Self defence

I just hosted a series of mini-seminars on self defence at the Imperial College. It was part of their Learning at Work week where staff of IC can take part in a whole range of activities and seminars for free. Ours was billed simply as a self-defence introduction and was co-hosted by both myself and Harminder Bharj - a Filipino martial arts expert.

The sessions were very popular with about 12-15 per class and mostly female. I find it interesting that a 'self defence' seminar attracts mostly women, but a 'martial arts' seminar attracts mostly men. Anyway, it was good to get a good turnout and the gang seemed to really enjoy and get stuck into their techniques. Of course a one hour seminar is gonna give nothing useful in practical terms but it hopefully gave people an eye-opener into the world of martial arts and self protection.

For me, self defence seminars - where I have to show normal people with zero background in MA techniques helps to bring a sense of reality back to the reason why we all do martial arts. A lot of people were initially very hesitant about making physical contact with each other and were quite hard to get engaged. But this soon changed after a few ice-breaking techniques (good old slapping of the hand pads) and many (including tiny little middle aged women who you would have thought least likely to be aggressive) who were really going for it with their wrist locks and strikes. One nearly broke my arm...not really, but she was much stronger than her 4foot 9 frame suggested.

Overall, a good exercise for me and hopefully for those attended. Maybe got one or two who showed interest in joining the club too.

byMeerkatsu

in

May 21, 2008

Self defence

I just hosted a series of mini-seminars on self defence at the Imperial College. It was part of their Learning at Work week where staff of I...

Read More

Chopped Sticks

Just had an awesome eye opening introduction to Filipino stick fighting. Our club was lucky to host, as our guest instructor, Ermar Alexander from the Danny Guba Doces Pares fighting system. Alex is a 5th degree black belt and world champion in stick fighting. He gave us a 2 hour introduction to eskrima. Alex began with stick twirls. To escrima practitioners, this is the basic core drill to strengthen and flex the wrists. We started with four strike drill which took us nearly half an hour to get the hang of. If you've never done stick twirling, it makes even the most experienced martial artist a befuddled fool. We built up the combos until we were doing 15-strike drills with added foot movements. Most of us were scratching our heads and just barely keeping up. Then we moved to harder striking techniques. I liked these since it was a good feeling to thrash the stick and make that whooshing sound. After a short break, Alex moved to angles of attack where you drill a preset kata of moves on your uke. This could be done with stick, knife or even empty hand. We were also shown a glimpse of counter stikes, disarms and joint locks. Obviously, these set of techniques caught our eyes the most as they are related to jujitsu.
Finally, the showpiece of the evening, the full contact sparring. Plucky James was first and actually, he took to it pretty well. Even Master Alex was surprised at his vim and vigour. James was buzzing afterwards and raving about how good it made him feel to enter the ring. David was up next, bravely fending off Alex's masterful attacks. Then the finale; David versus James. Two big men smashing ten bells at each other with long sticks, it was fun to watch.
I really enjoyed the seminar. Filipino martial arts has a long history. It is rife with stories of deadly matches and fight offs. In my opinion, it sure looks the real deal and I was privileged to get a taste of what it was all about. Good luck to Alex as he defends his title at the Worlds Championships in July.
Us, well, we'll never look at a baton in the same way again!

byMeerkatsu

in

May 16, 2008

Chopped Sticks

Just had an awesome eye opening introduction to Filipino stick fighting. Our club was lucky to host, as our guest instructor, Ermar Alexand...

Read More

The Lizards are gonna get you!

This advert in the local paper caught my eye. Apart from learning how to be 'street lethal' I was most intrigued by the 'reptilian brain', which I have never before come across.
According to info gleaned from fairly reliable websites (so it must be true), the Reptilian brain is one of the three components of the theoretical model of the brain known as The Triune Brain.

Sometimes I hate my ignorant self and how little I know about the world. On the school's website, there is a tantalising offer to not only learn more reptilian brain, but there is eagle vision, 'fighting with no mind' and the potentially murderous, dim mak death point striking.

Obviously I will have to sign up to learn more about these secret arts. I think for £45 a month by direct debit, it's quite cheap.
But you know I won't cos I'm a dullard and a scaredy cat. I prefer my bog standard, boring, no thrills punching, kicking and grappling. But hey, horses for courses.

byMeerkatsu

in

May 02, 2008

The Lizards are gonna get you!

This advert in the local paper caught my eye. Apart from learning how to be 'street lethal' I was most intrigued by the 'reptili...

Read More