Soke GM Gary Dill Interview
Founder of the JKDA
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
The foundational blade-based movements and tactics from Modern Arnis including those done with the Presas family styled bolo, and other bladed weapons, sticks, or empty hands were highlighted and explained at Dr. Jerome Barber's November 2011 in East Aurora , NY. Concepts such as preemptive movement, interception, and angling off-line with shifting and footwork were presented prior to blocking and countering. If the block was even used it was actually an attack or used with one. An analysis of tool/weapon characteristics and battlefield tactics helped place certain maneuvers in context and offered additional insight to some of the general practices and techniques found in the art. It is actually too graphic for me to describe in detail.
In an Anatomy and Physiology class and in many situations since I've heard that, "Form follows function." I continue to hear that theme in the teachings of Dr. Barber, Bram Frank, and other realists who explore functional movements in Modern Arnis as well as other arts and approaches. These guys are aware of the 'cutting edge' concepts in what many see as a stick art. From a self-defense perspective it seems that whatever will help you survive a threatening encounter--whatever tool or technique will work in that moment is the choice to choose if you have justification--therefore the correct form to use is the one that will work for you. Functionality becomes the primary criteria for form, especially when speaking weapons.
Pedagogically speaking, I recall that Bram emphasizes learning the blade first to understand the stick versus the other way around. Certain things become real clear then; as the blade has a way of keeping us honest in practice. Practicing with edged training tools and proper protection is worth it as far as dealing with worse case scenarios, and it helps bring about so many attributes and skills like fluidity, footwork and body shifting, balance, targeting-acquisition, distancing, timing, agility, coordination, and flow.
We worked back and forth with various partners in the small group seminar setting that session and would give or feed and receive attacks. I particularly liked how working with a weapon accentuated the flow of my counterattacks which may have served as a defensive necessity, but created the opportunity to give back more than what I was receiving. So when the high forehand or backhand strike would get fed to me during our training drill, I was able to practice evading and/or block with a counter plus two more shots. When that third strike of mine was fed to the same angle I responded to, my partner had his cue to work his entry and follow up just as I did. We ended up performing a mix of a feed drill and a flow drill. We were able to get in a great deal of good repetitions by doing what Bram Frank's book Conceptual Modern Arnis described, "Modern Arnis expects those that learn its abecidario to understand the translation between stick, sword, knife and empty hand." Actually he said so much more in that book which Dr. Barber contributed to also. I am thankful for the insights influence of these practitioners and would strongly advise those interested in investigating a weapons-based art to look into the resource I mentioned.
In an Anatomy and Physiology class and in many situations since I've heard that, "Form follows function." I continue to hear that theme in the teachings of Dr. Barber, Bram Frank, and other realists who explore functional movements in Modern Arnis as well as other arts and approaches. These guys are aware of the 'cutting edge' concepts in what many see as a stick art. From a self-defense perspective it seems that whatever will help you survive a threatening encounter--whatever tool or technique will work in that moment is the choice to choose if you have justification--therefore the correct form to use is the one that will work for you. Functionality becomes the primary criteria for form, especially when speaking weapons.
Pedagogically speaking, I recall that Bram emphasizes learning the blade first to understand the stick versus the other way around. Certain things become real clear then; as the blade has a way of keeping us honest in practice. Practicing with edged training tools and proper protection is worth it as far as dealing with worse case scenarios, and it helps bring about so many attributes and skills like fluidity, footwork and body shifting, balance, targeting-acquisition, distancing, timing, agility, coordination, and flow.
We worked back and forth with various partners in the small group seminar setting that session and would give or feed and receive attacks. I particularly liked how working with a weapon accentuated the flow of my counterattacks which may have served as a defensive necessity, but created the opportunity to give back more than what I was receiving. So when the high forehand or backhand strike would get fed to me during our training drill, I was able to practice evading and/or block with a counter plus two more shots. When that third strike of mine was fed to the same angle I responded to, my partner had his cue to work his entry and follow up just as I did. We ended up performing a mix of a feed drill and a flow drill. We were able to get in a great deal of good repetitions by doing what Bram Frank's book Conceptual Modern Arnis described, "Modern Arnis expects those that learn its abecidario to understand the translation between stick, sword, knife and empty hand." Actually he said so much more in that book which Dr. Barber contributed to also. I am thankful for the insights influence of these practitioners and would strongly advise those interested in investigating a weapons-based art to look into the resource I mentioned.
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