Jackie Chan and the 12 ZodiacAnimals. Jackie Chan was born inHong Kong on April 7, 1954, son ofCharles Chan (1914-2008) and Lee -Lee Chan (1916-2002), an immigrantcouple from mainland China. About tobe sold at the time of his birth, at sixyears of age, Chan would enter aPeking Opera School under a ten-yearpermanence contract as his onlyoption for survival.

FILM MARCIAL

After a long time offfrom our pages,Randy Will iams, aclassic of the WingChun andundoubtedly one ofthe pioneers of thisstyle, especially inEurope, is back!

WING CHUN

Shooting: How Close is TooClose? During this past year afirearms instructor, a "Rambo, RealDeal deadly guy" shot one of hisown student's four times! This eventled myself and Ben Krajmalnik, whoalso served in the Israeli Army/IDFto come out with a new basic DVDto explain a little about firearms andsafety and to share some basictechniques to train with firearms.

KAPAP

After a major globalexpansion, it has been recentlycreated the International BugeiSociety, headquartered inSpain, a regulating body for allthe Bugei Societies of eacharea, ensuring the consistencyof teaching and learning qualityfor students, regardless ofcountry to which they belong.

INTERNATIONAL BUGEI SOCIETY

His high discipline and technicallevel have turned AlejandroNavarro into a worldwidereference of the KyokushinKarate. Charisma, determinationand pure spirit Kyokushin, reachthe pages of Budo International,here comes ... Alejandro Navarro!

KYOKUSHINKAI

The future of martial arts lies inour kids. Children and youngstersare the ones who will grow up andcarry on our martial tradition, thusthey need to be nurtured andtaught in the best mannerpossible. But most instructorshave only a vague understandingof kids' natural development,motor capabilit ies andpsychosocial skills.

NIÑOS Y ARTES MARCIALES

“BUDO INTERNATIONAL”is a publication of:BUDO INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING CO.Central: Office:Andrés Mellado, 4228015 Madrid - SpanienLocal pages: Maurice Elmalemmauricenterprise@aol.comInternational pages: Alfredo Tucci:budo@budointernational.com

Principles of Self-Defense. How does self-defense

begin? It is not just an attackwhich triggers a response ofself-defense, no, realistic self-defense begins the momentwe think about it. If weconsider strategies fordangerous situations, we willbe better prepared. Thanks toits simple basic ideas, S.D.S.-Concept is the ideal systemfor everyone who wants touse a tool to improve theirsafety.

SDS-CONCEPT

The Power of the Kung Fu WeaponsHistory: For many people nowadays, KungFu weapons can seem out of date, alreadyburied by an ancient history that saw themas absolute protagonists in the battlefield,and which today can have no concrete use.However, this is not the case… Weaponsare also studied today, but most of all theyare loved, attractive for that particularenergy that characterizes them, thatvibration that didn’t escape the eyes of thewarriors of the past, as well as of today.

KUNG FU WEAPONS

Sib Pal Ki is a Koreanstyle of combat with a lotof popularity these daysin its country of origin. Itincorporates a greatnumber of techniques,the use of all kinds ofweapons, spears, knives,etc., and it came seemvery much like ChineseKung Fu at first glance.However, it has its ownpersonality andidiosyncrasies. Despite

the difficulty of its practice, its success during the past yearsseems to be tied up with the search for new horizons among thestudents of Taekwondo.

SIB PAL KI

Almost in any social gathering amongpractitioners, it is discussed if WingTsun,or any other system of Traditional MartialArts, are really that effective, becausethey don't prove it within the "cage" ofMMA. It's a recurring theme for which Iam often asked in many of the placeswhere I impart courses and seminars.

WINGTSUN

General Director & Art Director: Alfredo Tucci. Advertising: Maurice Elmalem - mauricenterprise@aol.com International pages:

Alfredo Tucci. budo@budointernational.com Columnists: Don Wilson, Yoshimitsu Yamada, Cass Magda, Antonio Espinós, Jim

Wagner, Coronel Sanchís, Marco De Cesaris, Lilla Distéfano, Maurizio Maltese, Bob Dubljanin, Marc Denny, Salvador Herráiz, Shi de

Yang, Sri Dinesh, Carlos Zerpa, Omar Martínez, Manu, Patrick Levet, Mike Anderson, Boulahfa Mimoum, Franco Vacirca, Bill Newman,

José Mª Pujadas, Paolo Cangelosi, Emilio Alpanseque, Sueyoshi Akeshi, Marcelo Pires, Angel García, Juan Díaz. Photographers:

Carlos Contreras, Alfredo Tucci.

or the ancient Shizen priests, love was one ofthe most dangerous demons (Oni), an evil spiritthat made you lose all your potential capacity oflucidness and often led you to blindness andstupidity. Of course, they were referring to loveas a human feeling, not as an undifferentiated

force. Love as a force is that which tends to the union, themerger of the separate parts into a new unit. Love is theforce that makes a 'tandem' go, i.e. a set where the sum ofthe forces involved is higher than the unit value of the parts.

For the ancient Greeks, love was personified by Eros, sonof Chaos and brother of Eris, his counterpart or theUniversal force of repulsion. However, Eros and Eris wereneither the good nor the bad, as the simplistic mind tends toread. Every attraction can result in something positive ornegative and vice versa. Chaos derives from the root ghe orghn of the proto-Indo-European language, and it means"hollow" or "very open". Because of linguistic variations, themeaning of the word shifted to “disorder”; however, we arespeaking of a term that implies the emptiness, the"nothingness", from which all matter comes in constantimpulses, and that science has recently discovered to besustained by the so-called "cosmic brick" or famous "HiggsBoson".

Some mythological stories speak about Chaos as theprimeval god that existed before all the gods and forces,and describe it as a "slit", a "space that is opening". Otherdescendants of Chaos were Hemera, the female goddesspersonifying the day, and Erebus, the god of darkness.

The essential duality of all things is present in everytradition, but reducing the idea to the concepts of good andevil is falling into one of the worst Sadducee traps. Thenotion of good and evil is definitely simplistic and leadsinevitably to a poor and mean mental minimalism; but then,why was it imposed?

It is easy to imagine an old Neanderthal telling hisgrandson "Yuyu", "Bad!", or maybe "Taboo!", while pointingwoebegone his finger at a plant. What happens is that goodand bad are very useful ways to convey information, arecipe of direct and immediate use; however, if we are tolook beyond and penetrate the understanding of things,these concepts are clearly insufficient. For example: Thissame plant, which was not edible or maybe it just had anasty taste, in small doses, turned out to be a greatmedicine for diarrhea, headache or other ailment. Someonesmarter, who did not stay within the limits of what it wasknown and accepted, in other words, someone whodefinitely was a transgressor, could understand this realitywith another approach, and this allowed him to discoversuch a wonderful medicine.

The history of mankind is filled with similar examples. Anydevelopment is based on transgression, but transgressioncan be evolutionary, when it acts positively, or“involutionary”, that is, regressing, when it does in negative.Without the benefit of hindsight it is difficult for us to seewhich way it will result in either sense, therefore, any toolfrom the past is a compass to guide our future steps; the

key is in how we use it. A same theorem can lead tocompletely opposite decisions, depending on the peculiarmix of heart, guts and brains of the one who applies it.

Yes, everything is solved, yet everything has to be solved,because the human equation has so many variables that it iscapable to reinvent itself in each person, so that none of us(and we are quite a few!) possesses not even the slightestsimilarity in our simplest expression: DNA. On the otherhand, we are all subject to the same Universal forces andthese make us equal in one way or another in functionalform; time goes by for all of us, we all die, we all suffer, etc.

Human life is a wonderful combination of all theseconstant and universal variables and there are not few of uswho have devoted much of our time and energy trying tounderstand them. Therefore, bargain simplifications,whether in the form of morality, or in the form of religion orregulations, must be overcome, because what men haveinvented are just models. Life does not have enough roomwithin any of them; nevertheless, some are more accuratethan others, although all of them perform a function in theAll; if something exists is only because it needs to exist.Reductionisms, futility and redeemers are dangerousbecause of that; one thing is to subvert the order so thatsomething new be born, and another is setting nonsense asmodel. Those who are more wide-awake will always getfurther, because they just don't swallow what they servethem, but they keep chewing it, and sooner or later theydigest it. Any evolution is based on this questioning andreflective attitude; from the roman plow to the tractor therehave been many intermediaries, many who thought it was"not enough".

Beyond all this, human beings live facing the idea ofsuffering not in an abstract way, but in a very specific one.The ancient Miryoku argued (and have not been the onlyones) that we suffer because we lack something; becausewe are afraid to lose what we have; because we havesomething that looked good, but it turned out to be not sogood; or because we have something we can't get rid of.The nature of man is dissatisfaction, because this is theforce that drives him to change, to evolve and renew; butit's also the force that might consume, exhaust and emptyhis being leading him to his complete stagnation. The forcesare there and they will remain when we are gone; what wedo with them now is precisely what will distinguish ourfuture experiences, what will mark the paths of the future, asit was also what made the tracks we left in our past. Thesefootprints can't be changed, only the waves of time willdelete them from the sands of memory, but the future andthe present are ours and we are theirs, to choose to grow, tochoose evolution, to expand the limits of ourconsciousness; to awake to new realities, new approaches;to expand our perception and also to leave on the way ourleftover skin bags, filled with all those things that, while notbad, are no longer useful to us. Lightweight is the luggageof the wise.

Evolution is transgressing the limits; transcendingminimalist approaches; leaving behind small and simplistic

"Let us never forget that good is never reachedbut through the best"

Victor Hugo

"I want a love that is good, but good is only half of evil"George Harrison

F

visions. One thing is to define what is good and what bad interms of our own taste, our personal fondness; another quitedifferent is to establish with them moral paradigms designinggeneral principles "prêt a porter" and then pretend thateverybody fill in that same suit. Good and bad justdon't exist and one of the greatest perversions ofits own nature as a universalizing concept is toallow and encourage some of the greatestaberrations made by humans. History isfull of them...

The wise looks beyond good andevil, because there can't be a truewise corseted in these principles. Wehumans, frightened before thatelusive reality, legislate forever andtry to put gates to the field, weestablish protocols and defineparameters of good and bad.Then come the waves of time,laugh at us and eraseeverything with the slightgurgling of their salty foam.

Nothing replaces theconsciousness of beingand understanding; that'swhy the authentic path mustforce the transformation ofconsciousness enabling us to dieto what we are, so that we can beborn to what we are not; in thistransit, pain is not negotiable, butsuffering is.

Alfredo Tucci is Managing Director ofBudo INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING CO.e-mail: budo@budointernational.com

https://www.facebook.com/alfredo.tucci.5

http://www.crcawingchun.com/about/sifu_randy_williams.cfm

BOT JAU YUE - THE “OCTOPUS” WOODEN DUMMY

Joang Sau, literally “Dummy Hand,” isthe Chinese term for the techniques ofthe Mook Yan Joang, or “Wooden ManDummy”. The Mook Yan Joang is atraining device used by many differentstyles of Chinese Gung Fu such as ChoyLay Fut and Praying Mantis, but isprobably most often identified with theWing Chun system. And now, I havemade a significant change to the basicstructure of the traditional Mook YanJoang by adding four more arms to it,for reasons I will explain in this essay. Icall this new take on an old training aid,“The Octopus,” (Bot Jau Yue) because ithas seven arms and a leg. It can bemade of wood, PVC plastic, or even ofmetal.

The first form of Wooden Man wasused in the Shaolin temple of ancientChina, where legend has it that in orderto graduate from the temple, a disciplehad to fight his way out through acomplex maze of 108 different WoodenDummies, some of which were springloaded and could inflict fatal injury if notdealt with correctly, others which weremechanically operated by concealedonlookers. It is even rumored that someof the Wooden Men were actually eldermonks wearing wooden armor.

BENEFITS OF WOODENDUMMY TRAINING

Practice with the Wooden Dummybenefits the Wing Chun student in manyways. Firstly, the Dummy provides thetrainee with a partner when no one elseis available to practice the applicationsof hand and leg movements. All blocks,strikes and kicks can also be executedwith full power transfer without fear ofinjury to a live partner. As the Dummydoes not move much, the student learnsmobility while circling around it withvarious footwork in conjunction withblocking and striking hand techniques to“Bridge the Gap” a universal term forclosing the distance between twofighters. Wooden Man training can alsobe enlightening in regard to use of theCenterline to attack and defend from allangles as the trainee “changes the line”from one movement to the next. Thisangulation and proper use of theCenterline can enable a smaller, weakerperson to overcome a larger force, by“borrowing power” and diffusingstrength with body positioning andstructure. As the Wing Chun Wooden

Dummy proverb goes, “Seen Wai YoangDuck Hoh Lahng Chue,” which means“Use of the Centerline will be proper andtherefore hard to defeat.”

The upper arms are set at a strategicangle to represent the final position of acorrectly blocked strike, setting it as anoutside l imit. For example, whenexecuting a right Pock Sau slap block,rather than imagining them to be twopunches moving outward from thecenter, the trainee should envision theupper left Dummy arm as a left punchfrom the opponent which his right handhas knocked across the Centerline. Inthe same way, the right Dummy arm canbe imagined to be a right punch that hasbeen pushed to a point sufficientlyoutside to keep it from hitt ing thetrainee, but no further than necessary.This outside limit point is dictated byrules of Centerline Advantage, Facingand the “Cutting Angle” that wereexplained previously in this book seriesand conforms with the Wing Chunconcept of Economy of Motion.

Mook Yan Joang training clearlyillustrates applications of the three handforms under “laboratory conditions.”This is due to the structure of theDummy itself. Because of the perfectAngle Structure built into the Dummy,the trainee is naturally drawn to executehis techniques with equally perfectAngle Structure. Any structural defect inthe trainee's motion tends to bemagnified by the Dummy and cantherefore be easily identif ied andcorrected. In addition, if a technique isperformed improperly, it will usuallycause some excessive pain to thetrainee, signaling that the angle ofcontact or the striking surface of thehand, arm or leg is incorrect.

Another advantage of training with theWooden Dummy is the toughening of theskin and bone of the hand, arm, shoulder,foot and leg. This is accomplishedthrough “Tapping,” also called “EnergyPacking.” The Dummy should not be hitwith full force initially but instead shouldonly be tapped. Tapping the Dummy'swooden surface in this way, combinedwith the use of Leen Goang Jau (herballiniment) will eventually “pack” Chi intothe bone cavities, preventing bonebrittleness in old age. Although at first thetrainee may experience a small degree ofpain and bruising, after a short time hewill be able to execute all movementssharply and crisply without any morediscomfort, having developed an “IronBridge Hand,” or Teet Kiu Sau. Once thetrainee has a toughened arm, not only canhe block an opponent's punch or kick, he

can also damage the arm or leg he isblocking. This is a part of theSimultaneous Attack and Defenseprinciple of Wing Chun (Leen Siu Dai Da).A toughened arm is less likely to beinjured in combat and can withstand moreimpact if necessary to block a heavyweapon. A student with an armtoughened by Wooden Dummy trainingcan also train for longer periods withharder contact in drills with a live partnerwithout suffering pain or bruising.Toughening skin and bones does notmean callusing or deforming the hand,nor does it mean bruising the bones. Thisconditioning must be performedgradually; the conditioning becomes alittle longer and harder with each trainingsession until the desired result is attained.

Wooden Dummy trainingsimultaneously develops the student'sability to transfer power into a stationaryobject while avoiding choppinessbetween motions and drills many of themotions of the system with the addedelement of contact. As he executes thetechniques in a more realistic mannerthan in the first two hand forms, flowingsmoothly from one to the next, up anddown, left to right, while completelyreleasing the power of each into the“core” of the Dummy, the trainee willdevelop the ability to continually strikefrom any combination of angle and levelwhile maintaining good balance andposture. This also enables thepractitioner to flow directly from onemovement into another withoutinterruption of power, momentum andspeed. Although it may appear that themovements blend into each other, inactuality each motion is completed andits power totally released into theDummy before the next motion isbegun. This will be apparent in therhythmic sound produced by the correctflow of motion. In fact, a true master ofWing Chun can actually detect faults inthe structure of a student's Dummy formsimply by listening to sounds made bythe wood and his footwork, withoutactually watching. This because of thedistinctive sounds and rhythms made bymovements that are correctly self-timedand then in turn correctly timed on theDummy. A well-trained ear can detectthe proper stepping, sliding and releaseof power by their sound alone.

While the Dummy can be used fortraining blocks, parries, strikes, kicks,elbow and knee strikes, sweeps andother leg maneuvers, there are otherless obvious ways of using the Dummy.The Dummy arms and horizontalcrossbeams can be used like a ballet

Wing Chun

After a long time off from our pages, Randy Williams, a classic of the Wing Chunand undoubtedly one of the pioneers of this style, especially in Europe, is back! Hisreentry, that will accompany the next issues of our magazine, presumably in theform of a column, is with all the honors: on the front cover and with his article onthe 8 arm wooden dummy. We hope you enjoy it.

Randy Williams and Zoltan Bathory of the USA's Number One Heavy Metal group FiveFinger Death Punch demonstrate how two people can simultaneously train the Boang SauWing Arm Deflection on The Octopus. Photo taken onstage during the recent worldwideMayhem Rock Festival

Great Masters

bar to stretch the legs at different levelsand the wrist can be stretched bypressing the palm against the Dummytrunk with the palm heel up, fingersdown. Even the horizontal crossbeamscan be used for support for wrist rollingforearm-conditioning exercises withweights. It is important to be innovativein using the Octopus. Try to find newways of using all parts of the device,including the top, the area behind theleg and even the vertical upright supportbeams, which can be padded and usedas makiwara type striking posts.

BENEFITS OF OCTOPUSDUMMY TRAINING

Facing Advantage - One of the mostessential strategies of Wing Chuncombat is known as the “Advantage ofFacing.” In essence, the Wing Chun

fighter strives to position himself behindthe opponent in such a way that he canuse both of his own hands to strike theenemy, while the opponent can use onlyone hand to defend or counterattack, ornone at all. When training with thetraditional three-armed Dummy, oncethe trainee has moved to the outside soas to have obtained this advantage, hemust move back in toward the center,giving up the Facing advantage he hasgained. But with the Octopus, he canmove yet further to the outside,improving his Advantage of Facing as heworks on the outer arms as though hewere continuing to attack the opponentfrom a flanked position that is difficult orimpossible to defend.

Multiple Partner Training - Basically,the upper four arms of the Octopus areset up in such a way that you have whatamounts to three “sets” of upper armsas they appear on the traditional three-armed Dummy. Because of theadditional arms, one, two, three andeven four trainees can simultaneouslywork techniques and sequences on theOctopus. For example, a simple two-motion sequence can be worked by twotrainees at the same time on both outersets of arms. And the trainees canexecute the motions so that they aregoing together in the same direction, orcan go in opposite directions so thattheir energy goes against each other. Athird person can work the center set ofarms at the same time, just as he couldwith a traditional Wing Chun Dummy.Another trainee can work groundtechnique on his knees, using the leg inthe same way he would use the low armof a traditional Dummy while standing.

Groundfighting Techniques - Asmentioned above, the trainee cankneel down and use the three lowarms for blocking, trapping andstriking as he uses the leg in the same

way he would normally use the lowerarm of a standard Wooden Dummywhen standing. He can walk and pivoton his knees or knee and foot for powerand Facing advantage.

Chee Gyeuk - Because of the twoextra lower arms of the Octopus, thetrainee can practice a wider variety ofleg blocking, trapping and kickingcombinations that cannot be done withthe traditional three-armed Dummy. Theleg can be moved from Boang Gyeuk toTan or Pock Gyeuk, or many otherpossible leg maneuvers and kicks.

Owning and training with the OctopusDummy could be a benefit to anymartial art ist who is interested insharpening his technique, tougheninghis arms and improving his overallcombat strategy.

BOT JAU YUE - THE“OCTOPUS” WOODENDUMMY

Joang Sau, literally “Dummy Hand,” isthe Chinese term for the techniques ofthe Mook Yan Joang, or “Wooden ManDummy”. The Mook Yan Joang is atraining device used by many differentstyles of Chinese Gung Fu such as ChoyLay Fut and Praying Mantis, but isprobably most often identified with theWing Chun system. And now, I havemade a significant change to the basicstructure of the traditional Mook YanJoang by adding four more arms to it, forreasons I will explain in this essay. I callthis new take on an old training aid, “TheOctopus,” (Bot Jau Yue) because it hasseven arms and a leg. It can be made ofwood, PVC plastic, or even of metal.

The first form of Wooden Man wasused in the Shaolin temple of ancientChina, where legend has it that in orderto graduate from the temple, a disciplehad to fight his way out through acomplex maze of 108 different WoodenDummies, some of which were springloaded and could inflict fatal injury if notdealt with correctly, others which weremechanically operated by concealedonlookers. It is even rumored that someof the Wooden Men were actually eldermonks wearing wooden armor.

BENEFITS OF WOODEN DUMMY TRAINING

Practice with the Wooden Dummybenefits the Wing Chun student in manyways. Firstly, the Dummy provides the

trainee with a partner when no one elseis available to practice the applicationsof hand and leg movements. All blocks,strikes and kicks can also be executedwith full power transfer without fear ofinjury to a live partner. As the Dummydoes not move much, the student learnsmobility while circling around it withvarious footwork in conjunction withblocking and striking hand techniques to“Bridge the Gap” a universal term forclosing the distance between twofighters. Wooden Man training can alsobe enlightening in regard to use of theCenterline to attack and defend from allangles as the trainee “changes the line”from one movement to the next. Thisangulation and proper use of theCenterline can enable a smaller, weakerperson to overcome a larger force, by“borrowing power” and diffusingstrength with body positioning and

structure. As the Wing Chun WoodenDummy proverb goes, “Seen Wai YoangDuck Hoh Lahng Chue,” which means“Use of the Centerline will be proper andtherefore hard to defeat.”

The upper arms are set at a strategicangle to represent the final position of acorrectly blocked strike, setting it as anoutside l imit. For example, whenexecuting a right Pock Sau slap block,rather than imagining them to be twopunches moving outward from thecenter, the trainee should envision theupper left Dummy arm as a left punchfrom the opponent which his right handhas knocked across the Centerline. Inthe same way, the right Dummy arm canbe imagined to be a right punch that hasbeen pushed to a point sufficientlyoutside to keep it from hitt ing thetrainee, but no further than necessary.This outside limit point is dictated byrules of Centerline Advantage, Facingand the “Cutting Angle” that wereexplained previously in this book seriesand conforms with the Wing Chunconcept of Economy of Motion.

Mook Yan Joang training clearlyillustrates applications of the three handforms under “laboratory conditions.”This is due to the structure of theDummy itself. Because of the perfectAngle Structure built into the Dummy,the trainee is naturally drawn to executehis techniques with equally perfectAngle Structure. Any structural defect inthe trainee's motion tends to bemagnified by the Dummy and cantherefore be easily identif ied andcorrected. In addition, if a technique isperformed improperly, it will usually

Head-and-Arm Choke Sequence – Choking techniques can also be practiced and perfected using the arms, body and eventhe horizontal crossbeams of the Octopus Dummy. Photos 1-13 show an example of how CRCA Wing Chun uses choking incombat. Fighters are squared off for battle (Photo 1). As the opponent steps forward with the Jab, Randy taps the punch offline,picks up his front foot and shoots a low “Touch and Go” Chop Kuen punch to the ribs (Photo 2), making sure his punch makescontact while both his own front foot and the front foot of his opponent are still in mid-air. In this way, the power of theopponent’s punch will be “borrowed” while Randy’s own power will be magnified by his own momentum, causing maximumimpact. In Photo 3, Randy uses a left hooking Fook Sau trap and right punch to the face, then repeats the same Fook Da moveon the opposite side (Photo 4), trapping the opponent’s arm against his chest to prevent him from punching with his free hand.Stepping in deep with his front foot, Randy lifts the opponent’s elbow using Pau Sau (Photo 5), then throws his Lon SauBannister Hand around the opponent’s neck (Photos 6 and 7) as he uses another Pau Sau motion to begin the choke. Photos 8and 9 show the completion of the choke. Sidestepping for leverage (Photo 10), Randy then completes a Seep Ma Circling Stepbehind the opponent to take him down by smashing his head into the ground without releasing the choke (Photos 11-13).

cause some excessive pain to thetrainee, signaling that the angle ofcontact or the striking surface of thehand, arm or leg is incorrect.

Another advantage of training with theWooden Dummy is the toughening ofthe skin and bone of the hand, arm,shoulder, foot and leg. This isaccomplished through “Tapping,” alsocalled “Energy Packing.” The Dummyshould not be hit with full force initiallybut instead should only be tapped.Tapping the Dummy's wooden surfacein this way, combined with the use ofLeen Goang Jau (herbal liniment) willeventually “pack” Chi into the bonecavities, preventing bone brittleness inold age. Although at first the trainee mayexperience a small degree of pain andbruising, after a short time he will beable to execute all movements sharplyand crisply without any more

discomfort, having developed an “IronBridge Hand,” or Teet Kiu Sau. Once thetrainee has a toughened arm, not onlycan he block an opponent's punch orkick, he can also damage the arm or leghe is blocking. This is a part of theSimultaneous Attack and Defenseprinciple of Wing Chun (Leen Siu DaiDa). A toughened arm is lesslikely to be injured in combatand can withstand more impactif necessary to block a heavyweapon. A student with an armtoughened by Wooden Dummy

training can also train for longer periodswith harder contact in drills with a live

partner without sufferingpain or bruising. Tougheningskin and bones does notmean callusing ordeforming the hand, nordoes it mean bruising thebones. This conditioningmust be performedgradually; the conditioningbecomes a little longer andharder with each trainingsession until the desiredresult is attained.

Wooden Dummy trainingsimultaneously developsthe student's abil ity totransfer power into a

stationary object while avoidingchoppiness between motions and drillsmany of the motions of the system withthe added element of contact. As heexecutes the techniques in a morerealistic manner than in the first twohand forms, flowing smoothly from oneto the next, up and down, left to right,

while completely releasing the power ofeach into the “core” of the Dummy, thetrainee wil l develop the abil ity tocontinually strike from any combinationof angle and level while maintaininggood balance and posture. This alsoenables the practitioner to flow directlyfrom one movement into anotherwithout interruption of power,momentum and speed. Although it mayappear that the movements blend intoeach other, in actuality each motion iscompleted and its power totally releasedinto the Dummy before the next motionis begun. This will be apparent in therhythmic sound produced by the correctflow of motion. In fact, a true master ofWing Chun can actually detect faults inthe structure of a student's Dummy formsimply by listening to sounds made bythe wood and his footwork, withoutactually watching. This because of thedistinctive sounds and rhythms made bymovements that are correctly self-timedand then in turn correctly timed on theDummy. A well-trained ear can detectthe proper stepping, sliding and releaseof power by their sound alone.

While the Dummy can be used fortraining blocks, parries, strikes, kicks,elbow and knee strikes, sweeps andother leg maneuvers, there are otherless obvious ways of using the Dummy.The Dummy arms and horizontalcrossbeams can be used like a balletbar to stretch the legs at different levelsand the wrist can be stretched bypressing the palm against the Dummytrunk with the palm heel up, fingers

down. Even the horizontal crossbeamscan be used for support for wrist rollingforearm-conditioning exercises withweights. It is important to be innovativein using the Octopus. Try to find newways of using all parts of the device,including the top, the area behind theleg and even the vertical upright support

Wing Chun

“Anotheradvantage of

training with theWooden Dummy isthe toughening ofthe skin and boneof the hand, arm,

shoulder, foot and leg”

beams, which can be padded and usedas makiwara type striking posts.

BENEFITS OF OCTOPUSDUMMY TRAINING

Facing Advantage - One of the mostessential strategies of Wing Chuncombat is known as the “Advantage ofFacing.” In essence, the Wing Chunfighter strives to position himself behindthe opponent in such a way that he canuse both of his own hands to strike theenemy, while the opponent can useonly one hand to defend orcounterattack, or none at all. Whentraining with the traditional three-armedDummy, once the trainee has moved tothe outside so as to have obtained thisadvantage, he must move back intoward the center, giving up the Facingadvantage he has gained. But with theOctopus, he can move yet further to theoutside, improving his Advantage ofFacing as he works on the outer armsas though he were continuing to attackthe opponent from a flanked positionthat is difficult or impossible to defend.

Multiple Partner Training - Basically,the upper four arms of the Octopus areset up in such a way that you have whatamounts to three “sets” of upper armsas they appear on the traditional three-armed Dummy. Because of theadditional arms, one, two, three andeven four trainees can simultaneouslywork techniques and sequences on theOctopus. For example, a simple two-motion sequence can be worked by twotrainees at the same time on both outersets of arms. And the trainees canexecute the motions so that they aregoing together in the same direction, orcan go in opposite directions so thattheir energy goes against each other. Athird person can work the center set ofarms at the same time, just as he couldwith a traditional Wing Chun Dummy.Another trainee can work groundtechnique on his knees, using the leg inthe same way he would use the low armof a traditional Dummy while standing.

Groundfighting Techniques - Asmentioned above, the trainee can kneeldown and use the three low arms for

“Wooden Dummytraining

simultaneouslydevelops the

student's ability totransfer power intoa stationary object

while avoidingchoppiness betweenmotions and drills

many of the motionsof the system withthe added element

of contact”

blocking, trapping and striking as heuses the leg in the same way he wouldnormally use the lower arm of astandard Wooden Dummy whenstanding. He can walk and pivot on hisknees or knee and foot for power andFacing advantage.

Chee Gyeuk - Because of the twoextra lower arms of the Octopus, thetrainee can practice a wider variety ofleg blocking, trapping and kickingcombinations that cannot be done withthe traditional three-armed Dummy.The leg can be moved from BoangGyeuk to Tan or Pock Gyeuk, or many

other possible leg maneuvers andkicks.

Owning and training with theOctopus Dummy could be a benefit toany martial artist who is interested insharpening his technique, tougheninghis arms and improving his overallcombat strategy.

Great Masters

Gahng/Jom Sau Application Sequence – Gahng/JomSau, the High Chop/Low Sweep Block can be trained onthe Octopus with and without a kick. The same motionscan be seen in combat application in photos 1-10.Fighters ready (Photo 1). Randy stops the opponent’srear right Roundhouse Kick using Gahng/Jom Sau(Photos 2 and 3). Randy then envelops and raises hisarms into a Chum Kiu Leg Trap (Photos 4 and 5). Hethen raises the trapped leg while slamming his rightChum Jahng Sinking Elbow into the side of the knee tobreak the leg with a push/pull action (Photos 6 and 7),then brings his right knee up to further punish the kickingleg from beneath (Photo 8). Then, without putting thefoot down, Randy kicks the base knee using Moh YingYai Sut Dai Gyeuk (Invisible Knee Smashing Low Kick)and then leaps into a follow-up Moh Ying Loy Tiu Yai HauGyeuk to further attack the base leg (Photos 9 and 10).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zal-Wn-kAJs

JACKIE CHAN AND THE 12ZODIAC ANIMALS

From very humble origins, hishistory is now the personification ofpersonal overcoming throughtireless work and total commitment.JACKIE CHAN is known today allover the world and his namerepresents a unique blend of martialmovies, physical comedy and high-risk scenes without peer.

With the launch of his film "CZ12 -Chinese Zodiac", we have decided towrite this short biography andcelebrate his forty years of filmcareer.

Jackie Chan was born in HongKong on Apri l 7, 1954, son ofCharles Chan (1914-2008) and Lee -Lee Chan (1916-2002), animmigrant couple from mainlandChina. About to be sold at the timeof his birth, at six years of age,Chan would enter a Peking OperaSchool under a ten-year permanencecontract as his only option forsurvival.

From the beijing Opera to the Marcial Movies

Peking Opera is a popular art gender closelyrelated to Chinese traditions in all their aspects,fusing different styles of theater, mime, music,acrobatics and martial arts. The Peking OperaSchool that had received Chan as a disciple wasthe Research Institute of Chinese Drama, directedby Yu Zhanyuan, a renowned teacher andperformer, who would be responsible to train awhole generation of martial movie superstars suchas Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, CoreyYuen and Yuen Wah, among many others. In PekingOpera, every movement of the fingers, hands, armsand legs, every facial expression, is predeterminedby the character to be represented. Each step,punch, jump, acrobatics and handling of the so-called Eighteen Weapons (saber, sword, stick,

Film MarcialText: Emilio AlpansequePhotos: Jackie & JJ Productions, H. Brothers, Emperor Motion Pictures

Film Marcial

spear, stick of three sections, ropedart, etc.) should be perfectedthrough a rigorous workout. Chanwas able to represent a variety ofcharacters, including some femaleroles, but his specialty were thewuchou or "comical warriors",because of his gymnastic ability andmastery of combat weapons.

Chan appeared as a child actor insome Hong Kong productions whilestill in the opera school, being his

debut in a film entitled "Seven LittleVal iant F ighters : B ig and L i t t leWong Tin Bar" (1962). Going rollinga fi lm meant not having to trainunder master Yu, and thatfascinated young Chan, because anormal day at the school wassynonymous wi th corpora lpunishment, deprivation of foodand other forms of tor ture.However, after ten years of training,his development both acrobatic-

martial and interpretative wouldallow him to enter directly into theHong Kong industry of martial artfilms, where he offered his servicesas a double specialist and martialarts coordinator. Chan devotedhimself to risk his life in combatscenes, participating in a numberof productions of the 70s, includingthe famous "Fist of Fury" (1972)and "Enter the Dragon" (1973)alongside the legendary Bruce Lee.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zal-Wn-kAJs

Evading the Shadow of the LittleDragon

In 1973, Bruce Lee's death shocked Hong Kong andthe whole world. There was no long wait for the HongKong Production Companies to flood the screens withclone characters of the Little Dragon: Bruce Le, Bruce Li,Bruce Liang and many more, tried to imitate all his movesand characteristic styles in shoddy productions. Not evenChan himself would escape this phenomenon; in 1976,after a short season in Australia with his parents, hereturned to Hong Kong to participate in what would be hisfirst major acting job, "New Fist of Fury" (1976). Now,under the Chinese name of Cheng Long, was hired in ashort time in over eight productions, drawing the attentionof all producers. Perhaps his new name, which translatesas "become a dragon", served as a premonition becausethat was exactly what that young man would do.

During those years, Chan thought often about findinghis way to stardom; he admired Bruce Lee, but he didn'twant to become his shadow. To differentiate from him asmuch as possible, the invincible hero became anunfortunate victim of circumstances, and instead ofusing decisive techniques and fulminant direct blows, heresorted to all kinds of traditional Wushu styles (real orinvented) to try to entertain the audience with somethingdifferent. From serious scripts he passed to popularize

comedy within martial art films. The formula was asuccess; only two years later, Chan was the highest paidperformer in Hong Kong. Films like "Snake in the Eagle'sShadow" (1978) and "Drunken Master" (1978) broke allbox office records in Asia and toured the world.

In 1980, after a couple of failed attempts to enter theU.S. market with "The Cannonball Run" (1981) and "TheBig Brawl" (1980), Chan made his directing debut withthe blockbuster "The Young Master" (1980), beginning todevelop his own movie style by directing films like"Dragon Lord" (1982) and "Project A" (1983), chargedwith his trademark humor, but at the same time, filledwith highly risky action and danger scenes, whichinevitably involved some accidents. In 1984, Chan wouldmake two films for the Hollywood market, "TheCannonball Run II" (1984) and "The Protector" (1985),which, once again, would pass unnoticed by the theaterson both sides of the Pacific. It is said that the latter'sfailure motivated him to go to Hong Kong, ready to provehow a detective story should be made, filming one of hismasterpieces, "Police Story" (1985). This film would marka stage in the development of his personal style, whichwould remain constant for just over 10 years, withgrandiose productions as "Armor of God" (1986) ,"Project A II " (1987) , "Police Story II" (1988) , "Miracles"(1989) , "Armor of God II " (1990), "Police Story III" (1992)and "Drunken Master II " (1994) , "Rumble in the Bronx "(1995) and "A Nice Guy" (1996).

Hollywood, third time's CharmAfter the resounding success of "Rumble in the

Bronx" (1995) in the United States in February 1996,

Jackie Chan

international distributors would takean interest in Chan and, just sixmonths later, would besimultaneously released "Supercop"(1992) in the United States, "Rumblein the Bronx" (1995) in Europe, Africaand Oceania, and "First Strike" (1996)in Asia, turning Chan in the biggestbox office star of the momentworldwide. And so it was that finallyHollywood studios opened theirdoors to Chan, allowing him to workin "Rush Hour" (1999) with ChrisTucker, and "Shanghai Noon" (2000),alongside Owen Wilson. Both films,with a lot of comedy and a few actionscenes, were a big hit resulting inmultiple delivery sagas and placingChan on top of the U.S. box officecomedy and action movies of alltimes. However, despite his successin Hollywood, Chan still couldn'tacquire the necessary control at aproduction level and remainedwithout the possibility to break awayfrom the typical roles for Asian actorsthat this market dictates.

Chan would keep trying in films like"The Tuxedo " (2002), "TheMedallion" (2003) and "Around theWorld in 80 Days" (2003), but it ispractically impossible to fight againstthe strict regulations that studios and

specialist unions impose, so Chanwould be forced to continue makingdifferent films for both markets, rollingin Hong Kong the explosive "NewPolice Story" (2004), with type ofaction scenes that Chan 's followershad been crying out for during thelast decade, although westernaudiences would have to submit tosee it in DVD in most cases. And thisdichotomy between both marketscontinues to exist until today. Justtake a look at the followingproductions to realize it's like that:"The Myth" (2005) and "Rob-B-Hood" (2006) for Asia , "Rush Hour 3 "(2007) and "The Forbidden Kingdom"(2008) for USA, followed by the actioncomedy "Little Big Soldier" (2010) forAsia, and the family comedy "TheSpy Next Door" (2010) for the U.S.

MorepPerformance and Less Blows

Chan is a real first magnitude moviestar - an icon of world cinema - butthe high realism of his stunts has ledhim to build an impressive list ofaccidents and broken bones, evenbeing on the verge of death duringfilming of "Armor of God" (1986),when he fell from a tree fracturing his

skull. Therefore, as age won't forgive,Chan has stated that his current goalis to prove his worth as an actor ,playing different roles in all kinds offilms and genres, and not only inmartial movies. So, decided tobecome a versatile and chameleonicactor, Chan stars in "ShinjukuIncident" (2009), a drama in whichChan plays a Chinese i l legalimmigrant who comes to Tokyo tofind his girlfr iend and ends upworking for the Yakuza, the fearedJapanese mafia, as the only way tosurvive there, surprising both criticsand the general public with such riskychange of formula.

Next, Chan worked in three filmsplaying characters diametricallyopposed, starting with the remake ofthe classic "The Karate Kid" (2010) inwhich he plays the role of endearingMr. Miyagi of the original series,although more stoic, taciturn, andalso with a somewhat darker past; hethen worked on the drama "NewShaolin Temple" (2011), portraying afolksy old temple cook, who hasinadvertently martial skills due to hisday job as a cook; and finally in thehistorical film "1911" (2011), bringingto the screen the revolutionary leaderand chief commander of the Chinese

Film Marcial

Jackie Chan

army, Huang Xing, during the XinhaiRevolution, the rebellion that wouldput an end to more than twothousand years of feudal system inthe country and led to theestablishment of the Republic ofChina, now settled on the island ofTaiwan.

Cz12 - The Condor is Back

CZ12 is the final installment of the"Armor of God" trilogy, in which Chanreprises his role as the Asian Condor- a treasure hunter in the style ofIndiana Jones - something not donesince 1991. On this occasion, thequirky searcher has been hired totrack several bronze animal heads,part of a set of twelve animals

representing the Chinese zodiac,ransacked when Anglo-French armieslooted the Summer Palace in Beijingin 1860, and return them to theChinese government. The centralargument was inspired by true eventsand written by Chan seven years ago.

CZ12 is an action comedy in thepurest and usual Chan style, dancingbetween the funny and the absurd,full of kind of hilarious adventures,visual gags and spectacularchoreography, with a veryinternational image, shot in France,Latvia, China, Taiwan and theAmbrym island of Vanuatu, in apleasant and familiar tone. In this film,Chan proves that at the age of 58 hestill has great endurance and, despitethe use of some special effects, hestill can face action roles that are

physically highly demanding. It is tobe note the great performance of theNational Taekwondo FemaleChampion of China and sensationalmodel Zhang Lanxin.

CZ12 was announced during itspromotion as Chan's number 101movies, and as his latest actionblockbuster. Nevertheless, bothmentions seem to be somewhatillegitimate, since it is difficult to knowin how many films has Chan actuallyparticipated; it is spoken over 250,and it's also known that Chan hascompleted a new action film this yearentit led "Police Story 2013," adramatic and crude film that focuseson the life of a policeman from theChinese mainland, which is not partof the popular action series under thesame name.

“Best Karate Kumite”. George Bierman Generallyspeaking, if you ask someone, “why are you inMartial Arts”, they will tell you it's because they wantto learn how to fight. You usually never hear themsay that they wanted to learn kata, weapons orwazas. I guess all of us have a little of that “I want to

be a tough guy” or you could be motivatedby a real need to protect yourself.

Whatever the reason, in this DVD Idiscuss Basic and Advanced

kumite techniques andconcepts that all of us should

know, whether you are anadvanced student or justbeginning, and somethings that have workedfor me over and over.Some can be used onthe street but I'm mainlyfocusing on tournamenttechniques. I can tell youover and over to keepyour hands up to protect

your face. Some of youmay do it and some may

not. Once you get hit in theface several times by not

doing it, you will. I began myMartial Arts training in 1973 and

this is a collection of proventechniques and strategies that have

worked well for me in competition to present day.I have combined strategies, footwork, techniquesand combinations that lead me to well over 2000tournament wins and a World Champion fighter inSt. Petersburg, Russia. They work!

LANGUAGES: ENGLISH, ESPAÑOL, ITALIANO, FRANÇAIS

REF.: • BIERMAN3REF.: • BIERMAN3

All DVDs, wichi is produced by BudoInternational, si provided and alone in theformats DVD-5 or MPEG-2, in VCD, DivXor the like is however neves offered with aspecial holograma sticker. Besides ourDVD is characteristed coverings by the higquality in pressure and material. If thisDVD and/or the DVD covering do notcorespond to the requirements specifiedabove, it concerns illegal pirat copy.

Budo international. netORDERS:

http://www.sifupaolocangelosi.com/Corso_istruttori/corso_istruttori_inglese.html

Kung Fu

If your thing is the Chinese Martial tradition and you still don’t knowMaster Paolo Cangelosi, what are you waiting for? We are undoubtedlybefore one of the greatest and rarest exponents of the true ChineseMarital tradition of our times. Yes! And he isn’t Chinese! The East andthe West have already mutated in their roles in so many things that itshouldn’t amaze us, but still for many people, one can only be a masterof the Eastern Arts if they have almond-shaped eyes. Those who alreadyknow his work know about his impressive knowledge, about his nobility,his Mastery, and of his incorruptible character. When Cynthia Rothrocksaw him in action, she said, “This man is marvelous. Where did he comefrom? If he were closer, I would train with him often.” And it is the casethat Sifu Cangelosi is much more than a simple athlete; he whollycaptures the essence of the true martial artist, and for that, each timehe offers us his texts, or stimulates us with his videos, we are verypleased to bring him to these pages. He is busier and busier every day,traveling continually, giving seminars all over the world, demonstrationsin which he is always the most applauded, even though what he does issomething so unspectacular as a Tai Chi form.

Paolo continues working on a television series of which we had thepleasure of viewing the pilot of, and it presents a series of a

dozen episodes in which he goes over all the Chinese andEastern tradition, from the philosophy to the medicine and,

of course, in the center, the man, the martial artist andthe way of the warrior. A truly spectacular project

that we hope sees the light of day next year.On this occasion, Paolo undertakes a new

adventure and begins a series of projectson the weapons in Kung Fu, without a

doubt one of the aspects of Kung Fuin which there is the least quality

audiovisual material availablefor students. With the

masterly andp e d a g o g i c a lexactitude withwhich he has usaccustomed in hislong series ofprojects for BudoInternational, Paolointroduces us in thisf irst work to twoweapons intrinsicallyunited to the spirit ofKung Fu: the spear and

the curved sword. Hecompletes the project

with the Nam Pak Siu Lamform, which wil l , I ’m

convinced once again, delightthe true fans of Chinese Artpar excellence: Kung Fu.

Alfredo Tucci

Kung Fu

The Power of the KungFu WeaponsHistory:

For many people nowadays, KungFu weapons can seem out of date,already buried by an ancient historythat saw them as absolute protago-nists in the battlefield, and whichtoday can have no concrete use.However, this is not the case…

Weapons are also studied today,but most of all they are loved, attrac-tive for that particular energy thatcharacterizes them, that vibration thatdidn’t escape the eyes of the warriorsof the past, as well as of today.

If one wants to understand the evo-lution that has brought the weaponsto the twenty-first century, it is neces-sary to know the reality of the histori-cal past, and so we return to the his-tory of the Chinese people, to thatessentially rural world.

In the past, life in China was muchmore dangerous than today; whoeverhad to leave his village or neighbor-hood, belonging to any social class,did so armed or protected. Each castehad its own weapon or used their ownwork tool in case of necessity.

Thanks to the peasants, the wood-cutters and the fishermen, the use ofweapons began in that which today isthe vast panorama of traditional KungFu. The popular classes came to usethe tools of daily life as defense instru-ments, in this way responding to aprohibition that had been imposed onthem: that of not possessing anynoble weapons, which is to say, a realweapon such as: swords, spears andhalberds. The farmers not only had toorganize defenses against ferociousanimals which destroyed crops, andwell-organized gangs of thieves thatattacked them, but in certain historical

periods, they had to learn to defendthemselves from the abuses of thevery imperial soldiers. It was these cir-cumstances that pushed the Chinesepopular classes to use, and conse-quently, specialize in, the use of workutensils. Initially, the most commonand crude tools were enough, likesickles, rakes, baskets and hoes.

They successively discovered thatthe use of more specific utensilsoffered greater freedom of movementand especially greater facility indefense and in injuring the adversary.

The following instruments will bedeveloped as weapons and willremain to this day in the technicalprograms of different traditionalstyles: conical stick with one head-KWAN- utilized by the fishermen topush the boats in shallow waters,while for deeper parts they used theoar; a three-sectioned stick-SAMCHET KWAN, which served to beatthe wheat; tonfa-KWAN TO TZE,used in agriculture to cultivate thepotatoes, famous today because theNew York police use them; shortsticks joined together in pairs-SEON CHET KWAN (NUNCHAKU inJapanese); 3-point stick of theforked type-SAM CHA PI, to movehay bails; hatchets-TA FU TAO, usedby the woodcutters to fell trees; arope with lead pieces at the ends-SEON LUM BIAN, used to close thebundles of wheat; the whip, an instru-ment of the wagon drivers and thecattle breeders.

We then learn about particularweapons like: the stool, sticks-KUAIJIN (often used in throwing), to thekitchen knife, all typical tools of therestorer.

Objects of daily use transformedinto weapons:

The walking stick-SHOU TOU,

used for support to move around andtravel; the beggar’s pole; the pipe;the flute; the umbrella; the fan-GUNSEN, normally of bamboo and silk,but reinforced with little edged flapson the crests, for the expert masters.These were often used to stop andstrike muscles, nerves, and vitalpoints.

All of them are PIN HEY (weapons inCantonese), which will take a positionof honor within Kung Fu, eventuallyhaving their own sector, denominatedSHU MO HAY, complements to whatalready existed in empty hands.

In ancient times, weapons practicesought maximum efficiency, given thata warrior’s or soldier’s life dependedon it. The soldiers, if they were simplywarriors, used the curved sword ofone edge -TAN TAO- whose blade issimilar to the sable. Also known incertain Kung Fu styles by the name of“Cloud blade”, it is an optimum, ver-satile weapon at any distance, thanksto the peculiar curved shape of theblade, which allows one to wield it fol-lowing an incredible number of trajec-tories with point or edge strikes, asmuch in attacking as in blocks.Generally, it is used with only onehand, while the other arm moves as acounterweight to the movement, orelse to support the “back” in order tocushion the adversary’s strikes.Nowadays, 90% of the Kung Fustyles, as much those that belong tothe WAI CHIA school (exterior school)as the NEI CHIA (interior school), usethis sword in their technical programs.

In contrast, the elegant and mostfeminine straight, double-edgedsword KIM-CHIEN was generallysymbolic, often employed in duels, asign of distinction for the upper civilservants of the Chinese army. The ironor steel blade, very thick and resist-

“For many peoplenowadays, Kung Fu

weapons can seem outof date, already buriedby an ancient history

that saw them asabsolute protagonists in

the battlefield, andwhich today can have noconcrete use. However,this is not the case…”

ant, allowed them to absorb violentimpacts. The two edges were not verysharp, since they were used to inter-cept and stop the adversary’sweapons techniques; only the finalthird was sharp.

Even today, some traditional KungFu styles use these two double SEONswords in a complex system of coor-dination and speed where experiencein the handling of the particularsmakes all the difference.

We can’t underestimate the impor-tance of the spears, employed inlong distance combat or in fightingon horseback. Normally, the polewas constructed of particular, veryflexible woods, with an iron point atthe end. Just below the point there isa tuft that serves to hide it, or toretain the flow of blood of the injuredadversary. There are many differentkinds that vary in height, workman-ship and shape.

The venerable KWAN THIN (KWANKUN) “God of War”, according to theChinese, gave his immense contribu-tion and his own name to one of themost important weapons in the histo-ry of Kung Fu: the halberd -KWANTAO- the weapon of the generals.

Derived in its shape from the spear,one or more blades were added to theend, also differing in models andworkmanship, and to balance theheaviness of the blade, they added aring, or an iron or steel point to theend of the stick. This weapon is ableto combine cutting and hooking tech-niques to the thrusts in direct and cir-cular movements, making it a versatileweapon, especially against horsemen.The main difficulty of this weapons isfound in the execution of the tech-niques that allow fast and easychanges of direction. For this reason,the training was done with heavier and

heavier weapons.Alive during the HAN dynasty (206

B.C. – 220 A.D.), KWAN THIN was oneof the many personalities that madesome of the weapons of classic KungFu famous and immortal. It is worthremembering his hard training, whichled to his training with a halberd thatweighed nearly 60 lbs.

That shouldn’t surprise us, butmake us reflect… personalities likehim are the ones who made martial arthistory, and specifically, Kung Fu, menlike: YEHE FEI (HISING’I master), pop-ular hero, formidable fighter, famousfor his nearly 20-foot spear, used pri-marily on horseback, while on theground he fought with a 6.5’ – 8’spear; like the Master CHAN HEUNG(founder of CHOY LEE FUT), anextraordinary expert in his “NineDragon-toothed halberd”; skilledswordsmen like LI PO (from the TSUIPA HISIEN style) and WANG CHENMING (TAI CHI master), up to therecent WONG FEI HUNG, expert inthe one-headed long staff, and TI KIUSAN (master in the HUNG GAR style),expert in the one-toothed KWAN TAO.

Classification of the Weapons:

In contemporary Kung Fu, weaponsare classified into two major divisions:

YANG weapons: born to beweapons (sword, halberd and spear).

YING weapons: originally workimplements and later transformed intocombat tools out of necessity, like theKWAN, the KWAN TO TZE, and theSAM CHET KWAN.

In addition, there are three otherdivisions:

Masculine weapons: (also calledYang weapons) those that mostremind one of the characteristics of a

masculine figure, for example, theKWAN TOU.

Feminine weapons: (also called Yinweapons) those that most remind oneof a feminine figure, KIM, DAN BIEN,GUN SENG.

Neutral weapons: those that remindone of both sexes.

Another, simpler distinction subdi-vides them into: long, short, untied,and cutting weapons.

The energy of the Weapons:

Staffs, swords, spears… materials,forms, different uses and histories,but all inseparably connected by onemagnificent energy, that of theweapon and who uses it… to handlethem means to enter into contactwith the immense historic past ofMartial Arts.

All weapons have their chi, and it isnecessary to know how to find theperfect feeling, to learn how to feel it,and later, taking advantage of it to getto the correct execution of the move-ment and the techniques. The oldMasters would often hide the secretsof the style in the principle positions oftraditional Kung Fu, using symbolsand philosophical metaphors to sug-gest the correct mental and energeticfocus to the practitioner.

The study of weapons in the variousKung Fu styles forges and sharpensthe practitioner on a physical, ener-getic, and spiritual level, offering theman opportunity that they had neverhad before. Thanks to serious andpernicious training in the handling ofweapons, we immediately notice whatwe lack in motor skills: a lack of preci-sion, limited speed, crude move-ments, poor coordination, techniqueswithout fluidity and being too heavy.

Kung Fu

Grand Masters

“Staffs, swords, spears…materials, forms, different usesand histories, but all inseparably

connected by onemagnificent energy,that of the weaponand who uses it…

to handle themmeans to enter intocontact with the

immense historicpast of Martial

Arts”

The particular qualities that theMartial Arts path demands to an evergreater degree could simply be sleep-ing, or in the most unfortunatehypothesis, totally absent in the indi-vidual. The study of weapons is thekey to get closer to, awaken, and per-fect these qualities, the way the han-dling of a spear teaches precision andaccuracy; a straight, double-edgedsword offers elegance and grace intechniques, comparable to the move-ments of the phoenix; speed andcoordination will come from trainingwith the curved sword-alone or inpairs; strength and stability of posi-tions will come from a potent halberd,and on like this going up in a spiral ofre-discovery of the potential of thebody and its characteristics.

After many years of training, KungFu offers the possibility of learning touse the traditional weapons as a nat-ural extension of the arm. Light, natu-ral movements with a precision downto millimeters, without any hesitationor doubt at all, can be achieved: inunison with the weapon, the bodyraises its spirit, the Martial Artist for-gets everything else, and enters intoperfect understanding of the energy ofthe weapon, with its unlimitedpower… it is the emptiness.

The spear

The spears are differentiated in theirstructure, shape, length and weight.The points and heads that character-ize this weapon are various. In theChinese arsenal we can find the headof the weapon surrounded by bladesthat serve to protect the central point,and which are also used to stop orattack the adversary.

The most common are composedof a single point, which can differ in

their measurements. The staff, the stick of which it is

composed, has a conical shape: thecone is fixed at the end and serves togive elasticity to the weapon; thediameter is greater in the held part tomake the grip firmer when the spear isslid between the hands.

The red bow and the metal ball,between the point and the wood,serve to choreograph the movementsand put rhythm in the techniques,apart from having the strategic func-tion of bothering the adversary duringcombat.

That type of single-point spear withred bow is called CHEON inCantonese and CHANG or MAO inPekinese.

THE SPEAR AND THECURVED SWORD

In this f irst project on Kung FuWeapons, Grand Master PaoloCangelosi presents us with two armsthat form an essential part of theChinese tradition. The spear,as it could not be any otherway, is the weapon parexcellence. It combines thestaff and its way of being handledwith the attacks of its pointed end.The curved sword is also presented inthis f irst video in the Kung FuWeapons series. One will learn aboutthe way to hold it, positions, attacksand defenses, etc…. furthermore, thevideo includes the spear form NamPak Siu Lam, a beautiful andspectacular traditional form.

Throughout his teaching, MasterCangelosi, respecting the purestessence of the traditional just as weare accustomed to seeing, wil ltransmit to us the basic knowledge ashe received it from his Masters, being

very careful with the technical detailsto the point of perfection, so that thestudent can learn the subtle handlingof these powerful weapons throughhis or her practice, and from there,body control and the domination ofmovement, soft but powerful, fast butexact, and always, always fluid. Anew demonstration of what MartialMastery really is.

NAM PAK SIU LAM“SEON MUI FA CHEON”(“MUI FA CHUEON SEONYING”)

The name of the form has its originin the symbolism of the plumblossom, known as: MUI FA.

This term is often used in thetechnical language of Kung Fu inorder to give importance to the formsthat have to be represented.

For the Chinese, the Plum Blossom,which one can find in the north as wellas the south of China, is the most

resistant, expressive and prettiestflower that blooms at the end of winter.

In Martial Arts, it often representsthe fundamental forms, veryimportant for the styles, and theforms of advanced levels.

The meaning of the name of thisform is “to unite the two flowers”,because the technical sequencesextracted from the principle styles ofthe south and of the northernmethods are united.

The first phase of the form presentstypical techniques from the South ofChina, belonging to the NAM SIU

Kung Fu

Grand Masters

LAM tradition, with rapid, precise,and commonly short and directmovements.

By contrast, the second part showsthe use of the spear through themethods of the North of China, whichprimarily takes advantage of circulartrajectories and long techniques.

It is a form that moves in all eightdirections.

The form brings together theessence of the weapon and thetechnical combinations are quitedifficult, yet they are very useful for thepractitioner, especially for movementtraining and in fast changes ofdirection.

All that makes it a very completeform, but not apt for those who beginthe study of this weapon.

In our school’s programs, it isconsidered a superior form.

“In this first projecton Kung Fu Weapons,Grand Master Paolo

Cangelosi presents uswith two arms that

form an essential partof the Chinese

tradition”

REF.: • DVD/KFW

In this project, Sifu Cangelosi, one of the most renown experts in the Chinesemartial traditional, presents us with the most representative weapons of Kung Fu:the spear and the curved sword. With his characteristic pedagogical exactitude,Master Cangelosi reveals the secrets of the handling of the spear as well as theNam Pak Siu Lam form and its applications, a spectacular and complex high-levelform that is very useful to the practitioner in training. In this first video in theseries, we will familiarize ourselves with curved sword work, the way to hold it,positions, guards, attacks and defenses, as well as sequences of different formsand pre-established combat. A project respectful to tradition that will delight thetrue fans of Kung Fu.

REF.: • DVD/KFW

Budo international. netORDERS:

"Shooting: How Close is Too Close?"

When students ask me "what is the most dangerous gun?" Ialways say "your fork as most of us will die from over-eating and notfrom gunshots." For a few years students, instructors and even thefolks at Budo Magazine have asked me to put together a DVD onfirearms instruction, but Lt.Colonel(Res) Chaim Peer, KAPAP foun-der always refused to give civilians too much info as he wantedKAPAP to be only for our people. Experience had shown that otherswould copy KAPAP and call it different names. He always said that'Integrity' was to do the right thing. Not many see it, but in today'sMartial Arts marketplace, there are many, many opportunists, 24year-old kids that leave the Israeli Army, and then call themselvesGrand-Master, or 'Real Deal' and then try to call everyone else afraud and slander them using their own DVD and background infor-mation of study to claim that THEY are the only 'Real Deal!" So,after a very long time I managed to ask Chaim Peer for his permis-sion to create a new DVD, and thus we have cre-ated a new Kapap Firearms DVD.

Personally I don't like firearms, even though Ihave been around them since I was born as myfather served in the Israeli Army. To see firearms inour home was natural, and as a kid I used to playon his Jeep or with some of his military gear, as itwas always around our home as part of my fathe-r's visits home from the Army. Sometime's I wouldeven drive the Army ambulance, as my father laterbecame an Army Medic/EMT.

At around 6 years old, my father spoke with meand explained firearms to me, citing specificallythe ones that had been in our home, an Uzi and anAK-47. He said: "I know you know where it is andif you touch it with out my permission, I'll smackyou!" and then he smacked me‚ as he caught mewith a smile on my face, smiling about the ideas to

2

Text: Avi Nardia, Benjamin Krajmalnik ("Krav-jmalnik") & Tim BoehlertPHotos: Several authors courtesy of Avi Nardia

3

Israel

“The purposeIPSC training isto enable you to

quickly andeffectively stopsomeone frommaking you a

victim”

4

come. He then said: "this is a very bad thing, a gun,BUT I know you may want play, so if you want to, allyou need to do is ask me but please don't do itwithout my permission and without inspecting itFIRST."

He then taught teach me the second rule,"SafetyFirst,Safety Last."

These two rules I will hold with me forever and theyare more important for me today as a firearms ins-tructor as I see so many people fooling around withguns. During this past year a firearms instructor, a "Rambo,Real Deal deadly guy" shot one of his own student's fourtimes! I thank God that the student survived. As a joke, wesay in Israel, "...the instructor is also a bad shot" as a maca-bre joke. But EGO caused this accident, nothing else.

This event led myself and Ben Krajmalnik, who also ser-ved in the Israeli Army/IDF to come out with a new basicDVD to explain a little about firearms and safety and toshare some basic techniques to train with firearms. MostlyI don't like to teach firearms unless I know the students per-sonally, or if she/he is in Law Enforcement or coming froma friendly Military service. Firearms are made only for onepurpose – to kill. This is why I'm not much in favor for itand in any firearms class I always state to my students "ifyou carry a firearm, you need be ready to kill! It's not for fun,it's not for ego and to show who has the bigger gun asmost people play with guns to extend their ego." In myexperience I have had many students from the best fire-arms instructors, but when I left the the Israel's top coun-ter-terrorism unit, I understood that mostly we didn't reallyknow how to shoot properly. The art of shooting is morethan shooting people and too many ex-military personnel

say things like "I'm not a paper shooter" - that's just egotis-tical.

I have had lots of firearms instructors from many fieldssuch as hunting, sport shooting and even Army counter-terrorism experts. Shooting can be done for Combat or forSport or recreational, and some do it only for fun. The sportis very demanding and hard but combat requires less skills,but it's goal of using the gun is ONLY to kill.

I have studied the gun from all three methods of trainingand from so many instructors and mindsets, and I thenunderstood many mistakes in the Israeli systems that I stu-died first, like "point shooting." Point shooting, which isGREAT for self-defense at close distances and is helpful tobreak the 21-foot rule - The Tueller Drill - is a self-defen-se training exercise to prepare against a short-range knifeattack. Sergeant Dennis Tueller, of the Utah PoliceDepartment wondered how quickly an attacker with a knifecould cover 21 feet (6.4m), and so he timed volunteers asthey raced to stab their target. He determined that it couldbe done in 1.5 seconds. These results were first publishedas an article in SWAT magazine in 1983 and in a police trai-ning video by the same title, "How Close is Too Close?"Point shooting is great for this scenario, BUT by not using

5

“A high percentage ofgunfights and assaults

occur in dim-light orwhere sights are

hardly visible”

6

Professional Self-Defense

“Most gunfightsand assaults areover in twoto three

seconds”

gun-sights you create different problemsand one BIG mistake with Israeli firearmstraining is to walk with an unloaded gun(for safety) but if you find yourself in thisscenario you can't use one hand to try andload under stress as you may need thathand to block a knife attack and use yourother hand to draw your weapon with. It'sa very common mistake go with an unloa-ded gun, so if you carry a gun you must beready to use it in anytime you carry it.

Introducing: InstinctivePoint Shooting Combat(IPSC)

Safety with firearms and handling fire-arms in the use of self defense and protec-tion.

Point Shooting is the skill of quickly dis-charging a firearm (usually a handgun) withminimal or no use of the sights on the wea-pon.

It is a method of shooting that relies oninstinctive reactions and kinematics toengage close-range targets. This shootingmethod is used in fast and dynamic situa-tions when there is no time to use a gun-sight or in low light conditions. Point sho-oting does not rely on sights and insteadplaces the gun below the line of sight, butstill in the field of vision. Since the sightsare not employed, the shooter focuses onthe target. The point shooting method isoften referred to as threat focused shoo-ting.

The purpose of Instinctive PointShooting Combat Training (IPSC) is not todevelop marksmanship or to developcompetition skills. It is not for shootingholes in paper targets and it is not a skillfor hunting small game. The purpose IPSCtraining is to enable you to quickly andeffectively stop someone from making youa victim. IPSC trains people to survive life-threatening situations and trains you toreact in a fraction of a second in order todefend your life and protect innocent peo-ple. It is a self-defense discipline.

You cannot shoot another person onmere suspicion. The innocent citizen orpolice officer must wait until a predator orterrorist makes an overt act, putting thecitizen in a situation where they must reactto their actions. In a gunfight the aggressorhas the advantage and the defender is asecond or two behind them. Against thisterrible disadvantage, the citizen must beable to overcome lost time with a combi-nation of speed and accuracy.

IPSC shooting trains you to survive agunfight, even when the aggressor has theadvantage. We teach speed and accuracyin an armed encounter because you needto be the survivor.

There are no rules in a gunfight, knifefight or street fight; there are only facts,

7

which when understood, can give youa winning edge:

• Fact: Almost all gunfights, knife fights and

assaults occur at distances of underthree meters.

• Fact: Most gunfights and assaults are

over in two to three seconds.• Fact: A high percentage of gunfights and

assaults occur in dim-light or wheresights are hardly visible.

• Fact: In a spontaneous life-threa-

tening situation, the body undergoeschanges that degrade our fine motorskills because our vision is focusedexclusively on the threat.

Conclusion:

To win in a gunfight or to survive alife threatening assault requires greatspeed and accuracy; drawing andfiring the gun at close-range withoutthe use of sights. This is InstinctivePoint Shooting Combat.

Violence – recreational or otherwi-se – is a part of society, and inthe new era of terrorism it knowsno boundaries. Whether we like itor not, violence is going to be afeature of our lives for a long timeto come.

Rather than ignore it or hidefrom it, we must learn to handle it.

The objective way to live withviolence is to avoid it, deflect it orreduce its impact by being prepa-

red for it.  We do not get to choosethe bad things that happen to us.

A person’s natural instincts –which include spontaneous reaction tosudden attack – are formidablepowers that usually ensure survival ifthey are harnessed correctly. In myexperience there are two factors thatinterfere with our ability to defend our-selves: inappropriate equipment andinadequate training.

These things have killed (and conti-nue to kill) innocent people.

After many years of involvement inpersonal security I have reached theconclusion that in order to harness thenatural survival instincts of the humanbody, equipment and training must bekept as simple as possible.

Attacks are sudden and withoutwarning and a huge advantage duringan attack is a concealed handguncapable of immediate action.

Requiring no time-wasting, no two-handed loading operation or a frantic

search for a cunningly hidden safetycatch, it is available in a split second.It is a handgun that can be pulled,pointed and fired repeatedly with ease,as well as capable of being carriedsafely.

The training and the equipmentrecommended by IPSC is calculatedto keep people safe with minimalimpact on their daily lives.

8

Professional Self-Defense

“Almost allgunfights, knife

fights andassaults occur at

distances ofunder three

meters”

9

“In a spontaneous life-threatening

situation, the bodyundergoes changesthat degrade ourfine motor skills

because our vision isfocused exclusively on

the threat”

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alejandro-Navarro/41717983021

His high discipline and technical level have turnedAlejandro Navarro into a worldwide reference of theKyokushin Karate.

His record is impressive, these are just some of histriumphs: Japan Open Champion, 9 times EuropeanChampion and just a few weeks ago, WorldChampion heavyweight, becoming the firstWesterner to get this title.

Charisma, determination and pure spiritKyokushin, reach the pages of BudoInternational, here comes ... AlejandroNavarro!

Text and Photos: Ricardo Diez Sanchis

Alejandro NavarroPure Kyokushinkai!

Budo International: Alejandro, how didyou get started in Karate Kyokushinkai?

Alejandro: My first contact was at the age of 16, in a trip wemade to the island of Fuerteventura, where I met the "onlyresponsible" of there being so many schools and people whoknow and practice today Kyokushin in the Canary archipelago,Shihan Antonio Roca, whom I send my best greetings, as wellas to every practitioner in my land. Then I resumed it at age of20, when I moved to live in the aforementioned island.

BI: What is it that "catches" you in the Kyokushin?A: Its philosophy of life, the principles and values that instills in

the practitioner, such as discipline, humility, respect, and a longetcetera, so scarce while so much needed in today's society; totake out courage when you need it to get by in the differentsituations that exist in life, and to persevere under pressure.

And, of course, its way of fighting and, no matter whathappens, give your opponent a hug in the end for a fewrounds; that is something magical, a mutual respect that addsvalue to what you do and to what you are.

B.I.: How do you recall your first competition?A.: Being the first, obviously everything was new for me, I

had no idea what I was going to face. Anyway, it was a prettyexperience that helped me to understand what I had got into.

BI: What advice would you give to those who arethinking about getting into competition?

A.: I'd tell them to listen to their masters; the rewards comewith hard work; to not take shortcuts in order to reach before,for they will have to go back; to work hard their basics, theposition on the mat, the way to move, the team work helpingalways the partner, and learning from absolutely everythingthat happens around and that the strength is in the spirit andthe faith you have in yourself. Always fight for your dreams...

BI: Which is your best memory as Kyokushinpractitioner and as a competitor?

A.: There are so many different ones ... those hard times youshare with you training partners that make friendship becomesstronger, on many occasions, through pain and sacrifice intraining... It may seem strange, but through not so goodresults is when we have the best ideas and form there we getto grow a little more.

BI: What is your best memory as Kyokushin practitionerand as a competitor?

A.: There are so many different ones ... those hard times youshare with your training partners that make friendship becomestronger, quite often through pain and sacrifice in training. Itmay seem strange, but it's through not so good results thatwe have got our deeper reflections and from there we havegrown a little more.

BI: How did it feel to get off the mat after winning theworld championship?

A.: Mutual satisfaction, for me and for the team that hadaccompanied me to Japan, and also for the group that isbehind us, especially the younger ones. Being there issomething special, is where everything originated.

BI : Tell us some story you remember from your travels?A.: Once, my partner and friend Hector lost his passport at

the Tokyo airport. We turned to the police for help and instead,they started interrogating us ... Of course, we did notunderstand anything; Angel sensei, who accompanied us,couldn't believe it either. The highpoint was when an officeropened our luggage and found a package of roasted "gofio" (aground cereal we have in the Canary Islands); he must have

thought it was something strange and got all too nervousasking what was "that", then Hector yanked opened the bag,got a handful on his finger (I must explain that one of Hector'sfingers is like four of mine) and literally forced the stunnedagent to try it, and the cop denied while retreating, a realshow, we couldn't stop laughing for days. Finally the passportappeared, of course, they let us take our gofio with us.... Ha,ha, ha, ha...! There's an interview they made me in Englishtalking about this, that they later did hung on the network. It'sbeen five years since then and they still make fun of me in theDojo. Transalpine humor, they call it... Crazy situation!

CN: Tell us about your Master Angel Romero, withoutdoubt, one of the architects of your sports successes.

A.: My Master, sometimes father, brother and most of thetimes "simply" friend and brother in battle. A born dreamerwho communicates hismadness and fights for whathe believes is right. I havelearned much from him, notonly in Karate.

CN: Now you are living anew phase of your life inCosta Rica, how are youadjusting to life there?

A.: Oh yes, I am in CostaRica for almost eighteenmonths now. Everything cameout from a sporadicconversation with BranchChief Erik Golberd, and here Iam, I am being treated verywell, they support methroughout, but it must alsobe given merit to theachievements in the last 15months. From here I want tothank both Erik Golberd andMario Hernández for the trustthey put in me, as well as heentire team of IKOKyokushinkaikan Costa Rica.

C.N.: Would you like toadd anything?

A.: A special remembrance for Shihan DanielLorente, who is always there, supporting selection. I'dalso like to encourage juniors who are going on theright way and the whole group Iko Spain, for theircommitment. And, to the Myrmidons and my battlebrothers, wherever they are, I send them a big hugfrom the distance.

REF.

: DVD

/JKD

TIM

TITLE: JEET KUNE DO

REF.

: DVD

/JKD

TIM

2

TITLE: JEET KUNE DOELEMENTS OF

ATTACK

REF.

: DVD

/JKD

TIM

4

TITLE: JEET KUNE DOBRUCE LEE’S

YMCA BOXING

REF.

: DVD

/JKD

TIM

3TITLE: JEET KUNE DO

UNLIMITED

REF.: DVD/BURTON TITLE: JEET KUNE

DO UNLIMITED

REF.: DVD/BURTON2 TITLE: BRUCE LEE: THE MAN AND HIS

LEGACY

REF.: DVD/TV2

TITLE: HOMENAJE A BRUCE LEEAUTHOR: TED

WONG & CASS MAGDA

REF.

: DVD

/BL

AUTHOR: TIM TACKETT

AUTHOR: SALVATORE OLIVAAUTHOR: B. RICHARDSON

TITLE: JKD STREET DEFENSE TACTICS:

TITLE: EXPLOSIVE DUMOG

TITLE: JKD STREET TRAPPING”

REF.: DVD/SALVA • DVD/SALVA2• DVD/SALVA3 • DVD/SALVA4• DVD/SALVA5 • DVD/SALVA6 • DVD/SALVA6• DVD/SALVA7

TITLE: J.K.D. STREET SAFE:

TITLE: KNIFE FIGHTING:

TITLE: PROFESSIONALFIGHTING SYSTEM:

TITLE: PROFESSIONAL FIGHTING SYSTEMKINO

MUTAI:

TITLE: WINGCHUN KUNG FU:

SIU LIM TAOEnglish / Spanish /

Italian

REF.: DVD/RANDY1TITLE: WING

CHUN KUNG FU:CHUM KIU

English / Spanish /Italian

REF.: DVD/RANDY2

TITLE: WING CHUNKUNG FU: BIU JEE

English / Spanish /Italian

REF.: DVD/RANDY3

TITLE: JKDTRAPPLING

TO GRAPPLING

REF.: DVD/ALM2TITLE: FILIPINOMARTIAL ARTS

REF.: DVD/ALM3TITLE: STREET-

FIGHTING!JEET KUNE DO

REF.: DVD/ALM4

TITLE: JKD

AUTHOR: RANDY WILLIAMS

REF.

: MUK

RAND

Y1RE

F.: M

UKRA

NDY3

REF.

: MUK

RAND

Y4

REF.

: MUK

RAND

Y5

REF.

: MUK

RAND

Y6RE

F.: M

UKRA

NDY2

TITLE: THE WOODEN DUMMY ENGLISH / ITALIAN

ENGLISH

TITLE: CONCEPTS &PRINCIPLES

DVD/RANDY4

AUTHOR: JOAQUIN ALMERIA

TITLE: ESPADA & DAGATITLE: PENTJAK SILAT

TITLE: BUKA JALAN SILAT

REF.

: DVD

/SIL

AT3

REF.

: DVD

/SIL

AT

REF.

: DVD

/SIL

AT4

TITLE: YAWARA KUBOTAN

AUTHOR::MASTER PEREZ

CARRILLO

REF.: DVD/YAW2TITLE: 5 EXPERTS -EXTREME STREET

ATTACKS AUTHOR:ES: VICTOR

GUTIERREZ,SERGEANT JIM

WAGNER MAJOR AVINARDIA, J.L. ISIDRO& SALVATORE OLIVA

REF.: DVD/DP1

OTHER STYLES

AUTHOR: BOB DUBLJANIN

TITLE: JKD EFS KNIFE SURVIVALAUTHOR: ANDREA ULITANO

REF.

: DVD

/EFS

1

EventAnnouncement andCalendar ListingSeptember Arnold Sports Festival2014 Presents 50 Sports & Events

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The ArnoldSports Festival and the world-renowned Arnold Classicbodybuilding championships wil lcelebrate its 26th Anniversary in 2014when the health and fitnesscelebration grows to a record 50sports and events.

The 2014 Arnold Sports Festival willbe held Feb. 27-March 2 inColumbus, Ohio.

The Arnold Sports Festival willagain attract 175,000 sports andfitness fans to watch 18,000 athletescompete in 50 sports and events,including 13 Olympic events.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger andJim Lorimer have co-produced theArnold Sports Festival since 1989,when it debuted as a one-daybodybuilding competition known asthe Arnold Classic. The ArnoldSports Festival has steadily grownover the years and is now a four-dayfestival that features a variety ofsports, including professional andamateur bodybuilding, weightlifting,powerlifting and Strongman. Alsofeatured is a lineup of youth sportsthat includes gymnastics,cheerleading and dance, fencing,martial arts and many others.

The three-day Arnold FitnessEXPO features 700 booths of thelatest in sports equipment, appareland nutrition and two stages thathost unique, non-stop competitionsand entertainment. The ArnoldFitness EXPO will be held Feb. 28-March 2, 2014 at the GreaterColumbus Convention Center.

New events in 2014 include Tennisand Swimming, Arnold Classic 212(lighter weight class for professionalbodybuilders) and Pole Sport (anelegant display of strength with topcompetitors holding their bodies

completely horizontal with only theirarms like a human flag).

Olympic sports in which youthcompete and Olympians or Olympichopefuls appear include archery,boxing, fencing, gymnastics, judo,running, swimming, table tennis, taekwon do, tennis, track & field,weightlifting and wrestling.

Europa Sports Products is thepresenting sponsor of the ArnoldSports Festival.

2014 Arnold SportsFestiva l

Dates: Feb. 27-March 2, 2013. Locations: Most events are held at

the Greater Columbus ConventionCenter (400 N. High St.), Veterans

Memorial (300 W. Broad St.) andLifestyle Communities Pavilion (405Neil Ave.). Visit:

www.arnoldsportsfestival.com forspecifics.

Hours: Thursday 5-10 p.m.; Friday-Saturday 8 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday 8a.m.-6 p.m.

EXPO hours: Friday 9:30 a.m.-5:30p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m.;

Sunday 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Admission: Adaily EXPO ticket ($10 in advance plusservice charges, $15 at door) includesadmission to most events and theArnold Fitness EXPO. Professional andamateur bodybuilding events; ArnoldSunday Showcase at the HiltonColumbus; Amateur MMA Festival atthe Lifestyle Communities Pavilions;Arnold Party With The Pros at the

Hollywood Casino require a separateticket. Arnold VIP Ticket Packages areavailable for $350 and $600 andinclude a variety of exclusive benefitsand premium seating to many events.

Web:www.arnoldsportsfestival.comTickets: www.ticketmaster.com/arnold or 800-745-3000.

Events

n this issue, I would like todiscuss what it takes to be agood instructor, as well asthe proper mindset for beingeffective as a teacher.Needless to say, my point of

view is purely based on myexperience as an Aikido instructor. Ihave also watched some of my ownstudents become teachers and it isthrough them and my own years asa Sensei that I made certainobservations. One of the mostpertinent facts is that there aremore important aspects than justtechnical skill to be successful inthe art of teaching. I have noticedthat it is not necessarily always themost talented Aikidoist who canactually impart what he or sheknows about the art.

For example, an excellent ball-player is not automatically aneffective coach. This conceptshows us that it often takessomething more than physicalabil ity. A teacher needs to be

respected and beloved by his orher students. Speaking of respect, Ioften hear teachers complainingthat their students do not offerthem the proper respect. In myopinion, respect is not somethingthat is owed to you, nor can youforce it upon anyone. It is to beearned, mostly through experience,self-confidence, and respect forothers.

To be a good instructor, yourstudent needs to sense your yearsof committed experience andconfidence in what you are doing.Unfortunately, in my case, I alwaysregretted that I became an Aikidoteacher so young, immature andrelatively inexperienced in the waysof the world. Aikido headquartershad no other options, as Aikido wasa new art and there were not manypractit ioners dedicated tospreading Aikido at that time. I wassincere, but without the requisitepeople skills to be as effective as Icould have been. While being

I “If you surroundyourself

with peoplewho are

going to put you on a pedestal,

you are settingyourself

up for the illusion that

you are superior

to other people”

young, one’s technique might bestrong because of their physicalprowess. However, one might lackother factors which help to becomea leader. For example, socialexperience, how to deal withpeople or how to act like a humanbeing are traits that one learnsthrough time.

One thing I always have in mymind when I teach is that amongmy student body, there are manydifferent kinds of people fromdifferent fields, already establishedand mature in their ownprofessions, such as myself.Interestingly enough, I truly startedfeeling comfortable as a teacher asI approached my fifties. As I havesaid before, in addition to time andexperience, it is also crucial to haveconfidence in order to be a goodinstructor.

Quite often, I come upon aninstructor who does not allow theirstudent any freedom by stoppingthem from going to other seminarsgiven by other instructors. Theymight even go so far as to say thatstaying with them is enough andthey need not expose themselvesto other influences. To me, it showsa lack of confidence on the part ofthe instructor. Letting your studentssee other worlds keeps them freeto use their own judgment. Thatkind of self-assurance is animportant way to improve oneselfas a leader.

I remember distinctly one timewhen at a large seminar ofdifferent Aikido Shihan, there wasa group from a particular dojo,who instead of training with the rest of the attendees, which isthe essence of the “seminarexperience”, they only trainedamongst themselves. Theirteacher, who was not one of the

Shihan, who also attended theseminar, forbade them frombranching out, so as to not“corrupt” their Aikido. In addition,instead of attempting to do whatwas being demonstrated, theycontinued training as they alwaysdid. How sad that is, for thestudents who could have benefitedfrom feeling different styles, as wellas for the teacher, who did nothave enough confidence in hisstudents to trust that theirstudents could develop their ownstyle through other influences andstill be devoted to him. In the end,they didn’t take full advantage ofthe possibilities for growth.

Needless to say, a goodinstructor need not feel as thoughhe or she needs to provethemselves to their students. Nordo they have to show them howstrong they are. Presumably, thestudents already know that. It doesnot serve a teacher well to see astudent’s physical skill on the samelevel as theirs. In other words, to

avoid comparing themselves totheir students, the teacher needs torealize that ten different peoplehave ten different abil it ies andphysical conditions. A valuablementor exhibits caring, generosityand patience as they deal with eachstudent accordingly andindividually.

One last piece of advice is to notmake your students your “YesMen.” If you surround yourself withpeople who are going to put you ona pedestal, you are setting yourselfup for the i l lusion that you aresuperior to other people. One hasto understand that off the mat, youare a human being like they are.However, once you get on the mat,you show them “who’s the boss”.When I lead a class, I feel like I amthe conductor of a symphonyorchestra, in that each one of mystudents is playing a differentinstrument, whereas myresponsibil ity is to create niceharmony among them. Sometimes,I feel l ike I am a chef of a bigrestaurant who through my dailyrecipes brings variety andtastefulness to my students, so thatthey don’t get t ired or bored,always seeking to bring theminspiration.

As an Aikido Sensei, I am alwayslooking for ways to be a betterteacher. It is an evolving processthat helps me express myhumanity and to learn to be abetter human being. After all, it isthe success of your students thatmakes you a good teacher, while agood teacher creates strong,future practitioners. Teaching is arelationship of mutual respect andunderstanding. In that way, yourstudent always has someone tolook up to and visa versa. To methat is respect earned.

Aikido

“To be a goodinstructor,

your student needs to

sense your years of

committedexperience

and confidence in what

you are doing”

http://www.kovars.com/

ince the beginning ofKyusho's public release,people have alwaysasked us why we neverdo competitions, spar orfreestyle f ight with

Kyusho. Well the answer is we do andhave for decades, but not publicly.Just as Kyusho's secrets were keptwithin famil ies and clans or withcertain trusted individuals duringancient times, so too has it in moderntimes and practices. What is shownpublicly is only a small portion of whatis known or practiced in private. Thereason for this is to gain the skill, testit, refine it and then validate it prior topublic release.

What was accomplished throughthe initial books, articles and videosdeveloped for Budo International wassimply to explain, document,demonstrate and qualify Kyushobasics. This was done so that peoplewould train slower and therefore saferuntil they had a grasp and skill withthe vital points. We also waited untilwe had enough qualified instructorsready to help people really learnKyusho correctly. Since thoseeducational tools were first published10 years ago, Kyusho has spread into

over 100 countries and has developedsome highly skil led and safeinstructors as well as practices. Asolid and proven curriculum as well asprofessional instructor course andprotocols was also set in place tomaintain quality standards. This timein preparation and practice has alsoserved to develop our instructors'skills and pedagogy in this aspect oftraining so that when we did move tomake this secondary educationalprocess public, there were those thatwere actually qualified.

And even more importantly whatwas needed was the properinstruction for safe and effective(usable outside the Dojo or seminar

tricks) perpetuation of Kyushoglobally. We are still in our

infancy with this movementand growth, but have

attained muchsuccess andrefinements. AsKyusho is not stylespecific, you willone day see it asthe mostw i d e s p r e a dm a r t i a le n h a n c e m e n tpractice in theworld. Currentlyit is Brazil ianJujitsu… buteven that can beenhanced withKyusho and the

use of it's vitaltargets and theireffects on thehuman physiology.

All instructors willeventually begin to

incorporate it into theirstyle and teachings as it

reaches the mainstream. Andas we see now it is already

mentioned in movies, TV showsand most recently even Dan Brownsnew best-selling novel “Inferno”.

So now it is time to again releasemore vital information and training

with this knowledge as we are readywith qualified instructors and the newdynamic. In fact since February of2013 it has become an integral part ofthe open courses, just not released onDVD or in books until now. We havealways taken this approach as ameans of field testing first in private tovalidate the possibility, then publiclyto validate the probabil it ies anduniversal adaptability. Using thismethod our instructors first workedthe concept with their peers in the art(privately), they then worked withpersonal students, now we arebranching out to work it with newpeople from various styles andtraining backgrounds in open courses.This helps us synthesize it into moreof a generic process much like theUFC and MMA evolved as opposed tostyle specific. If you remember whenMMA first began everyone used theirstyle, but with time only the bestmethods were kept and those thatfailed were discarded. Now all MMAfighters work basically the same andhave increased their potential andeffectiveness. So it is with Kyusho.

Working over multiple decades onthis aspect has also revealed what willnot work, what works only a smallpercentage of the time and thereforenot worth the study and also what isthe most effective (in times of highstress and adrenaline) to utilize andrefine. As a matter of fact most pointstaught in typical Kyusho seminars willhave l itt le to no worth in actualcombative application. But let it beclear now that Kyusho Sparring is notKyusho fighting, there is a hugedifference so the readers do not foolthemselves into another false belief(the first being you can practicestatically and be effective in adynamic and urgent situation).

Take for example the GB-20 target(pictured here) which is so often taughtin typical Kyusho classes and afavorite of most typical Kyushopractitioners. In Sparring this target isnot obtainable and is recessed due tothe fighting stance. Yet we have seenalmost all try this point (far more thanany other target) to no avail. They aretaken by surprise as it always workedin their stationary techniques, yet hasno availability in a sparring type oftraining. However it is not onlypossible and usable in Kyusho fighting(the next evolution), it becomes readilyavailable, knowing this distinction andjoining it with the correct training isvital to the fighters' success.

Another reason why sparring is thenext logical step in the Kyushopractitioner's journey is that statictechnique will not create the stress,adrenaline limitations and physiological

“As a matter offact most pointstaught in typicalKyusho seminarswill have little to

no worth in actualcombative

application”

S

changes that faster more urgent training will. In sparring youneed to spontaneously recognize an available target andaccess it instantaneously before it is moved or recessed.This will increase your skill and ability to use it in a severe orlife threatening attack but more importantly it removes youfrom technique and into the realm of target acquisition,which is a far more reliable practice. You will learn to copemore with gross motor skills as opposed to fine motor skillapplication or techniques that your body will resort to inincreasing limiting possibility when adrenaline rushesthrough your body under real stress. This changes yourpositioning, movement, angles and so many otherattributes. If you do not train this way you will never beassured you can handle a real situation well let alone deployKyusho. Another benefit is that you will also develop a newskill that static training will never reveal, that being the abilityto know where your partner (or assailant) is also targeting (ornot), so that you can use protective measures to countermore assuredly. That could be through the use of theconcepts taught in the Iron Shirt or attacking the attack astaught in the basic training levelsof dynamic Kyusho.

An additional and valuablecomponent to this training is thatyou will learn to deal with theoccasional dazed affect and fightthrough it. So many peopleduring a real encounter aresurprised, shocked and incapableof dealing with pain ordysfunction. In a more dynamicKyusho training and especiallySparring, your body, mind andspirit learn to cope and continuerather than freeze or give up.Think of the mental as well asspiritual and physical benefits thisadded component brings to theKyusho practit ioner. As anexample say your opponent takesyour wind away, can you deal withthe temporary dysfunction as youcorrect yourself with a “KyushoFirst Aid” method, can youundaze yourself in a slip secondto carry on the fight… moreimportantly however, can youropponent?

Yes all the prior levels of basictraining in Kyusho are cumulativeand brought to reality in his stageof development, but far from theend. There is so much more butagain small sure steps will build farbetter skills and bring so muchmore worth. Too many people rushtheir studies, rush their training,rush their development that keycomponents are missing or only intheir minds, not their hands.

Many instructors in our ownorganization wish I would not

bring this public, they wish to remain private and gain onlyfrom within, but we have other training that will remainprivate for them. And it is true many will copy what we doas they have from the beginning, some will join to gain theinside information and break away when they believe theyhave it… as they have in the past. But again they miss thevital point as they do not have the whole picture, where itleads or more importantly why. Most never saw the fullapplication from all the basics released publicly orsynthesized them into a single concept or direction thatfully unleashes the Kyusho to the correct practitioner. Andit is because of this that we can release this information;we are presently so far ahead in the training conceptsother Kyusho groups will not catch up as we are workingand training in the direction of the whole process asopposed to copying ideas or aspects in parts. And let usnot forget that if the others do copy and mimic, it will at theleast raise Kyusho higher in understanding, skills andacceptance around the world, quality can only get better…as will Kyusho for future generations.

Vital Points

http://www.mauricepromartialarts.com/

http://www.mauricepromartialarts.com/

The future of martial arts lies in our kids. Children and youngsters are the ones who will growup and carry on our martial tradition, thus they need to be nurtured and taught in the bestmanner possible. But most instructors have only a vague understanding of kids' naturaldevelopment, motor capabilities and psychosocial skills.

With this in mind, here is a basic guide to what you need to know about teaching martial artsto kids:

Text & Photos: Jesse Enkamp

What You Need to Know About...

7-9 Years OldPhysical: Kids of 7-9 years of age

have a huge physical need for movingaround. Because, at this age,physical movements are starting toautomatize in their bodies - meaningthey will naturally feel inclined to

move around as much as possible inall different ways. However, kids atthis age sti l l have a very minoramount of muscle growth, and theircapability to tense their muscles isquite limited. The same goes for theiranaerobic capacity. Gender

differences too are almostnonexistent at this age.

Mental: When it comes to thepsychosocial development of kidsage 7-9 (Some kids might appearyounger or older depending on theirgrowth rate), their social capacity is

Teaching Martial Arts to Kids

not yet fu l ly deve loped, whichmeans they have a hard time seeingthemselves as a part of a group ofd i fferent people wi th d i f ferentneeds. In other words, they arepretty much egotistical and cravethe feeling of personal security andtrust. Still, their sense of right andwrong is s tar t ing to developstrongly at this age, along with theabi l i ty to fo l low ru les andinst ruct ions, even though the i raudi tory sk i l l ( t ry ing to fo l lowspoken instruct ions) is at a lowlevel.

Advice: When you teach kids 7-9years old, try to focus on play. Havegreat variety in exercises, movementsand lesson content - and try to be asclear and non-confusing as possibleby always giving brief and shortinstructions. It is more effective toclearly show (visually) exercises thanspeaking (verbally) to the kids. At thisphase it is also important toemphasize teamwork, withoutsparking a competitive mindset. Makesure to lay down the ground rules andestablish what's right and wrong, howto behave in the dojo, when martialarts can/can't be used etc.

10-12 Years OldPhysical: Kids at the age of 10-12

have a greatly improved coordination.This means you can teach themharder cognitive tasks, along withmore demanding physical movementsas their respiratory function nowdevelops to a greater extent. At thisage, differences in gender also start toshow, although sti l l not ful lydeveloped.

Mental: At the age of 10-12,besides improved coordination, theability to think abstractly as well aslogically starts to develop greatly. Thismeans you can place more demandson these abilities in exercises, in orderto take advantage of theirimprovements in these areas. Plus, atthis age, the wil l to cooperateincreases along with a greater hungerfor more training and competition. Inother words, the “tribe” mentality isnow gradually taking the place of theformer “self” mentality, although bothstill exist in the individual.

Advice: Again, as you teach thisgroup, make sure to have great varietyin your lessons (as in the case of 7-9year olds) but without beingconfusing. Kids at this age generallytrying many different sports, so yourjob is to make them stick to martialarts. Also, try to incorporate moretechnical training at this stage, withmore details in technique, along withlighter tactical training and scenario-

based situations. It is vital to beconsistent in your actions and wordsas you conduct classes now, sincefairness and justice are importantconcepts for kids of this age.

13-15 Years OldPhysical: Surprisingly to most

teachers, coaches and instuctors;kids at the age of 13-15 start todecline in several areas - mostly seenin coordination (which worsens) and

agility (which decreases). At this point,kids who might have easily wontrophies before might start losingmotivation, so it's important thatinstructors understand that at thisstage it's natural for kids to change alot, especially in their physicalcomposition as they now get tallerand weigh more. Maximum oxygenuptage (VO2), more commonly knownas aerobic capacity, now increasesmassively too, as well as genderdifferences.

What You Need to Know About...

Mental : Addit ional ly, a lothappens in kids' brains when they're13-15 years old. At this stage it iscommon for kids to have emotionalinsecurity as they're now graduallytrying to identify their own “voice”(identity) in the crowd. This will beexpressed in d i fferent waysdepending on circumstances, butthe most important marker is thatk ids now str ive to becomeindependent - and you need to caterfor this need.

Advice: The group will now becomeincreasingly harder to keep together,since big physical and mentaldifferences emerge betweenindividuals. However, luckily, theability to solve problems and havetheoretical discussions improves,which means you can talk moreto/with the group. As a leader, thisaspect of keeping dialogue is nowmore important than ever, since thekids will see you as a sort of pillar oftrust and safety in their dynamic lives.

So make technical exercises easier,don't add too many complexmovements, and don't put too muchstress on your students. However, doincrease the tempo and intensity ofclasses, as the kids are now hittingpuberty and will benefit from a nicekick in the ass.

16-18 Years OldPhysical: When kids are 16-18

years old, they are on the edge ofsoon becoming adults. Physically,this is manifested in several ways:The lungs and respiratory systemsare now on a whole new level, aswell as the abil ity to handleincreased levels of lactic acid in themuscles. At this stage, most boys(18-19 years old) and girls (15-16years old) are generally fully grown(in height especially) and genderdifferences become a definitivefactor.

Mental: When kids become 16-18years old, their awareness increasestoo, so they start questioning a lot ofyour teachings - more often on adeeper level than previously. Insightand acceptance of their graduallyestablished identity is taking placetoo, as well as more pronouncedsense of independency.

Advice: At this age, it isappropriate to increase the trainingdose (both volume, frequency andintensity). As an instructor, you canhave tougher classes now, bothphysically and mentally, as well asorganized strength training and othersupplementary training (cardio, forexample) built in. Additionally, it isimportant to keep kids flexible asthey now grow into adults byapplying agil ity exercises andstretching.

But obviously, there's a whole lotmore to be said about teaching kids,and quite a few courses, videos andbooks have been created on thesubject, but this covers the basics.

Always remember that kids andyoungsters love variation (but not tothe point of being confusing), and asa trainer you should have this inmind to keep up motivation andinterest in the long run.

Also, try to see the big picture:Most kids come to training to havefun, learn cool stuff, feel seen, showoff (kids love showing off), meetfriends and make new ones - neverdeny them this possibility.

In other words, kids need bothseriousness and fun.

As a leader, it is your job to makethis distinction and keep thebalance.

Good luck!

Teaching Martial Arts to Kids

PRINCIPLES OF SELF-DEFENSE

How does self-defense begin? It isnot just an attack which triggers aresponse of self-defense, no, realisticself-defense begins the moment wethink about it. If we consider strategiesfor dangerous situations, we will bebetter prepared. Thanks to its simplebasic ideas, S.D.S.-Concept is theideal system for everyone who wantsto use a tool to improve their safety.S.D.S.-Concept is particularly well fitfor those who often feel vulnerablewhen faced with an aggressor.

Times change, self-defense systemsdevelop, therefore S.D.S.-Concept is atypical product of our times. Thingschange fast, not many people canspend years to learn a combat system.

As S.D.S.-Concept is not a by-product of an existing system, it canfollow its own path. Its focus is 100%on self-defense, using all kinds oftools in all kinds of surroundings. Itdoes not make sense for anybody tolearn a complete system only to thenchange concepts and principles to beable to use weapons or tools for self-defense.

Like any good system, S.D.S.-Concept has its own individualprinciples and concepts. They are theconditions and basics for theunderstanding and the use ofeveryday objects for self-defense.

What are principles?Principles are basic concepts, fixed

ideas which are superordinate all

2

Self-Defense Text: Peter Weckauf & Irmi HanzalPhotos: Mike Lehner

“Real fights comewithout

guidelines. Rules and refereesmay be staples incombat sports,but not in the

street. The only rule here

is: "If it works, it's allowed"

other modi operandi, concepts and strategies. Theseprinciples, which the system is based upon, are the"backbone of the system".

Principles to follow when using objectsfor self-defense

Use everything! Using all kinds of body weapons (hands,elbows, legs, knees and head) and tools will make you arespected opponent. As a rule, everything is allowed andlegitimate for self-defense, be it body weapons, toolsor actual self-defense weapons.

Mind the structure of the object! You canuse almost any object to defend yourself.Consider rigidity, length and size, shape

(pointed, round, edged), weight, state, elasticity, danger foryourself and, of course, availability. An object can only beused according to its structure. Try as many differentobjects as possible in your training!

Use your natural reflexes! Attacks usually come as asurprise and probably unexpectedly, allowing no time forconscious action. Reality shows that individuals in extremesituations act reflexively and instinctively. This should betaken into account in training sessions when it comes tochoosing appropriate techniques. Beginners in particularshould not try complicated moves and sequences.

Improvise! Forgot your self-defense tool at home?Well, improvise! Any object that you can use to

amplify punch or pressure will make you stronger.Use other things - rocks, tables, glasses, bags, a

3

Self-Defense

“Self-protectioncomes first!

Self-defense is nota combat sport

where punches areexchanged”

In the next issue: S.D.S.-Concept for

self-defense for womenFor more information go to

www.dsd-concept.com

fistful of sand, coins - anything canhelp. Nothing available? Spit at youropponent! Even this might irritate theaggressor long enough to allow you tolaunch your defense. Deceive,mislead, give a false sense of security,then hit the bad guy when he expectsit the least. Chivalry is not an option.Your life is at stake!

Hit the weak points! A crucial ideain self-defense is attacking theopponent's weak points. Self-defensehas to be simple, quick and useful foreveryone. Knowing how to attackweak points wil l al low you toovercome an aggressor or even agroup of aggressors.

Simple, straight forward moves -self-defense does not require you tostudy complicates sequences ofmoves. The street is not a dojo. Actdetermined and dedicated. Choosethe most simple and direct way ofself-defense. Especially whenfaced with a group of aggressorsyou wil l have no time forunrealistic forms of moves.

Various options are available,there are no fixed rules. Realfights come without guidelines.Rules and referees may bestaples in combat sports, butnot in the street. The only rulehere is: "If it works, it'sallowed." If one techniquedoes not work, switch to adifferent one! Improvise!

Self-protection comes first! Self-defense is not a combat sport wherepunches are exchanged. No, eachpunch can immobilize or hurt one ofthe opponents. Individuals with noexperience in combat tend to reactinappropriately when they are hit, oreven hurt. Even a small wound can bedecisive, therefore avoid risks andperilous situations whenever possible.

Legal background - In somecountries it is illegal to use or evencarry self-defense weapons. On theother hand, nobody can really forbidyou to have a pen, a spoon or aflashlight, as these are normal,everyday objects. A judge willunderstand that you wish to own a pen.

One of the most important aspectsin self-defense classes is teachingstrategies and tactics, prior to aconflict, in the middle of the conflictand following it.

The meaning of strategyfor self-defense

Strategy is the "master plan".Strategy decides about the use offorce, threat of force to prevent anaggressor from attacking or de-escalation. All these measures servejust one purpose, namely to preventan attack or to keep the damage assmall as possible.

• Is it strategically efficient to have aconflict here and now (no escape

route, many potential attackers, areweapons available…)?

• Is it strategically efficient to have aconflict in certain surroundings ornot? What are my advantages? (in avehicle, in an elevator, nowitnesses…)?

• Am I physically able to defendmyself right now (alcohol, physicalhandicaps, poor fitness…)?

The meaning of tacticsfor self-defense

Tactics can be defined ascoordinated concepts and action,considering one's mental and physicalabilities as well as the opponent's,surroundings, t iming, purpose,available tools. "Tactics in combat"are part of the strategy.

Strategy and tactics form aframework for decisions in self-defenseand are therefore closely connected.Strategy defines whether we fight ornot, tactics define the way we fight.

Some examples:• Is it good tactics to use an object

for self-defense or not?• Is it good tactics to use rough

surface for my defense?• Is it good tactics to attack the

aggressor even before he attacks?Strategy and tactics, together with

the system's principle, are twoimportant components of self-defense,even more so in S.D.S.-Concept.

onestly, it could havecalled this chapter "Oursociety has gone to frymonkeys". Not that itcould go, or possiblywill go to hell, but rather

that it's gone long ago. In those yearswhen I was born, our education andthe principles inculcated by ourancestors, parents or teachers,encouraged us in the sense ofrespect, citizenship, effort, sacrifice,strength to fight against theadversities and misfortune of our owndestiny, and so on. We can't deny thatall along human existence, evil hasalways been present. The SevenCapital Sins are a classification ofvices mentioned in the first Christianteachings to educate its followersabout Christian morality.

A capital vice is that which has anexceedingly desirable end so that inhis desire for it, a man goes on to thecommission of many sins, all of whichare said to originate in that vice astheir chief source. Capital sins, orcapital vices, are those to whichhuman nature is primarily inclined.Lust, Gluttony, Avarice / Greed, Sloth,Wrath, Envy and Pride are the 7Deadly Sins.

The problem with our world todayis that there are fewer and fewerbeings who respect nature and feelinclined to choose being "useful" toour social order. On the contrary, thevery leaders of our society are thosewho have infringed the biggest harmon it, forgetting almost completelyabout the consequences broughtabout by the fact of living in constantsin. In our history there have beenwars of various kinds; even religionitself has killed in the name of God.Our present worldwide crisis is theoutcome of the global corruption ofpol i t ic ians, rel igious, monarchs,kings, rich, famous people and fromthere on down.

Man has produced many greatadvances in favor of society.Unfortunately, and in contrast, idiots,incompetents, opportunists, liars andignorant people not only contributenothing good to our environment, butrather stain, destroy and cause socialsetbacks in all aspects. Sorting out the

issue of the suffering of our fellow menliving in poverty, the sick and theneedy, sounds easy. However, nobodyreally does anything for them. Theobsession of power makes politicianslook the other way, as if the matterhad nothing to do with them.

A simple look at our small familyenvironment will be enough to makeus real ize how much we havechanged our training objectives. Ifwe have managed to get ourchildren to study, to be responsible,to obtain a professional qualification,to be good people and to contributesomehow to our society, then wemay be proud to be breadwinners.We could say that we have reasonsto be happy in some way.

Usually, things are not that easy. Ina household with 4 children, perhapsone has got to achieved aprofessional college title; another maybe working on some importantposition; and the other two are justmessing around with theirSmartphone, Tablet and brandclothes. And, of course, working aslittle as possible. I know cases offamil ies in which, out of threechildren, just one, or none, hasfinished his elementary studies. Whatfor? - they say - I know I won't find ajob later!

It is true that, in many cases, FilmDirectors, Architects or Engineershave failed in their chosen profession;but in reverse, there are also thosewho, without any title, strive and seekother ways to get a home, form afamily and meet their basic needs. It isneither the time nor the country forCinema, architects or new engineers,who are emigrating abroad, wherethere are more chances. Butremember that this has alwayshappened. The issue of emigrating toseek and achieve a better welfare foroneself and one's family is now amatter of history.

Current Laziness is one of the majorCapital Sins that are destroying oursociety. Greed and Envy come after.

When I arrived in Spain, in 1976,there were almost no color people.However, I went to London and I found

them everywhere, as well as Hindusand people from other countries andcontinents. The various races of ourplanet have never bothered me; on thecontrary, I find them very interesting. Icome from an Indian people ofsouthern Chile and in my wanderingthe world I have been able to live andshare with many races of differentcontinents. The problem today is notonly the fact that Spain, Italy or othercountries are plagued with SouthAmericans (I'm one of them), Africans,Moroccans, Romanians, Bulgarians,Russians, Lebanese, etc., the problemis that some of them don't behavewith the due respect to the hostcountry that receives them, providesthem shelter and sustenance forthemselves and their families. Everybeing on this planet has the right toseek a better tomorrow. But to achievethis he/she should give the best ofhimself/herself, not the worst.

Morbid obesity (and won't speakhere about drugs) is another of thecurrent problems of our society.Similarly, in the 70s in Spain therewere fat people, but not obese. It wasrare to see what already existed in theUnited States, for example.Unfortunately, with the entering inSpain of the large departmentstores - "Malls" -, also arrivedthe "fast food", in otherwords, processed andsuperfluous food. Atype of food that, ifeaten in excess,damages the body causingdegeneration of our metabolism andturning us into beings of a scarcemobility, with a great deal of limitationsof action, tiredness, lack of goals,absence of enthusiasm and the soleobsession of keeping on swallowingall that self-destructive junk food.

Our current society is beingdevastated: morbid obesity; theincorporation of Mafias from variouscountries; the shortage of employmentand chances for professionals, skilledpersons and people willing to work;dirty politics; corruption in varioussectors; avarice, greed, lust, gluttonyand all the fi lth to which we aresubject, are leading us to the end ofour l imits. Something should bedone... I think!

The Column of Kenpo

EVOLUTION, INVOLUTION

H

“Current Laziness is oneof the major capital sins

that are destroying our society.

Greed and envy comeafter.”

reviously we discussed what the CombatHapkido T.P.P. program was and why it wasdeveloped for our self-defense system. Inthis issue and in subsequent articles, we willshare detailed instruction on the tacticalcomponents of the program. We will begin

with a discussion on why pressure points are in partselected as the focus of our approach to exploiting theweaknesses of the body.

We select Acupoints, also commonly described aspressure points because they tend to be located betweenmuscles, l igaments, tendons, bones, or vulnerablepathways of nerves (or major nerve junctures/plexuses).Using these points as specific targets allows us to disruptthe energy and functioning of the body both efficiently andeffectively. When used in acupuncture for healing, the areaof activation is within the diameter of the tip of a ball pointpen. Luckily for us, they can be activated by stimulatingabout a “quarter or euro” (25mm diameter) sized areaaround them. We will focus on using the center of thiscoin as our intended target. Many practitioners familiarwith marksmanship or weaponry will realize the benefit ofour approach. Technically the target area is more like theshape of a tear drop instead of a circular shape, due to theflow of energy, however for ease of reference the “circle”image is useful and effective. For example, simply strikingto the bicep to stun or numb the arm, leaves a greatmargin of error. Now, if we specifically aim for a “euro orquarter” sized target in the mid anterior-bicep head(pericardium 2: see chart below), we have a much smallerdegree of error and while also increasing our effectiveness.This is a part of our philosophy for utilizing anatomicaltargeting with tactical pressure points.

Pericardium 2: ( P2 Fire/Yin/Red )Location: Two AU distal to the level of the fold of the

armpit (axillary's crease) along the mid-line of the biceps.Anatomy/Redundancy: The muscular branches of the

brachial artery, the medial brachial cutaneous nerve andthe musculocutaneous nerve.

Method: Strike towards the bone (humerous) to numbthe biceps.

A common claim by martial arts and self-defensepractitioners is that pressure points do not work oneverybody. This may be a true statement as the effect willvary from person to person; however, it is often greatlyexaggerated in the realism of its scope. Think of it thisway, if you could enhance your techniques to make themmore effective on over ninety percent of the population,would you not incorporate this theory just because theymight not work on less than ten percent (arguably fivepercent depending on the type of statistical analysisapplied)? Nonetheless, we must address the fact that asmall percentage of the population known as “non-responders”.

This small group does not feel the pain as much as themajority of the population. Every person falls on a varyingpain tolerance scale from non-responsive to ultra-responsive and those who are closer to non-responsivemay have a high mental or physical threshold for pain.Also we all differ anatomically to some extent, andsometimes exact nerve locations are different (this isespecially true in the post-surgical/trauma population). Incertain styles of martial arts, the nerves are intentionallydeadened through continual abuse also known asdesensitization (Imagine a Muay Thai boxer kicking a poleor tree to pulverize the nerves of the shin). Other physicalfactors will affect the pain tolerance of individuals, as some

nerves may be protected by thickfat pads or musculature that canact as armor. And lastly, as manylaw enforcement and securityprofessionals can attest, drugsand alcohol can also have asignif icant effect on anindividual's pain tolerance.Although, we should note thatwith advanced study into thephysiological effects ofchemically based influents, thisknowledge can be used as anadvantage to understand otheranatomical and sensoryweaknesses.

Regardless of this, the nervetargets still work; although by thetime you have exerted enoughpressure to cause a response,you now may have causedserious or permanent damage.Think about this simple analogy: Ifyou had little to no nervereceptors in your hand and youtouched a hot pan, you would notfeel the heat to withdraw yourhand until after a severe burn.Being further on the responsiveside of pain sensitivity would bebeneficial in the above example.The more “sensitive” we are, thequicker our autonomic withdrawalreflexes (unconscious reactionbefore conscious perception) toprotect us from injury. As goodself-defense practitioners, welearn to utilize this to our advantage.

It is also worth noting that many non-responders aresometimes more sensitive in other areas on their body.Our bodies always seek homeostasis or balance for healthand proper functioning. For example, if a target located onthe arm does not provide the response expected due tothe attacker's high pain threshold, try to attack a targetlocated on the leg. Often times, this has a greater effectthan on those with a low pain threshold. Our body willoften compensate for a less receptive area with anothermore receptive area. (We will cover this more in ourdiscussion of Yin/Yang in a future article.)

It is important to emphasize that redundancy is ournumber one defining principle. With this in mind, we focuson utilizing the pressure points, which also act as portalsof access directly to the body's nervous system. This isprimarily, though not exclusively, why we use them as ourtactical targets.

In future issues, we will describe the crucial component ofunderstanding how to correctly activate our tactical pressurepoints. This component is often one of the mostmisunderstood secrets of how to apply the knowledge ofvital points effectively in self-defense. Of course, you don'thave to wait; all of this information is available through theT.P.P. DVD instructional series, which you can order directlyfrom Defensive Services International HQ at www.dsihq.comand Budo International at www.budointernational.net.Please train safe, live with honor, and be well.

For certification information, seminars, or questions,please contact: staff@dsihq.com .

Why use Pressure Points as Tactical Targets?

P

WingTsun and fashion...

I started practicing Martial Arts 35years ago. I have met different Martial Artsystems and some Contact Sports and,of course... I've lived the passing offashions. I imagine that those who havespent many years in this business knowwhat I am talking about. It's notsomething exclusively related to theworld of Martial Arts but with societyitself, always willing and looking for "newthings", new sensations...

My diligent interest to know in depththe Martial Arts world has led me to meeta myriad of different systems. Beingalways looking askance at the MartialArts ecosystem provided me with abroad perspective on the different stylesthat kept coming to Europe. Years ago,the World of Martial Arts turned into anendless arrival of fashionable styles andtheir irremediable passing... At somepoint in that unceasing bursting of styles,systems, revolutions and new creationswhich were incorporated gradually in aworld that, as a "mixed bag", wouldadmit almost anything coming from the"East", it was produced a mix nothing atall positive: Martial Arts and ContactSports.

Consequently, and for reasons that Istill haven't come to fully understand (Ithink it has to do with the entrance ofMartial Arts in the Gyms), we witnessedthe beginning of a rather strange trendthat eventually would bring about themixture of Martial Art styles and ContactSports in the same pot.

This blend of "water and oil" isespecially curious. If we observe anddiscuss in depth both worlds, we willdiscover that although they may havesimilar aesthetics (which seems obvious,being techniques related to fights amonghumans), they are quite different. I don'tconsider necessary to go into greatdetail to explain that Contact Sports aremore or less successful developments ofthe War Arts applied to the sports world,or put in another way, soft or sweetenedmethods in order to face fightingopponents, without the risk of killing ordying.

In a reflection of a Kendo teacher, withwhom I keep a good friendship and forwhom I feel a deep respect, he explainedto me how the old "Ken-jutsu" hadbecome "Kendo", by transforming a wartechnique into a war art, whose mainconsequence was the changing of rolesin practitioners: the sword was changedfor a shinai (typical sword cane in Kendopractice). That "small change" broughtabout a much larger modification in thenature of our disciplines. It's a BIGchange, because it turns an enemy intoan opponent (in the worst case); or even

an enemy into a practice partner; butmostly, it "ALLOWS YOU TO DIE ATHOUSAND TIMES" in the course of atraining session. Isn't it wonderful? A realtransformation from a small change...

I'm using all this reflection to offer you,dear reader, a logical starting point forthe reasoning that I'd like to transmit tothe WingTsun practitioners, as well asMartial Art practitioners in general, in thismonth's column.

The reason is the currentcomparison between Martial Art stylesand Contact Sports, or, in this case,the increasing fashion of MMA (MixedMartial Arts).

Almost in any social gathering amongpractitioners, it is discussed if WingTsun,or any other system of Traditional MartialArts, are really that effective, becausethey don't prove it within the "cage" ofMMA. It's a recurring theme for which Iam often askedin many of theplaces where Iimpart coursesand seminars.It's actually adispute as oldas stupid,because itaims to mixterms andconcepts thathave little or nothing to do. As I said atthe beginning of today's column,fashions in this world have beenchanging and what is now thecomparison with MMA, twenty years

Wing Tsun

“Almost in anysocial gathering

amongpractitioners,

it is discussed ifWingTsun,

or any othersystem ofTraditional

Martial Arts, are really that

effective, becausethey don't prove itwithin the "cage" of

MMA.”

Wing Tsun

ago it was with Gracie family BJJ, and evenbefore with boxers, wrestlers, etc. I rememberthat, when I was a child and I was practicingJudo and Sambo, I was very interested in theanswer to the old question: Who would ever winin a fight, a judoka or a karateka…? Well, thatinnocent question is quite similar to what wepropose today.

While the eyes of people who know little aboutthe Martial Arts background (or simply are fondof them, just watching from outside the traininghalls) can see that there are similarities inaesthetics between Contact Sports and classicalMartial Arts, the fact is that is that there is a gulfbetween them.

We could say that the current Contact Sportsare, in many cases and with some exceptions(classical Boxing, Greco-Roman Wrestling, etc.,disciplines even older than the oldest MartialArts), evolutions of Martial Arts that haveundergone a "sweetening" process (similar tothat suffered in its day by Kendo against KenJutsu in Japan), by which the practice isintended to allow us enjoying a "friendly match",an encounter where we won't cause irreparabledamage to our opponent nor to ourselves.

For this purpose, it was designed a set ofrules, conditions and, above all, a division bygender and weight categories, which aims toprotect the practitioner.

In my book "Alto Nivel" (High Level), that Iwrote for Budo International, I attempt to explainsome of these concepts and why there areweight divisions in Contact Sports like Boxing. Ithink that is the key to understand this sterilediscussion, and especially to understand a muchmore important concept that we will explain laterin this article.

Imagine a fight between Lennox Lewis (246lb.) and Sergio "the Wonder" Martinez (158lb. ) . . . We agree that despi te the b iggermobility and speed of "the Wonder", he wouldhave a lot of problems to reach Lewis withpowerful blows; or, in other words, to hurt himwith his blows... On the contrary, any blowthat Lewis connected to Sergio "the Wonder"would get a devastating effect on the "short"Argentine boxer. Undoubtedly, the l ighterboxer would get to connect a great deal ofb lows because of h is enormous movingcapacity and extraordinary agility, but with hisf is ts sheathed in a boxing g love, on anopponent 88 pounds heavier than him, hispunches wouldn't be too effective .

Now imagine the same combat but this timewith gloves removed, in which Sergio could useattacks of fingers to the eyes, knife hand strikesto the neck area, etc. (final blows), and other typeof techniques that would complete his alreadyhuge range of motion, distance control, etc. Weagree that all that capacity, together with Sergio'sability, would make possible that any person of alower weight could face an opponent of a higherpotential. I think it is a very graphic example ofthe huge difference between Contact Sports andMartial Arts.

“While the eyes of people who knowlittle about the Martial Arts background

can see that there are similarities inaesthetics between Contact Sports and

classical Martial Arts, the fact is that is that there

is a gulf between them.”

Reflection on this fiction combat is that oftrying to make see those who know little aboutthe Martial Art, that it's very difficult to knocksomeone out using punches, when youropponent is superior in weight. Those whoclaim that WingTsun and other traditionalMartial Arts have never proved anything in theworld of MMA or Contact Sports are sayingsomething totally inconsistent. It's a "toast tothe sun"; it's like claiming that the RemingtonMagnum has never proven its efficacy in theMMA! We are talking about completely andutterly different things, however much they alldeal with combat.

When I carried out the research anddocumentation for the series of books that I amcurrently writing for the Budo Internationalmagazine, one of the things that struck me mostwas the reflections of an old master of Okinawa-Te, who claimed that fist attacks are very rarelyused in Karate ... ¿¿What?? (I wondered in aloud voice). The teacher justified it explaining tome that when Karate first started to be taught tochildren in schools in Japan, they were forced to"make a fist" to not harm their fel lowpractit ioners. That is, they sheathed thedangerous hand edge strikes, finger attacks tothe eyes and palm strikes, so that childrenwouldn't harm each other. And how did theyholster open hand strikes? In a fist. Don't tell meit's not a curious topic!!!

This thought always seemed very interestingto me and made me think about WingTsun andthe forms of our system (which are like the booksof wisdom or formulary of our system). Mysurprise increased when I became aware of thesmall number of punches that exist in the forms.If we look in depth any of them, we see thatthere are hits or hitting ways of using fists, but ifwe try to totalize the punches we in the forms,we can see they represent no more than 10 or15% of the whole technical arsenal of WingTsunstyle. And what about the rest? Well... It consistsof finger strikes, edges, palms, elbows andknees. Or, said in a different way, is shaped upby the so called definitive blows.

Although my thoughts today have no interestin fanning this unproductive argument betweenMartial Arts and sports practitioners, on thecontrary, nevertheless I'd l ike to make areflection in another direction. I'd like to keep thegood side of things. Even of unintell igentdiscussions such as this...

From my point of view, it would be highlyconvenient to mull over Classical Martial Artsand especially ours... Because although theybelong to different and ABSOLUTELY NON-COMPARABLE worlds, it's very curious that apractitioner of any of the Contact Sports thatmake up what now is known as Mixed MartialArts, can be able to spar and defend with thearguments of these systems a conflict withother adversar ies, despite the ru les andsporting regulations that impose a logicall imi tat ion. How is i t possib le that todayContact Sports or Mixed Martial Arts seem farmore effective than Traditional Martial Artssystems?

Wing Tsun

“The fashion ofMMA will pass,

as others passedbefore,

but that shouldn'tmake us forget

what we were andwhat we are.”

http://taowsacademy.blogspot.com.es/

Wing Tsun

In my opinion, the vast majority of TraditionalMartial Arts have focused on cultural, historical,folkloric aspects... on the Art! neglectingdownright the Martial aspect. If we observe theway to move or make a combat exercise, is easyto see how problematic it would be to applythese "definitive" techniques to an opponent ofa certain entity. In the system I practice there arecases where practitioners almost come to dothings that would only work in a video game orin a bad action movie. Generally, they are alsothe champions and guides of tradition; thosewho often mask what they do in an aura ofmystery or secrecy and declared themselvesowners of the only and real truth; the guardiansof the style or styles (this is true for manyfighting systems).

At this point, I consider absolutely positive theemergence of MMA today. The reason? I'mconvinced that MMA have made many seriouspractitioners of Martial Arts put their feet on theground and workout in a more logical andstructured way, with very clear ideas and goals.It seems logical to think that War Arts, forged inthe battlefield, designed by and for the battle,must remain effective in a confrontation. Whathappened then? Well ... we'll go into that insuccessive articles in which we will try to solvethis dilemma. Needless to say I am particularlyinterested in the system I practice, and it's theone I'd like to give a point of view that improvesthe current situation.

It seems obvious to assert that the currentsituation of our society does not allow thedevelopment and practice of definit ivetechniques nor the way they used to train inChina two hundred years ago, but I will proposea balance between the Art and the Martial. Thatsearch of the right balance wil l bring theWingTsun style to the place where it belongs.

Where to begin?Simple. Let's practiceWingTsun!

Let's review the basics of WingTsun, itsstructures, its forms. Let's practicedisplacements, Chi Sao, exercises, strategies.Let's design different training systems, differentpoints of view (all of them can be interesting),but most important: let's never forget thatWingTsun was a Chinese boxing style designedby and for combat. Developed so that smallmen or women could beat big men. But finally, astyle of combat. Let's never forget this, becauseotherwise ... we will be giving more and morereasons to those who insist on comparing thingsthat are non-comparable!

The fashion of MMA will pass as otherspassed before, but that shouldn't make usforget what we were and what we are. We mustconvey the seed of knowledge of an art thatcame to us and that we must pass on to futuregenerations. It's a very delicate obligation inwhich we can't afford to forget the why, the whatand the how ... We would be disrespectful tothose who devoted their lives, before us, to theart we practice.

http://taowsacademy.blogspot.com.es/

Worldwide agreementbetween WKA-WTKAand SUPERKOMBAT

Eduard Ir imia, CEO ofSUPERKOMBAT®, the industryleader in fight production throughoutEurope, and Michele Panfietti, CEOof Wka - Wtka - Orient Festivalsigned a worldwide agreement forthe 2013 Edition of the biggestoriental show from Europe,scheduled on October 31st -November 3rd in Carrara (Tuscany),Italy. Mr Ir imia wil l be the TVproducer of the event and, in the lastday of the festival, aSUPERKOMBAT® New Heroes“Asia vs Rest of the world” will closethe martial arts world championship,where will attend 5.000 fighters from113 countries and 5.000 martial artistsfor 120 martial seminaries.

“Festival dell'Oriente is a challengefor me" - said Mr Ir imia. - "AtSUPERKOMBAT® events we hadeven 20.000 spectators, but here wewill have a 100,000 audience and thisis huge. As I said before , as a main-stream promotion, we always create amix between artial marts, culture andhistory. The event will be broadcastedvia SUPERKOMBAT® TV mediapartners in more than 100 countries.”

“During the festival, we will alsohave a Unified World Championshipwith a lot of associations on thestage. At the end of the amateurcompetit ions, before the closingceremony, there will be the only eventwith professional rules,SUPERKOMBAT® New Heroes, andto keep them, it will be called Asia vsRest of the world. I can also revealthat the best fighters from UnifiedWorld Championships will be selectedfor next events due to the agreementmade with WKA-WTKA. There, we willhave every day SUPERKOMBAT®stands with Superkombat heroes andseminars with SUPERKOMBAT®coaches” - said Eduard Irimia, CEO ofSUPERKOMBAT®.

“We know SUPERKOMBAT, is theindustry leader in Europe so is anhonour to work with them. It is just the

beginning of our global cooperation”,said Mr Michele Panfietti . “We arevery glad, we will have a New Heroesevent at Festival Dell'Oriente . Anincredibile event is announced.Amateur and professional events forthe first time in a huge festival ofmartial arts” - added Mr. Panfietti,WKA-WTKA World president.

ABOUT Orient FestivalFrom October 31st to November

3rd 2013 in Tuscany at the exhibitioncomplex “CarraraFiere”, close to theseaside where the port of the marble'scity is located, the fourth edition of anexclusive event will take place. Afterthe huge success of the previousedition, 50.000 square meteers ofcovered space will be completely atyour disposal to discover East:photographic exhibitions, bazaars,market stalls, local cuisine-food,traditional ceremonies, naturalmedicines, concerts, dances andmartial arts will take turns on fourstages and in many areas dedicatedto various countries. You wil lexperience traditional therapies forfree, you can also visit the areasdedicated to health and wellness(Yoga, Ayurveda, Bach flowers, Thetahealing, Meditation, Vegan space,Reiki, Chi Kung, Thai Chi Chuan,Shiatsu, TuiNA, Organic music,Rebirthing, Holistic therapies, PosturalIntegration, massages, and many

others). Let yourselves transportedinto the magic of the East: India,China, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia,Morocco, Philippines, Vietnam, Tibet,Mongolia, Nepal, Burma, Korea,Malaysia, Cambodia.

Organization OverviewSUPERKOMBAT® is a martial arts

championship with fights at variousweight divisions and also includes anelimination tournament for theheavyweight division. All the eventsare based on fights at stand-up rulesbetween fighters from all around theworld, coming from different fightdisciplines as boxing, kickboxing,mixed martial arts, judo, karate, muaythai, and wrestling.The difference fromother similar concepts is thatSUPERKOMBAT® focuses on themainstream promotion and createsvarious stories in touch with the localmedia around the world, thus creatinga global synergy with the generalpublic. In its events,SUPERKOMBAT® uses fighters fromall around the world. In the last twoyears the specialized martial artsmedia has begun to considerSUPERKOMBAT® to be the Europeanfighting championship leader onstand-up rules broadcastedworldwide due to its 6 live events andanother 6 events in replay.SUPERKOMBAT® is covered in morethen 70 countries from 5 continents.

News

http://www.davidbuisan.es/

Korea

Sib Pal Ki is a Korean style of combat with a lot of popularity these days in its country oforigin. It incorporates a great number of techniques, the use of all kinds of weapons,spears, knives, etc., and it came seem very much like Chinese Kung Fu at first glance.However, it has its own personality and idiosyncrasies. Despite the difficulty of its practice,its success during the past years seems to be tied up with the search for new horizonsamong the students of Taekwondo. What do they look for in Sib Pal Ki? Undoubtedly, astyle that comes more from their martial origins, a style that leaves competition aside,that centers around martial work. Perhaps, too, and why not say so, because of thatesotericism, that mystery and beauty that is always involved in the handling of weapons.It is in the cities of Taegu and Seoul where one finds the principle concentrations of Sib

Pal Ki practitioners. There are many demonstrations and exhibitions throughout Korea topromote this Martial Art and in each one of them, the color and force of its formscaptivates the young ones and convinces a new generation of young parents coming from atime where tradition has stopped being a hindrance to get over, rather it has become ahighly efficient educational resource to recover. The Korean society is already quitecompetitive and the traditional values are now being considered with another perspective.Beautiful in its fluidity and the richness of its movements, Sib Pal Ki immediately seducesthe neophyte spectator but it also interests the expert. Today, we want to bring you anarticle that allows you to get to know this style and we have asked Master Bok Kyu Choi,one of the most outstanding practitioners of this traditional Art and one who teaches it atthe University of Korea. He has done an instructional video for us, always in our line ofgiving to those who want it the opportunity to go beyond the photographs and the texts,going deeper into traditions and knowledge that in any other another way would remainvery difficult for students to access.

Text: Jose M. PujadasPhotos: Bok Kyu Choi

© Budo International Publ. Co.

Traditional

orea, due to its geographical situation nearJapan, and sharing a border with China, hasalways found itself exposed to the possibilityof a Japanese invasion. Other countries, likeChina itself, feared that if Japan invaded Koreain its eagerness for power, they could continue

conquering other countries, and perhaps even theirs.For that reason, the relations between China and Korea

were very close, to the point of Korean and Chinesemilitary personnel exchanging fighting experiences. One

of these techniques was that of Kung Fu. It was thisadaptation of Kung Fu to Korean military techniques thatgave rise to Kung Fu Sib Pal Ki. The influence of JapaneseMartial Arts are also reflected in Sib Pal Ki, given that aftercenturies of continuous and hard confrontations with thatcountry, the contribution of some techniques from theopposite side comes naturally.

Officially, Sib Pal Ki came to be known in the history ofKorea in the year 1759, when Korea was divided into threeregions (GO-GU LEON, PEK-JE, and SIL-LA). The threetogether formed the nation SAM-GUK.

A soldier was the creator and advocator of SIB PAL KIas a result of his exchanges with Chinese Kung Fumasters. His name was SHADO CHE CHAN, known asGO CHO.

The first step he took was to write a bookrecompiling 11 weapons:

- (NANGSUN): a 6 meter sword- (KICHANG): spear with flag- (WEAGEUM): double-edged sword- (SSANGSUDO): sword- (BONKUKGEUM): traditional Korean sword- (JUKJANGCHANG): - (JEDOKGUM):- (GYOJEUN): single-edged sword- (SSANGGEUM): double sword- (BONG): staff- (KWENBEUP): empty hand- (YEADO): sword used with two hands- (WEULDO): halberd- (DEUNGPEA): sword and shield- (JANGCHANG): spear- (DANGPA): trident- (HYEUPDO): edge of the sable in the form of spear

(similar to the halberd)

K

Traditional

- (PYEUNKNON): long staff withchain extension

It also includes movements withoutweapons of defense and attack witharms and legs, 112 all together. Hegave it the name of MUYE SIM BO,“Book of Weapons”. A few yearsafter, he completed his legacy writinganother book with 6 more weaponswith the title GUAM BO. Joining themtogether in one book, he gave it thetitle MUE SIB PAL KI BAN, where thestyle of KUNG FU SIB PAL KI comesfrom, which, translated, means, 18techniques, 17 with weapons and oneof empty hands, referring to the twobooks written by GO CHO. Thissystem was only known by thesoldiers of GO CHO who guarded theroyal palace, but little by little the waywas opened, fruit of the contact thesoldiers had with the local people.The time of the style’s maximumpopularity was during the reins ofYONG CHO and CHUN CHO, beingconverted by both into the official artof the royal army.

As the centuries went on, this, anexclusive art of the warrior class,ended, or shall we say it was“demilitarised” until it reached the

model practiced today. Even so, theGrand Master Kim Kwang Suk,president of the internationalfederation of Sib Pal Ki and themaximum representative of the style,continues teaching the knowledge ofSib Pal Ki in its purest warrior essence.

Sib Pal Ki, being a Martial Art withsome 10,000 practitioners around theworld (especially in countries likeSpain, Argentina, Brazil, Saudi Arabia,England, and, of course, Korea), hasremained a relatively unknown MartialArt to the majority of the public andwith a high degree of secretiveness.Thanks to the decision of GrandMaster Kim Kwang Suk, Master ChoyBok Kyu has visited the studios atBudo International to record aninstructional video. In this way, SibPal Ki, from the hands of this GrandMaster of the style, opens its warriortechniques to all those interested inreceiving the purest Korean martialtradition.

One of its pioneers in the West isMaster Sung Seol, who has beenteaching his knowledge of Sib Pal Kifor twenty years. Master Sung Seol,one of the first students of GrandMaster Kim Kwang Suk, is theEuropean representative of Sib Pal Ki

and holder of the maximum gradeconferred on one in the style. Hislevel as a Martial Artist can only becompared to the quality of hisperson. For Master Seol, “Kung Fu islife itself”. After years of studying withMaster Seol, one understands thisaffirmation; and one really noticesthat Sung Seol is a Master of KungFu and a Master of l i fe. Hisparticipation has been essential forthe continual progress of this projectof opening up.

These Grand Masters of the style,as much in their schools as in those oftheir students, teach their students totraditional moral code of the MartialArtist that teaches one to never usewhat is learned negatively. As in all thetraditional Oriental forms, there is nosportive orientation in the study. Thementality facing a combat situation isnot that of a simple combatantconfronting a dilemma of winning orlosing. It is the true warrior mentalitythat is taught, just like in ancient times,and life and death are what is at stake.From the first moment in which oneenters into combat to “live or die”instead of “win or lose” the genuinewarrior has already placed himselfabove his adversary.

inally, after a major globalexpansion, it has beenrecently created theInternational Bugei Society,headquartered in Spain, aregulating body for all the

Bugei Societies of each area, ensuring theconsistency of teaching and learningquality for students, regardless of countryto which they belong.

The extensive Bugei syllabus, covering77 subjects devoted to both physical andmental/spiritual planes, makes itnecessary a suitable supervision so thatquality in teaching and learning becomesthe primary factor in every school. Beingan art of a mil itary character, Bugeipursues through its subjects helpinghuman beings to improve their physical(body) and mental (spiritual) development.In each field, Bugei strives for teaching theindividual to cultivate values such ashonesty, compassion, altruism, and moralrectitude.

The spread of this philosophy in thewider community is of an extremeimportance for the building of a fair andjust society. The efforts of the InternationalBugei Society to achieve this goal takeshape through the provision of servicesranging from the promotion of coursesand lectures to the collaboration onprojects from other organizations that arein line with the philosophy of Bugei.

The explanation for such an extensivesyllabus is given through its own structure.The 18 disciplines of the Bugei Juhappaninspired their own introduction in thesystem on depending of cultural aspects,deepening into intellectual knowledge,since Ogawa Sensei dreamed of buildinga kind of a "university" that could teachtraditional Japanese culture as a whole,with a lot of theoretical courses, such asphilosophy, meditation, Ki studies,painting, theater, tea, etc. In addition,having a religious bond that continues tothis day, known as E-bunto, many of thesetopics belong to that culture, as aremythology, prayers andtraditional songs,which, inevitably,

enlarge the number of subjects to bestudied.

Therefore, it can be easily understoodthat in order to expand and improve thestudy of the ancient arts, many disciplineswere added throughout time, and, which ismore, some of them even reached theirexcellence in Brazil, through our lineage.Much has been invested along this time incourses and seminars with professors ofthe respective matters, expressly arrivedfrom Japan, for this project to render itsfruits. That work has led us to a meticulouscare in order to keep these arts.

Therefore, the IBS is the highestorganism regulating schools and teachersof the Kaze no Ryu Bugei in the world,with the aim of normalizing and verifyingthe didactics and teaching methodologyadopted by these. It's the IBS's purposeto not only validate the educationalactivities and methods applied in the Kazeno Ryu Bugei schools worldwide, but alsoto promote and authorize the formation ofschools and teachers; to standardize andupdate its curriculum; to hold trainingcourses for teachers and instructors; topromote conventions, chats withprofessionals from various fields that cancontribute to the enrich the culturalbackground (whether medical,philosophical or martial), seminars,perfecting courses and study tours; todirect and regularly evaluate schools,teachers and students; to set up a court ofexamination to carry out graduation testsand issue Diplomas, Certificates andIdentification Cards to Affiliates.

Written materials are developed,adapted and reviewed by qualif iedteachers of the respectivedisciplines, who, throughmeetings and detailedanalysis, strive to offerBugei students adidactic material atthe same timei n t e l l i g i b l e ,comprehensibleand perfectly

framed in the pattern quality of themethodology of the Institution. The sameapplies to didactic video materials or othertypes of media, always looking for thebest technology to facilitate the studentsunderstanding.

The IBS will centralize the process ofpreparation for higher rankings, and willhold the power to issue internationalcertificates, and will organize specialtraining courses for teachers and trainers,as well as Intensive TechnicalImprovement Courses and InternationalMeetings. The board of directors of thedepartments of Culture and Tradition, andof Military Arts, will take care of theirrespective areas, activating the agenda ofConferences and Events and personalizingthe attention to students who choosespecific studies.

Another major aspect in IBS will be theintegration between coordinators andpresidents of the other societies, tofacilitate communication and friendshipand fellowship bonds among the leadersof each region - primary factor for theinner harmony of schools andorganizations.

According to the management,everyone who has ever been part of any ofthe schools will be able to contact theInstitution and find out about thenecessary documentation, such asspecific courses, improvements and otheractivities. This measure seeks to ensurethe correctness and reliabil ity in theactivities of all Bugei Societies in eacharea.

With the creation of the High School ofthe Kaze no Ryu Ogawa Ha, we areheading toward the academic formation

recognized by Europeangovernments. New materials are

in production, withincreasingly professional andavant-guard systems, sothat teaching can be asdeep and concrete aspossible.

News: Foundation of the International Society of Bugei

F

http://www.knifefightsystem.com/en/

About knife fighting

Holland, home to about 16.8 millionpeople, is a relatively small country.The Philippines are about seven times

as large. There are approximately103 million people living in The

Philippines. This year 2013 therewere 400 stabbings in Holland,4,094 robberies, 421 shootingsand in 905 cases, otherweapons were used. In 2013there were, 4,892 violentassaults in the Netherlandsand the year is not over yet.In comparison, ThePhilippines recorded34,825 violent incidentsthis year. Additionally,there were 26,988registered robberies.What do these figuresmean? I think it is this:Holland does notappear to be saferthan the Philippines.Maybe ThePhilippines are evensafer than Holland.According to thes t a t i s t i c s ,robberies andviolent crimes inthe Philippinesare relativelyrare. Important isthis; in thewestern world,violence ise v e r y d a ypractice andoften a varietyof weapons areused. In manycase knives areinvolved. And asyou may know,

the knife is ane x t r e m e l y

violent and

dangerous weapon, easy to carry, easyto conceal, quick to use and cheap tobuy. Its use often leads to seriousinjuries. You have the right to self-defence but you have to know how.Knife fighting is dirty and real streetfighters know the dirty tricks.Moreover, these criminals apparentlyare not afraid to use a knife.

AwarenessI grew up in one of the poorest

neighbourhoods of Utrecht. Utrecht isone of the larger cities of Holland.Violence was and still is a commonoccurrence. In the neighbourhoodwhere I grew up, street culture ruled.Many young people carried weapons.Brass knuckles, bicycle chains, knivesof all shapes and sizes. This afternoon(when writing this column) there was asevere stabbing incident in theneighbourhood where I grew up, anambulance had to come.

AggressionMy youth greatly affected the way I

look at violence. Street violence is avery direct form of violence and canhappen to anyone. Even without aclearly identifiable reason, you can bea victim of robberies, getting intofights, or worse: be injured. The streetculture is in my genes. I remember myfather took me to the gypsies andlistened to their stories. You can't foolthese guys. They are not afraid to useextreme violence. They could end upin jail but they couldn't care less.

They showed me the dirty streettricks of street fighting, how they useda knife. I remember an old man with ahat who entrusted my father in asomewhat mysterious way: "Do youknow Frans (my father has the samename as I have), how we foughtbefore? He struggled to his feet out ofhis rocking chair, and suddenlygrabbed his hat from his head andpushed the hat in the face of my father.At the same time he pushed his stilettoagainst my father's belly. The old manturned out to be pretty fast. His age didnot seem to matter. This incident madea deep impression on me, since I wasonly a little boy. Later my father toldme that the old gypsy lived half of hislife behind bars. This kind of streettricks, I incorporated into my style .

Complete fighterEvery Martial Artist who wants to

become a complete fighter shouldlearn to master the knife, only whenyou know how to handle a knife willyou be able to defend against a knife.Knife fighting is an indispensablefactor in realistic self-defence. In knifefighting you create a mind-set thatyou cannot develop in unarmedcombat. Only one error with a knifecan have fatal consequences.Mentally and psychologically the knifefight is important. Blood will flowduring the fight. This can also be yourown blood and you wil l have toaccept that.

PhilippinesOn one of my trips to the

Phil ippines, a bodyguardaccompanied me. They advised me tonot travel alone to the moredangerous parts of Cebu. Thebodyguard didn't fit the image of abodyguard. We barely spoke. Until, ofcourse, we came to talk aboutEskrima

“Every Martial Artist who wants to become a completefighter should learn to master the knife, only when youknow how to handle a knife will you be able to defend

against a knife”

“ In knife fightingyou create a

mind-set that youcannot develop inunarmed combat”

http://www.knifefightsystem.com/en/

And knifefighting. The

man was armedwith a pistol and

housed a knife in his legholster. He told me that heused a gun for long distancecombat and for shortdistances a knife. But withknife he only defendedhimself, he told me. For methis was an interestingcomment because in realityeverything you do with theknife is actually an attack. SoI asked him why he did notuse his knife to attack. Hisanswer was simple: “if theopponent attacks withpunches or kicks, I'll use myknife”, he said. He continued explaining: “I donot attack because the chance of beingdisarmed is much greater”. It is true thatchances to be disarmed when your arm isstretched are increasing and you are also lesslikely to be able to place multiplecounterattacks. In my style we are trying totempt the opponent to stretch his arm. Thenwe counter with a stab to the abdomen at thetime of the attack, in 9 out of 10 cases youropponent's head automatically goes down.The next attack is to the head. Of coursedisarmament is not always possible andnecessary. A sting to the eyes or a kick tothe groin can do the job as well.

I immediately think of the words of agrandmaster in the Philippines, he spoke:

Run! ! Hide! ! Or FLY! !These words, told to me by a

grandmaster in the Philippines are in myway of thinking incorrect. In my opinion itshould be: 'run! ! hide or fight'. To avoid aknife fight is of course is the best way toact because you could end up woundedor will not survive at all. Moreover, I amassuming that you do not go looking for aknife fight. Most people fortunately wearno weapons. But if you have no choiceonly one road remains open. Fight for yourlife and use every weapon that is available.This way of thinking suits a goodEskrimador. An Eskrima fighter does not

need to learn differentweapons as they arealready well trained inthe use of a stick andknife, and thetechniques theymastered are suitable foruse of differentweapons. Through theunderstanding andmastering of Eskrimaprinciples, you are ableto use any weapon:chair, ashtray, belt,paper, pen, bottle, table,book or even a hat.Basically it means youcan use anything to youdisposal. Reallyeverything is available.

In my style, it means that if you do not have aknife or you lose it during the fight then you goon to Pangamot (Total Fight).

Everything is permitted andonly one thing is key: Survival! !

Knife fighting in WKFSMy style is built on more than 30 years' of

experience. I am still working to perfect itbecause you never stop learning. Defence isnot an option in my style. Defence is attack andattack is defence. Short actions associatedwith aggressive energy, functional footwork,realistic drills and using the blind spot of theopponent and obviously a right mind-set, canmake a good knife fighter.

ImportantI promote knife fighting in a positive way and

hope that my students do so as well. I refuse toteach people with bad intentions anddisapprove if people carry knives on the streets.

I want you to know that taking a life is easybut giving a life back is impossible.

Do you want to learn my way knife fighting?Feel welcome in my world, the world ofEskrima!

Sekan@ziggo.nlwww.knifefightsytem.com

“Defence is not an option in my style. Defenceis attack and attack is defence. Short actionsassociated with aggressive energy, functionalfootwork, realistic drills and using the blind

spot of the opponent and obviously a rightmind-set, can make a good knife fighter”

“I promote knifefighting in a positiveway and hope thatmy students do soas well. I refuse toteach people withbad intentions anddisapprove if peoplecarry knives on the

streets”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvOnDBiLC2A&list=PLOkN7ganDeclwr8SZNwB4IImM9aJMVeUH&index=1

Crane The crane's techniques train the tendons, ligaments and

promote flexibility. Its techniques are based on thephilosophy of the element wood. The crane avoids itsopponent's attacks, as opposed to the tiger. Furthermore,it avails its opponent's force for its own attacks, which areselective. The large wings enable the crane to block andknock at the same time. It is as flexible as a tree in thewind.

The techniques of the crane style are said to havebelonged to the traditional fighting styles of the legendarySouthern Shaolin Kung Fu for a very long time. At leastthat is what has been bequeathed. According to thelegend, the crane style was one part of the basic trainingsin the monastery. Each student had to learn the five styles,otherwise the basic training did not count as completed.Only then, a student could possibly devote himself tospecialize in a certain style. The classic 5 animals were thesame as in today's Hung Gar Kung Fu; tiger, crane, snake,leopard and dragon.

Fong Wing ChunThe name's similarity with the well-known Kung Fu style

Wing Chun is no accident. Fong Wing Chun was the nieceof Fong Sai Yuk, whose name is certainly well recognizedby Eastern Movie fans, as several movies have beenproduced in which Fong Sai Yuk is either mentioned oreven the main character himself. Fong Sai Yuk was afellow Kung Fu brother of Hung Hee Gung, the namesakeof the Shaolin Hung Gar Kung Fu. Fong Sai Yuk used toteach Kung Fu to his niece Fong Wing Chun. The traditionpassed on in an anecdote, which I would like to recap:

The young Wing Chun was just about to sow seeds. Awhite crane saw this and started to pick the sown seedsout of the earth with his beak. Wing Chun spotted him

doing so and tried to chase the crane away with a longstick. However, all her attempts were in vain. The craneavoided Wing Chun's blows skillfully. No matter how hardshe stabbed, she did not manage to chase the crane awayor even strike him at all. The Chinese declare that thecrane was a god, who revealed Wing Chun the principlesof her Kung Fu that way. However, this incident wassignificantly conducive to Wing Chun's understanding ofhow her Kung Fu works. She shared her newly acquiredknowledge with her husband, Hung Hee Gung. Thus heenhanced his own crane Kung Fu.

“Faht Ging” of the Crane Kung FuNow, I am going to describe the 4 powers of the crane

(Ging). It may seem abstract to read in a text about this,therefore it is certainly advisable to let an experiencedmaster guide and teach you these principles.

1. “Jung Hok Ging” Basic GingThe easiest way to describe the nature of the power

“Ging” is to compare it with the shaking of a wet dog.

2. Vocal SoundIn combination with the right sound, the Qi is being

transmitted to the right place in the body. The crane savesits Qi. It opens and closes its wings and awaits itsopponent's next attack to avail his force instead.

3. “Sik Hok Ging” eating GingThe breathing technique is brief and fast. Calm, fast,

courageous, safe and solid are the associatedcharacteristics. In this context, it is possible that the “MoDap But Sun Toi” (Boxing Sutra) is being put into action.

4. “Fei Hok Ging” flying craneWithin this power, the Hung Gar student finds the entire

wing techniques of the crane style.

Shaolin Hun Gar Kung Fu

The Crane Techniques in Shaolin Hung Gar Kung Fu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXPg3gie-QU

Kung Fu

Applications

s we dig deeper into thestudy of Kyusho, not only inmodern adaptation andscience, but in the ancientways and writ ings, weconclusively keep coming tothe same conclusion.

We took the old idea out of myth andlegend and brought it to life. No longer dowe see these old referrals to this obscurebody of knowledge from the movies, oldtexts and stories passed done as acontinuing myth but as stark reality.

Our studies are still moving towardfuture f indings as we are current lyreading the brainwaves with 3dimensional mapping technologies. Weare still adapting actual human testing toincrease our ability to dysfunction andrestore with deeper neurological andanatomical understanding. We are stillforging i t into al l sty les on aninternational basis to prove and validateit's real worth to all martial artists, but wealso continue to dig deeper into historyto unearth the origins and the manner inwhich Kyusho developed.

Throughout history there has been fewamong millions that have stood out fromthe rest in thei r p ioneer ing andincredible skil ls. Most thought theysimply started a new method, style orprocess by which they attained suchgreat skills, but at the core of so manyof them is the undeniable truth that theyknew Kyusho. It is in their writings, theirquotes and stories; it is in their actionsand “funny” ways they move as “OldMen”, thought by most to be just thataging process. Ueshiba stated “Atemi is80% of Aikido”, Funakoshi wrote aboutit in one of his books as have numerousothers. In 1921, Choki Motobu wasliving in Osaka at about fifty-two yearsof age, he defeated a Russianprofessional prize-boxer by the nameJohn Kentelu in a open-to-all fightingcompetition at the Okinawa Butokuden,which made him the most famous fighterin Japan. The foreign boxer was six feettall and nobody dared to challenge him.Motobu knocked him down with onestrike to his temple and it happened sofast that no one real ly knew how i thappened. There are many more ofthese Kyusho practit ioners, but ourfocus for this writing is Seiko Fujita.

From Wikipedia:Seiko Fujita (1898 - 4 January 1966),

born Isamu Fujita, was a Japanese martialartist who was 14th Headmaster or Sokeof Köga-ryö Ninjutsu and considered bysome to be the last true ninja.

Isamu Fujita was born in Tokyo, andstudied Köga-ryö Wada Ha (Köga-ryöNinjutsu) with his grandfather FujitaShintazaemon, 13th Soke of the Köga-ryö.He studied at Waseda and Meij iUniversities, and after leaving school,worked at a newspaper company. Hewent on to study several other martial artsand was also noted as an author,

researcher and collector ofancient scrolls. According to somereferences, "opinions are divided ifhe was a real ninja or a mere budöresearcher."

During World War II, Fujitataught Nanban Sattö-ryö Kenpö inthe Army Academy of Nakano(Rikugun Nakano Gakkö). Fujitalater worked as a governmentsecurity specialist, and continuedthe tradition of teaching Köga-ryöWada Ha style, among othermartial arts. Notable studentsinclude Motokatsu Inoue, MabuniKenwa, Fujitani Masatoshi, actorTomisaburo Wakayama andManzo Iwata, who became heir tosome of his styles. Fujita left noheir for Köga-ryö Wada Ha.

Fujita Seiko published ZukaiTorinawajutsu showing hundredsof Hojöjutsu t ies from manydifferent schools, and severalother texts on ninjutsu andmartial arts. He died of cirrhosisof the liver at about the age of 68and l ikely suffered fromhereditary angioedema (whichcan preclude the practice ofmartial arts, although Fujita mayhave demonstrated the abi l i ty toovercome some disease symptoms).His collection, the Fujita Seiko Bunko,is housed at Iga-Ueno Museum,Odawara Castle.

A b i t more h is tor ica l researchshows, Seiko Fujita was a well-knownMart ia l Ar t is t in the t imes beforeWor ld War 2 . He a lso had aconnection to another legend in thear ts , Kenwa Mabuni . One ofMabuni's students, Manzo Iwata, wasalso a student of Fujita. Seiko Fujitaalso had a fr iendship with GhiodaGonzo, the son of Ueshiba as well asKonishi Yasuhiro and Taira Shinkenand many others. There are somedark parts in his Life, where not muchwas documented or known, one thingthat was known is that he was aninstructor of the Nagano-school andas he was in Burma during 1941 forsecret operations (only 14 men evercame back fromthose operations).Inoue Motokatsu was one of themand was the one who obtained themenkyo ka ide (Menkyo ka iden( ñ ∆ ã ñ ä F ì ` ? ) ,(ÇflÇÒÇ´ÇÂÇ©Ç¢Ç≈ÇÒ) is aJapanese term meaning "licenseof to ta l t ransmiss ion." I t i s alicense that is used by a school,koryö meaning that the studenthas learned everything and passon all aspects of his/her trainingwithin the Koryö). In the menkyosystem of licenses, the menkyoka iden is the h ighest leve l o fl icense that ex is ts under themenkyo system. Advancement oflicense is not determined by yearsspent learning, but how well onemasters the discipline. However,

A

the transition from menkyo to kaiden required usually atleast thirty years of specif ic experience. A holder ofmenkyo kaiden is often, but not always, the de factosuccessor to the Söke of the Koryö). Manzo Iwatareceived this Menkyo Kaiden from Fujita. There is notmuch more information about these two men.

Fujita although a great legend in the Martial Arts, wasmore of an obscure individual and most of what waswritten about him is very controversial. It is not the intenthere to debate or discuss the lineage or career of this man,but to look at his literary achievement; “The secret ofmartial arts” THE MANUAL OF "ATEMI" KILLING ANDREVIVING STYLE” and its relevance to the art / science ofKyusho.

Much has been written in modern times about thisinformation and in some cases not presented correctly. Manyhave mistakenly chosen to use Traditional Chinese Medicalterms and theories even though we have shown this to be afalse paradigm. But as it still persists, this article will be ashort expose of an old manual of the art as practiced decadesago by this man.

Just like the ancient “Bubishi” and Hohan Sokens (reputed)“Secret Notes”, the Kyusho is broken down into very westernmedical terms, depicting the target structures and theconsequences of attacking them. Here is an actual page withtranslation from the text:

“This book shows the right places of most effective vitalorgan parts in anatomical diagrams , which based on theresult of a long-term human body anatomical research for thesecrets of kil l ing and reviving way inherited by eachtraditional style's.

And this book also shows the effective way of hittingfor those places and the reasons of suspendedanimation and faint from the medical view.

Therefore, if you learn the places of vital organpoints and the effective way of hitting them, youwill obtain the way of knocking down enemies withone stroke or reviving them of your own will”.

The head of Japanese martial arts research instituteFujita Seiko

And take this drawing fromFujita, with text translated:

These were not statements of conjecture, butrather actual observations from the field of battle andactual experience in the life and death struggle. This isnot the paradigm Traditional Chinese Medicalapplication or theory being explained as so many“Kyusho Instructors” relate, this was real anatomy, realaffect and real observation. This is not a comment onTCM for healing in Acupuncture, Shiatsu, Tui Na, etc., butrather to say that it is NOT Kyusho. Even the term Kyusho (AB ) is depicted in Kanji many times throughout the book:

These were men of the battlefield where life and deathhinged on their knowledge and developed skills. Theyneeded tried and true methods of incapacitation and to beblunt ways to quickly kill their opponents so they would notneed to fight them again. Nobody knows what they did inBurma (and if you know a bit about Japanese history,everything is possible even tests with Prisoners of war).Involvement in such things during wartimes, few evertalked about.

We need to realize that there used to be a moreprofound knowledge of the body and functionality thanwas passed down once Martial Arts became a sport andor business. And we are striving to get back to thatsimplicity and experiential information that were thefoundation of the older Martial Arts. These importantbooks and notes from the old masters that are surfacingare testament to this past knowledge, it is time weembrace the reality of it and work to find how it fits intothe styles we do.

WING CHUN GUNWING CHUN GUNWING CHUN GUNWING CHUN GUNGGGG FUFUFUFU::::

The Explosive Art of Close Range CombatThe Explosive Art of Close Range CombatThe Explosive Art of Close Range CombatThe Explosive Art of Close Range Combat

Sifu Randy Williams’ extensive collection of books

on Wing Chun in 6 volumes, the series contains the

history of Wing Chun, the theory and description

of all Wing Chun forms in detail, Volume 6 is

focused on instructing the system and provides

additional information about Wing Chun Combat

Theory from A to Z! This great work, originally

written in 1988 and newly revised and updated is a

must for the library of any serious student of the

art.

You can order the entire series as a set of 6 books,

or by individual volume, and the new DVDs can

also be ordered individually or in sets directly from

us through our website:

www.shop.crca.de

One Volume € 49,90

SingleWeapon DVD € 39,90

Biu Jitsu DVD € 25,90

DVD Set (all 5) € 149,90

The shipping & handling costs are not included for more

information please contact us:

Copyright © 1989 CRCA Enterprises

Publisher CRCA-Lopez / Mario Lopez,

Atroper Str. 56, 47226 Duisburg, Germany

E-Mail: info@crca.de

Five brand new Wing Chun DVDs

1 DVD: “Bot” Jom Doh Basics

Complete “Bot” Jom Doh Form, 108 Motions,

Historical Information about the Wing Chun

Broadswords, Detailed Knife Blocking and

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Footwork, Details of the footwork orientation

of the form, One-man “Bot” Jom Doh Drills

2 DVD set: “Bot” Jom Doh, Applications,

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Jom Doh form, Knife vs. Knife, Knife vs.

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Groundfighting drills and techniques.

2 DVD set: “Look Deem Boon” Gwun

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Content: Pole Details, Pole Drills, Pole

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“Look Deem Boon” Gwun

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Heavybag Drills, Dummy Drills, Two Man

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http://www.mauricepromartialarts.com