There is some good news coming out of the Modern Arnis Family Reunion Camp that was held last weekend in West Seneca, New York. By all posted accounts that I could find on martial-talk.com, the camp was an artistic success. That really pleases me because all of the posts that I read as of yesterday, Sunday, July 24, 2011, actually validated and enhanced the significance of the 2003 Modern Arnis Symposium.
The Symposium was the very first open and all inclusive Modern Arnis training event that followed the death of the late Professor Remy A. Presas, who was the founder/GM of the art. By "open and all inclusive" I am referring to the fact that anyone associated with Modeern Arnis, regardless of any group membership was invited to participate in the Symposium. There were no prefered status situations.
This would be a good place to introduce a bit of perspective that can only come from looking back on the past events in order to better understand the most recent things that have happened in 2011.
There had been a good deal of pre-Symposium carping, bitching and moaning about what a bad idea holding the Symposium was, the wrong person was organizing/hosting the camp and it was coming too soon after the death of Professor Remy Presas, the founder and GM of Modern Arnis. The negative comments that were posted on martial-talk.com after the Synmpoium had been held included the notion that the Symposium was not "really a Modern Arnis" camp because several of the instructors taught Balintawak Eskrima. Others had taught Sayoc Kali Knife Drills, Eskrima Serrada
and Ryukyu Kempo Tuite. There was also the complaint that a couple of the instructors were 2nd generation Modern Arnis players. It was also noted that there was one fellow who had never studied directly under the late GM Presas.
These critics were insistant that in their views in spite of the evidence to the contrary. Please consider the fact that Balintawak is one of three arts that form the foundation of Modern Arnis. Teaching Balintawak at a Modern Arnis Camp is very appropriate. The Eskrima Serrada presentation made a lot of sense because it is compatable to and compliments the close quarters art of Balintwak. Part of the Symposium mission statement was to compare and contrast approaches to Modern Arnis. If we do not have 2nd and 3rd generation students how is the art of Modern Arnis going to survive into the future? In time, there will be an entire generation of Modern Arnis instructors who never met or trained with the founder/GM! I seriously question the notion that unless you had hands on training with GM Presas, you can not be an excellent instructor or fully understand the foundations of Modern Arnis. BTW, most of my black belt students, attended camps and seminars with GM Presas and earned their black belt certificates under his testing format.
Of particular interest to me were the negative post-Symposium comments of Bob Hubbard and Sal Todaro. Both men railed against the Symposium, yet neither of them attended the event! Nor did either man take their mutual friend, mentor and system leader, Tim Hartman, to task for being one of the people who 'defiled' the Symposium because he taught Balintawak Eskrima, along with Paul Janulis, a fellow World Modern Arnis Alliance member.
In fairness and under the full disclosure principle, I have to state that I knew in advance that both men were going to teach Balintawak, from the perspective of Ted Buot, a student of the Balintawak chief instructor Venancio "Ancong" Bacon. I approved of their plans and encouraged them to teach the system.
My purpose in connecting the Symposium and Reunion together is to demonstrate how a few years between events can be instrumental in viewing outcomes. For instance, in the run-up to the 2011 Modern Arnis Family Reunion there were no negatives publicly expressed in opposition to the camp. Any persons who were so inclined kept their comments to themselves or among close friends. Therefore the people who were inclined toward attending the Reunion did not have to wade through a sea of negative yelping and sniping. That was a good thing and I was very pleased to see that the nay-sayers never found their way to their keyboards, as had people such as "bloodwood", "arnis princess" and "red blade" in 2003.
It was very intersting and revealing to read that GM Max Pallen (Senkos Teros) and GM Ron Van Browning (Grappling) were welcomed and warmly received as special guest instructors at the 2011 reunion gig, in spite of the fact that neither man had ever beeen a long term student the late Professor Presas. This is a most welcomed change to what occured back in 2003. What a difference 8 years can make in the thinking and perceptions of some Modern Arnis people.
As I read through the various reviews posted on mtc, I noticed that an often stated concept of the late Professor Presas, "Make it for yourself" was whole heartedly endorsed by a number of the posters. This has long been a staple of my teaching philosophy and a position that I have advocated for years before and since the Symposium. It was one of the cardinal features of the Symposium. For those readers who are not familiar with Professor Presas, he quite frequently told his students at seminars and camps that "You must make it for yourself". In the 25 years that he taught Modern Arnis in the United States, Canada and Europe, that phrase was always being used to encourage people to think and move in a way that was consistant with their own comfort levels. It was his invitation to his students to observe, learn and grow within the art. In numerous conversations that I had with Professor Presas from 1981 through 1994 that theme of 'making it for myself' was always present.
In his 1983 Ohara Publication, "Modern Arnis: The Filipino Art of Stick Fighting", it should be noted that in the 'History' section on page 5, Professor Presas was depicted as holding the following sentiment about the art of arnis and the individual students:
"Professor does not merely combine techniques - he encourages the individual studentto adapt arnis principles to his own feel for each technique. The method should suit the person and not the other way around. This is known simply as using the "flow." The flow is Presas' universal term for defining the comfortable place where the movementsof arnis and the individual human body meet for maximum effectiveness; body and weapon blend to achieve the most natural fighting style based on an individual's needs and attitudes."
That statement says it all! What we did at the Symposium and what the instructors demonstrated at the Reunion was a basic and highly important tenent of Professor Presas' Modern Arnis philosophy
which he constantly encouraged his students to engage in for themselves. I was very pleased to read the 2011 reviews that expoused the idea of making it for ones self. Some things have changed for the better since 2003.
Reading through the 2011 reviews I was quite pleased to see a general acceptence of the 'make it for yourself' concept; this aceptence fully validated and vindicated the events and practices that occured in 2003 at the Symposium, even if the posters had not intended their comments to do so. The 2011 Reunion reviews show us that the Symposium opened the door to more objective thinking and a wider acceptence of diversity among some Modern Arnis players. Of course there are still differences of opinion within Modern Arnis and that is to be expected, even cherished, because it allows for greater creativity among the various individuals who practice and teach the art.
The 2003 Symposium and the 2011 Reunion are closedly connected because in both cases, people were able to come together at the same camp, reach across group lines/identies to find some common grounds for agreement as they trained, cross-trained and discussed their individual approaches to Modern Arnis. The Reunion actually fed off of the artistic successes of the Symposium and that of a lesser known or seldom discussed camp that was held in Brevard, NC under Dan Anderson. I fully understand that there will be some people who disagree with my assessment, however, they are going to have to explain away the striking similarities between the two camps that I have noted above in this essay.
I am quite pleased to see that the people reviewing the Reunion, stayed on task and discussed the actual camp happenings, which they viewed as a success. That in turn opens a lot more opportunities for Modern Arnis people to step up and work outside of their own particular group associations, to embrace a broader cross-section of Modern Arnis players at a single event. It really is time for people
to enbrace the various groups, independents, and renegades of Modern Arnis. The more time people spend talking to one another, working together within and across group lines, training and cross-training within the art, the better for all concerned.
Now that the Reunion is past and the reviews have been published there are still a couple of important questions to be asked and answered. First, who will step up and organize the next open and all inclusive Modern Arnis Camp? Since Dan Anderson, Tim Hartman and myself have already done it, all we can do is repeat ourselves, so who is up to the task? Since the nay-sayers have exited the field and it would be in extremely poor taste for such activities to return, the next organizer has an even better chance for success that any of us who have already stepped up and delievered.
The second question is even more critical. When will a number of established Modern Arnis players
get together in person or via internet conferencing and discuss the codification of a standard set of Modern Arnis techniques and principles? It is one thing for people to "make the art for themselves,
but the critical question is, what componenets actually make up the Modern Arnis System? Simply
throwing something together and calling it Modern Arnis does not actually make what the person is doing... Modern Arnis! We can't go around claiming to know Modern Arnis when we see it! What are the objectively codified and generally accepted components of Modern Arnis? One thing that is generally agreed upon in Modern Arnis circles is that Professor Presas DID NOT produce a written curriculum for the system! Once again the participants have be objective, open to the ideas of one another and not slavishly attached to any single group orientation. Getting the Modern Arnis independents and renegades involved would help matters.
I have a written curriculum that was approved by Professor Presas back in 1989. I produced that curriculum for the self defense program that I taught at Erie Community College, in Orchard Park,
NY. My SD program has run for the past 25 years and it is the ONLY Modern Arnis program outside of the Philippines that has been taught for college credit toward graduation! HOWEVER, let me be the first person to say that the ECC curriculum IS NOT a one size fits all document.
There are any number of possibilities for a genuine and honest Modern Arnis curriculum that would be different from mine. In fact I would love to work with people on the development of their own curriculia. Why? Because it is part of the 'make it for yourself' edit of Professor Presas. It is in the spirit and philosophy of Professor Presas that the art be constructed in a manner that it fits the individual. But we should have some common and agreed upon componenets that everyone includes in their curriculia, or we run the risk of seeing anyone and everyone claiming that they are merely doing their own thing under the name of Modern Arnis. If anyone wants to accept my offer of currulum help, just email me at escrima_kenpo@hotmail.com.
So in summery let me say again, that I am pleased that the 2011 Reunion went well because it validated both of the earlier attempts by Dan Anderson and myself to bring some Modern Arnis people together in an open and inclusive manner to train as well as cross-train in the art that we learned from Professor Remy A. Presas. Back in 2003 and 2005, we made it for ourselves as well.
Sincerely,
Jerome Barber, Ed. D.
Mataw Guro and Grand Master
Independent Escrima-Kenpo-Arnis Associates
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Some Personal Thoughts About Modern Arnis Instruction
As a young child growing up and particularly as a teenager, I was taught to be thoughtful, analytical and critical. My parents did not subscribe to the notion of being compliant, docile or blindly obedient to any religious, political or educational authority, although, I had to be courteous and respectful toward my elders.
As a sociology and philosophy student in college I was encouraged to be intellectually curious, resourceful, analytically critical and to conduct scientifically based research. My parents and college professors clearly worked from the premise that I should not follow the lead of others simply because they held titles, ranks or social positions of authority.
Over the years I have heard that I was too critical of others or that I expect too much from others. Yet, I have always maintained that if one expects less than one gets even less than was expected. Yes, my standards are high and I hold myself to those very same standards. A good number of my peers inside and outside of martial arts are old line systematic followers. They do not and will not accept any significant responsibility for their own behaviors, while seeking comfort and adulation from others who are lower on the status ladder of life.
For my own part, I am seeking new information, ideas, knowledge and understandings about how and why things work the way they do. I want to know how and why some things work better than others. As I look back over a number of years at comments and ideas that I posted on the internet, I came a somewhat logical but disturbing realizations... most of my martial arts peers are not very objective with regard to what they are doing, studying, teaching or actually believe in. They are high dogmatic in their beliefs and tend to be quite dictatorial toward their own students. At every turn and on every issue, these people tend to believe they have ALL of the correct answers, even to questions that have not even been asked. These folks are always right and there is not a single aspect of their art that they need to question, nor are they willing to entertain anyone else asking questions. If someone is unwilling to take their word on everything within the system, that person identified as being malcontent and an enemy to be abused and dismissed as the enemy.
It is sometimes amusing to me that as an independent minded, thinking for myself person, that a good number of my Modern Arnis peers - some of whom do not actually know me, but they have heard about me - are so quick to rally around the flag of Modern Arnis orthodoxy. They become quite angry with me and other so-called independents because we do some things differently and these orthodox people can not answer our questions about how and why they do things within the art. It is a classic case of kill the messenger, simply because myself and a few others have gone down a slightly different road within the system as designed by the late Professor Remy Presas. I am not saying that what the majority of these people are doing/teaching is flawed or wrong. I do not know that to be absolutely true. However, these orthodox-traditionalist are very quick to say that the independents such as myself are wrong. We are not doing Modern Arnis correctly. We do not do the art exactly as Professor Presas taught it.
Personally, I do not reject the methods used by the orthodox-traditionalists, I simply have a different way of applying and teaching what I learned from Professor, after researching the roots and alternatives within the system. I have gone off in a different direction by choosing to investigate all of the smaller subsets such as redonda, sinawali, rompida and abanico that are part of the totality that Professor included in his system that he designated as Modern Arnis. I am a researcher, not a follower. I ask questions and seek out answers. I am not a blind conformist. I want to explore, discover and innovate, not follow traditional authority. Objectivity and sound reasoning are very important to me, rank, title and years in system are not as valuable. That makes me a very difficult person for the orthodox-traditionalists to deal with when their goal is to use ranks, titles and seniority as the basis for the their leadership justification. A good number of orthodox-traditionalists also want people to blindly accept their claims of leadership simply because they claim that Professor told them this or that, without witnesses and they can not provide any written documentation to support their claims. Yet these very same people will often reject any similar unverifiable claims made by others who might be viewed as being in a position to challenge them for a leadership role in the Post-Professor era of Modern Arnis.
I have seen claims by a number of people who stated that their belt ranks earned under Professor Presas in earlier years were considered invalid by the new would-be leaders of the Post-Professor era. These people were told that they would have to re-test in the new organizations to have their current rank recognized. How in the world can anyone reject the belt ranks awarded by the system founder, Professor Presas, when in some cases that rank was earned before the current leaders ever became associated with Modern Arnis? Talk about hubris; those so-called leaders are at the top of the examples list.
I was part of an academic tradition long before I began training in the martial arts, met Professor Presas or joined the International Modern Arnis Federation. For me, discussion, debate and factual proof were integral parts of my way of life and the martial arts were merely another area of intellectual interest. I simply applied my sociological and educational training to the study of self-defense in the real world of street confrontations. I agreed with the late Sigung Bruce Lee's notion of taking what was useful and adapting it to fit yourself. Professor Presas version of that idea, that he often stated at camps and seminars was "You must make it for yourself." State either way, it makes a lot of sense to me. From my perspective, martial arts training is not about who or what is right, it is about what works in the real world of confrontation and conflict for you and/or me!
It is my belief that too many of my Modern Arnis peers are totally wedded to dogmatic certainty slavish mimicry of the late Professor Presas. Whereas I can see and understand the virtues of a sport orientation, forms competitions and the like, these will not necessarily transfer over to become an effective street self-defense system, where rules and referees are totally absent. The hard-core cloning of Professor Presas leads inevitably to the skeletalization of the system that was brought from the Philippines to the western world as a true fighting art.
Personally, I am very content to watch and enjoy others as they go their own way within Modern Arnis and as they present the art as they see fit. If their particular approach is comfortable for them, then by all means they should pursue it in the manner that best fits them. My intention is to continue to teach Modern Arnis as it was first presented to me by my instructor, Sifu Don Zanghi, at the Fighting Back Institute, in Buffalo, NY, as fighting system for self-defense, blended with Kenpo, Jiu-jitsu and Buno.
Jerome Barber, Ed. D.
Grand Master & Mataw Guro,
Independent Escrima-Kenpo-Arnis Associates
As a sociology and philosophy student in college I was encouraged to be intellectually curious, resourceful, analytically critical and to conduct scientifically based research. My parents and college professors clearly worked from the premise that I should not follow the lead of others simply because they held titles, ranks or social positions of authority.
Over the years I have heard that I was too critical of others or that I expect too much from others. Yet, I have always maintained that if one expects less than one gets even less than was expected. Yes, my standards are high and I hold myself to those very same standards. A good number of my peers inside and outside of martial arts are old line systematic followers. They do not and will not accept any significant responsibility for their own behaviors, while seeking comfort and adulation from others who are lower on the status ladder of life.
For my own part, I am seeking new information, ideas, knowledge and understandings about how and why things work the way they do. I want to know how and why some things work better than others. As I look back over a number of years at comments and ideas that I posted on the internet, I came a somewhat logical but disturbing realizations... most of my martial arts peers are not very objective with regard to what they are doing, studying, teaching or actually believe in. They are high dogmatic in their beliefs and tend to be quite dictatorial toward their own students. At every turn and on every issue, these people tend to believe they have ALL of the correct answers, even to questions that have not even been asked. These folks are always right and there is not a single aspect of their art that they need to question, nor are they willing to entertain anyone else asking questions. If someone is unwilling to take their word on everything within the system, that person identified as being malcontent and an enemy to be abused and dismissed as the enemy.
It is sometimes amusing to me that as an independent minded, thinking for myself person, that a good number of my Modern Arnis peers - some of whom do not actually know me, but they have heard about me - are so quick to rally around the flag of Modern Arnis orthodoxy. They become quite angry with me and other so-called independents because we do some things differently and these orthodox people can not answer our questions about how and why they do things within the art. It is a classic case of kill the messenger, simply because myself and a few others have gone down a slightly different road within the system as designed by the late Professor Remy Presas. I am not saying that what the majority of these people are doing/teaching is flawed or wrong. I do not know that to be absolutely true. However, these orthodox-traditionalist are very quick to say that the independents such as myself are wrong. We are not doing Modern Arnis correctly. We do not do the art exactly as Professor Presas taught it.
Personally, I do not reject the methods used by the orthodox-traditionalists, I simply have a different way of applying and teaching what I learned from Professor, after researching the roots and alternatives within the system. I have gone off in a different direction by choosing to investigate all of the smaller subsets such as redonda, sinawali, rompida and abanico that are part of the totality that Professor included in his system that he designated as Modern Arnis. I am a researcher, not a follower. I ask questions and seek out answers. I am not a blind conformist. I want to explore, discover and innovate, not follow traditional authority. Objectivity and sound reasoning are very important to me, rank, title and years in system are not as valuable. That makes me a very difficult person for the orthodox-traditionalists to deal with when their goal is to use ranks, titles and seniority as the basis for the their leadership justification. A good number of orthodox-traditionalists also want people to blindly accept their claims of leadership simply because they claim that Professor told them this or that, without witnesses and they can not provide any written documentation to support their claims. Yet these very same people will often reject any similar unverifiable claims made by others who might be viewed as being in a position to challenge them for a leadership role in the Post-Professor era of Modern Arnis.
I have seen claims by a number of people who stated that their belt ranks earned under Professor Presas in earlier years were considered invalid by the new would-be leaders of the Post-Professor era. These people were told that they would have to re-test in the new organizations to have their current rank recognized. How in the world can anyone reject the belt ranks awarded by the system founder, Professor Presas, when in some cases that rank was earned before the current leaders ever became associated with Modern Arnis? Talk about hubris; those so-called leaders are at the top of the examples list.
I was part of an academic tradition long before I began training in the martial arts, met Professor Presas or joined the International Modern Arnis Federation. For me, discussion, debate and factual proof were integral parts of my way of life and the martial arts were merely another area of intellectual interest. I simply applied my sociological and educational training to the study of self-defense in the real world of street confrontations. I agreed with the late Sigung Bruce Lee's notion of taking what was useful and adapting it to fit yourself. Professor Presas version of that idea, that he often stated at camps and seminars was "You must make it for yourself." State either way, it makes a lot of sense to me. From my perspective, martial arts training is not about who or what is right, it is about what works in the real world of confrontation and conflict for you and/or me!
It is my belief that too many of my Modern Arnis peers are totally wedded to dogmatic certainty slavish mimicry of the late Professor Presas. Whereas I can see and understand the virtues of a sport orientation, forms competitions and the like, these will not necessarily transfer over to become an effective street self-defense system, where rules and referees are totally absent. The hard-core cloning of Professor Presas leads inevitably to the skeletalization of the system that was brought from the Philippines to the western world as a true fighting art.
Personally, I am very content to watch and enjoy others as they go their own way within Modern Arnis and as they present the art as they see fit. If their particular approach is comfortable for them, then by all means they should pursue it in the manner that best fits them. My intention is to continue to teach Modern Arnis as it was first presented to me by my instructor, Sifu Don Zanghi, at the Fighting Back Institute, in Buffalo, NY, as fighting system for self-defense, blended with Kenpo, Jiu-jitsu and Buno.
Jerome Barber, Ed. D.
Grand Master & Mataw Guro,
Independent Escrima-Kenpo-Arnis Associates
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Bram Frank Seminar in Buffalo: Presas Family Combat Bolo - July 17, 2011
Hello to All,
I would like to announce that GM Bram Frank is going to conduct a Presas Family Combat Bolo Seminar in the Buffalo, NY area on Sunday, July 17, from 9am to 4pm. The seminar site will be at the Kempo Martial Arts Academy, 455 Olean Road, East Aurora, NY, which is located SE of Buffalo and about a 30 minute drive from downtown.
The training sessions will run from 9am to Noon and 1pm to 4 pm. Participants can sign up for the full day session or a half-day session. The admission price is $110 for a full day and $75 for either of the half day sessions. A certificate of instructional completion will be issued at the end of the day.
For more information, you can contact me via e-mail at:
<escrima_kenpo@hotmail.com>
Over the years there have been numerous people who decried the idea that Modern Arnis was a bladed art. Some went so far as to declare that Modern Arnis didn't even haave it's origins within the bladed arts of the Philippines. Ask almost any
Filipino student of the late Professor Remy Presas, who trained in the Philippines in the 1960's and 70's and they will tell you that Professor most certinly did teach the use of the bolo - the fighting or combat bolo - as part of his Modern Arnis curriculum.
I'm not sure exactly were these Anerican "experts" got their information from regarding Modern Arnis having "always been" a stick oriented art. In several conversations that I had in the late 1980's and early 1990's, with Professor, he talked about "...the blade machete..." and the bolo. In his 1974 book on Modern Arnis, published in the Philippines he stated that the rattan stick was a training tool because it was less lethal than the bladed weapon. That particualr book is available in a U.S. edition and his statements regarding the blade are in that edition as well. Some people refer to the U.S. edition as the "pink book" due to its cover color and to differentiate it from the 1983 Ohara Publication also entitled "Modern Arnis".
GM Bram Frank and Datu Kelly Wordern are the acknowledged blade orientation students of Professor's in the USA. I
think that more people within the Modern Arnis world ought to pay more attention to these guys. They know a thing or two about the blade orientatiuon and utilization within Modern Arnis, because Professor taught it to them. Both men also had training and discussion time with the late Roland Dantes and Datu Shishir Inocalla. Those two fellows knew about Modern Arnis blade as did a number of other Filipinos who GM Braam and Datu Kelly met over the years.
In my own curriculum that I taught outside of the Erie Community College program that I taught, I followed up on my conversations with Professor and researched the use of the blade in FMA. By 1988, I had added the Negrito Bolo replica to my program. That particular bolo had a double meaning in my curriculum. First it represented the island of Professor's birth and secondly, it represented the original people who inhabited the island, the Negritos or Aeta.
From a more pragmatic educational perspective, the replica bolo, got my students feet moving and their bodies shifting more effectively thatn anything else I had come across prior to adding the blade. It seems to motivate my students to move, become 'unrooted' from a particular spot on the training floor when they are facing that 'blade'!. Even though the replica Negrito Bolo is very clearly a wooden training tool and everyone understands that it is totally incapable of cutting anything, the shape and design just seems to over-ride common sense knowledge - my students move both faster and with much more precision when they are "confronted" by the bladed-bolo.
Over the years in numerous conversations with Bram Frank, I have found myself becoming more and more convienced that Modern Arnis, as taught by Professor in the USA, Canada and Europe was greatly modified by eliminating the bladed aspects of the art, so as to make Modern Arnis an acceptable recreational martial arts in the same vein as karate and kung fu.
Having a chance to host a bolo seminar is something that i've wanted to do for quite some time. I am looking forward to this training sequece. It will add to my own knowledge of Modern Arnis in general and the blade utization in particular.
It will also give my students an opportunity to compare and contrast my instuction with the ideas of a very highly regarded master teacher of blades instruments. It is a comparison that I welcome and encourage.
Sincerely,
Jerome Barber, Ed. D.Director, Independent Escrima-Kenpo-Arnis Associates
I would like to announce that GM Bram Frank is going to conduct a Presas Family Combat Bolo Seminar in the Buffalo, NY area on Sunday, July 17, from 9am to 4pm. The seminar site will be at the Kempo Martial Arts Academy, 455 Olean Road, East Aurora, NY, which is located SE of Buffalo and about a 30 minute drive from downtown.
The training sessions will run from 9am to Noon and 1pm to 4 pm. Participants can sign up for the full day session or a half-day session. The admission price is $110 for a full day and $75 for either of the half day sessions. A certificate of instructional completion will be issued at the end of the day.
For more information, you can contact me via e-mail at:
<escrima_kenpo@hotmail.com>
Over the years there have been numerous people who decried the idea that Modern Arnis was a bladed art. Some went so far as to declare that Modern Arnis didn't even haave it's origins within the bladed arts of the Philippines. Ask almost any
Filipino student of the late Professor Remy Presas, who trained in the Philippines in the 1960's and 70's and they will tell you that Professor most certinly did teach the use of the bolo - the fighting or combat bolo - as part of his Modern Arnis curriculum.
I'm not sure exactly were these Anerican "experts" got their information from regarding Modern Arnis having "always been" a stick oriented art. In several conversations that I had in the late 1980's and early 1990's, with Professor, he talked about "...the blade machete..." and the bolo. In his 1974 book on Modern Arnis, published in the Philippines he stated that the rattan stick was a training tool because it was less lethal than the bladed weapon. That particualr book is available in a U.S. edition and his statements regarding the blade are in that edition as well. Some people refer to the U.S. edition as the "pink book" due to its cover color and to differentiate it from the 1983 Ohara Publication also entitled "Modern Arnis".
GM Bram Frank and Datu Kelly Wordern are the acknowledged blade orientation students of Professor's in the USA. I
think that more people within the Modern Arnis world ought to pay more attention to these guys. They know a thing or two about the blade orientatiuon and utilization within Modern Arnis, because Professor taught it to them. Both men also had training and discussion time with the late Roland Dantes and Datu Shishir Inocalla. Those two fellows knew about Modern Arnis blade as did a number of other Filipinos who GM Braam and Datu Kelly met over the years.
In my own curriculum that I taught outside of the Erie Community College program that I taught, I followed up on my conversations with Professor and researched the use of the blade in FMA. By 1988, I had added the Negrito Bolo replica to my program. That particular bolo had a double meaning in my curriculum. First it represented the island of Professor's birth and secondly, it represented the original people who inhabited the island, the Negritos or Aeta.
From a more pragmatic educational perspective, the replica bolo, got my students feet moving and their bodies shifting more effectively thatn anything else I had come across prior to adding the blade. It seems to motivate my students to move, become 'unrooted' from a particular spot on the training floor when they are facing that 'blade'!. Even though the replica Negrito Bolo is very clearly a wooden training tool and everyone understands that it is totally incapable of cutting anything, the shape and design just seems to over-ride common sense knowledge - my students move both faster and with much more precision when they are "confronted" by the bladed-bolo.
Over the years in numerous conversations with Bram Frank, I have found myself becoming more and more convienced that Modern Arnis, as taught by Professor in the USA, Canada and Europe was greatly modified by eliminating the bladed aspects of the art, so as to make Modern Arnis an acceptable recreational martial arts in the same vein as karate and kung fu.
Having a chance to host a bolo seminar is something that i've wanted to do for quite some time. I am looking forward to this training sequece. It will add to my own knowledge of Modern Arnis in general and the blade utization in particular.
It will also give my students an opportunity to compare and contrast my instuction with the ideas of a very highly regarded master teacher of blades instruments. It is a comparison that I welcome and encourage.
Sincerely,
Jerome Barber, Ed. D.Director, Independent Escrima-Kenpo-Arnis Associates
Monday, April 11, 2011
There is Only ONE FIRST
There is only one FIRST in any venture or activity created by mankind. In correspondence with 3 people over the past couple of months, it has become quite clear to me that there is some revisionist history in the making regarding my role and accomplishments in Modern Arnis. In addition to being the FIRST and ONLY person in the USA and Canada to teach Modern Arnis for college credit, I am also FIRST person who organized and hosted a major Modern Arnis training event, open to everyone, after the death of the late founder of the Modern Arnis System, Professor Remy A. Presas.
In July 2003, I hosted the Modern Arnis Symposium at Erie Community College in Buffalo, NY. It is a matter of record and verifiable if anyone wishes to check it out. I am posting this statement so that those who want or might actually try to alter/revise history are put on notice that I was the FIRST person to organize a non-organizational specific Modern Arnis Training Camp. My purpose back in 2002 when I first proposed the idea of hosting the Symposium was to:
1. Provide a venue where those claiming to be the “only legitimate successor” to Professor Remy Presas, could demonstrate their knowledge and skills in an open and public situation, thereby allowing those of us who did not know them, to judge for ourselves, the claimants credibility for ourselves.
2. Provide a venue where any Modern Arnis instructor could present his/her version and
understanding of Modern Arnis in an open environment without having to defer to any
organizational leadership such as the IMAF, Inc., The MoTTs, WMAA, WMAC, Marppio
IMAF, IMAFP or MA-80. All of the leaders of the groups mentioned above were invited
to participate at the Modern Arnis Symposium; several leaders accepted the invitation,
then withdrew or simply did not show up.
3. Provide a venue where people le could meet and discuss ideas, concepts and training
methods with one another, share experiences they had with Professor Presas, examine
similarities and differences in training and make new friendships, in part because they
shared a common interest - Modern Arnis.
4. Present some 2nd generation Modern Arnis practitioners to the general public. If the art is going to survive and prosper, we need to develop a 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation of
students who will grow into instructors. If these new people are not developed and
groomed the art withers and dies.
The first 2 objectives were only partially achieved because a good number of the 'succession claimants' did not participate in the event. Objectives 3 and 4 were fully achieved and with just a couple of glitches nearly everyone who attended deemed to the Symposium to be a positive experience. Several of the presenters actually taught some Balintawak variations rather than Modern Arnis, but since Balintawak is one of the foundation arts of Modern Arnis, those sessions were well within the spirit of the Symposium objectives, in particular, objective #3.
In 2005, Master Dan Anderson, organized the 2nd 'post-Professor' major Modern Arnis Training Camp and he held the event in Brevard, NC. The major differences between the Brevard Camp and the Symposium were:
1. In addition to me issuing invitations to specific people, instructors could and did volunteer to lead sessions. All who requested an opportunity to instruct at the Symposium were accepted.
Master Anderson, specificly invited people to instruct at the Brevard Camp. To the best of
my knowledge he did not accept volunteers or requests to be included as instructors at his camp.
2. The second major difference between the Symposium and the Brevard Camp was that there was no ”stand and deliver” aspect to Master Anderson's camp. His objectives were different from mine and that is neither a plus or minus in my opinion. He was working from a point in time that was 2 years after the Symposium and the leadership squabbling had subsided to a significant degree. There was no reason for him to follow in my footsteps with regard to an open Modern Arnis Camp mission.
Master Anderson, has stated that his camp was not as successful as he envisioned that it would be. As I told him privately, these things never go exactly as planned and there is nothing that the host can do except roll with the ”punches” and build in a backup plan to handle as many of the unexpected things as possible. A number of instructors who promised that they would attend, did not keep there promise as happened at the Symposium. That is within the nature of hosting events and to be expected.
In July of this year, there will be a 3rd “post-Professor” Modern Arnis Camp open to all. It will be held in West Seneca, NY, just outside of Buffalo. The camp host has deemed this camp as a Modern Arnis Family Reunion and Healing event. All of the instructors have been specifily invited and again it appears that requests to teach are not likely to be accepted. The invited instructors are:
Dan Anderson MA 80
Bram Frank CSSD
Chuck Gauss IMAF
Tim Hartman WMAA
Dieter Knüttel DAV
Rick Manglinong IPMAF and WMAA
Rich Parsons Independent
Edessa Ramos IMAFP / CSSD
Kelly Worden NSI
Brian Zawilinski IMAF
As you can see, the instructors represent a cross section of the various Modern Arnis groups in the USA , Germany and Switzerland (Edessa Ramos, representing the IMAFP and CSSD) from her adopted country). A 3rd camp and a 3rd theme, as one might expect since each camp was organized by a different person.
One of my private correspondents that I mentioned at the top of this article, has portrayed the upcoming 2011 camp as being the first major Modern Arnis gathering since the death of Professor Presas in 2001. I absolutely disagree! The FIRST major Modern Arnis Gathering after the death of Professor Presas as the Symposium in 2003. As evidence of this one should note that 4 of the first 5 people listed on the 2011 event were participants at the Symposium. Those 4 people are:
Dan Anderson MA 80
Bram Frank CSSD
Tim Hartman WMAA
Dieter Knüttel DAV
When 40% of the people who are scheduled to make presentations at the Reunion-Healing
Camp in 2011 are the very same people who presented at the 2003 Symposium, it is exceedingly difficult to deny a direct linkage between the 2 events. When the 2003, 2005 and upcoming 2011 events share the very same concept of being open to several factions of the Modern Arnis community it is difficult to deny a linkage between the three events. The linkage does not require that the 3 events share the same format, philosophies or organizers. There is a linkage because all three events were and are open to all Modern Arnis stylist rather than being limited to members of a specific organization such as the WMAA, WMAC, IMAF or IMAF, Inc or IMAFP. Each of these individual groups have held numerous summer training camps since the death of Professor Presas in 2001.
They have held training sessions and promoted students without the involvement of other organizations as one might expect since the death of Professor Presas. There has been only 3 training camps organized around the idea of being open to most if not all members of the various Modern Arnis organizations and these three were the Symposium, Brevard and the Reunion, since the death of Professor Presas.
The different structures of each individual open camp in no way invalidates the connection/linkage between the three events. The Symposium, Brevard and Reunion Camps are further linked by the fact that a number of the same people declined the invitations to participate at the Symposium, Brevard and the Reunion-Healing camps, most notably, Remy Presas, Jr., Demetrio Presas, Mary Ann Presas and Jeff Delaney. It should be noted that the first three people are the adult children of the late Professor and the 4th is the person who claims to be the appointed successor to Professor. He broke ranks with the “Masters of TapiTapi” (aka MoTTs), who as a group claimed to be the collective leaders of the art after Professor's death.
Like it or not, and as noted above, there are direct linkages and/or connections between the Modern Arnis Symposium, Brevard Modern Arnis Camp and the soon to be Modern Arnis Family Reunion-Healing Camp; however, there is no denying that the Modern Arnis Symposium was the first open to all training camp of the post-Professor era. We can argue the relative merits regarding success or failure of each event, but it is not possible to proclaim one event as being better than another because each camp had a very different agenda as well as organizer-host. The camps are linked/connected but there is not a linear progression between them with each camp leading directly to another.
Personally, I want to extend, in advance, my best wishes to Tim Hartman, the host of the upcoming 2011 event and ALL of those folks who be participating as presenters or payees. Modern Arnis practitioners need to come together and should come together in order to advance the art as well as the memory of the late founder. Given the fact that Professor Presas passed away 10 years there are people now learning as well as instructring the art, who never met or trained under the founder of the very art that they are practicing.
There is a very interesting prologue to the upcoming 2011 Reunion-Healing Camp. Unlike the Symposium and Brevard Camps there has not been highly vocalized opposition to this camp as was faced by the two preceding camps in 2003 and 2005. This vocal oppositions was insidious, incendiary, incredulous and incredibly self -serving with regard to one person in particular. Yet there has been none of that kind of behavior invoked since the first public announcement of the 2011 event. So far as I can tell, Mr. Hartman has not had to deal with the likes of “Bloodwood”, “Arnis Princess” and “Red Blade” yakking and yammering about the supposed shortcomings the events and camp hosts. Those folks and several others were quite persistant in their opposition to the Symposium and Brevard. Given the difference in time and tone between then and now Mr. Hartman has been provided with a smoother run-up to his program than Dan and myself experienced before our camps were held.
Perhaps “enough time” has now passed since Professor Presas' death for most people to accept that reality, move on with their lives and they can now envision working on the preservation and new growth within art without Professor's direct presence. Perhaps enough people are of the opinion that 10 years has passed since Professor's demise and the “right person” is organizing the 2011 event. Such was not the case in 2003 or 2005 when myself and later Master Dan Anderson organized our respective programs. It was stated by a number of people associated with a particular organizational leader that Dan and I had organized our events “too soon” after Professor's passing, nor were we the “right person(s)” to hosting those events. Yet, in reality, no one else had attempted to organize a Modern Arnis event of the kind that Dan and myself had done.
There has been a 6 year gap between Dan's Brevard Camp and the upcoming Reunion-Healing event of 2011. It seems to me that the negative nay-sayers were reluctant to stand up and deliver a product as we had done, but they quite willing to denounce and demean others who were willing take chances on and for Modern Arnis.
No matter the outcome of the 2011 event, in the final analysis, it is merely the 3rd attempt to produce and host an allegedly open-to-all Modern Arnis event since the passing of the founder and Grand Master Remy A. Presas. Dan Anderson, organized and hosted the 2nd camp and I held the 1st Modern Arnis Camp aimed at bringing people together to talk, train and share ideas with one another. Our events reached across the internal Modern Arnis divisions/organizations.
There can only be one first. The Symposium was the first 'post-Professor' Modern Arnis Camp that sought to bridge some of the internal-internecine differences within the larger community of Modern Arnis practitioners. There can only be one first and the Symposium was that first event of it's type within Modern Arnis. Some are going to try to deny that reality in one way or another, but then some people need to belittle, demean and deny the contributions of others in order to appear more important than they really are within the Modern Arnis community.
Respectfully yours,
Jerome Barber,
Mataw Guro and Grand Master,
Independent Escrima-Kenpo-Arnis Associates
Hamburg, NY
April 11, 2011
In July 2003, I hosted the Modern Arnis Symposium at Erie Community College in Buffalo, NY. It is a matter of record and verifiable if anyone wishes to check it out. I am posting this statement so that those who want or might actually try to alter/revise history are put on notice that I was the FIRST person to organize a non-organizational specific Modern Arnis Training Camp. My purpose back in 2002 when I first proposed the idea of hosting the Symposium was to:
1. Provide a venue where those claiming to be the “only legitimate successor” to Professor Remy Presas, could demonstrate their knowledge and skills in an open and public situation, thereby allowing those of us who did not know them, to judge for ourselves, the claimants credibility for ourselves.
2. Provide a venue where any Modern Arnis instructor could present his/her version and
understanding of Modern Arnis in an open environment without having to defer to any
organizational leadership such as the IMAF, Inc., The MoTTs, WMAA, WMAC, Marppio
IMAF, IMAFP or MA-80. All of the leaders of the groups mentioned above were invited
to participate at the Modern Arnis Symposium; several leaders accepted the invitation,
then withdrew or simply did not show up.
3. Provide a venue where people le could meet and discuss ideas, concepts and training
methods with one another, share experiences they had with Professor Presas, examine
similarities and differences in training and make new friendships, in part because they
shared a common interest - Modern Arnis.
4. Present some 2nd generation Modern Arnis practitioners to the general public. If the art is going to survive and prosper, we need to develop a 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation of
students who will grow into instructors. If these new people are not developed and
groomed the art withers and dies.
The first 2 objectives were only partially achieved because a good number of the 'succession claimants' did not participate in the event. Objectives 3 and 4 were fully achieved and with just a couple of glitches nearly everyone who attended deemed to the Symposium to be a positive experience. Several of the presenters actually taught some Balintawak variations rather than Modern Arnis, but since Balintawak is one of the foundation arts of Modern Arnis, those sessions were well within the spirit of the Symposium objectives, in particular, objective #3.
In 2005, Master Dan Anderson, organized the 2nd 'post-Professor' major Modern Arnis Training Camp and he held the event in Brevard, NC. The major differences between the Brevard Camp and the Symposium were:
1. In addition to me issuing invitations to specific people, instructors could and did volunteer to lead sessions. All who requested an opportunity to instruct at the Symposium were accepted.
Master Anderson, specificly invited people to instruct at the Brevard Camp. To the best of
my knowledge he did not accept volunteers or requests to be included as instructors at his camp.
2. The second major difference between the Symposium and the Brevard Camp was that there was no ”stand and deliver” aspect to Master Anderson's camp. His objectives were different from mine and that is neither a plus or minus in my opinion. He was working from a point in time that was 2 years after the Symposium and the leadership squabbling had subsided to a significant degree. There was no reason for him to follow in my footsteps with regard to an open Modern Arnis Camp mission.
Master Anderson, has stated that his camp was not as successful as he envisioned that it would be. As I told him privately, these things never go exactly as planned and there is nothing that the host can do except roll with the ”punches” and build in a backup plan to handle as many of the unexpected things as possible. A number of instructors who promised that they would attend, did not keep there promise as happened at the Symposium. That is within the nature of hosting events and to be expected.
In July of this year, there will be a 3rd “post-Professor” Modern Arnis Camp open to all. It will be held in West Seneca, NY, just outside of Buffalo. The camp host has deemed this camp as a Modern Arnis Family Reunion and Healing event. All of the instructors have been specifily invited and again it appears that requests to teach are not likely to be accepted. The invited instructors are:
Dan Anderson MA 80
Bram Frank CSSD
Chuck Gauss IMAF
Tim Hartman WMAA
Dieter Knüttel DAV
Rick Manglinong IPMAF and WMAA
Rich Parsons Independent
Edessa Ramos IMAFP / CSSD
Kelly Worden NSI
Brian Zawilinski IMAF
As you can see, the instructors represent a cross section of the various Modern Arnis groups in the USA , Germany and Switzerland (Edessa Ramos, representing the IMAFP and CSSD) from her adopted country). A 3rd camp and a 3rd theme, as one might expect since each camp was organized by a different person.
One of my private correspondents that I mentioned at the top of this article, has portrayed the upcoming 2011 camp as being the first major Modern Arnis gathering since the death of Professor Presas in 2001. I absolutely disagree! The FIRST major Modern Arnis Gathering after the death of Professor Presas as the Symposium in 2003. As evidence of this one should note that 4 of the first 5 people listed on the 2011 event were participants at the Symposium. Those 4 people are:
Dan Anderson MA 80
Bram Frank CSSD
Tim Hartman WMAA
Dieter Knüttel DAV
When 40% of the people who are scheduled to make presentations at the Reunion-Healing
Camp in 2011 are the very same people who presented at the 2003 Symposium, it is exceedingly difficult to deny a direct linkage between the 2 events. When the 2003, 2005 and upcoming 2011 events share the very same concept of being open to several factions of the Modern Arnis community it is difficult to deny a linkage between the three events. The linkage does not require that the 3 events share the same format, philosophies or organizers. There is a linkage because all three events were and are open to all Modern Arnis stylist rather than being limited to members of a specific organization such as the WMAA, WMAC, IMAF or IMAF, Inc or IMAFP. Each of these individual groups have held numerous summer training camps since the death of Professor Presas in 2001.
They have held training sessions and promoted students without the involvement of other organizations as one might expect since the death of Professor Presas. There has been only 3 training camps organized around the idea of being open to most if not all members of the various Modern Arnis organizations and these three were the Symposium, Brevard and the Reunion, since the death of Professor Presas.
The different structures of each individual open camp in no way invalidates the connection/linkage between the three events. The Symposium, Brevard and Reunion Camps are further linked by the fact that a number of the same people declined the invitations to participate at the Symposium, Brevard and the Reunion-Healing camps, most notably, Remy Presas, Jr., Demetrio Presas, Mary Ann Presas and Jeff Delaney. It should be noted that the first three people are the adult children of the late Professor and the 4th is the person who claims to be the appointed successor to Professor. He broke ranks with the “Masters of TapiTapi” (aka MoTTs), who as a group claimed to be the collective leaders of the art after Professor's death.
Like it or not, and as noted above, there are direct linkages and/or connections between the Modern Arnis Symposium, Brevard Modern Arnis Camp and the soon to be Modern Arnis Family Reunion-Healing Camp; however, there is no denying that the Modern Arnis Symposium was the first open to all training camp of the post-Professor era. We can argue the relative merits regarding success or failure of each event, but it is not possible to proclaim one event as being better than another because each camp had a very different agenda as well as organizer-host. The camps are linked/connected but there is not a linear progression between them with each camp leading directly to another.
Personally, I want to extend, in advance, my best wishes to Tim Hartman, the host of the upcoming 2011 event and ALL of those folks who be participating as presenters or payees. Modern Arnis practitioners need to come together and should come together in order to advance the art as well as the memory of the late founder. Given the fact that Professor Presas passed away 10 years there are people now learning as well as instructring the art, who never met or trained under the founder of the very art that they are practicing.
There is a very interesting prologue to the upcoming 2011 Reunion-Healing Camp. Unlike the Symposium and Brevard Camps there has not been highly vocalized opposition to this camp as was faced by the two preceding camps in 2003 and 2005. This vocal oppositions was insidious, incendiary, incredulous and incredibly self -serving with regard to one person in particular. Yet there has been none of that kind of behavior invoked since the first public announcement of the 2011 event. So far as I can tell, Mr. Hartman has not had to deal with the likes of “Bloodwood”, “Arnis Princess” and “Red Blade” yakking and yammering about the supposed shortcomings the events and camp hosts. Those folks and several others were quite persistant in their opposition to the Symposium and Brevard. Given the difference in time and tone between then and now Mr. Hartman has been provided with a smoother run-up to his program than Dan and myself experienced before our camps were held.
Perhaps “enough time” has now passed since Professor Presas' death for most people to accept that reality, move on with their lives and they can now envision working on the preservation and new growth within art without Professor's direct presence. Perhaps enough people are of the opinion that 10 years has passed since Professor's demise and the “right person” is organizing the 2011 event. Such was not the case in 2003 or 2005 when myself and later Master Dan Anderson organized our respective programs. It was stated by a number of people associated with a particular organizational leader that Dan and I had organized our events “too soon” after Professor's passing, nor were we the “right person(s)” to hosting those events. Yet, in reality, no one else had attempted to organize a Modern Arnis event of the kind that Dan and myself had done.
There has been a 6 year gap between Dan's Brevard Camp and the upcoming Reunion-Healing event of 2011. It seems to me that the negative nay-sayers were reluctant to stand up and deliver a product as we had done, but they quite willing to denounce and demean others who were willing take chances on and for Modern Arnis.
No matter the outcome of the 2011 event, in the final analysis, it is merely the 3rd attempt to produce and host an allegedly open-to-all Modern Arnis event since the passing of the founder and Grand Master Remy A. Presas. Dan Anderson, organized and hosted the 2nd camp and I held the 1st Modern Arnis Camp aimed at bringing people together to talk, train and share ideas with one another. Our events reached across the internal Modern Arnis divisions/organizations.
There can only be one first. The Symposium was the first 'post-Professor' Modern Arnis Camp that sought to bridge some of the internal-internecine differences within the larger community of Modern Arnis practitioners. There can only be one first and the Symposium was that first event of it's type within Modern Arnis. Some are going to try to deny that reality in one way or another, but then some people need to belittle, demean and deny the contributions of others in order to appear more important than they really are within the Modern Arnis community.
Respectfully yours,
Jerome Barber,
Mataw Guro and Grand Master,
Independent Escrima-Kenpo-Arnis Associates
Hamburg, NY
April 11, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
Trapping Hands - Trapping Feet Seminar
I will be conducting a "Trapping Hands & Trapping Feet" seminar on Saturday, May 7, at the
Red Dragon School of Martial Arts
McKinley Mall
3701 McKinley Parkway
Blasdell, NY
The admisson fees: $39 Advance payment before Thursday May 5 and $49 at the door.
Due to space limitations on the training floor only 20 participants will be admitted.
The trapping techniques, drills and applications for this seminar will be taken from the art
systems that I am certified to teach:
Tracy System Kenpo
American Modern Arnis
International Modern Arnis
Oliverez Pangasinan Eskrima
Hawaiian Kenpo-Kuntaw (Kuntao)
Atillo-Saavedra Eskrima (Balintawak)
This seminar is open to All martial artists regardless of system or style as well as belt ranks.
The trapping techniques that I will be teaching are adaptable to most empty hand systems
and depends more on leverage and body positioning than a person's physical size to be
effective.
Jerome Barber, Ed. D.
Grand Master, Mataw Guro, Director,
Independent Escrima-Kenpo-Arnis Associates
Red Dragon School of Martial Arts
McKinley Mall
3701 McKinley Parkway
Blasdell, NY
The admisson fees: $39 Advance payment before Thursday May 5 and $49 at the door.
Due to space limitations on the training floor only 20 participants will be admitted.
The trapping techniques, drills and applications for this seminar will be taken from the art
systems that I am certified to teach:
Tracy System Kenpo
American Modern Arnis
International Modern Arnis
Oliverez Pangasinan Eskrima
Hawaiian Kenpo-Kuntaw (Kuntao)
Atillo-Saavedra Eskrima (Balintawak)
This seminar is open to All martial artists regardless of system or style as well as belt ranks.
The trapping techniques that I will be teaching are adaptable to most empty hand systems
and depends more on leverage and body positioning than a person's physical size to be
effective.
Jerome Barber, Ed. D.
Grand Master, Mataw Guro, Director,
Independent Escrima-Kenpo-Arnis Associates
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Economy of Motion: Aiming the Spear
Economy of Motion: ‘Aiming the Spear’
In the Paradigm Escrima-Kenpo System of self-defense curriculum, the technique known as ‘Aiming the Spear’ has been adapted for usage against nine (9) aggressive assaults. Using one (1) technique to handle or defend against several different attacks maximizes the effectiveness and efficiency of the technique while saving instructional (learning) time. This single technique approach allows the student to concentrate on and refine the movements of ‘Aiming the Spear’, thereby developing a highly responsive set of behaviors to several different attacks.
‘Aiming the Spear’ can be used to defend against and counter:
1. Forehand Slap
2. Backhand Slap
3. Single Lapel Grab
4. Double Lapel Grab
5. Front – 2-handed Choke Hold
6. Side – 2 handed Choke Hold
7. Forehand Stick or Club Attack
8. Backhand Stick or Club Attack
9. Overhead Stick or Club Attack
This technique is also known as “Stop Hit” in the JKD System founded by the late Bruce Lee. The core movement principle in all cases is that the defender’s counter strike occurs simultaneously with a blocking motion. The counter strike is an upward heel hand (heel palm) to the point of the opponent’s chin, with the goal of snapping the head back, thereby exposing the throat for a follow up strike with the opposite hand.
‘Aiming the Spear’ is a highly assertive countering maneuver that adheres to the old fighting adage that ‘the best defense is a good offense’. This technique is used to stop an aggressive physical attack immediately, with the defender’s first movement. The defender takes over the action sequence and thereafter dominates the action right through to the conclusion of the defensive sequence. Ideally the attacker will be dropped to the ground, in pain. He will be unable or unwilling to continue the confrontation and the defender can safely escape to more secure position or place.
The basic ‘Aiming the Spear’ defensive sequence as taught by the Paradigm Self Defense Instructors is in response to a forehand slap attack to the defender’s face. Assuming that the attacker is right handed, the forehand slap will be directed toward the defender’s left cheek or ear. The defender will usually step directly forward with his right foot while making an outward left forearm block and a simultaneous rising heel hand strike with his right hand to the point of the attacker’s chin. The next move in the sequence is for the defender to step forward with his left foot and use a straight left hand half-fist (Leopard’s Paw) strike to the attacker’s exposed throat; following the half-fist strike, the defender will execute a right front snap kick to the attacker’s abdominal area. After the front snap kick, the defender will retract his kicking foot, step straight back, placing the foot down on the floor and push-step backwards, establishing an on-guard position. If the former attacker can not or does not immediately try to get back on his feet to continue the encounter, the defender retreats to a safer area.
The on-guard position is used by the defender to insure that the attack has been effectively neutralized as well as to survey the immediate surrounding to determine that it is safe to leave the area. If there is no need to continue engaging the original attacker or any other person, the defender can and should retreat to a safer area.
Economy of motion as a martial arts concept has been around for quite some time and it is generally understood that the defender should not use any greater physical force than is necessary in order to successfully defend oneself. It is generally better to deliver quick, short, precise and powerful counters against an attacking opponent. The defender should, in most cases, avoid using large or wide movements which expose vital areas of their own anatomy to the attacker. The defender can use singularly or in combination, blocks, parries, interceptions, deflections or counter-strikes to disrupt and stop the other person’s negative actions. When the defender keeps his/her defensive movements, small, tight, and direct, they are using one aspect of the ‘economy of motion’ concept.
Another way to apply the economy of motion concept is to use one (1) self-defense technique against several attacks as mentioned in our opening paragraph. Since the technique will be used in essentially the same manner in nearly all cases where it is applicable, the defender has more time available to practice and perfect that technique. Generally the more practice repetitions a student has, the more comfortable the student becomes with the technique. Comfort is often accompanied by confidence. When both comfort and confidence are present the student is much more likely to utilize a particular technique when they are threatened. If a student can learn and use one technique to counter 9 different attacks, that is probably better than having to learn a separate defense for each of those same 9 attacks.
As an example, consider the following situation. Defending against a front 2 handed choke; using ‘Aiming the Spear’, the defender steps straight back with her left foot, while counter-grabbing the attackers right wrist with her left hand and simultaneously using an right upward heel-hand strike to the chin. The follow-up motion would be a right side thrust kick to the attacker’s lead leg at the knee. The ‘spear’ technique has been modified to meet the conditions of the attack and the relative positions of the defender and attacker to one another. The half-fist strike to the attacker’s would be difficult and very slow to deliver effectively. Going to the low-line side kick is much more economical and practical in this situation. The same choke defense would be applicable if the attack were a 2 handed choke from the side. On the other hand, a 2 handed rear choke defense is not realistically feasible using ‘Aiming the Spear’. The two-hand (2) front choke using ‘aiming the spear’ photo set follows:
Defending against the two (2) hand double lapel grab is very similar to what is done to defending against the two hand front choke attack. One difference with this version of ‘aiming the spear’ is that the defender will use a left hand outward forearm strike to the attacker’s right wrist instead of a wrist grab as was done with the counter to the front choke.
It is also possible to use the ‘aiming the spear’ concept to defend against a side choke attack. The defender simply steps away from the attacker and strikes with the hand closest to the attacker’s chin while pulling at the wrist of the hand attached to the front of their own throat. In the photo sequence below the defender will step to her right side, strike with her left hand as the right hand, counter-grabs the attacker’s left wrist. The defender is pulling the attacker towards herself.
Defending against a forehand stick or club attack is quite feasible if one uses the same steps as taught against the fore-hand slap attack. The primary differences are that the defender would want to control the attacker’s right hand and disarm the stick/club. The stick disarm can occur before or after the low-line kick to the attackers knee depending on the relative body positions of the two individuals. The front snap kick is usually the preferred kick with this technique.
Some defender’s would might prefer, in this situation, to change the half-fist throat strike to a trapping technique against the attacker’s right hand, then utilize a downward hammer-fist strike to the opponent’s groin as a prelude to the stick disarm. Quite likely the actual kick used would be changed to a low-line side thrust kick, which would follow the groin strike and precede the disarm.
Backhand stick attacks are defensible using ‘aiming the spear’ concepts as well. The actual ‘aiming the spear’ technique would be preceded by a blocking and/or passing movement to open up the target areas for the spear technique.
The overhead single stick attack is treated in a very similar manner to the backhand single stick attack, as follows in the next photo sequence. The operative difference between the backhand strike and the overhead strike is the attacking angle used by the attacker. The defender will want to shift to the “stick-side” in most cases. This will afford the defender a better position to counter the attack and she is less likely to have to contend with a left hand strike from the attacker. A left hand strike by the attacker is a very strong possibility if the defenders shift to the inside position at the onset of the stick attack.
Economy of motion does not require a slavish adherence to the original technique as taught. Changes are both allowed and encouraged in order to make sure that the technique is flexible enough to be effective in different situations. It is imperative that the student understands the basic principles that are inherent within the ‘aiming the spear’ technique. It is also important that the instructor helps the student to learn how to “fit” the technique to their own individual body. The principle or core movements of the technique are always applied. There are no wasted or exaggerated movements. ‘Aiming the Spear’ is a simple, direct and powerful self-defense technique with the emphasis on counter-attacking the aggressor. The adaptive flexibility of ‘Aiming the Spear’ makes it one of the best techniques to utilize when examining the “economy of motion” concept.
Jerome Barber, Ed.D.
Director and Principal Teacher
Paradigm Self Defense Arts Associates
Footnote: The original article had a series of photographs accompaning the essay portion that is being reproduced here on the blog. If you care to see the full article with photos, simply e-mail me at
paradigm.sda@hotmail.com to receive copy. Jerome Barber, Ed. D. February 6, 2011.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Principle and Decisons in Life
Principle is always inconvenient. Principled positions are very difficult to live up to although they may be easily applied when someone else has to (or had to) make a tough decision. When and where the rubber is meeting the road one must act in some manner because all of the equivocation room has been used up. It is time for action and you are the only one who can make the decision about which way to go. Idealism increases in proportion to the distance from home, it is always easier to say what should be done when you are not in the sighted cross hairs... principles are a real bitch!
I can tell you readers from personal experiences that principles can and do come back to bite you you squarely in your backsides; they can and often do take a huge chunk of flesh when they sink their teeth into your stated principled position on some matter. Your problem and mine at the critical moment in time when that decision has to made is surprisingly quite simple... do you live up to and by the principles that you have claimed publicly to have in the past? Or do you (and I) avoid taking the principled position that we have espoused so loudly in the past? Quite simply do you (and I) stand tall or do we cut and run? Which is going to happen, which position will be taken at that critical moment?
A 2nd problem with principles is that we are NEVER tested just once in life! There will be numerous times over course of our lifetimes that we are forced to face the test of principles. Nor are going to be comforted by the knowledge that there is a set number of times that we will have to face up to the challenge of having our principles tested. Each testing moment come and go. We will be judged as passing or failing by others who were able to stand on the sideline, pontificating on how well we met or failed the challenge, but they did not have to participate in the decision making. It is unfair but it is what it is!
One can claim to be a principled person. One can espouse all of the correct and polite statements but in the end everything comes down to how well your actions match your words. You will have to live your life in such a manner as to not violate the very principles that you espouse, yet, you must be able to live without some sort of rigid certainty that denotes that you have ALL of the correct answers for every possible life situation. There most certainly are some people who have that absolute certainty about them and they are quite often very quick to tell the rest of us what to do and how to do it. However, they also get challenged and have to stand up to the task of making a principled decision just as the rest of us must from time to time.
As a teacher, I have had to help my students from time to time as they faced some difficult decisions in their lives. But when push came to shove, I could only advise. When to the time came to stand and deliver each of these students had to make their own decisions. I am reminded of this because this past weekend I had to make a principled decision based on my stated beliefs before my student could make his own decision. I believe that we both made the correct decisions but over the hours and days that it took to complete the process, there were moments of doubt and concern. In the end neither of us had a choice. We could not avoid standing on principle and doing the right thing.
Sincerely,
Jerome Barber, Ed. D.
Mataw Guro & Grand Master
Independent Escrima-Kenpo-Arnis Associates
I can tell you readers from personal experiences that principles can and do come back to bite you you squarely in your backsides; they can and often do take a huge chunk of flesh when they sink their teeth into your stated principled position on some matter. Your problem and mine at the critical moment in time when that decision has to made is surprisingly quite simple... do you live up to and by the principles that you have claimed publicly to have in the past? Or do you (and I) avoid taking the principled position that we have espoused so loudly in the past? Quite simply do you (and I) stand tall or do we cut and run? Which is going to happen, which position will be taken at that critical moment?
A 2nd problem with principles is that we are NEVER tested just once in life! There will be numerous times over course of our lifetimes that we are forced to face the test of principles. Nor are going to be comforted by the knowledge that there is a set number of times that we will have to face up to the challenge of having our principles tested. Each testing moment come and go. We will be judged as passing or failing by others who were able to stand on the sideline, pontificating on how well we met or failed the challenge, but they did not have to participate in the decision making. It is unfair but it is what it is!
One can claim to be a principled person. One can espouse all of the correct and polite statements but in the end everything comes down to how well your actions match your words. You will have to live your life in such a manner as to not violate the very principles that you espouse, yet, you must be able to live without some sort of rigid certainty that denotes that you have ALL of the correct answers for every possible life situation. There most certainly are some people who have that absolute certainty about them and they are quite often very quick to tell the rest of us what to do and how to do it. However, they also get challenged and have to stand up to the task of making a principled decision just as the rest of us must from time to time.
As a teacher, I have had to help my students from time to time as they faced some difficult decisions in their lives. But when push came to shove, I could only advise. When to the time came to stand and deliver each of these students had to make their own decisions. I am reminded of this because this past weekend I had to make a principled decision based on my stated beliefs before my student could make his own decision. I believe that we both made the correct decisions but over the hours and days that it took to complete the process, there were moments of doubt and concern. In the end neither of us had a choice. We could not avoid standing on principle and doing the right thing.
Sincerely,
Jerome Barber, Ed. D.
Mataw Guro & Grand Master
Independent Escrima-Kenpo-Arnis Associates
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
A quick review of Bram Frank's new book "Comceptual Modern Arnis"
I just complete a quick reading of Bram Frank's new book, "Conceptual Modern Arnis" and it's a beautiful thing to behold, all 500 pages of it. Bram Frank has taken a straight-ahead approach and pulls no punches in explaining how and why he has made the 'translations' and 'innovations' that he has to the art of Professor Remy Presas. This is Bram Frank's book all the way! He honors and recognizes the founder and grand master of the Modern Arnis, but he also steps out in a very bold and direct manner to claim his own place within the art as an innovator in what he refers to as the Black Sheep/Renegade mode of people. Among those cited
by Bram Frank are Tom Bolden, Hock Hockheim, Shishir Inocalla, Douglas Pierre, Richard Roy, Kelly Worden and Brian Zawlinski.
Throughout this book, Bram Frank pay attention to and recognizes the prominence of Professor Presas without resorting to elevating the founder/GM to demigod status or some other larger than life figure
whose feats are the things of legend. This book is about Modern Arnis
as Bram Frank sees it and that is more than enough to hold a reader's attention.
The whole Black Sheep/Renegade thing is an integral part of Modern Arnis and it is so deeply engrained in the fabric of the art that only a blind idolater would deny its existence. But alas there are a significant number of those folks within the Modern Arnis ranks. Bram Frank very smartly quotes Professor Presas, in his own publication: "Modern Arnis-Philippine Stick fighting Manila, Philippines 1974":
"Long ago, Arnis was a dying Filipino martial art…based on long experience in practice and teaching of the art, I have modified many antiquated techniques and introduced new ones… What came out is what I call “Modern Arnis” today. In my 27 years of research and practice of the art, I have concluded that it can compare in effectiveness with contemporary martial arts now sweeping the world in popularity…Its modernized presentation will help students understand the intricate styles and techniques."
Then Bram Frank goes on to write the following statement:
"Ok… Who does need tradition? Obviously those that seem to feel that by following a set path one can get to whatever place one needs to get too… Sounds too general? Ok…There are those that study Modern Arnis as the absolute gospel of ARNIS; whatever they have seen, studied or understood is EXACTLY how Modern Arnis really is. There can be no other interpretations of the way. This strict interpretation makes it a little hard for those of us who see Modern Arnis as a living entity."
In essence Professor Presas opened the door for and encouraged the development of a "Black Sheep/ Renegade" movement. From Bram Frank's research and conversations, he found that:
"When Professor Presas was just Remy Presas, a young man searching for knowledge…the way of the truth wasn’t even in the picture yet, he studied with ANYONE who would teach him. Over the years he came to see certain truths in each interpretation of Arnis, Kali or Eskrima. What most people who look at Modern Arnis or Presas Arnis gather at first glance is that Modern Arnis contains the names of many systems and styles and says it contains the way of these systems. Then one example is given to illustrate that system or way and Modern Arnis moves on. To the average person that’s akin to saying I know football…look this is the ball, you throw it, and standing there as if one truly understands football. Well actually if that was a conceptual statement it might actually be true, but westerners don’t think conceptually. Modern Arnis does."
It's obvious to those with good sight, even those whose vision has been corrected that the following statement by Bram Frank is also true:
"Remy Presas was a renegade in his homeland. He learned from many. He took what he saw as the basic truth and made it into a Filipino generic art. An art that would truly represent the Philippines and do honor to the whole class of fighting arts such as Kunai, Kali, Eskrima and Arnis…sort of the Tae Kwon Do of the Filipino martial art world. In doing this he set a way of learning that is still going on today. He’s still learning and Modern Arnis is still changing and evolving!"
Obviously that last sentence was written before 2001, while Professor was still alive and teaching his art. It is also equally obvious that Bram Frank believes that his book is following the the tradition that Professor Presas, himself, began with his founding of Modern Arnis. That is what makes the book so outstanding in my opinion. Modern Arnis in the hands of a Black Sheep/Renegade is a 'living' martial arts form that can be developed to fit each individual rather than forcing every individual to conform to some predetermed movements that both stifles and stuffs any original thinking or creativity. In a sense its too bad that Bram Frank placed this information at the back of the book in Chapter 24, but the fact that it is being used as a prelude to the final chapter which asks the question "Is Modern Arnis a Closed Family?", makes the transition to that chapter all the more important.
So many people assocaited with Modern Arnis in the USA, Canada and Europe tend to see Modern Arnis as strictly a stick based martial arts with some complimentry empty hand techniques. Bram frank states that:
"Renegade Modern Arnis Stick-fighting is about hitting the opponent. Nothing fancy, just hit the opponent. WHY? Because if you hit the
opponent then more than likely the opponent is NOT hitting you! This hitting action can be a flashlight, a cane, a stick, a hammer or a collapsing baton. I think you get the idea. Something longer than your hand and percussive!"
In other words Modern Arnis is a self defense fighting art with some alteration designed into it to make practice sessions safer for the participants; but at the central core of the art it all about fighting
for your own survival against another person. Then there is that other contention that separates this book from the others available on the art. It is the extension of Modern Arnis concepts to the blade such as the knife and bolo, which are featured in this book.
Bram Frank also wrote the following statement:
"Renegade Modern Arnis knife usage: steel seeks flesh and then cuts flesh! Using a blade would entail the same Conceptual motions. Ok… it’s almost the same usage as with empty hands…so let’s look at the same situation as presented originally with a percussive tool involved or with empty hand. The attacker comes at you with a wild swinging right handed strike. With your right hand you deflect / intercept the incoming attack by cutting into the arm with your knife’s edge."
There it is. The subject matter of this book and the very thing that a good number of Modern Arnis people outside of the Philippines want to avoid discussing. The blade concepts that exists within the art. A good number of people fall back to the position that 'Professor wanted to show 'the beauty of the art' as their rationale for avoiding any references to the blade aspects of the art within their instructional formats. They are justified to a degree because Professor Presas did say that presenting 'the beauty of the art' was important to him, but he also mention in his 1974 book on Modern Arnis that the stick was a training tool and it worked because it was less lethal than the blade. Therefore, it is not a matter of which side of the debate that one is on, because both sides have of the discussion have merit. It is really a matter of understanding that Modern Arnis concepts allow for and easily incorporate the blade. "Conceptual Modern Arnis" broadens the point of view regarding the utility and function of the art. The book gives the reader a great deal of information and factual data that encourages us to think outside of the box, look beyond a narrow set of restrictions and explore new options that exist but are not necessarily being taught by a majority of Modern Arnis instructors. This book encourages the reader to study the art in detail then find ways to "make the art for yourself" as the late founder stated quite often when he teaching his art, Modern Arnis, at the various seminars and camps around the world. I know that I heard him express that point of view at least once a day at every event that I attended from 1981 through 1994. Bram Frank has done just that and you will be better off reading this book from cover to cover, than ignoring
it for the sake of comfort and conformity.
by Bram Frank are Tom Bolden, Hock Hockheim, Shishir Inocalla, Douglas Pierre, Richard Roy, Kelly Worden and Brian Zawlinski.
Throughout this book, Bram Frank pay attention to and recognizes the prominence of Professor Presas without resorting to elevating the founder/GM to demigod status or some other larger than life figure
whose feats are the things of legend. This book is about Modern Arnis
as Bram Frank sees it and that is more than enough to hold a reader's attention.
The whole Black Sheep/Renegade thing is an integral part of Modern Arnis and it is so deeply engrained in the fabric of the art that only a blind idolater would deny its existence. But alas there are a significant number of those folks within the Modern Arnis ranks. Bram Frank very smartly quotes Professor Presas, in his own publication: "Modern Arnis-Philippine Stick fighting Manila, Philippines 1974":
"Long ago, Arnis was a dying Filipino martial art…based on long experience in practice and teaching of the art, I have modified many antiquated techniques and introduced new ones… What came out is what I call “Modern Arnis” today. In my 27 years of research and practice of the art, I have concluded that it can compare in effectiveness with contemporary martial arts now sweeping the world in popularity…Its modernized presentation will help students understand the intricate styles and techniques."
Then Bram Frank goes on to write the following statement:
"Ok… Who does need tradition? Obviously those that seem to feel that by following a set path one can get to whatever place one needs to get too… Sounds too general? Ok…There are those that study Modern Arnis as the absolute gospel of ARNIS; whatever they have seen, studied or understood is EXACTLY how Modern Arnis really is. There can be no other interpretations of the way. This strict interpretation makes it a little hard for those of us who see Modern Arnis as a living entity."
In essence Professor Presas opened the door for and encouraged the development of a "Black Sheep/ Renegade" movement. From Bram Frank's research and conversations, he found that:
"When Professor Presas was just Remy Presas, a young man searching for knowledge…the way of the truth wasn’t even in the picture yet, he studied with ANYONE who would teach him. Over the years he came to see certain truths in each interpretation of Arnis, Kali or Eskrima. What most people who look at Modern Arnis or Presas Arnis gather at first glance is that Modern Arnis contains the names of many systems and styles and says it contains the way of these systems. Then one example is given to illustrate that system or way and Modern Arnis moves on. To the average person that’s akin to saying I know football…look this is the ball, you throw it, and standing there as if one truly understands football. Well actually if that was a conceptual statement it might actually be true, but westerners don’t think conceptually. Modern Arnis does."
It's obvious to those with good sight, even those whose vision has been corrected that the following statement by Bram Frank is also true:
"Remy Presas was a renegade in his homeland. He learned from many. He took what he saw as the basic truth and made it into a Filipino generic art. An art that would truly represent the Philippines and do honor to the whole class of fighting arts such as Kunai, Kali, Eskrima and Arnis…sort of the Tae Kwon Do of the Filipino martial art world. In doing this he set a way of learning that is still going on today. He’s still learning and Modern Arnis is still changing and evolving!"
Obviously that last sentence was written before 2001, while Professor was still alive and teaching his art. It is also equally obvious that Bram Frank believes that his book is following the the tradition that Professor Presas, himself, began with his founding of Modern Arnis. That is what makes the book so outstanding in my opinion. Modern Arnis in the hands of a Black Sheep/Renegade is a 'living' martial arts form that can be developed to fit each individual rather than forcing every individual to conform to some predetermed movements that both stifles and stuffs any original thinking or creativity. In a sense its too bad that Bram Frank placed this information at the back of the book in Chapter 24, but the fact that it is being used as a prelude to the final chapter which asks the question "Is Modern Arnis a Closed Family?", makes the transition to that chapter all the more important.
So many people assocaited with Modern Arnis in the USA, Canada and Europe tend to see Modern Arnis as strictly a stick based martial arts with some complimentry empty hand techniques. Bram frank states that:
"Renegade Modern Arnis Stick-fighting is about hitting the opponent. Nothing fancy, just hit the opponent. WHY? Because if you hit the
opponent then more than likely the opponent is NOT hitting you! This hitting action can be a flashlight, a cane, a stick, a hammer or a collapsing baton. I think you get the idea. Something longer than your hand and percussive!"
In other words Modern Arnis is a self defense fighting art with some alteration designed into it to make practice sessions safer for the participants; but at the central core of the art it all about fighting
for your own survival against another person. Then there is that other contention that separates this book from the others available on the art. It is the extension of Modern Arnis concepts to the blade such as the knife and bolo, which are featured in this book.
Bram Frank also wrote the following statement:
"Renegade Modern Arnis knife usage: steel seeks flesh and then cuts flesh! Using a blade would entail the same Conceptual motions. Ok… it’s almost the same usage as with empty hands…so let’s look at the same situation as presented originally with a percussive tool involved or with empty hand. The attacker comes at you with a wild swinging right handed strike. With your right hand you deflect / intercept the incoming attack by cutting into the arm with your knife’s edge."
There it is. The subject matter of this book and the very thing that a good number of Modern Arnis people outside of the Philippines want to avoid discussing. The blade concepts that exists within the art. A good number of people fall back to the position that 'Professor wanted to show 'the beauty of the art' as their rationale for avoiding any references to the blade aspects of the art within their instructional formats. They are justified to a degree because Professor Presas did say that presenting 'the beauty of the art' was important to him, but he also mention in his 1974 book on Modern Arnis that the stick was a training tool and it worked because it was less lethal than the blade. Therefore, it is not a matter of which side of the debate that one is on, because both sides have of the discussion have merit. It is really a matter of understanding that Modern Arnis concepts allow for and easily incorporate the blade. "Conceptual Modern Arnis" broadens the point of view regarding the utility and function of the art. The book gives the reader a great deal of information and factual data that encourages us to think outside of the box, look beyond a narrow set of restrictions and explore new options that exist but are not necessarily being taught by a majority of Modern Arnis instructors. This book encourages the reader to study the art in detail then find ways to "make the art for yourself" as the late founder stated quite often when he teaching his art, Modern Arnis, at the various seminars and camps around the world. I know that I heard him express that point of view at least once a day at every event that I attended from 1981 through 1994. Bram Frank has done just that and you will be better off reading this book from cover to cover, than ignoring
it for the sake of comfort and conformity.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
beginnings are delicate times
"The proper teaching is recognized with ease. You can know it without fail because it awakens within you that sensations which tells you this is something you've always known." -Frank Herbert
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