Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2005 03:00:33 -0700 From: eskrima-request@martialartsresource.net Subject: Eskrima digest, Vol 12 #349 - 3 msgs X-Mailer: Mailman v2.0.13.cisto1 MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net Errors-To: eskrima-admin@martialartsresource.net X-BeenThere: eskrima@martialartsresource.net X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.13.cisto1 Precedence: bulk Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net X-Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net X-Subscribed-Address: fma@martialartsresource.com List-Id: Eskrima-FMA discussion forum, the premier FMA forum on the Internet. 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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 digest at http://MartialArtsResource.com Mabuhay ang eskrima! Today's Topics: 1. music (TenDigitTouch) 2. Florida Today (Ray) 3. Re: Secret techniques (Marc MacYoung) --__--__-- Message: 1 Date: Sat, 15 Oct 2005 06:20:30 -0700 (PDT) From: TenDigitTouch To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net Subject: [Eskrima] music Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net Was watching the movie "Hero" again last night. In the opening fight scene at the chess house when the unnamed one asks the old man to play more for the duel, was that music beautiful, or what? I got on the net and looked up the instrument. It is called a guqin, or just a qin. Silk stringed zither. Anyway, I though it would be great to have a cd of that music, for training. Apparently it is not much played in China any longer. It is quite expensive, compared to a guitar. Anyone have inexpensive sources for a cd? Thoughts on the music? Ray --__--__-- Message: 2 From: Ray To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net (Eskrima) Date: Sat, 15 Oct 2005 06:29:23 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Eskrima] Florida Today Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net Locals bring Filipino combat arts to practice BY CAROLINE PEREZ FLORIDA TODAY Grouped in pairs, people are seen hurling 28-inch sticks at each other on an open, grassy area of Wickham Park. They carefully choreograph their feet on the soft grass this peaceful Saturday morning. Then, one man swings a dagger toward another, who uses only his hands to defend himself. But do not be alarmed. The unbashed combat is among a class of students from the Filipino Combat Arts of Melbourne. After discovering there was no one to train under locally, Andy Zavalla and Aldon Asher started the Filipino Combat Arts of Melbourne four years ago. They say it is the only martial arts school in Brevard with an emphasis on the Filipino system, Modern Arnis. "My teachers felt it was time for me to (teach) anyway," Zavalla said about breaking out on his own. Unlike some other martial arts, the Filipino style teaches weapons skills, which include use of cane sticks and machete-like farming tools. The tribal way Kali, Escrima and Arnis are the three common names for Filipino martial arts, which date back to Spanish colonization in the Philippines. Some people call the martial arts a different name depending on the time period it was developed or where it is practiced. Filipino Combat Arts of Melbourne instructor and co-founder Zavalla teaches Modern Arnis. Asher got involved with Filipino martial arts after someone cut his hand with a knife. He felt his defensive martial arts training at the time was insufficient. Asher, who recently moved to Orlando to try and start his own school, said he occasionally visits Zavalla's class on Saturdays to help. Zavalla's class is informal. Students practice at Wickham Park on Saturdays and at Key Martial Arts Supply store during the week. Zavalla gives everyone partner instructions and moves around from student to student for individual critiques. More than 30 students have taken the class at Filipino Combat Arts of Melbourne since the school's inception and most of them have a martial arts background. Zavalla caps the classes at 10 students. "We think of it back to the old system, like a tribal way: We're all members of one tribe," Zavalla said. "We make each other better; we make our tribe stronger. It's not real competitive while we raise skill level." Intermediate student James Nuttall uses some timing techniques from Zavalla's class and applies it to tae kwon do classes he teaches. In other schools, Nuttall said, traditional arts are more disciplined. "You train one technique for a long time, master it, then move on to a new one," Nuttall said. "This one, we do something different every day and there's more flow and timing. Being able to enter it fluidly into combat is what this class teaches me." >From practice to performance To recruit new students and promote Filipino martial arts, Zavalla and his students showcase free demonstrations. Earlier this year, they performed at Brevard Community College's Moore Multicultural Center in Cocoa. "When Andy and his students performed here at our Asian Pacific Islander event, their performance was very engaging -- everyone was mesmerized by their action and hand-to- hand combat," said Wendy Perez, spokeswoman for the Moore Multicultural Center. The knives and swords Zavalla uses in his class are made from one-fourth aluminum to simulate weight and feel. Zavalla fire-hardens the imported rattan sticks in a workshop in his house. During Spanish colonization of the Philippines, bladed weapons were banned and the stick was used for practice. It started off as a simulation tool for the bolo - a knife - and then became its own weapon because it can shatter bones. "Filipino martial arts is a combination of all the cultures influenced into the Philippine islands," said Wayne Rodriguez, an intermediate student who has practiced Filipino martial arts for three years. "I'm not a young man anymore," he said. "I can't be thrown around like I used to. This keeps me in shape and it's practical." Zavalla first teaches students how to fight with a single stick, then he teaches striking angles and how to defend those angles. Students also learn basic flow drills in order to practice technique. Flow drills help students refine their technique and memorization. "Probably one of the greatest turnarounds is that you can use it for self defense," Zavalla said. "You don't have to wait for years and years of training. If you train it on your own, you can use it right away." "From everything I heard about the Filipino martial arts, there's a lot more flow and freedom in the movement," said Joaquin Torres, an advanced student. "More emphasis is placed on the principles and reasoning behind the techniques rather than trying to make someone a carbon copy of the instructor." Cathy Holtzinger learned tae kwon do for eight years before switching to Filipino martial arts two years ago. "Everyone knows (tae kwon do's) a young man's sport," Holtzinger said. "As a female, I needed more technique and weapon training. This has been a great asset to me as a woman. Primarily, Andy teaches technique where I don't have the physical strength to take on a man, but if I know proper technique, I can at least get out of something." Keeping culture around Zavalla does not want to make a career out of teaching martial arts. As long as young Filipinos are aware that his school is around, Zavalla is doing his job. Zavalla said the Filipino community in Brevard is supportive of the indigenous art he is trying to preserve. He said the Florida's Space Coast Filipino American Charitable and Educational Foundation is planning to build a practice room for them at a Philippine Cultural Center under consideration for future construction. "They've been kind to us," Zavalla said. "They're going to build us an area to train in, to get more exposure to Filipino children so they know they have a martial art. Growing up as a youth, I didn't have anyone to train the Filipino martial arts with, so I just wanted to let them know we're there. So the young Filipinos can see we're there and think, 'oh that's cool' and be proud of their culture." As for future goals, Zavalla said he wants to keep the school running. "There have been times where it's just been one other person and me," Zavalla said. "I kind of felt like not wanting to do it anymore. But you just have to keep going. I'm not trying to make a career out of this; I just want to keep it alive so at least here, it doesn't get forgotten." --__--__-- Message: 3 From: "Marc MacYoung" To: Date: Sat, 15 Oct 2005 07:15:39 -0700 Subject: [Eskrima] Re: Secret techniques Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net Ken stated > Multiple stories involving box cutters. > The PMA student who killed a bouncer in NYC by slashing his femoral > artery. He then tried to kill himself in the prison. That leaves me to > question whether he realized what he was doing when he stuck out at his > victim. Yeah he did know. 1) It wasn't a box cutter...it was a designed and marketed "fighting knife." The judge commented on the "evil" nature of weapon's design during the sentencing. 2) It wasn't just a slash, it was a stab, twist and cut out move -- very specific and trained move causing 6-10" wound while TEARING, not just cutting the femoral artery (Ask an EMT what that means) 3) It was while Dana Blake was fighting his two friends -- not him -- over their refusal to put out their cigarettes in compliance with a newly passed law. So in essence, it was an ambush while the bouncer Dana was otherwise occupied. 4) Umali fled the establishment immediately after the stabbing 5) He dropped the knife in a trash can 6) He went to a friends house where he spent the night 7) He showered the blood off 8) He disposed of his bloody clothes Now maybe someone can go "golly gee, all those things are coincidence," but speaking as an ex-criminal, let me point out that most people don't know how to get away with a crime. If there was a book out there about how to get away with such a stabbing, that guy did it by the Cliff Notes version. By going to his friend's home he made sure the blood isn't in his apartment and he disposed of the bloodied clothes in a different place than he did the knife. Coincidence? Not real likely given the fact that he was trained. His subsequent actions to hide his crime are what assisted in his conviction. And oh yeah, that strike wasn't the kind that occurs accidentally. Now the real question is, given that the stab and the knife were deliberate choices enhanced by his training, then how much of the other stuff was also picked up in the school (whether officially or unofficially)? So let's talk about secret and deadly training. M --__--__-- _______________________________________________ Eskrima mailing list Eskrima@martialartsresource.net http://martialartsresource.net/mailman/listinfo/eskrima http://eskrima-fma.net Old digest issues @ ftp://ftp.martialartsresource.com/pub/eskrima Copyright 1994-2005: Ray Terry, MartialArtsResource.com, Sudlud.com Standard disclaimers apply. Remember September 11. End of Eskrima Digest