Genie in a bottle

Meerkat has been busy working away on the website for the great new martial arts weapon as announce earlier. Here are some pictures of the system:



Most traditional JJ styles incorporate some weapons into their syllabus. When you reach senior dan grade levels, it's not unheard of for some jitsuka to carry their huge arsenal of kobudo gear in a mini-trailer or van. So why not invent a modular system that can create a dozen different weapons - from a short 6 inch kubotan stick to a massive 7 foot naginata pole? Well, the wait is over, the Martial Arts Multi-Weapon (MAMW), as developed by my buddies Grant and Eddie from Cobra Martial Arts.
It's a veritable Genie in a soft casing bottle. Inside one medium sized, flat packed hold-all lies the components that can make the following weapons:

2 x Kubotan – Senior & Junior
2 x Yubi-Bo – Senior & Junior
1 x Short Stick – Junior
2 x Short Stick – Senior
2 x Kali Sticks – Senior
1 x Jo - Junior
1 x Jo - Senior
1 x Bo - Junior
1 x Bo - Senior
1 x Naginata - Junior
1 x Naginata - Senior
1 x Nunchuka - Junior
1 x Nunchuka - Senior
2 x Kama - Junior
2 x Kama - Senior
2 x Tonfa - Senior

I've been lucky to try out several of the weapons from ths MAMW and it is really impressive. All the bits fit really well and the carbon fibre weapons are light but strong enough to withstand impact.
The CobraMA guys are rushing to unveil the MAMW for SENI'07, we wish 'em luck. In the meantime, Meerkat will continue to burn the midnight oil finishing off the website. Phew!

byMeerkatsu

in

February 26, 2007

Genie in a bottle

Meerkat has been busy working away on the website for the great new martial arts weapon as announce earlier. Here are some pictures of the s...

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Lion Tamer

Just came back from BJJ training and I am still a little gobsmacked by my experience just now. World Champion BJJ Black Belt Leo Negao came to visit and he offered to spar with us blue belts. OHMIGOD, this guy made mince meat of us, no he made mince meat of the mince meat - and he wasn't even trying. One by one we lined up and became mere putty in his hands, er feet, elbows, head. But of course, the best was saved till last - this old Meerkat had to spar with Leo who decided to tie his hands behind his back. Jesus! Nothing I could do could topple or trip or throw him. He just kinda stood there, absorbing or reacting to my every attempt to shift him. Even a cheeky flying armbar attempt was rebutted with a shrug of his shoulder. When it did go to ground, he continued to hold his hands behind his back and I just kinda bounced off him like rain drops against the surface of a highly waxed motor. IT was totally humbling and humiliating - all of it was captured on video too.
Leo Negao is a terrifically nice guy and he wasn;t of course trying to humiliate me, as he explained afterwards about the fact that he wanted me to understand about simple balance - action and reaction. For example, a double leg take down only needed to rotate a little to make work - not my heave-ho version.
Gulp. A big lesson in humble pie and a very definite I am not worthy head bowing ensued as I left the dojo clinging the small iota of dignity that remained.
Ooos!


Meerkat is the one on the bottom!

byMeerkatsu

in BJJ, black belt

February 20, 2007

Lion Tamer

Just came back from BJJ training and I am still a little gobsmacked by my experience just now. World Champion BJJ Black Belt Leo Negao came...

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John Williams sensei

John Williams sensei, 5th Dan Jikishin Ju-Jitsu and 4th Dan Judo passed away over the weekend. Our deepest condolances to his family. Jikishin has lost a great instructor.

byMeerkatsu

in

February 19, 2007

John Williams sensei

John Williams sensei, 5th Dan Jikishin Ju-Jitsu and 4th Dan Judo passed away over the weekend. Our deepest condolances to his family. Jikish...

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The human Stun gun

It's been a fairly hectic MA time this past week.
At the weekend I attended kobudo and was pretty pleased to really nail the new nunchaku kata that seems to fox me everytime. Also managed to get the hang of the katana 8 cuts kata, although am far from making this look polished. The frustrating thiing with kobudo for me is that we spend nearly all session going over all the old katas, leaving very little time for the new stuff. That means you walk home having never learnt anything for the next exam level. I still have not seen naginata kata, hardly touched the Sai #3 and barely scratched the surface of the bo pairs stuff. I might raise this with head sensei.

The head of our JJ style did introduce to us a new addition to the white belt kata. Now, at each belt level, there is a further 3-4 technques tacked on. By the time the students reaches brown, the original white belt kata will have mutated into a really nice looking sparring kata. It's pretty impressive and should achieve the aim of equipping students with suitable kata skills by the time they tackle shodan.

I've always been very cynical about Dim Mak - or Death touch as it is sometimes referred to. DON'T CONFUSE THIS WITH JUJITSU PRESSURE POINTS (atemi waza) - in jujitsu, although many of the pressure and nerve points used in our trad JJ style coincide. Dim Mak practitioners belive they can seriously maim or even kill with their techniques (whereas we teach that they are sometimes useful to distract). So I laughed my flipping Meerkat head off when I saw this video - a snatch from a US news segment exposing how ineffective dim mak was against a bunch of BJJ students. The instructor looked, frankly, foolish. You've been found out mate. Yet, there will always be those who believe anything, because they want to believe.

Lots of events are happening - the 10K challenge in Hackney looks to be the most exciting. Just seen the competitor list and BJJ coach Eddie Kone is on the reserve list of fighters. If someone pulls out, Eddie may get his moment on stage.

byMeerkatsu

in

February 11, 2007

The human Stun gun

It's been a fairly hectic MA time this past week. At the weekend I attended kobudo and was pretty pleased to really nail the new nunchak...

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Ruggerjitsu

(c) Copyright The Guardian Newspapers

According to the Guardian today, some rugby league clubs are enlisting the help of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu coaches to help them gain extra advantage. By adapting a few simple pin-downs and joint locks, they are able to pin a tackled opponent more effectively and win the ball back.
Hmmm. I have a thing against odd-shaped balls. Still, it's nice to see wider recognition of BJJ in the sporting world. Whatever next? Tiger Woods learns new 'neck crank' manoeuvre when going for the 18th hole? Tiger explains: "my new lockdown was inspired by watching Jeff Monson in UFC last year."
"It certainly frightens the opposition, and gets rid of a few of the pesky fans that bug my view!" Woods joked.

byMeerkatsu

in

February 09, 2007

Ruggerjitsu

(c) Copyright The Guardian Newspapers According to the Guardian today, some rugby league clubs are enlisting the help of Brazilian Jiu-Ji...

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