Date: Mon, 04 Jul 2005 03:04:25 -0700 From: the_dojang-request@martialartsresource.net Subject: The_Dojang digest, Vol 12 #281 - 5 msgs X-Mailer: Mailman v2.0.13.cisto1 MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net Errors-To: the_dojang-admin@martialartsresource.net X-BeenThere: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.13.cisto1 Precedence: bulk Reply-To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net X-Reply-To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net X-Subscribed-Address: kma@martialartsresource.com List-Id: The Internet's premier discussion forum on Korean Martial Arts. 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Copyright 1994-2005: Ray Terry and Martial Arts Resource The Internet's premier discussion forum devoted to Korean Martial Arts. 2000 members. See the Korean Martial Arts (KMA) FAQ and the online search engine for back issues of The_Dojang at http://MartialArtsResource.com Pil Seung! Today's Topics: 1. Another great article (Jye nigma) 2. From an article: EPEE FENCING TO IMPROVE YOUR KNIFE SKILLS (Jye nigma) 3. ITF/WTF for Chris (Tkdsid@aol.com) 4. Mr. Martin (Frank Clay) 5. Re: ITF/WTF for Chris (Ray) --__--__-- Message: 1 Date: Sun, 3 Jul 2005 11:25:55 -0700 (PDT) From: Jye nigma To: csemt@yahoogroups.com, itf-taekwondo@yahoogroups.com, the_dojang@martialartsresource.net, martialstudies@yahoogroups.com Subject: [The_Dojang] Another great article Reply-To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net THE SIMPLEST KNIFE DEFENSE Trading Your Black Belt For A Pint Of Red Blood James Loriega Ever since Filipino knife and stick fighting became part of the martial arts mainstream in the late 70s and early 80s, the rest of the martial arts world has become anally obsessed with "effective" knife defenses. And rightly, if belatedly, so. Up until that time karate, jujutsu, and even judo (if can you believe this) practitioners were confident, if not outright smug, about their abilities to defend against a knife-wielding opponent. Then along came the little brown men from Cebu (Visayas) and Stockton, and suddenly the ever-popular X-block (juji-uke, for those who still remember) all but disappeared from the martial arts vocabulary. Even if the X-block were a valid defense against a knife thrust, the fact remains that 80% of the knife attacks observed and reported by police are slashes, not thrusts. Further statistics demonstrate that the major targets of attack are not to the stomach or chest, but to the arms and face. When thrusts are used, they are often directed to the sides of the body and the kidney area. This is not surprising considering that an attacker will resort to thrusting when he is too close to slash at close quarters; the most available targets at that range are the defender's unprotected sides and back. Today there is a whole sub-industry in the martial arts specializing in teaching the experts how to really defend themselves against knife-based attacks. Books, videos, and seminars purport to teach you to "fear no man," "de-fang the snake," and otherwise fight "unarmed against the knife." If you look around, however, you'll see that not much has occurred in the way of progress. The suicidal, cut-me-on-the-veins x-block has merely been replaced by a plethora of equally non-sensical, unworkable, and irresponsible disarming techniques. Unless an individual is practicing and training in Filipino or Indonesian knife defenses, his "effective techniques" are nothing more than blood waiting to be spilled. Touted as "progressive fighting systems," arts such as wing chun, hapkido, hwarang-do, Brazilian jujutsu, and the new darling, Krav Maga, all promise to provide the "real life answers" to "real life attackers." Unfortunately, when you are awarded your black belt in these arts, it doesn't come with a few pints of your type blood. Breaking Bricks, Dodging Swords… and Burning Feet Over more than three decades of training in and teaching the martial arts, I have had the opportunity to observe the wide variety of "tests" and evaluations connected with skill assessment and rank promotion. I have watched as those tested are made to perform kata, break bricks, or fight off a dozen or more similarly trained attackers. Some of the tests I myself underwent throughout the years were equally irrelevant, from sensing and avoiding the downward stroke of a sword to walking barefoot across a fifteen-foot stretch of burning coals. (The latter two tests mentioned will be readily recognized by knowledgeable readers as "higher level" tests used in certain systems of ninjutsu.) Over-dramatized as they sometimes are, these tests are nonetheless valid to the extent that they force the individual being tested to clear his mind and concentrate on the danger at hand. However, apart from this non-conscious integration of the student's mental and physical focus, and the measuring of his ability at that moment in time, these tests are more ritual than they are gauges of actual combative ability. While my observation is not intended to antagonize others or minimize their accomplishments, I do believe that the true measure of a martial artist's worth is determined by a test I've not seen in any training hall. As Ronald Duncan Shihan, my ninjutsu mentor of thirty plus years, has often remarked, "the true measure of a martial artist's skill is his ability to defend himself against an attacker wielding a naked blade." Mettle vs. Metal Of course, he is not referring to how well a martial artist executes his practiced defenses against a fellow student from the same training hall. Nor is he talking about how fluidly realistic disarms are performed by those students whose martial arts are knife-based. He is referring to an individual's innate ability to respond adequately -- which is the most you can expect -- against an unfamiliar attacker whose knife skills and intent are equally unknown. These unknown variables are what separate the training hall technician from the street fighter. Will your lightning-fast thrust kick to his lead knee drop him in his tracks, or will his knife just dart in faster than your kick and slice across your hamstring? Don't answer until you're standing in front of a man with a Cold Steel Tanto in his hand. The Task At Hand Regrettably, this sober and realistic understanding of the extreme danger posed by a naked blade is glaringly absent in the overwhelmingly vast majority of videotapes, books, magazine articles, and "hands-on seminars" that purport to teach practical knife defenses. Monthly magazines such as Black Belt and Inside Kung-Fu still feature articles titled Defeating a Knife Attacker, or some variation thereof. And they still depict the martial arts expert-cum-author demonstrating an X-block against a knife thrust. The task at hand is to stop cold steel with nothing more than your soft flesh and hard bones. The task at hand is to prevent a sharp, pointed blade from penetrating your body cavities or gashing across your veins and arteries. The task at hand is to physically repel and neutralize the onslaught of mindless, heartless degenerate while using only your hands and feet -- without having the flesh sliced from your limbs while doing it. The task is, just as it sounds, impossible at worst and extremely difficult at best. Defending against the blade while unarmed has been an integral skill of the Andalusian knife culture. Their techniques for doing this have been documented at least as far back as 1849, with the anonymous publication of a knife handling handbook titled Manual del Baratero, ó Arte de Manejar la Navaja, el Cuchillo, y la Tijera de los Jitanos. Yet even before the publication of this oft-cited but rarely understood manual , there were training halls throughout Spain and southern Europe that provided instruction in the numerous ways an individual could survive an encounter should he ever find himself without his weapon. Many of these training halls taught separate, if unwritten, curricula that addressed both edged weapons and unarmed combat. The Best Defense At the request of our Publisher, I asked Spanish navaja instructor Santiago Rivera to temporarily replace his knife with a pen and describe the rudiments of the knife defense system he once developed and taught at his Escuela de Armas Blancas in Seville. (Don Santiago, for readers who have not yet read Sevillian Steel: The Traditional Knife-Fighting Arts of Spain, is a contemporary Maestro de Armas who is reputedly the foremost edged weapons exponent throughout Andalusia.) What follows is his reply: I have found that best defense against a knife-armed attacker is actually a mental one. If you know how to use a knife, this mental technique will work in most cases where you are attacked. This mental technique is to remember to have your own knife with you when whenever you leave your house. The simplest answer to the potential problem of facing a knife-wielding opponent is to preemptively become adept at handling a knife, and always have it with you. For some, this answer will sound too easy. Such people only subscribe to complicated solutions. For others, the thought of carrying a knife is tantamount committing a criminal act. Such people prefer to be legal than safe. They also seem to be unaware that they can also safely defend themselves with a small legal knife. And some people will argue that carrying a weapon exposes them to having it turned against them. Such people are merely lazy or simply fail to realize that part of the responsibility that comes with having a weapon is developing proficiency in its use. _____________________________________________ Many modern knife enthusiasts have gone to great lengths to obtain abridged facsimiles of this manual, only to read and interpret it according to their existing preconceived notions of what it "says." Like another such well-known work, Bruce Lee's Tao of Jeet Kune Do, there are more readers inclined to "interpret" it than there are willing to grasp its message. The Silent Partner Instant readiness and response time have always been concerns to Don Santiago. Owing to these concerns, it was rumored that Santiago routinely carried four or five navajas on his person. Though it would have been a breach of trust to ask the maestro how well and where he was armed, I gained a certain insight into this from observation as well as from his lectures. During one such lecture in 1998, Don Santiago explained: The blade must be your constant companion. Like a good wife, it should be at your side in whatever you do, always providing assistance, support, and confidence. Treat her well, keep her sharp, and she will be faithful to you to the end. The knife carried for personal protection must be available and accessible in order to be of any use to you. You can be fairly certain that when an attacker approaches you, his own weapon, whether brandished or not, is ready for use. Such being the case, the reaction time available to you for bringing your own weapon into play is minimal at best. Most situations will not allow for you to fumble through your pockets to find and draw your weapon. You will either be ready, or you will be cut. Unfortunately, many individuals who carry knives often feel self-satisfied simply because they do carry. But simply carrying a knife is not enough. Even carrying it regularly in the same place to find it easily is not enough. Only carrying it consistently, finding it quickly, and having it ready before the attacker reaches you is acceptable. And as it is, having it ready merely gives you a 50/50 chance of survival. Santiago, like many others of his avocation, encourages the carrying of at least two knives at all times. This of course makes perfect sense. The knife fighter after all must be ambidextrous for, should the situation arise, he cannot afford to cease defending himself if his dominant hand becomes injured. It follows then that if both his hands are capable of effectively, if not equally, wielding a knife, he should fully avail himself of this potential. While this doesn't necessarily mean that he should fight with two knives simultaneously, it does mean that he should have knives within reach of each hand. Remember, for a knife to be of use to you, it must be made your constant companion. And as with companions, there is safety in numbers. The keys to successfully carrying any knife are experimentation and practice. Determine what carry locations work best for you and then practice to make certain they work at all times and under all conditions. _____________________________________________ James Loriega, the technical editor at Realfighting, has been training in Ninjutsu, western fencing, Sevillian knife fighting and a number of other martial arts since 1967. Having earned dan ranks and instructor credentials in a variety of systems, he currently teaches armed and unarmed combat at his facility, the Raven Arts Institute, in New York City. His text on the traditional knife-fighting arts of Spain, Sevillian Steel, is reviewed in this issue of Realfighting and available from Paladin Press. www.paladin-press.com Mr. Loriega may be contacted care of realfighting.com or at: raven_arts@email.com. --------------------------------- Yahoo! Sports Rekindle the Rivalries. Sign up for Fantasy Football --__--__-- Message: 2 Date: Sun, 3 Jul 2005 12:09:04 -0700 (PDT) From: Jye nigma To: csemt@yahoogroups.com, martialstudies@yahoogroups.com, the_dojang@martialartsresource.net, itf-taekwondo@yahoogroups.com Subject: [The_Dojang] From an article: EPEE FENCING TO IMPROVE YOUR KNIFE SKILLS Reply-To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net EPEE FENCING TO IMPROVE YOUR KNIFE SKILLS Most intelligent students of the knife who have studied arnis/kali and other Asian weapons systems at some point come to the realization that they have no appreciable high-level skills. Yes, they know how to perform myriads of flow drills and fancy movements, but they don't have any real skills when it comes to hand/arm/body coordination, footwork, distancing and timing. Having studied many Asian weapon systems first-hand, I can guarantee that the most cogent and systematic methodology of edged weapons instruction comes from western fencing. I'm not saying to drop what you're doing, but if you have extra time, add fencing to your training regimen. For the person who carries a small knife or folder, the most appropriate system is epee. This is because there are no right-of-way restrictions (just as in real life) and it focuses primarily on the point (which you should do when using a small knife). Normally, fencing can be financially abusive, especially if that's not your main focus. Weapons, mask, uniforms, gloves, bags and parts can easily add up to a few hundred dollars before you even set one foot into the fencing salle. Joining a fencing club too can cost you upwards of $500 a year just for membership and initiation fees, and private lessons are extra. Fortunately, I've found a great resource (for those of you who live in the NYC tri-state area) that negates most of the aforementioned financial burdens. Vladimir Basim, a champion fencer (epee) from the former Soviet Union, teaches private lessons in epee through the Dolphin Fitness Club at 90 John Street. Mr. Basim provides all the equipment for you (mask, glove & epee), there's nothing to buy or bring with you. There are no rules for attire so you don't have to purchase an expensive uniform, and best of all, no initiation or membership dues. Mr. Basim has flexible hours and cost for a 45-minute one-on-one session is $30. Contact Mr. Vladimir Basim at 718-974-9969 Vladimir Basin's Bio: Vladimir was born and raised in the former Soviet Union (the Ukraine), and has been involved in fencing for 25 years. He started to fence at 7-years of age, and entered his first competition at age 9. By the time he was 14 he won the all Ukrainian championships, and the All Soviet Union Competition (junior division). At this time Vladimir was noticed by the coach of the elite Olympic Reserve Special Sports School in Kiev, and was invited to live and train on campus. This school was the training ground for Soviet Olympians in all sports. Only 400 athletes were invited to train there (out of a total population of 40 million). Fencing practice was extremely rigid, all fencers at the center trained 6-days a week, twice a day, and 3-hours per session, including morning exercises. Since, a good fencer should also be a good athlete, the regimen included: running (marathons), weight training and overall fitness exercises. Between the ages 14-16 Vladimir entered numerous competitions and at the age of 16 officially became a "Master of fencing." After this Vladimir moved to the United States and trained with the U.S. Olympic team at the New York Athletic club. Vladimir is now training students in epee. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com --__--__-- Message: 3 From: Tkdsid@aol.com Date: Sun, 3 Jul 2005 16:51:42 EDT To: the_dojang-request@martialartsresource.net, the_dojang@martialartsresource.net Subject: [The_Dojang] ITF/WTF for Chris Reply-To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net Sid said: > I wish the following: that a merger DOES take place, > that brand new 21st > century forms be created that are not horseback or > sword based, What do you mean? Which TKD forms are horseback or sword based? the palgwe's in particular but in specific, koryo was adapted from sword fighting > that therre be a > heavy increase in hand technique, In what sense? In free sparring? In other training aspects? (Actually in ITF free sparring there are a lot of hand techniques - and they actually score points, too.) in sparring in particular, in wtf we hardly use it that full > body armor AND padded > gloves, helmut and padded foot gear be worn so that > one could whale away without > worry, Why not just do that in class during sparring or have it as a division in the tournaments you hold? using it all the time prevents needless injury and encourages hard contact. unless you like kyokushin karate and that itf/wtf reach out to moo duk > kwan/tang soo do/soo bahk do > for them to join this new confederation, This was already tried, actually. Frankly, Hwang Kee didn't want to joing TKD but rather to have his own style. More power to him, I say. If you want to unite all TKD that's one thing, but Hwang Kee visualized his TSD/SBD-MDK to be a separate art, it seems to me. i am aware of that. but since Hwang Kee is no longer here, and since we have a chance to start fresh, maybe now is the time for a brand new taekwondo > that taekwondo > vs. karate tournaments be held liberally. They are. I've been to *many* open tournaments (some good, some bad) where karate, TKS, TSD, kung-fu, etc. all competed against each other. i've been to a few and found them interesting > Am I > asking too much??? I don't know if it's too much, I'm just not sure it's *necessary*. necessary is a hard concept to address. it will become necessary to compromise differences between itf/wtf. maybe that makes it necessary Taekwon, Chris > Sid Taekwon, Sid ____________________________________________________ Yahoo! Sports Rekindle the Rivalries. Sign up for Fantasy Football http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com -- __--__-- --__--__-- Message: 4 From: "Frank Clay" To: Date: Sun, 3 Jul 2005 16:14:46 -0500 Subject: [The_Dojang] Mr. Martin Reply-To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net Sir, Prior to correcting someone you should first be aware of military policies. There are certain positions that hold restrictions even after leaving government service. To whit: my father left the Army in 1972; however, was unable to travel to any communist country until 1980, or other countries as deemed by the State Department/Military due to his crypto-clearance. Ostensibly, an officer should hold at a minimum a confidential clearance. I would dare say a general would hold a higher clearance thus precluding his ability to travel to a country deemed hostile by his government. So, even having left the service, he still should not have gone after having been told not to do so. The trip in question was said to have occurred well before becoming a citizen of another country. Either way, he still should not have gone because he knew that he would be a security risk (but that is purely my opinion.) As to history, bear in mind that virtually all KMA orgs have "modified" history. The unreliability of our historical resources is one of the things that harms our study. Case in point, there is a history that indicates that Gen. Choi was expelled from the CDK in 1959 after having been found to have forged/lied/modified his training history. Did it happen? The only person that can answer whether his history was forged has passed on. Could there have been a political reason for such allegations? Heck yeah. And so the vicious cycle of he said- she said goes on. Now as to WTF guideline moving back towards ITF, no. They are moving back towards mainstream rules such as those found in PKA and other professional combat sports organizations. Now, there is nothing for the WTF to merge with in my mind. There are too many factions and if they did even a minor audit or risk assessment, I think they would see they have little to gain but a lot to lose by getting wrapped up in the who is the real ITF debate. If they want to do something, in my miond they should honor any certificate issued by the ITF during Choi's life and subject other "ITF" promotions to re-examinations. Frank --__--__-- Message: 5 From: Ray Subject: Re: [The_Dojang] ITF/WTF for Chris To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net Date: Sun, 3 Jul 2005 18:23:26 -0700 (PDT) Reply-To: the_dojang@martialartsresource.net > This was already tried, actually. Frankly, Hwang Kee > didn't want to joing TKD but rather to have his own > style. Check your facts. Hwang Kee would have been very happy to join TKD, but only if he was in charge of it all. And, of course, that wasn't going to happen. Sure, he tried to claim otherwise in later years, but you can't rewrite history. Ray Terry rterry@idiom.com --__--__-- _______________________________________________ The_Dojang mailing list The_Dojang@martialartsresource.net http://martialartsresource.net/mailman/listinfo/the_dojang http://the-dojang.net Old digest issues @ ftp://ftp.martialartsresource.com/pub/the_dojang Copyright 1994-2005: Ray Terry and http://MartialArtsResource.com Standard disclaimers apply. Remember September 11. End of The_Dojang Digest