: [Eskrima] The Matrix 2, take 2 >Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net > >Woof All: > > I suspect some of us have seen or will see The Matrix 2. I enjoyed the >following piece: >----------------------------- >May 24, 2003 >Philosophers Draw on the Film 'Matrix' >EDWARD ROTHSTEIN > > >Hundreds of millions of dollars ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a hacker >named Neo reached into his bookcase and pulled out a leatherbound volume >with the title "Simulacra and Simulation" ? a collection of essays by the >French postmodernist philosopher Jean Baudrillard. But when Neo opened it >to >the chapter "On Nihilism," it turned out to be just a simulacrum of a book, >hollowed out to hold computer disks. > >It resembled, then, the rest of the real world in the 1999 film "The >Matrix" >? the first of a trilogy directed and written by Larry and Andy Wachowski. >That world, with its office buildings and restaurants and teeming populace, >was, like its book, a hollowed-out illusion, a virtual universe filled with >computer code, a simulacrum of ordinary life, which Neo, a master hacker, >is >gradually taught to see for what it is: the Matrix. > >Neo is inducted into the horrifying truth: that human beings are >unknowingly >being force-fed this virtual fantasy while their bodies are held captive in >gelatinous pods by bug-eyed machines. And as Neo learns to perceive how >hidden code shapes the apparently real world surrounding him, so too did >fans begin to examine the coded allusions lying within the film itself. Mr. >Baudrillard was only the beginning. When asked how many hidden messages >there were in "The Matrix," the Wachowski Brothers once teased, "More than >you'll ever know." > >Now that its sequel, "Matrix Reloaded," is out, the interpretive industry >is >also gearing up. After the first film, Christian allegorists leaped at the >bait the authors left: characters named Neo and Trinity, allusions to Jesus >and resurrection, a city named Zion. The Buddhist character of Neo's >"awakening" to reality's veil of illusion was discussed. And academic >interest grew because the film self-consciously tapped current fascination >with pop culture and critical theory. Recent anthologies have included " >`The Matrix' and Philosophy," edited by William Irwin (Open Court), "Taking >the Red Pill," edited by Glenn Yeffeth (Benbella Books), and "Exploring the >Matrix," edited by Karen Haber (St. Martin's Press). Even the Warner >Brothers "Matrix" Web site contains a growing collection of papers by >academic philosophers: >(whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/rl_cmp/new_phil_main.html). > >Descartes, of course, is a recurring presence in these anthologies, since, >like Neo, he attempted to discover what man can be certain about, even if, >as he put it, a "malicious demon of the utmost power and cunning has >employed all his energies in order to deceive me." Plato is invoked as >well, >particularly his allegory of the cave, in which prisoners are convinced >that >shadows on the cave's walls are the sole reality until they are freed by >philosophical inquiry and led upward into the sunlight. > >The problem is that in the movie, the cave is the reality ? the rebels hide >out from demonic machines in the sewers of this post-apocalyptic world ? >while those who dwell in the illusions of the Matrix bask in sunlight. One >character, Cypher, explicitly prefers the world of the programmed Matrix, >with its sensual pleasures, compared with the reality of darkness, warfare >and struggle. So some philosophical essays ask, is there a reason the >choice >of the real world is more ethical? > >But there is another twist to the Wachowskis' fable. The Matrix is not >arbitrary; it is the world of contemporary America. It is our world. And >the >rebels, in discovering its illusory quality, the film suggests, are >discovering the truth about our world: that it deserves to be overturned. >"The Matrix" is a political allegory. > >This is why Mr. Baudrillard's book "Simulacra and Simulation" is so closely >associated with the film (some cast members were asked to read the book, >which Morpheus, the rebel leader, also quotes). In these essays, mostly >written in the 1970's, Mr. Baudrillard suggests that because of technology >and the rise of modern capitalism, everything has become a simulacrum; as >in >the Matrix, nothing real remains. Disneyland is one of his examples: an >imaginary world that invokes something "real," though that "real" world is >just as imaginary. In fact, Mr. Baudrillard argues, Los Angeles and >California are as fantastical as Disneyland. > >There is a distaste for contemporary American culture in many of Mr. >Baudrillard's analyses, and a distaste too for American power and its >images. This is also shared by the rebels of "The Matrix," who reflect a >kind of hacker ideology, seeking to "free" information from its "system" of >control, to overturn the Matrix and its tyranny of images. > >But this has a disturbing side. In the essay "On Nihilism" Mr. Baudrillard >announces that in the face of "hegemonic" power, there is but one response: >terrorism. He writes, "I am a terrorist and nihilist in theory as others >are >with their weapons." Similarly, in "The Matrix," Morpheus tells Neo he must >regard all inhabitants of that virtual world as enemies that may be killed; >anyway, most people are "not ready" for the truth. Morpheus is even wanted >by the Matrix's ruthless agents for "acts of terrorism." While we are meant >to cheer him on, neither Mr. Baudrillard nor the Wachowskis nor the >philosophical essayists explore the ethical limits of these >all-too-familiar >convictions. > >Now, though, in "Matrix Reloaded," something else takes place. At the risk >of spoiling some plot twists, it is worth pointing out that, despite the >film's flaws and misjudgments, it seems intent on questioning many ideas >from the first film. > >Some things stay the same. Neo and the rebels must head off a full-scale >attempt by the machines to destroy the underground city, Zion, so the basic >revolutionary posture remains intact. In some ways the film becomes even >more extreme in its objections to American life (at one point, as a >character speaks of the "grotesqueries" of human nature, background images >of Hitler and George W. Bush appear). > >But other things change. What exactly is Neo supposed to do? In the first >film Morpheus hailed Neo as the One, the Savior of the real world. This >belief in the real may be one reason Mr. Baudrillard has never found >identification with "The Matrix" congenial, suggesting it has "stemmed >mostly from misunderstandings" of his own work. But in the sequel he seems >a >nearer presence. Boundaries and premises break down. Morpheus's prophetic >claims begin to seem strident. Neo can't even trust what he is told by the >Oracle, a woman who foresees the future but who may also be manipulating >Neo >with her prophecies. > >In fact we eventually learn through cryptic pronouncements of the Architect >of the Matrix ? its software writer, its God ? that Neo is actually living >in the sixth version of the Matrix. In each, a savior figure has arisen. >And >in each earlier case, the savior has not been able to free humanity at all. >Instead, the result has been a large-scale loss of life, until the Matrix >begins again, with an apparent upgrade ? a new web of earthly illusions ? >allowing no recollections of the disastrous past. By the end, Neo has >reason >to wonder whether any revolutions accomplish what they claim, whether he is >free to make a choice at all and whether even the real world is what it >seems. > >So the third movie, scheduled for November release, faces its own choice. >It >could end up moving even closer to the nihilism of Mr. Baudrillard and its >ultimately sordid message. But faced with what Mr. Baudrillard has called >"the desert of the real," it could also find some other path, as yet >undreamed of in its philosophy, that may bring hackers, humans and machines >together. >---------------------- > >Woof, >Crafty Dog > >PS: Chad Stahelski, long time student of Guro I who was credited as one of >the two stunt doubles for KR, was credited as Fight Choregrapher. > >--__--__-- > >Message: 3 >From: "Steven Lefebvre" >To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net >Date: Tue, 27 May 2003 10:16:35 +0000 >Subject: [Eskrima] Giron Arnis Escrima >Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net > >Hello Everyone, >Here is another great opportunity for FMA training! > >Giron Arnis Escrima Seminar >with Grand Master Tony Somera > >When: June 21st and 22nd 2003 >Where: Warrior’s Way Martial Arts Academy > Wichita Falls, Texas > >Time: 10am – 4 pm both days >Cost: 2 days = $125.0, 1 day = $85.0 > >Contact: www.Warriorswaytx.com > 940-696-1254 >For more information on this system: www.GironArnisEscrima.com > >_________________________________________________________________ >The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* >http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail > >--__--__-- > >Message: 4 >From: "Mike Casto" >To: >Subject: RE: [Eskrima] Titles & such... >Date: Tue, 27 May 2003 08:42:42 -0400 >Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net > ><< The point that was made was could any one person, i.e. the post said >could [insert-anyone's-name-here], claim to be "the world's leading >authority on Edge-Impact weaponry and Filipino martial arts". I think >not... >> > >LOL ... well, just to be a pain in neck, anyone can *claim* it ... >proving it to everyone else's satisfaction would be the tricky part ;-) > >Mike > >--__--__-- > >Message: 5 >Date: Tue, 27 May 2003 14:48:58 +0200 >From: abanico-video-knuettel@t-online.de > (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Dieter_Kn=FCttel?=) >Organization: Abanico >To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net >Subject: [Eskrima] Contact info of Bobby Taboada? >Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net > >Hi, > >could any member of the list give me a valid e-mail adress or telephone >number of Grandmaster Bobby Taboada? > >You can mail it here or reply to dk@abanico.de > > >Thanks in advance > > >Dieter Knüttel > >--__--__-- > >Message: 6 >Date: Tue, 27 May 2003 09:52:39 -0400 (EDT) >From: mmciver@mindspring.com >To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net >Subject: [Eskrima] RE: Kali in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill >Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net > >I started learning years ago at a school called SafeSkills, run by Kathy >Hopwood and Beth Seigler. They teach Remy Presas' Modern Arnis. It's a >bit of a different learning environment, being in a predominantly female >dojo (they also teach karate), but I must say I really liked the >environment. They started me on my martial arts path, which continued in >NYC with Agapito Gonzales. > >The website is http://www.safeskills.com/martialarts.html > >Another request came to me for a Kali instructor in >the Raleigh, >Durham, >Chapel-Hill region of North Carolina. >Any recommendations? > >Thanks, >Bill McGrath > >--__--__-- > >Message: 7 >Date: Tue, 27 May 2003 11:52:37 -0400 >From: Khalkee@netscape.net >To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net >Subject: [Eskrima] Titles >Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net > >This title thing reminds me of hwo a dean once thought that I'd be affected >by being called "Doctor". I didn't care a flip about being called by a >title, just wanted more money!!!:-) > >In teaching martial stuff, etc. in public I think that COACH works well. >That's what most MA teachers/instructors do, yes? Teaching and coaching >are not necessarily the same processes. The way that many "teach" may not >include coaching, but "coaching" another always includes some teaching. >Just MHO. > >I think that "coach" is the title used in the PRC ... and they are revered. > We see it well at the Olympic level ... and the great coaches ... no >great grands or any of that ... they're all just "coach". > >__________________________________________________________________ >McAfee VirusScan Online from the Netscape Network. >Comprehensive protection for your entire computer. Get your free trial >today! >http://channels.netscape.com/ns/computing/mcafee/index.jsp?promo=393397 > >Get AOL Instant Messenger 5.1 free of charge. Download Now! >http://aim.aol.com/aimnew/Aim/register.adp?promo=380455 > >--__--__-- > >Message: 8 >From: "bill m" >To: >Date: Wed, 28 May 2003 15:10:21 -0400 >Subject: [Eskrima] Movie fight scenes >Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net > >Movie fight scenes > > > > > >It has been asked several times on this list, "What are your favorite movie >fight scenes?" > >I would like to ask a follow up question. > > > >"What does a movie fight scene have to deliver to get on your favorites >list? >What elements make a good fight scene?" > > > >To me, a good fight scene should be like good music. It should have a >discernable rhythm or melody and it will get extra points if it also tells >a >story. And, just as I like being able to hear the words to a song, I want >to >clearly see the techniques used in a fight. I don't want to see extreme >close >ups, cutting or other camera tricks to hide the actor's lack of skill and >speed. > > > >I grew up watching Kung Fu movies in the 70's. I would go to the Sun Sing >theater in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York's Chinatown and >watch >the latest Hong Kong import, (The Sun Sing has since closed. Too bad. In >what >other U.S. theater could you see Chinese snacks like dried cuttle-fish next >to >the Raisinettes at the concession stand?). Back then, I found myself >searching out the period movies set in the 1600's as they were more likely >to >use weapons in their fight scenes. The period weapon scenes had a definite >melodic tempo to their fights. However, the tempo of Hong Kong's empty hand >fights in the 70's often matched the monotonous of the "thump, thump, >thump" >disco beat of that era, (my guess is that the actors who had the best >martial >arts skills were used in the more expensive period pieces). The fight >scenes >that broke the mold from that time tend to stand out in my mind. > > > >Next time you see a 1970's Hong Kong empty hand fight scene, close your >eyes >and listen to the tempo of the fight. Usually the tempo stays the same >throughout the fight, it may be fast, but its monotone. > >Then go and listen with your eyes closed to the scene in Enter the Dragon >(1973) where Bruce Lee fights Han's guards underground. You can tell just >by >the sound that Lee's fight is more dramatic than most Hong Kong fights of >that >time. This is what I mean by melody. It's the rise and fall of the tempo >that >makes it interesting. Now watch Lee's fight with O'Hara. Because you know >O'Hara caused the death of Lee's sister, you know this fight is important. >This one fight has the tempo of a mini movie all by itself. I think of this >fight in three sections, Stand Up, Kick Butt and Kill. Lee's speed in the >very >first hit (and the look of utter shock on O'Hara's face) sells the rest of >the >fight. Notice how the director uses no music and no slow motion for the >first >few hits to focus on Lee's incredible speed. Lee shows his supremacy in the >middle section of the fight while he toys with O'Hara with flashy kicks. >The >middle section also gives the audience a chance to catch our breath after >the >dynamic opening. > >Then comes the finish. O'Hara breaks the bottles and things get serious >(you >know it gets serious because of the slow mo camera and Lalo Shifrin's music >comes up to tell you so). > >Lee kills O'Hara with a look on his face that, to me, said he was >remembering >his dead sister. As I said, this fight has the tempo of a mini movie, it >has a >Dramatic Intro, a Comic Interlude and a Climatic Ending. > > > >I also enjoy the Chambara samurai movies of the 1960's. Rent "The Seven >Samurai" (1954) sometime and contrast the fights there with those in >"Yumjimbo" (1961), "Sanjuro" (1962) or "Sword of Doom" (1966) The Seven >Samurai was made earlier and used kendo as a base for its fight scenes. >Kendo >may develop good reflexes, but it does not show well in a movie fight >scene. >In the later movies, directors like Kurosawa and Okamoto based the fights >on >the "one cut- one kill" techniques of Kenjutsu and Iaido and this made the >fights much more dramatic. Watch Sanjuro and see how much drama is packed >into >the final sword cut of the movie. > >In Sword of Doom, the swordsman Tatsue kills a man in what was supposed to >be >a friendly tournament. The man's family then tries to kill Tatsue as he >walks >down a road. Notice how clearly defined the sword techniques are in this >film >when compared to the samurai movies of the 1950's and how this helps show >Tatsue's mastery of the sword (I especially liked the three cuts against >three >opponents that ends with the cut to the lower spine. Notice the footwork >here). > > > >Another favorite of mine is "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000). In >this >film there are two scenes that stick in my mind. One is the fight between >Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi in which Yeoh uses different weapons against >Ziyi, who is armed with the Green Destiny sword. There is a point where >Yeoh's >sword is broken by the superior Green Destiny, but she still shows she is >the >better fighter by instantly putting the broken sword to Ziyi's throat. > >Chow Yun-Fat makes the same point by defeating the Green Destiny armed Ziyi >with a slender tree branch. Fights scenes like these tell a story within >themselves. > > > >In my mind these movie fights are superior because they go beyond the usual >"bang, bang, bang, bang" rhythm of most movie fights. I like to see "bang, >bang - dramatic pause or line or action that says something important about >the story line- bang, BANG". > > > >In essence, instead of a bunch of flash and dash being thrown at me, I like >to >be treated like an intelligent human being capable of seeing subtle >techniques >and understanding the emotions and motivations surrounding a fight in a >film. > > > > So then, what specific things do you look for in a movie fight scene? > > > >Regards, > >Tuhon Bill McGrath > >Email: tuhonbill@pekiti-tirsia.com >PTI website: http://www.pekiti-tirsia.com/ > > >--__--__-- > >_______________________________________________ >Eskrima mailing list >Eskrima@martialartsresource.net >http://martialartsresource.net/mailman/listinfo/eskrima >http://eskrima-fma.net >Old digest issues available @ ftp://ftp.martialartsresource.com. > >Copyright 1994-2003: Ray Terry, MartialArtsResource.com, Sudlud.com >Standard disclaimers apply. >Remember 9-11! > >End of Eskrima Digest