Martial Arts Magazine Budo International 321 October 1 fortnight – 2016 by Budo International Martial Arts Magazine

REF.: â&#x20AC;˘ DVD/TOYAMA-2

This DVD is the result promoted by the Spanish subsidiary of the Zen Nihon Toyama-Ryu Iaido Renmei (ZNTIR - Spain Branch), to publicize the technical content of the ToyamaRyu style as practiced in the ZNTIR Honbu Dojo in Machida, Tokyo, unchanged, with no alterations. The loyalty of the program is such that is its president and maximum technical manager, Yoshitoki Hataya Sensei, who, accompanied by some members, executes personally the entire compendium of the current style program. In him you can find the basic structure of the methodology that is applied, from the coded exercises of warming up and preparation and through the cutting exercises; the guards; the school Katas, including those corresponding to the Toyama Army Academy, the Gunto Soho and its explanation; work in pairs, both in Kumitachi and Gekken Kumitachi, and the cornerstone on which the Toyama-Ryu is based, i.e., Tameshigiri or cutting exercises on a real target. Zen Nihon Toyama-Ryu IaiDo Renmei (ZNTIR) is the body that currently - once reviewed and adapted the concepts and methodology of a school that comes from a method of actual combat intends to maintain alive this tradition and the original forms through a system that unifies body, mind and spirit in a realistic and effective way. Thanks to the commitment of a few graduates of the Toyama Army Academy (Rikugun Toyama Gakko), who continued secretly keeping alive the art until the lifting of the bans and the return of sovereignty to the Japanese people, today can learn a fencing style framed among the current schools of Iai-Do. This is a meticulous DVD in different languages, which proves to be a valuable source for researchers and practitioners of Japanese sword, and for martial artists in general or interested in the history of Japan and its last world war. It's a real stroke of luck being able to observe the techniques it contains, and at least for serious researchers, is well worth having it in your video library. We practitioners of the style want to share loyally the knowledge of our Japanese fencing school, in the hope that at the same time, the own inter nal values of those armed men impregnate the new generations and allow to glimpse a revulsive, in a traditionally way very different from the current approach to combat disciplines of Japanese origin. All DVDs, wichi is produced by Budo International, si provided and alone in the formats DVD-5 or MPEG-2, in VCD, DivX or the like is however neves offered with a special holograma sticker. Besides our DVD is characteristed coverings by the hig quality in pressure and material. If this DVD and/or the DVD covering do not corespond to the requirements specified above, it concerns illegal pirat copy.

ORDERS: Budo international.com

"First, this is a world of energy, and then a world of objects. If we do not start with the premise that it's a world of energy, we will never be able to perceive the energy directly." Carlos Castaneda

he fact that things are hidden from view doesn't mean they are invisible. Even what is invisible to the eye, it will not necessarily be so by other means. But the blindest person is the one who refuses to see. From childhood we are conditioned by the consensus of the environment and the people who educate us, to accept a Universe of realities which is coherent in its own premises. It is therefore natural that we learn to simply refuse to consider anything out of them. In extreme cases, when people are very sensitive to the invisible, this denial generates such maladjustment contradictions that the individual, prisoner in a bipolar sea, feels completely unable to move in a coherent way between both worlds: the one of personal feelings of the invisible, and the one of the rocky coherence of the group consensus; so it's not unusual that the person ends up committed to an insane asylum with a mental breakdown, or "stuffed with pills", completely baffled and at the limit of stupefaction. The perception of the invisible is not impossible, and I no longer speak of the subjective, which can always be the cause of controversy, but the confirmation parting from tools capable of objectifying the decoding of energies and tensions, as if you were using a manometer or pressure gauge to measure the blood pressure, or better yet, a Geiger counter to recognize the invisible presence of radiation. Reality is a preconditioned description, passed throughout the filter of the senses and the sieve of the group preconceptions. Dealing with the invisible requires a leap in the void or what is the same, an initiation into some sort of paradigm so contrary to ours, that it generates a rupture in our description of the world. That same break up is the door that opens up the possibility of a consciousness jump, big enough as to open ourselves to the unthinkable, but for that it's necessary to close that distance with a new frame of references that accepts, beyond ambivalence, a new conception of the Universe and of life. For not continuing to skate in the subjective, consciousness paradigms shouldn't be based exclusively on faith, because we have all been educated in reason. Otherwise there will be a substitution (religion versus reason) or, in the best case, a bipolar cohabitation, stretching ourselves like chewing gum to the limit of what is acceptable for the most elementary of consistencies, and without it, there is not, nor there will ever be real power in such positioning. Cohesion is so indispensable to confront the winds of the life, like it's sobriety to confront the infinite.

"No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it." Albert Einstein. "I don't think that consciousness is generated by the brain. I think the brain is a receiver of consciousness." Graham Hancock.

The advantage I have found in the study of e-bunto, the science of Shizen shamans, is that it deals precisely with this point, that is, the ability to interact with the invisible through tools and findings perfectly objective in a "science" of the invisible, but necessarily disturbing for our consensus. Probably the most striking thing in this trip was to meet up along the path with companions a priori absurd and improper of such an ancient route. Chemists, engineers, quantum physicists, find excitingly stimulating and consistent the principles and formulations of the Miryoku, the Shizen shamans. The way in which those men, without the tools of modern science, managed to reach such knowledge empirically is a question that cannot be answered here. That requires diving into their world, and that's what it means to be initiated. Carlos Castaneda had to go through a thousand calamities to deconstruct his rocky consciousness universe and start to lean out to the vision of the ancient Toltec shamans. The description of the process during that interim resulted in some of the most influential books in the thinking of the twentieth century. I, like him, a student of anthropology, I lean out to the encounter between worlds so far apart, with the certainty that there is a bridge between the two, but it will always be something internal and individual, an acrobatics of consciousness that requires a colossal, cyclopean inner jump, and as he, I see that there is very little energy available in the individuals to carry it out. But nothing is completely impossible, especially when the force that pushes its achievement is the need ... and there is much. In general, modern man has lost every connection with his inner self, denied its existence or transferred it exclusively to an organ, the brain. Confusing the machine with the driver, he has become entrenched in the search for it. But science itself, on its last frontier, continues opening doors toward the breaking of paradigms commonly accepted in our daily lives. We are able to explore its applications (it won't be too long before quantic computers start to be sold in stores) but it's unable to bear the consequences that such knowledge create in our description of the everyday. We know that time and space are permeable dimensions, but we don't conceive that we can transcend them, because real magic, the one that plays with the Magnus, the "Greatâ&#x20AC;?, requires that we ourselves become great. When shamans, from the inner strength of their certainty, became fire, air, water or land, they managed to

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We know that time and space are permeable dimensions, but we don't conceive that we can transcend them, because real magic, the one that plays with the Magnus, the "Greatâ&#x20AC;?, requires that we ourselves become great.â&#x20AC;?

shake the Universe transcending the confines of the space-time continuum, because beyond matter, we are conscience, spirit, and we are made of all of what constitutes the Universe. The lesson of the ancients: Moving at will the dial of our being to tune up the necessary bands and touch these frequencies, far from impossible, is something demonstrable. But the science of the occult is a border that can be only trespassed through the transformation of our being, and the first step is to really want to do it, because, believe me, it takes work! A lot of WORK!

WT Universe SALVE, how we say in the WTU (Wing Tsun Universe) :-) This month seems our first DVD in collaboration with Alfredo Tucci and Budo International. We d e c i d e d t o c h o o s e a s t h e content Siu Nim Tao (SNT) or 9 ways. The SNT is the basis of Wing Tsun / Wing Chun and the WTU Wing Tsun. The understanding of it is the basic condition for everything that comes after. The WTU Movements (forms) inhere functions, from which one can derive applications. The primary meaning deer Movements Although a Other, but derived applications due to the principles and interactions help to greater understanding. In the WTU we intr oduced an extra set because I consider that to be necessary, due to the present circumstances. Furthermore, we are in this video also our first partner Movement (Chi Sao) show. We thank Alfredo Tucci for this possibility.

WT Universe

â&#x20AC;&#x17E;People who inspire usâ&#x20AC;&#x153;: G. I. Gurdjieff and Wing Tsun In this one, and the upcoming articles we are going to introduce to you "People who inspire us", their work, philosophies and ideas. Among those "People who inspire us", you will find G. I. Gurdjieff. Some might ask, how exactly this "Teacher of Wisdom" can be linked with Wing Tsun. Firstly: Of course not all people we list as "inspirational to us", like on our homepage, necessarily correlate with Wing Tsun per se. They are people who, by their teachings and their way to present themselves, have given significant impulse to our lives. One might say, they all have one thing in common: Everyone of them cut his own path, regardless of what has been said about him or her, or what difficulties they encountered by doing so. Everyone had an individual layout of the truth lying behind it all. Neither was an imitator. And some of them, of course, were or still are somewhat contended, as

other people feel the urge to disrespectfully comment on them, often having not even read one of their works or argumentations, or parroting what they have heard elsewhere. We should also consider that real teachers often convey an image of themselves, which is likely to frighten off people too conditioned to their way of thinking and daily routine, resulting in something like a necessary preselection. People unable to distinguish between shape and content, simply are not fit to take that path.

Anyway, G. I. Gurdjieff can very well be associated with Wing Tsun. After he started his long journey in the early 20th century, leaving his caucasian home, he went to Moscow, Turkey, Germany and finally settled down in France (Fontainebleau near Paris, where he then was burried) which is also where he established his "Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man" bringing along with him, what we today call Wing Tsun. In Russia, people started practicing his techniques right away, in France he got no further than presenting them to his audience. The time was not yet ripe and he began teaching the "Gurdjeff-Movements" instead. But more on that in later articles. There has been a time in my life I asked myself: "What are those persistent forces in man, that so

â&#x20AC;&#x153;G. I. Gurdjieff can very well be associated with Wing Tsun. After he started his long journey in the early 20th centuryâ&#x20AC;?

strongly resist any possible alteration of consciousness?â&#x20AC;&#x153; During that time I came across the book "In Search of the Miraculous" by P. D. Ouspensky. And it was not an easy one to read. To my surprise the "Miraculous" was described quite objective, and it was just that prosaic style that appealed so strongly to me. In his book, Ouspensky describes the teachings of a caucasian greek, who had drawn some attention to him, because of a newspaper note about a moscow ballet scenario titled "The Struggle of the Magicians". It was in 1915, the First World War was in it's early stages, Ouspensky, journalist and mathematician, having already been to India unsuccessfully searching for the "Miraculous", was skeptical. Hustled by his Friends into meeting the ominous "master", their first encounter completely changed his opinion. The master's name was Gurdjieff. To me, reading "In Search of the Miraculous" was a first enlightenment on a serious path of "Work on Oneself". I realized, having found a key to worlds, so far unknown to me. Entirely new ideas unfolded before me. The objective language of the book certainly contributed to my fascination, as i disapprove of vague and misty concepts of our world, and of pious statements about god, all the world and his brother even more. Ouspensky's book is not a workbook, still it provides concrete hints, like the methods of self-reflection. Self-reflection, is all about becoming aware of one's three main centres (centre of movement, centre of emotion and centre of thinking), eventually aiming to synchronise them. This was an entirely new concept to me, no philosopher, psychologist or secret society known to me have ever spoken about. Gurdjieff called man a being with three minds - at least in theory - for usually they are neither well developed enough nor sufficiently linked. So I started practicing self-reflection, meditation, of the three minds and tried of course to accommodate them with each other. After some time I actually had the "feeling" to awake to my three centres, as Ouspensky described them. I actually considered my practicing improving my ability to link them, like it was pictured in theory as fundamental necessity to a true awakening, or becoming aware of myself. Effectively that "awareness" was just of a notional kind. I had merely intensified the belief of having synchronized them, but fully aware of that I was just in one centre: In the centre of thoughts - and even that, just when I made every endeavour, to "be conscious". So I continued to occupy myself with

WT Universe â&#x20AC;&#x153;Now what should be so traditional about Wing Tsun? Certainly not strict exercises, that different people have developed at different times and in different places, due to their diverse levels of understanding each rather different from others. 'Traditional' at Wing Tsun are it's principles.â&#x20AC;?

Grudjieff and his roots. But more on that later.

The „Tradition“ and the „TRADITION“ Speaking of "tradition" today one has to face depending on the topic the most different kinds of reactions: 1. Tradition often is associated with outdated, backward, old and simply not up-to-date values and opinions. Those themselves are usually just fragments, totally torn out of their initial context and circumstance, fragments which are, although probably no longer fit to go along with our modern behavior and thinking, strongly appealing to some people and by that still being kept up. 2. Tradition, to some people,

can at the same time have another meaning: Doing things just the way they have always been done (which is usually also the way they have learned them to do). Such, is then being seen as "passed down from generation to generation", granting it a certain legitimation, institution and right to exist. 3. "TRADITION" ( intentionally in capitals to strongly distinguish it from the above versions ), refers to an absolute passing on, not in a distinct form, but merely in it's essence - the content. But more on that later. Speaking now of Tradition in matters of Wing Tsun, or of 'traditional Wing Tsun' (and all it's ways of spelling), we wonder what might be meant by that? What is Wing Tsun? It is a series of principles, a human being,

depending on the degree of development of the necessary skills, can produce an effect by. Now what should be so traditional about Wing Tsun? Certainly not strict exercises, that different people have developed at different times and in different places, due to their diverse levels of understanding each rather different from others. 'Traditional' at Wing Tsun are it's principles. In order to let these principles become alive in oneself, it is not a matter of the ways they are taught by, or the kind of tools for teaching that are used to be just well known and familiar to the student so he can easily develop and harmonize necessary skills. Neither it is the question wether someone uses "traditional" tools (like the longstaff or the double knives) or something different he might not be acquainted to (like sword, glaive, waraxe or combatknive, etc). Seeing an exercise, I should be able to know or understand what skills people are currently training by it. So the same tools, handled differently, can seem rather diverging. The point is the principle / the principles, someone is moving by. Whether he or she has got the skills is important to us watching someone perform an exercise, not if he knows the specified programs from diverse schools and forms of the art. Speaking of "TRADITION" when it comes to the WTU, I am referring to something quite special. Just taking into account the aspect of movement and / or instinct in Wing Tsun would be focusing on only one field of work of human existence. The other fields are for the WTU those of "Thinking" and of "Emotion". All three areas are to be harmonized among each other. The sole, intense development of one field might be

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The other fields are for the WTU those of "Thinking" and of "Emotion".

promising quick success and gain in matter and power, but effectively a person or entire society doing that, is out of balance, unsatisfied and not fit so cope with unexpected difficulties. Occupying oneself with "TRADITION" for quite some time, one hears a lot about conditioning. Never genetics or ethnic background have been the point or obstacle when trying to engage something new or complex, "conditioning" on the other hand, always is a great problem. To get a deeper understanding of this, we should name some reference points. Our observation came to 3 basic motives and phases of the situation: â&#x20AC;˘ Firstly, there is Pleasure: Here people tend to learn just very little, although they themselves might have a different opinion on that, since being full of emotions at the time, which in the process turn into something they are consuming, so to speak. In this phase a person simply amuses oneself, even if he or she - depending on how one actually behaves - thinks to be a "good" person. This is based on greed.

WT Universe â&#x20AC;˘ Secondly there is Occupation: Here people try to use material ahead (before they are even ready to grasp and comprehend it effectively). Here it is all about, how much is tried to make use of personally. This is based on impatience and selfishness. â&#x20AC;˘ Thirdly and finally there is Evolvement: Here a person is thus in tune with him- or herself, that the knowledge can actually take effect in oneself and turn active through the individual. The resulting tasks and necessary skills of a teacher are now as follows: 1. Having the required experience to know the aspired destination's coordinates. 2. Having the qualities to evaluate every person and his needs individually. 3. The ability to overlook the leaning progress, and giving necessary hints and instructions to the right time and in the right apportioning. As "TRADITION" we thus understand those qualities needed to render space- and timeless human abilities possible in a specific place and to a certain time. It is about the skills, enabling someone with such knowledge to create and adapt tools useful for the place and the circumstances, so that aspired results and skills can be realized, and in this situations fill the theory, the life of principles with existence.

As "TRADITION" we thus understand those qualities needed to render space- and timeless human abilities possible in a specific place and to a certain time.

WT Universe The future of the WTU (Wing Tsun Universe) As I have said in an interview in the WTU Alhambra recently the WTU is on 16. 9. 2016 5 year old and is entering a new phase of its existence. We consider the WTU as an organism that unfolds in space and time. We also consider the WTU as a confluence of three predecessor TRADITIONS for a new time. The WTU has nothing to do with politics, religion or other collective phenomena. It sees itself as an organization that solely the harmonious development of human potentials and their networking in three areas dedicated: Movement Center: School of the moment Brain Center: Science of Consciousness Feeling Center: path with heart We will publish two books in the near future: Fragments of thought encounter with the unknown (articles of WTU Band 1) and WTU Guide - milestones of WTU Wing Tsun. And so we want to end this column as we started it: SALVE :-).

“We also consider the WTU as a confluence of three predecessor TRADITIONS for a new time.”

WT Universe â&#x20AC;&#x153;Self-reflection, is all about becoming aware of one's three main centres (centre of movement, centre of emotion and centre of thinking), eventually aiming to synchronise themâ&#x20AC;?

WT Universe

WT Universe â&#x20AC;&#x153;Speaking of "TRADITION" when it comes to the WTU, I am referring to something quite special. Just taking into account the aspect of movement and / or instinct in Wing Tsun would be focusing on only one field of work of human existence.â&#x20AC;?

Kali is a very versatile and old system of fighting that includes empty hand as well as weapon training methods. It is a devastating Art unto itself, but when you add the Kyusho you become even more efficient, effective and advanced in disabling an opponent. Kali has always taught what is called "Gunting" for strikes to weaker aspects of the arms, in volume #1 the Kyusho added even greater potential and a perfect starting point for the Kyusho or Kali practitioner. Many arm destruction methods were demonstrated as well as Kyusho Knockouts using only the nerves of the arm. This second volume expands on these powerful Kyusho targets by working from the arm traps of volume #1 and demonstrating additional and even more powerful head targets for incapacitation of the opponent. This video compilation will bring you far more advanced skills, even if you do not practice Kali... the two methods were meant for each other. Several KO's are demonstrated so you can see the efficiency and affect Kyusho brings to Kali.

REF.: â&#x20AC;˘ DVD/KYUSHO 25 All DVDs, wichi is produced by Budo International, si provided and alone in the formats DVD-5 or MPEG-2, in VCD, DivX or the like is however neves offered with a special holograma sticker. Besides our DVD is characteristed coverings by the hig quality in pressure and material. If this DVD and/or the DVD covering do not corespond to the requirements specified above, it concerns illegal pirat copy.

ORDERS: Budo international.com

Targets of the Monkey (Bubishi)

Two issues ago we started a small exploration of some Kyusho Applications and how they could result in a Kyusho Knockoutâ&#x20AC;Ś on the leg. In the first segment we covered a Kyusho KO that is possible with a single strike to the leg at the back of the knee and gave the medical reasons it could cause a loss of confidence. We even linked to free Yo u Tu b e p r e s e n t a t i o n s o f t h e application on different people so you could see the actual application as well as the effect on the individual. This issue we will explore one more Kyusho leg application that can cause unconsciousness using a combination of nerve and vascular influence.

ooking at the image above we can see the juncture in the inner ankle that has both nerve and vascular structures not only overlying, but also close to the surface of the skin. Now as the red lined circle would suggest the area you can use in this application is about the size of a fistâ&#x20AC;Ś not a small pressure point that needs pinpoint accuracy, (please see earlier writings stating that Kyusho is not Pressure Points, Acupuncture Points). But we need to better understand the anatomy and how best to affect these Vital Targets. As we have stated from the beginning of our Kyusho exploration with Budo International, 13 years ago, you must attack the Vital Targets in a correct trajectory. Striking, pressing or stretching the structures will only cause mild discomfort and possible dysfunction. However when we use trajectory that maps out the angle into the body, the direction of travel and the depth as well as intended goal of the attack, only then can we correctly apply the Kyusho. This is also why most Martial Artists have not found these targets or more vital use, but also for the beginner of Kyusho studies not able to get the same results as a seasoned practitioner. In this ankle target we have to first understand we are working with the nerve and blood vessels. You do not need to know their name, but for those interested they are; the Saphenous Nerve, Saphenous Vein and the Posterior Tibial Artery. There are 3 ways to attack this section of Vital Structures with varying degree of worth for the Martial Artist. However all three methods will need the practitioner to attack these targets to force the nerves and vascular tissue against the rear of the Tibial bone. This can be accomplished by pressing, pressing and stretching combined or striking. Pressing causes severe pain, withdrawal, leg and body weakening and even paralysis of the lower leg and foot. Pressing and stretching the nerves and vascular tissue into the back of the Tibial Bone and toward the foot, will cause severe pain and leg weakening, paralysis of the lower leg and foot or even unconsciousness with correct application.

Striking these structures or this target in different directions will cause different results and again why beginners have difficulty getting desired results quickly. As example striking upward into the back of the Tibia will cause the lateral leg muscles will to tighten, lifting the leg out and upward. By striking straight into the bone all leg muscles will lose control and the leg will collapse under the body weight, as it also will when attacked slightly downward however this also attacks the blood systems more and will cause a rapid loss of blood pressure and fainting because of it. With all attacks Nausea, paralysis, dizziness and unconsciousness can occur, however the downward trajectory will cause neurological shutdown as well as blood pressure drop and fainting results. Reactions, when struck correctly, this point has many physical effects on the recipient: Whole body weakens, rapid withdrawal of limb, severe pain, loss of physical motor function, loss leg support of body weight, paralysis of lower leg and foot, nausea, paralysis of limb,, dizziness or unconsciousness and temporary loss of thought and motor control. Watch this Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcKg6lQZNQE

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Pressing causes severe pain, withdrawal, leg and body weakening and even paralysis of the lower leg and footâ&#x20AC;?

Bubishi Use The targets of the Monkey are only one of twelve sets of targets in the Bubishi… labeled “Sichen” or the Zodiac postures. In these are described the target and relation to time, be it the best time attack or the time to have related dysfunction or death. These time periods for results are the result of blood and organ attack more so than nerve… as nerve is generally instant in reaction. When looking at this manual, we need to consider old fighting method was typically armed with sword, dagger, spear and arrow, these times may relate more to the time it would take a body to bleed out, hemorrhage inter nally (causing various and numerous lethal affects… remember emergency medical care was not present in this era), or die from body toxification. So if the main theme was blood attack (Dim Mak), we need to then base our actions against these blood structures as in this attack. We can see this in the film clips above; three blood attacks on the ankle nerve and vascular tissue. With all blood attacks, the body is seen to fade and loose strength, consciousness or physical control as blood pressure is rapidly dropped and produced fainting as the result. With rapid pulsing or compression adding a nerve attack (better for moder n protection), we see the rapid instantaneous affect. This nerve attack is far more dramatic, less damaging and possible to combine with the blood attack as well… but we can easily employ both. Were these Bubishi targets only used as blood, or nerve…no one can say for sure, yet the manual leans toward blood attack as the base. But fortunately with the study of Kyusho through Kyusho International (no other Kyusho groups have this knowledge or actual skill), you can realize this level.

In this DVD, G.M. Larry Tatum (10th Dan) develops techniques of the Kenpo program at the highest level. Particularly, some of his “favorites” like Flashing Mace, Parting Wings, Entwined Lance… Masterfully executed and based on the experience of the movement, G.M. Tatum incorporates his innovative teachings in these techniques that will help you add and complement your training in the Kenpo system. Besides, they provide the individual with the best choice for selfdefense, based on the logical and practical thinking, and place him in the path of understanding the art of Kenpo. These are the self-defense and fighting systems of the modern times we live in. They are designed so that the practitioner gets all the benefits that training these techniques can provide. This DVD has the support of Master Adolfo Luelmo (9th Dan), who goes on with a series of techniques performed in a smooth and strong way, for situations of extreme aggression, in which can be appreciated different states of the movement, in a logical and effective way. As a conclusion, Master Camacho Assisi (8th Dan), displays a technique that combines the strength of the arms and his expertise with legs.

REF.: • DVD/LARRY4

All DVDs, wichi is produced by Budo International, si provided and alone in the formats DVD-5 or MPEG-2, in VCD, DivX or the like is however neves offered with a special holograma sticker. Besides our DVD is characteristed coverings by the hig quality in pressure and material. If this DVD and/or the DVD covering do not corespond to the requirements specified above, it concerns illegal pirat copy.

ORDERS: Budo international.com

In this DVD, Master Marco Morabito, with exclusive rights for Budo International, presents a preview of the Israeli Krav Maga Survival System. In this colossal work, the basic method and techniques of this discipline are illustrated in a clear and transparent manner. That is, no secrets, but in an extraordinary job that will take you to the very core of self-defense. The techniques are illustrated so that they are easily understood by all. A truly unique opportunity to approach selfdefense or improve your knowledge on the subject. The author is one of todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top self-defense exponents worldwide and has to his credit an extensive experience both in the military field and in security companies; awarded several times in various countries and acclaimed by his courses and seminars around the world, he has become an international spokesperson for different combat and self-defense systems, little known but highly effective. He has learned and studied all over the world, from Japan to the US, via Poland, Spain, Cape Verde, Germany, Israel, France and Russia, a continued research in remote areas of the world, such as Siberia or the desert of Texas, without stopping at any point in his tireless search for new knowledge without ever stop asking questions. The Israeli Krav Maga Survival System is not a discipline or a set of rigid rules, but a method, a process of continuous and constant evolution. This makes it adaptable to any situation and circumstance and permeable to any changes, and then be able to take stock of its mistakes and use the experience as an opportunity to improve.

REF.: â&#x20AC;˘ KMISS-1

ORDERS: Budo international.com

The Pukulan Pencak Silat Serak is a system based on both weapons and empty hands at the same time. It incorporates many of the new-generation weapons, swords, knives, circular kerambits, bars, batons of different lengths and other more particular weapons. Even in our empty hand training methods we face an opponent who attacks us with weapons in both hands, as well as several opponents at once. This type of training makes us more aware of everything that happens during an altercation and what do and not do when facing one or more armed aggressors. In this second DVD, Maha Guru Horacio Rodrigues, heir to the lineage of Pendekar Pak Victor De Thouars, of Pukulan Pencak Silat Serak, addresses its particular way to train and use the different weapons, laying the foundations for more advanced future plans of study and the application of technique. This video includes the principles of work, angulation, Sambuts, Jurus and drills with the short sword "Pedang", short knife "Pissau", short stick "Tonkat Matjan", Sarong, and applications of selfdefense with empty hands.

REF.: â&#x20AC;˘ DVD/SERAK-2

ORDERS: Budo international.com

In this comprehensive instructional video, Andreas Weitzel, founder and head instructor of the SYSTEMA Academy Weitzel (Augsburg, Germany) and one of the leading SYSTEMA Instructors in Europe explains the most important fighting fundamentals. First he vividly elucidates how to walk naturally focusing on the correct execution of steps. He then shows how to use this work in combat applications. A variety of different topics are explained in this movie including: How to unbalance an attacker; How to strike and kick correctly; How to defend against, grabs, throws, strikes and kicks. The explanations in this video are simple but clear with the aim for easy comprehension and lear ning for everyone. During his explanation Andreas always includes and focuses on the most important principles and fundamentals of SYSTEMA by showing how different topics are tightly linked to each other. Furthermore free and spontaneous work against different attacks including weapons is shown under realistic conditions and full speed. In this video Andreas is assisted and supported by Michael Hazenbeller (Rastatt) and Thomas Gößler (Augsburg), two experienced Systema Instructors.

REF.: • DVD/SYSWEITZEL1

ORDERS: Budo international.com

Jiu Jitsu The Gracie Jiu-Jitsu teacher-course named "PATH TO Diploma do Professor de JiuJitsu" (short DPJJ), is an intensive training of four (4) consecutive training and practice days (theory and practice), to reach the official certificate as a teacher in the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Regardless if you come from the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu sport, or other martial arts, and it is open to all organization and style, everyone can participate in this training. The training will take place from Thursday (noon) to Sunday (early afternoon). Several hours are daily trained together and studied, so that all trainees may reach a good level of our Grandmasters Pedro HemetĂŠrio authentic 54-class program in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.

Instructional

Training for "Diploma do Professor de Jiu-Jitsu"

Jiu Jitsu eople who receive the DPJJ, can join as a member (team leader) in our Vacirca Brothers Jiu-Jitsu Network. As active Gracie Jiu-Jitsu teacher in our team they will be ask, at least once a year to participate in a two-day seminar refresh (Saturday and Sunday). The refresh seminar is free for affiliated Gracie Jiu-Jitsu teacher and guarantees them the continuation of their Gracie JiuJitsu teaching authority within the team Vacirca Brothers. As an active team leader, you agree to its Gracie JiuJitsu students / inside, independent of belt level, age and gender, to register with us. The registered person pays CHF / EUR 60.- per calendar year. The license is always to refer to the latest in the month of November, for the new calendar year. You as a teacher (team leader) are exempt from the license fee as soon as at least 10 people a license in their group (or school) relate with us; otherwise no other costs. Those wishing to attend the intensive training should bring the following: Mind. 20 years old and 3 - 4 years grappling experience, regardless of style, with or without Gi); ideally, a few years of teaching experience in a martial art; for training you need also a WHITE Kimono / Gi, and a training Stock

(about arm-length), a training knife and a training pistol (preferably all made of rubber).

Training dates and times: Thursday, November 3, 2016 (12:00 hours) until Sunday, November 6, 2016 (14:00 pm) Organize their arrival and departure so that you do not miss time. Training content: Learning the 54 classes of Pedro HemetĂŠrio program, as he has learned from his master HĂŠlio Gracie. Theory and practice of teaching method and use of teaching materials. Training data: These are available on separate request by email to jiujitologist@gmail.com Normally, it will take place in the following months: October, February and May.

Tuition fee: The entire training of 4 days is CHF / EUR 1050.00 exclusive lodging and food. Accommodation is available in a nearby Hotel (double occupancy, few single rooms available,

or in the dojo on the Tatame (own sleeping bag to bring with). The accommodation costs will be provided to you by request. The annual refresh seminar for people with a DPJJ certificate, but not active in the Team Vacirca Brothers, will pay for the annual Saturday/Sunday training, CHF / EUR 450.00 Active Network members who have two or more years have taken a license, pay in November 2016 for training only CHF/EUR 850.00; please note that the number of participants is limited. Payment of the course up to the start of training, the course fee can be paid in a maximum of three consecutive installments. For the course in November 2016 to the installments of CHF/ EUR 350.00 (or CHF/EUR 284.00 for active members). Payment must be received by: August 28, September 28 and October 28. Please note that we cannot refund the price paid monies or rate payments. In case of cancellation or no-show will be charged the following fees: 60 - 30 days before start of the course CHF/EUR 350.00/250.00; 29 days before start of the course CHF/EUR 700.00/500.00-; when the course begins 100% of course fees.

Registration and course confirmation: Registration for the intensive training, is valid always and definitely only after receipt of the total tuition fees. The total course fee is to be paid on the following Account: PostFinance, IBAN CH38 0900 0000 2516 0591 9 Account holder: Franco Vacirca, Chaletweg 9, CH-8050 Zurich, Switzerland. Please send the DPJJ application, or for a refresh seminar, no later than one (1) month before course-date to

us by e-mail to: jiujitologist@gmail.com (Please ask for Registration form by email). Please note that you must show the receipt/s of your payments on day of unsolicited; these are regarded as course ID.

Course Award - Certificate Those who participated in intensive course, in the entire four-day DPJJ, but not yet in possession of an official BJJ or GJJ Belt, you will be tested completely free of charge for Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Blue belt. However, only participating to the course will not guarantee you and GJJ Belt. Based on the Belt test you will be certified by the Vacirca Brothers. You also get the certificate "PATH TO DPJJ" and you may start with your own GJJ training group back home, and affiliate to us as mentioned before. Those who participated in intensive course, in the entire four-day DPJJ but own an official and valid BJJ or GJJ are also re-evaluated for current or next Belt level. Also, you will be awarded with the certificate "PATH TO DPJJÂť and can start your own GJJ group/school as already mentioned. Those who participated in intensive course, in the entire four-day DPJJ, and additionally holds a Black belt (White Bar) or Black belt (Red Bar) are awarded the certificate "Diploma do Professor de Jiu-Jitsu", and in excellent and masterful technical mastery, with the Black belt (Blue bar) by the Vacirca Brothers. This is the highest award by the Vacirca Brothers Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy.

Jiu Jitsu

We are pleased to present the second work of the KMRED group. This video bearing the name "Concept and Education" aims to make you discover a part of the concept Krav Maga Research, Evolution and Development, as well as the pedagogy developed within our group. The different exercises that you will discover here are not intended to "feast your eyes" or demonstrate our combative attitudes, because our priority here is that of explaining how we prepare our students so that they become "warriors", capable of "adapting" to the different evolutions of street fighting.

REF.: â&#x20AC;˘ DVD/KMRED-2 All DVDs, wichi is produced by Budo International, si provided and alone in the formats DVD-5 or MPEG-2, in VCD, DivX or the like is however neves offered with a special holograma sticker. Besides our DVD is characteristed coverings by the hig quality in pressure and material. If this DVD and/or the DVD covering do not corespond to the requirements specified above, it concerns illegal pirat copy.

ORDERS: Budo international.com

Hwa Rang Do

CyberDojang.com (MISSION STATEMENT OF THE WORLD HWA RANG DO® ASSOCIATION) HWA RANG DO®: A legacy of Loyalty, Relentlessly seeking Truth, Empowering Lives, Serving Humanity

Hwa Rang Do® Grandmaster Taejoon Lee (8° dan & President of the World Hwa Rang Do® Association) has arranged an open-to-everybody online platform, Cyberdojang.com, that makes available an incredible amount of technical multimedia-material on every aspect of Hwa Rang Do®. This platform gives the possibility to learn Hwa Rang Do® also to the students that cannot train together with Grandmaster Lee. It’s a modern and high-tech approach to the study of a very traditional Martial Art like Hwa Rang Do®. New tools to push an ancient martial practice: this is the future-oriented philosophy of the World Hwa Rang Do® Association. Some testimonials of enthusiast EU students and members of the Cyberdojang.com follow:

Hwa Rang Do

â&#x20AC;&#x153;As a Hwa Rang Do student and instructor I know what it means to manage the study not only of the belt curriculum but also all aspects of our vast and beautiful Art. Being able to remember all the techniques, especially the more advanced degree, becomes almost impossible when you have not good notes and teaching aids. By

Cyberdojang.com, our Grandmaster Taejoon Lee wanted to provide not only an easy tool to quickly and clearly access the notes of our curriculum, but also a great tool to help us move forward in our Art maintaining a high technical level and at the same time, assuring a universal standard of the techniques.” Instr. G.Catania “…thanks to Cyberdojang.com I got a big lesson. I have learned to see the techniques more in details. When I thought that I knew a technique and was able to apply it, after watching again the video-lessons, I always found out more details that I did not see before. I realized that I didn’t learn the techniques so well...” D.Pizzo “…Cyberdojang.com is fundamental for long distance students like

me. All the material in Cyberdojang.com is very precious and detailed. I can see Kuk Sa Nim performing and teaching the techniques, I can see all the possible mistakes I have to avoid and I can see all the details. This allows me to be more clean in my

techniques. All the material in Cyberdojang.com is very professional and clear. Cyberdojang.com is a huge opportunity for all Hwa Rang Do students but also for other persons that are not WHRDA members...” M. Repetto “…I’m not a Hwa Rang Do student but I decided to subscribe the Cyberdojang.com to study and follow the Master Taejoon Lee’s philosophy lessons. I think that having the possibility to see his video-lesson many times is great! His lessons are so full of concepts and teachings that just listening to him one time, maybe in a live lesson, is not enough to really understand...” A. Rossi About the author: Hwa Rang Do® Head Instructor, Lieutenant Colonel of the Italian Military Police Force (Carabinieri) and Engineer, Marco Mattiucci is the Chief of the EU Branches of the World Hwa Rang Do® Association and one of the main followers of Grandmaster Taejoon Lee.

Hwa Rang Do

http://www.hwarangdo.com http://www.hwarangdo.it http://www.hwarangdo.nl http://www.hwarangdo.lu http://taejoonlee.com http://cyberdojang.com

Hwa Rang Do

Comprehensive or Integral Vovinam is simply going back to the Founder's true Vovinam. The goal of the founder was clearly and openly declared: "Harvesting effective techniques, assimilate their essence and transform them into Vovinam techniques", and indeed this concept still remains in force and is mandatory for all Vovinam Masters in the world. Vovinam is then a research concept to achieve a super effective style. However, today 90% of Vovinam teachers forget it and bend to a program too loaded, too fixed, too aesthetic and sometimes completely ineffective in numerous techniques. Comprehensive Vovinam is simply rediscovering the original essence of Master Nguyen Loc's art. For that, we have the principles, the basic techniques, and we just have to go back to work out the effective way of every technique and apply the founding principle. In this DVD, by the hand of Master Patrick Levet, we will study the basis of Integral Vovinam, threats and knife attacks, integral counterattacks, and defense against Dam Thang (direct fist) Dam Moc (hook punch), Dam Lao (javelin punch) as well as basic leg levers.

REF.: â&#x20AC;˘ DVD/VIET6

ORDERS: Budo international.com

What happens when two people practice Chi-Sao, what is the meaning of their practice and what the objectives? In this 3rd DVD, "Chi Sao from the base to an advanced level," Sifu Salvador SĂĄnchez addresses perhaps the most important aspect of Wing Chun: ChiSao, the soul of the system itself, which provides the practitioner with some special characteristics which are completely different from others, and gives him great virtues. This role deals with some aspects quite basic in principle, but as you delve into them, they'll be surprising to you. It is a very clear feature traditional Chinese culture; what it's very obvious at first glance, it nevertheless contains a second or third reading, which will surely change your approach, practice and understanding. We will discuss how to practice Chi Sao through our working drills and how to apply those drills, that ability in a sparring, linking certain concepts, perhaps not so much tied to traditional Kung Fu, such as biomechanics, structures, knowledge of physics, etc., in order to obtain better results in our practice.

REF.: â&#x20AC;˘ DVD/TAOWS3 All DVDs, wichi is produced by Budo International, si provided and alone in the formats DVD-5 or MPEG-2, in VCD, DivX or the like is however neves offered with a special holograma sticker. Besides our DVD is characteristed coverings by the hig quality in pressure and material. If this DVD and/or the DVD covering do not corespond to the requirements specified above, it concerns illegal pirat copy.

ORDERS: Budo international.com

Interview

Self-defense

Beyond all doubt the knife is the most feared weapon in the hand of an aggressor. Very few experts seriously attempt to deal with it in the written word, as the knife is "the ugliest at the dance" in self-defense systems! The reason? The knife is a very accessible weapon a n d i t i s i m p o s s i b l e t o p r o h i b i t i t â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s s a l e : a n y hardware store is a powerful armory and the furniture sections of some department stores are like arsenals within the reach of everyone, every bar is an occasional distributor and every letter opener a threat. The knife also possesses simplicity and a certain normality that makes it a weapon that anyone can use without specialized training. However, in order to defend yourself you need to become a true expert. Mistakes are no joke. Even in training, there is always danger when students train with real knives.

Interview

"'The essential thing is perfect'. Leonardo Da Vinciâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s statement effectively synthesizes the idea from which this program has been born."

Self-defense

eyond all doubt the knife is the most feared weapon in the hand of an aggressor. Very few experts seriously attempt to deal with it in the written word, as the knife is "the ugliest at the dance" in self-defense systems! The reason? The knife is a very accessible weapon and it is impossible to prohibit itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sale: any hardware store is a powerful armory and the furniture sections of some department stores are like arsenals within the reach of everyone, every bar is an occasional distributor and every letter opener a threat. The knife also possesses simplicity and a certain normality that makes it a weapon that anyone can use without specialized training. However, in order to defend yourself you need to become a true expert. Mistakes are no joke. Even in training, there is always danger when students train with real knives. Mike Faraone is well known for his realistic and tough work in contexts of high danger. In situations where others give in, Faraone licks his lips and enjoys himself and it shows. For this reason we have asked him to record a videotape on this weapon that is part of his SEAL program and he has produced a really interesting piece of work. His form of confronting situations with this weapon is practical and truly realistic. The security with which

Interview

Self-defense

he and his instructors fence with this weapon is worthy of enormous respect and this is evident throughout the whole videotape. Faraone is developing a strong association at an international level and constantly travels from his native Italy. He takes his work very seriously and his students thank him for it although it generally means that they have to give up their entire weekends. His long career is well known and it is worth pointing out his training under the guidance of people like Paul Vunack or Dan Inosanto, and as a result he has a kind of practical, adaptable and creative preparation that is so characteristic of JKD. In the last few decades many outstanding martial talents have been cultivated from the same special mixture. However, Faraone has gone beyond these specifics and he is developing a very professional and characteristic line of work that has the mark of his personality. In the interview-chat with him that we offer you below, you will get to know his opinions about the knife and other matters like the well known and controversial issue of "effectiveness". I am convinced they will be of great interest for all you Text: Dott. Nadia B. Giuffrè Photos: © Budo international Publ. Co.

“Beyond all doubt the knife is the most feared weapon in the hand of an aggressor. Very few experts seriously attempt to deal with it in the written word, as the knife is "the ugliest at the dance" in self-defense systems!”

Self-defense

THE SHARP PATH

SUPERIOR ART, MORTAL ART, SECRET AR Throughout the centuries knife combat has been called by many different names in an attempt to refer to a discipline that has been passed on by a handful of Masters to a few privileged students. People took up the practice of the knife form with an almost sacred sense of respect, especially since this weapon â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in its simplest from - can be a great ally or a terrible opponent for a man. The blade is a metaphor for true combat, or at least practice for it: it encompasses excellent function as well as form. The movements drawn by the blade reveal the power of the naked hand, all the while hiding the lessons learned or at least only revealing them to those who know what to look for. The sword adopts the characteristics of the person who holds it and it is illuminated by a bright or sinister light, according to the nature of the hand that guides it. In order to control the knife you first have to get to know it, use it on a daily basis, make it your friend, solve small practical

Interview problems with its help, and trust it as if it were the last best whose help you might need in extreme cases when your safety is at risk. The knife is capable of absorbing and reflecting â&#x20AC;&#x201C; because of its history - the level of awareness of the person who guides it. This is why throughout the centuries; the teaching of the "sharp path" has been reserved for the elite group of people that have demonstrated that they know how to control their own blind anger. At the present moment, the oldest Philippine Masters who have the most extensive knowledge of it and who have used their own knowledge to survive are the only ones left who teach this science to their most favored students. Mike Faraone has an in depth knowledge of the underground world that gravitates around short-sword combat both in the East as well as in the West and like all

â&#x20AC;&#x153;In Boxing and in Muay Thai and in many other Arts it is considered normal to deliver a blow or to absorb one and then to counterattack. This type of self-punitive strategy cannot be carried out in the case of knife combat.â&#x20AC;?

Self-defense

those who have a real understanding of the "the Sharp Path" â&#x20AC;&#x201C; he agrees that it is impossible to defend yourself against an expert in the handling of the knife. Budo International: Master, starting from this assertion, what sense is there in dedicating a whole videotape to this topic? Mike Faraone: In the past I have put up with the pressures and the explicit threats of those who have wanted - and who still want - to keep this knowledge secret. I am convinced that silence creates fertile land for who are basically ignorant and who tell the whole world what they know, clearly hurting those who in good faith put their lives at risk in the hands of suicidal techniques. Silence amplifies confusion, and the moment has arrived to put things in their correct order. After the tragic events in New York, the attention of the entire world of knife combat is in full swing. On the crest of this news therefore, the voices of all those who claim to be experts in the most efficient methods of empty hand defense against the knife have been heard everywhere. I don't claim to know the absolute truth, but I do believe that I have a moral duty to clarify the subject, and openly state that there are no defense methods against the knife â&#x20AC;&#x201C; instead you can only talk about survival, all the rest is pure propaganda and it is extremely dangerous.

Interview

Self-defense

Budo International: Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s talk about the new videotape? M.F.: If someone is looking for a system that facilitates a faceoff against armed opponents with knives in this videotape, he will definitely be disappointed. It is an exclusively didactic and illustrative videotape that introduces a "step by step" program that allows us to see how easy it can be to use a knife in combat in the initial phase, as well as its offensive potential. On the other hand it demonstrates how difficult any form of unarmed defense can be, except perhaps in the case of extremely high levels of training. In the final part, we introduce strategies that will enable you to survive a confrontation of that type which will be covered in more depth in the next videotape. Budo International: Are knife techniques accessible to everyone in your school? M.F.: No, the study of knife combat is reserved for instructors who - after years of practice â&#x20AC;&#x201C; become members of the association. We don't have secrets that we want to hide, but rather there are

Interview

techniques and methodologies that cannot be taught in collective classes. Similarly, it is impossible to learn how to use a firearm using a replica, or how to use a knife by using only training instruments without blades or made of plastic. The steel discipline is not for everybody, just as only a few may end up as SEAL Program instructors. Budo International: What is the relationship between hand techniques and weapon techniques? M.F.: In Boxing and in Muay Thai and in many other Arts it is considered normal to deliver a blow or to absorb one and then to counterattack. This type of self-punitive strategy cannot be carried out in the case of knife combat. These dynamics cannot be applied in a universal way, that is to say we are forced to modify both the offensive system and the defensive one, both in tactile sensitivity training - during training we allow a hand touch, but not with a sharp knife â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and in the applied strategies. This way the technique becomes simpler - without stylistic movements - and at the same time more sophisticated - since anything should be left aside -. The whole technical part of the SEAL Program comes from knife combat just like in Kali and in the original Aikido, where each technique is taken from armed combat and adapted to body to body.

Self-defense

Interview

Budo International: What is the technical structure of the program? M.F.: "The essential thing is perfect". Leonardo Da Vinciâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s phrase efficiently synthesizes the main idea of the program. There are many armed combat schools that force the students to learn dozens and dozens of attack and defense techniques. Most of the Philippine Kali systems have 12 attack angles, with 12 basic defenses for each one of them: so here we are talking about 144 basic techniques and there are systems that have 64 attack angles! Our program has only three basic movements for attack as well as for defense. Budo International: Is that everything? M.F.: The effectiveness is not directly proportional to the number of techniques employed, rather it is proportional to its scientific nature, its applicability and its functionality. 90% of Martial Arts are completely ineffective in real combat context either armed or unarmed. It should be noted that these three simple movements become elaborated and evolved and thereby provide more and more effective specific solutions based on progressively difficult training methods, but that are no less realistic.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The effectiveness is not directly proportional to the number of techniques employed, rather it is proportional to its scientific nature, its applicability and its functionality.â&#x20AC;?

Interview

“A Master should possess great coherence and be able to back down and admit his own errors.”

In this way we have everything we need: • Training mechanics • Attack techniques • Defense techniques • Counterattack techniques

Self-defense

â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is an exclusively didactic and illustrative videotape that introduces a "step by step" program that allows us to see how easy it can be to use a knife in combat in the initial phase, as well as its offensive potential.â&#x20AC;?

“The Master’s position is not an oasis of reverence, where followers are cultivated and exploited in order to guarantee high levels of popularity and success.”

Self-defense

But I think that the videotape will clarify any remaining questions more effectively than words as it shows us those three simple elements that can create a complete system. The important thing is not how many techniques we use but which ones we use and how we use them. The videotape has been recorded with authentic knife blades, so it is clearly not a training system for beginners, or for self-study. The illustrated program is based on the teaching of an effective system that will allow a man - because we are men above all else, who finding himself in a situation of real danger will not leave his wife a widow and his children orphans. This is actually what we are really talking about. I believe that the moment has arrived to reiterate with honesty and clarity some fundamental concepts that many "Masters" seem to have forgotten.

The Master’s position is not an oasis of reverence, where followers are cultivated and exploited in order to guarantee high levels of popularity and success. A Master has an uncomfortable role which carries with it enormous responsibility. He should possess great coherence and be able to back down and admit his own errors. A Master never loses sight of the fact that his own error can cost a student his life. A Master respects his student and teaches him the same sense of respect, because showing gracefulness towards those we fear is one thing, but it is even more virtuous to demonstrate it to our subordinates. Just as in combat it is smart to back down in the presence of someone who can seriously injure, so it incredibly big of us to back down in the presence of someone we can injure.

A Master is everyone’s student because he knows how to search and the truth is hidden in every part of life. A Master is kind and he smiles a lot and he loves peace like all great warriors for he knows that the essence of peace is love. Budo Inter national: A true handbook for Masters! M.F.: Masters don't need manuals because they understand what I am talking about and for those who feel offended let them ask themselves why! I prefer to think of this small exposition as a handbook for students. I hope everyone who reads this description, finds their own professor's portrait somewhere in it. There is a sure way to find out if we are in the presence of the right person and that is next time that you go to class, give your Master a hug and then watch his reaction.

“Just as in combat it is smart to back down in the presence of someone who can seriously injure, so it incredibly big of us to back down in the presence of someone we can injure.”

KAJUKENBO Behind the NAME Kajukenbo history begins on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, where several men got together and started to train secretly in old warehouses and abandoned buildings. It was so that Adriano Emperado, Joseph Holck, Peter Y.Y. Choo, Frank Ordonez and George "Clarence" Chang made a pact pledging to create a fighting art.

Kajukenbo

â&#x20AC;&#x153;History tells us that to prove the effectiveness of their original techniques the five founders would get into fights around Las Palamas (the worst slum in Hawaii at the time). If the technique succeeded in street fighting, it was kept as part of the system.â&#x20AC;?

“If a technique succeeded in street fighting, it was kept as part of the system.”

hese five practitioners of different Martial Arts developed the Kajukenbo to complement the styles of the others in order to achieve effectiveness in the fight at every distance and speed. Within a period of two years, from 1945 to 1947, combining their knowledge in different Martial Arts, these men created a new system, the Kajukenbo; it was synthesized in the town of Palamas, in Hawaii, during the years 1949 to 1952. They also created the Black Belt Society. They decided that Kenpo should be the structure around which the Kajukenbo was to be built. The original arts were Karate, Tang Soo Do, Judo, Dan Zan Ryu Ju-Jutsu, Kempo, Chu'an Fa Gung Fu (Chinese Boxing) and Western Boxing. Let's remember that some of the first practitioners came from boxing, including Jaime Basquez, who he was about to compete for the Boxing World Title in his weight, hence the name Ka-JuKen-Bo. Peter Young Yil Choo - Hawaiian Boxing (and Tang Soo Do) champion. Joseph Holck - Kodokan Judo and Dan Zan Ryu Ju-jitsu. Frank F. Ordoñez - Master of Kodokan Judo and Sekeino Ju-Jitsu. Adriano Directo Emperado - Kara-ho Kempo and Eskrima George "Clarence" Chang - Chinese Boxing, Sil Lum Shaolin "Kung-Fu" North and South. History tells us that to prove the effectiveness of their original techniques, all five founders would often got involved in street fights in Palamas slums, the most

Kajukenbo

“We must remember that many of the first practitioners of the art were soldiers and thanks to them the Kajukenbo spread throughout the America continent and then to Europe.”

conflictive suburbs in Hawaii at the time. If a technique succeeded in street fighting, it was adopted as part of the system. We must remember that many of the first practitioners of the art were soldiers and thanks to them the Kajukenbo spread throughout the America continent and then to Europe. Specifically in Travis Air Base in California, Master Aleju Reyes opened the first school outside Hawaii in 1958, where he gave classes especially to members of the United States Air Force. After 1959, Charles Gaylord, Tony Ramos, Aleju Reyes and Joe Halbuna, who had received their black belts from Emperado, conveyed the Kajukenbo on the American continent. All of them opened their own Kajukenbo school in California. In 1969, Tony Ramos trained and exchanged his method and ideas with Bruce Lee. Aleju Reyes died in 1977, and Tony Ramos died in Hawaii in 1999. Charles Gaylord has been working on the system and thus developed the so called Gaylord method (Chuan fa). He was the President of the Kajukenbo Association of America and died in 2009. We would also have a young Al Dacascos, who founded the Wun Hop Kune Do in the years 60/70. All of them were promoted to 5th Dan Black Belt by Adriano Emperado in 1967 for their outreach work because actually they had been the ones who had taken the Kajukembo out of Hawaii and made it known to the general public. In the art of Kajukenbo, until the death of

Emperado, we had 5 well developments or stages of the Art.

recognized

Methods: Kenpo Karate, also called the Emperado Method. Chuan Fa, with two lines, the Ramos Method and the Gaylord Method. Tum pai. Wun Hop Kune Do. Today there are many more Methods in the Art, such as the Kajukenbo Kosho Ryu / Advanced Method, etc. Many people consider Sijo Emperado as the founder of Kajukenbo and really he is a CoFounder of the system; let's not forget that were five the persons who gave it its name and form. Sijo Adriano Emperado is the founder of the Kajukenbo Self Defense Institute (K.S.D.I.) In 1973, Edward C. Sheppard (an American military, student of Richard Peralta) was assigned to the Torrejón Air Base, in Spain, where he began to teach lessons of this system in the American zone, thus the Kajukenbo would be born in Europe, although there was another Instructor also in Germany, Al Dacascos, forming his WHKD schools, in the '70s. Unfortunately, nowadays disunion within the Kajukenbo is increasingly advanced, but the Art keeps growing each day a bit more... EVOLUTION.

During our summer break, just like every year the U.S. International Kuo Shu Championship Tournament took place. For decades now we, as a school, have insisted on taking part in this great event every year in order to compete on an international level. This year, Grandmaster Huang, the responsible organiser and President of the World Kuoshu Federation, honoured me with an award in person for that. In the world of the traditional martial arts, tournaments are mostly about gathering, friendship and the possibility to compete with the most hard-working people of the scene in full-or light-contact, as well as hand and weapon forms.

Success in America

e who has already been there, knows that the flight, hotel and much more is paid by each and every participant, which means additional effort to the physical preparation. The motivation, however, is not in proportion to what the invited delegation can expect. The U.S. International Championship tournament is one of the greatest and most professional tournaments in the martial arts community and attracts numerous top athletes each year. The entire hotel complex reflects traditional Kung Fu on this weekend. The premises of 3000 m2, which the hotel has to offer for congress, wedding and business events are transformed into fighting areas. In the middle of the biggest ballroom the Lei Tai stage, an elevated platform on which all full-contact fights take place, towers up. Of course these stages are right opposite of the gallery where the guests of honour are

seated. Again this year, amongst these VIPs there were numerous highranking grandmasters from different Kung Fu styles and also representatives of the U.S. government. Words of praise of Barack Obama himself, delivered by his representative, were accompanying the impressive opening ceremony and welcomed numerous participants. The large number of participants even allows the organisers to reduce the hotel costs for the referee members. These are facts, which, as far as I am concerned, speak for greatness and professionalism at a non-profit event such as a traditional Kung Fu tournament. On Friday the different teams from all parts of the world arrived at the hotel. Athletes, most of all fighters, were registered, weighted, tested and briefed. From this moment on already, my instructors, all of them signed in as referees, and just like all officials they were involved in the on-goings of the tournament. Each one was informed about when to do what on the following days. It was the greatest pleasure to meet well- known faces again and the rooms were filled with joy and respect for one another. In the calm before the storm the excitement was everpresent, and yet the people dealt with each other in a cordial and friendly manner. Even the fighters who would fight against each other to the extreme, had spent a great time with each other. After a sensational opening ceremony on Saturday morning, as guests of honour, we were all introduced to the audience and the tournament could begin. Participants and spectators spread throughout the whole hotel area and over 280 categories were launched professionally and brilliantly under the leadership of well educated referees. Some of the highlights of the tournament were of course the full-contact fights and the demonstrations of the masters and also many awards and new gradings, which also included my instructors and I. Each of my instructors was awarded with the masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree, which they had already received from my sifu. I myself was awarded too. Not only with the masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree but also with the honouring award of regularly supporting the event with my school in an essential manner for many years. This is a particularly great honour, since Grandmaster Huang (a good friend and organiser of the tournament) personally presented the award to me. The students who came with us in order to participate in the tournament were also successful. This made for a beautiful ending of the competition and honouring. Here I can mention for example Claudio LĂśffler who won the gold medal in his light-contact category. A part, which happened rather behind closed doors was the official meeting of the World Kuoshu Federation, at which I took part as the new president for Europe. They discussed important decisions, I do not wish to reveal as of now. And yet, one can announce that, with great enthusiasm, we can anticipate the World Championship, which should take place in Baltimore in 2018. After two days full of competitions, awards and joyful get-together the event closed with an elegant gala dinner. All dressed up, our delegation of course also took part in that part of the tournament and

â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is a particularly great honour, since Grandmaster Huang (a good friend and organiser of the tournament) personally presented the award to meâ&#x20AC;?

again we enjoyed being with our Kung Fu friends and having great conversations with them. In the morning one could clearly feel a vibe of “What? Everything is already over?” amongst the athletes and organisers. Despite of everything we were glad that we had a few, more quieter days ahead of us; when we could review the tournament and get some rest. In summary: In the past the size of our delegation has always been different. However, never have we gone home without tournament successes and awards. Here I think of all the beautiful victories on the pedestal in the categories of forms, light-contact and Lei Tai. This year, however, our delegation was all about my lifetime achievement and my instructors. Pascal Plüss, Fadri Canal and Kitaro and Jiro Waga, head instructors of the KUNG FU SCHULE MARTIN SEWER, were awarded with the master’s degree of the World Kuoshu

Federation. As an integral part of the referee team, they made me particularly proud with their hard work and participation in the organisation of the tournament. Thanks to the numerous good conversations with my Kung Fu brothers I had a very good time. Especially because I was told that it was very inspirational to get to see such tremendous support and such good Kung Fu from a small country such as Switzerland. It fills us with joy to hear this and the truth is: it is an honour to ME to represent my Kung Fu family at such a great event with such great people. We are looking forward to 2018 and the World Championship when we are going to see all our brothers and sisters again.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thanks to the numerous good conversations with my Kung Fu brothers I had a very good timeâ&#x20AC;?

Aikijujutsuâ&#x20AC;Ś Dissolving anxiety... Many of those who devote themselves to the process of search by the interaction - Musubi - and try to become a hard and rigid Uke, when they fail to perform the technique, they usually get very anxious and they end up destabilizing their own energy through frustration. In a general way, either in grips or attacks, through the f i r s t i m p a c t o f a n x i e t y, t h e H a r a becomes rigid and indirectly promotes the stagnation of movement.

cientifically, anxiety can be manifested in three levels: neuroendocrine, visceral and that of consciousness. The neuroendocrine level corresponds to the effects of adrenaline, noradrenaline, glucagon, antidiuretic hormone and cortisone. In the visceral level, anxiety depends on the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), which reacts getting excited (sympathetic) in response to an alarm, or relaxing (vagal system) in phases of exhaustion.

In consciousness, anxiety is manifested by two unpleasant feelings: 1- Through awareness of physiological sensations of sweating, palpitation, concern, etc. And 2- Through the awareness of being nervous or fearful. For the Haragei, it's the time in which the Hara starts producing a dense energy and promotes the retaliation of the motion condition; hips turn heavy and legs seem to be rigid; ratiocination becomes slow and dull. At this time, the electricity carried by the blood (Ki), pile up its Yin charge in the bone endings of the joints, which slows down the body, while the yang aspect passes to coordinate the respiratory system, which becomes fast and heavy.. It's now that such experience varies from Kohai to pupil; from pupil to instructor; and from instructor to master. That is, practice time and experience favor the stabilization of this Hara action. Nevertheless, regarding the Kohai - and I say this emphasizing the fact that for teachers, individual patterns of anxiety vary widely some of them appear during the frustration experience, which consequently generates the anxiety relative to a response - cardiovascular symptoms, such as palpitations, sweating or chest tightness; others demonstrate gastrointestinal symptomatology, such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or a feeling of emptiness in the stomach; yet others may even show a respiratory distress or predominance of exaggerated muscle tension with spasms, stiff neck and back pain. That is, physical and visceral symptoms vary from person to person.

Aikijujutsu

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Many of those who have felt frustrated with the martial practice, whether it has to do with the AIKI concept or not, they know that he who disciplines himself in the Way, when he encounters adverse conditions, he faces the doubt of existing, of himself, of the force in action, of the inner and outer truth ...â&#x20AC;?

Psychologically, anxiety can monopolize all psychic activities and affect from the attention and memory to the reliable interpretation of reality. The best thing we can do is to establish the processes of breathing by putting the emphasis in the rationalization of the moments, to organize in a coherent and conscious way, through constant repetition, the same situation, now carried out in a slow way, explaining the reasons for which everything has happened. Once it has been understood, adding reflections and conclusions favors the acquisition of experience, leading thereupon to self-improvement.

Relax your spirit! On the other hand, differently from the previous rationalities, it awakens us to the imminent active force. If we seek the origin of the word, from Latin Vacuu, adj.: absolutely empty; which contains absolutely nothing; enclosed space without matter. Fig, boredom; tedium; anger; deprivation; absence; lack. Similarly, it is the time when we feel vulnerable in Aikijujutsu. Let me explain: Many of those who have felt frustrated with the martial practice, whether it has to do with the AIKI concept or not, they know that he who disciplines himself in the Way, when he encounters adverse conditions, he faces the doubt of existing, of himself, of the force in action, of the inner and outer truth ... that makes Uke, the adversary, stronger and more powerful: When we are caught in the void, we exalt the outer part that is more apparent.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;In silent harmony with the Way, the wind of pleasure does not disturb me. This is the meaning of accepting the Karma.â&#x20AC;?

If we look at it through the old ways of martial practices, the void was endowed with mystical and invisible knowledge, and certainly, in the light of this doubt, masters would say: "Karma! Learning!" It is logical! However, in beings produced by the conditions of karma, no immutable substance can be found and joy, like suffering, are also the result of intentional actions of the past. Ki and its magnitude strengthen or weaken those who allow them to act in favor of reflection. For the teachers of old, this means, that must accept our destiny with courage. Whether winning or losing, everyone accepts his or her Karma. The heart knows nothing of increases or decreases. I remember here some words that speak about that: "In silent harmony with the Way, the wind of pleasure does not disturb me. This is the meaning of accepting the Karma ". For the AIKI concept, chance may not have previously organized so many conditions necessary for the development of life: formation of planets, solar radiation, the presence of an atmosphere, adequate chemical composition, humidity, oceans, submerged lands, heat, light, the presence in the environment of usable substances ... all conveniently dosed for life to be possible, since any excess or deficiency would have destroyed everything. It's like if we arrived to a Dojo now and saw it with our consciousness: at first, all this is chaos and from this comes out a wonderful order. Constructing itself, building itself through planes, the biological being that we now see operate and at the same time evolve, an organism made of communicating parties, that live together exchanging nourishment, combining and merging into a single life. The AIKI that all are talking about of interaction (Yu) and emptiness (A), only favors those who let themselves be carried away by it. In this case, chance cannot, in any way, prearrange all

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mainly acting as Tori, which is very different than being Uke, we must not make the mistake of thinking that a simple attack determines the moment.â&#x20AC;?

Aikijujutsu

this, or make its use possible until getting to know the miracle of human interconnectedness.

What makes us flow? Really NOTHING! A dojo doesn't have the same properties of a river that, regardless of our will, leads to other directions with the force of its waters. This means that different situations lead to different reasoning. Uke, Tori, Dojo... they're all part of the interpersonal universe, which sets different conditions for good personal technique; mainly acting as Tori, which is very different than being Uke, we must not make the mistake of thinking that a simple attack determines the moment. Even if the studies are made in the form of Seiteigata, every movement owns a complete phase in itself; if Uke alters his technique in a movement, then we will have two phases to be completed; and so, each has its own past and future. That's why, in the moment that the techniques are completed, at the apex of the so much sought harmony, the mind is called no-mind. Then, when the technique has already reached the end, the moment in which Uke no longer interacts with the instant is also a complete phase in itself; it has its own past and future; then we say that time is no-time.

Aikijujutsu

At this stage of understanding, Tori is simply the person who executes the technique and the Uke is simply the person who receives the technique. Therefore, when time manifests itself in the form of fluidity, it simply means the same thing: nothing makes it flow, if not the interference from both sides. Our problem, then, is not the fact of knowing what is independence, the true function of technique, or the characters Tori and Uke, but knowing what is the significance of the interaction of all in a single moment. With an understanding of the moment, of the instant, the figurative Dojo becomes a route for these relationships, which is the behavior among human practitioners, those who believe that they are always learning. Whether intimate or strangers, near or estranged, we will begin to understand the whole process of existence and the conflict among the technique itself, the way in which we perform it and the independence reality / fantasy. We all love to talk about fluency, but we forget that it begins long before we enter the Dojo..

â&#x20AC;&#x153;In the moment that the techniques are completed, at the apex of the so much sought harmony, the mind is called no-mind.â&#x20AC;?

Aikijujutsu â&#x20AC;&#x153;We all love to talk about fluidity, but we forget that it starts long before we enter the Dojo.â&#x20AC;?

you ever Have wondered what a woman feels whe n she is physically confronted either in the street or in the gym? What does a woman think when she is faced with a man who - in 99% of the cases - is b i g g e r, taller and stronger than she is? And more than anything he is a man who is a pr oduct of todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s culture and as such he is used to assuming the r ole of aggr essor in the presence of a woman and thus imposes on her the unavoidable role of the victim.

Doctor Rosa MarĂa Distefano Responsible for the Psychology Department of the IMTF E-mail: dlilla@tiscalinet.it

IS SHE REALLY A VICTIM?

â&#x20AC;&#x153;These days we value fast and incessant change not only because of the fact of cultural renewal but also because women have discovered the Martial Arts.â&#x20AC;?

Psychology

n a situation of physical confrontation and pressured by ancient cultural habits, a woman will usually see her only way out as being the role of victim. Indeed, this role, since it is the only known one, is the safest one for the woman and the one that works best when a solution needs to be found to a confrontation with a man. In this sense women have become admirable experts, they are able to play the role of victim in an exquisite way, playing with subtle moves and enriching them with manipulation and seduction so that in the game of reinforcing the man's aggressive power, they are able to calm him down and leave him speechless. However, in the past it didn't always happen the same way: "She is rash and adventurous, always looking for risky situations, like climbing on top of an iron gate and looking down with a worried expression wondering if she will be able get down again but nevertheless trusting that things will work out for her. The distinctive feature of her character is trust. When she manages to get out of a difficult situation, she immediately looks for the next one. Her desire is to prove herself through challenges that would scare even bigger children. She knows no obstacle or limits. She loves the world with an enthusiastic passion and savors everything that happens to her with intensity". This description applies to Alessia, a female character created by Elena Giannini Bellotti in her book "Dalla parte delle bambine" - "On behalf of the girls" -. Alessiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s character moves through her world with tenacity and vitality, looking for her creative independence, an active protagonist of her every move. If we read her story and then observe any little girl we will ask ourselves what strong educational strategy could reduce a young girl to abandon her own vital and curious nature and let herself be entombed inside a faded and fearful woman who has forgotten her own expressive potential in life and who says that her only role is the role of victim.

The martial woman These days we value fast and incessant change not only because of the fact of cultural renewal but also because women have discovered the Martial Arts. In a martial gym women have the beautiful chance to discover a new aspect of their own femininity. A woman trained in confrontation, not only with women of a similar physical constitution but also with men of any size, discovers that her victim role starts to feel uncomfortable and that perhaps she can find new forms of expression that enable her to be more effective and above all make her feel more satisfied with herself. From the beginning and with her first few confrontations, a martial woman who decides to practice Martial arts as an experience discovers her weak points, not only those related to her character but also related to her physical condition. In fact, a woman discovers well before a man that, in any confrontation, fist blows are more harmful to the integrity of her own hands than for the opponent receiving them. In a physical confrontation with a heavier opponent she finds out quickly that lifting her legs to deliver brilliant flying kicks is very dangerous. In fact, because of her extremely slight weight a woman must respect her male opponentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s weight and she knows that if she lifts her feet from the floor she becomes a leaf at the mercy of the wind.

Psychology New forms of confrontation This awareness of the reality of her physical and psychic limits opens the road toward a new combat focus thanks to which the woman can abandon her victim's role and become a warrior. The warrior woman, contrary to the victim, gains strength from the fact that she has a choice and in the fact that the effectiveness of her actions grows the more she believes in herself and in what she does. In this way, the warrior woman discovers that the most effective weapon in any confrontation with any opponent is herself. Sustained by that psychological force, the warrior woman sharpens new weapons, frequently used by the men, but which are considered by experts in combat techniques to be extremely functional for lightweight fighters. The queen of all of these weapons is the elbow. Elbow strikes executed in fluid rotation, with ease and with the properly hardened and sharp elbows, become human weapons that are able to injure and fracture bones. There is no doubt that a martial, constant and tenacious woman on her journey towards martial training - a path that will take her to a place where she will never gain feel a victim of the events and actions of others, rather she will be the undeniable protagonist of her own life - will discover a new reality: her masculine aggressor that up to now seemed to be an invincible being, is conditioned by his own limits, both physical and psychic. Any aggressor, even those with the strength of a giant or the size of a Sumo fighter, has his weak points: eyes, testicles, throat and so on. When a woman manages to damage just one of these with one simple action she achieves the double in harmful effect on her opponent. The profound and accidental pain caused to one of these weak points causes the sufferer to experience a sudden de-structuring of his entire physical and psychic force. In this way the magic is done: the female victim has not only become a warrior at a precise moment she has also been able to turn around the functions of the confrontation and the aggressor becomes the victim. This is a fundamental fact that women have to learn how to administer with supreme care and intelligence. It is a very interesting matter and worthy of the closer attention we will pay it in the next editions of the magazine.

The power of Martial Art This evolutionary process of the female role that has transformed a woman from victim to active participant in today’s society has come about mainly due to the incorporation of women into the workplace and their participation in certain positions of power. Women have had the opportunity to discover new forms of expression related to their intellectual vivacity. The martial experience allows a woman to find new ways to express her femininity, not only by using intellectual channels, but also physical and emotional ones. This allows the transformation of the female victim into a human being who is capable of expressing herself in a positive and satisfactory manner - favored by the Martial Arts – and it is a much more consistent and durable transformation than that achieved only through intellectual channels.

“There is no doubt that a martial, constant and tenacious woman on her journey towards martial training - a path that will take her to a place where she will never gain feel a victim of the events and actions of others, rather she will be the undeniable protagonist of her own life - will discover a new reality: her masculine aggressor that up to now seemed to be an invincible being, is conditioned by his own limits, both physical and psychic.”

"What beautifies the desert is that it hides a well of water somewhere." Antoine de Saint-Exupery "What we know is a water drop; what we ignore is the ocean.â&#x20AC;? Isaac Newton Flow doesn't mean being sloppy; definitely, water is not so, for it doesn't leave any corner uncovered... it reaches everywhere! As asturian people say, "water has a very fine snout". Unhurried, coupling to the circumstances, water is a metaphor for the persistence and extreme adaptability. It's the paradigm of changing in the form without transforming the essence. Water catalyzes life; without water, the land dries and gets barren; and the fire, without a controller, spreads everywhere and the air, turned into a sandstorm, cannot carry the fertility of the clouds, or the force of the changes. Even iron is wrought by the use of fire in the forges! Water is the cradle of all life, the primary livelihood of both inanimate and animate beings, all of them "bags" of hotter and hotter waters, according to their degree of evolution, and adapted to a change that we accompany, of which we are part, and not guilty, as some would have us believe. The "terminal sin" is the JudeoChristian guilt of environmentalism. Water comforts us, cleanses us, and blesses us. Wet in the rivers of the moment, we swim, fight, wreck... Flowing, adapting to the barriers, going down, not opposing anything, water is the perfect analogy of humility, adaptation and not conflict. The water wins aimlessly; following its nature, it surrounds any obstacle and teaches us how to overcome, but with wisdom, free from wear and tear, without losing sight of the goal. What is a rock on the road, a mountainâ&#x20AC;Ś? Even trapped in between cliffs and narrow passages, water filters, or evaporates if such a thing is not possible; nothing stops its destination. It's been the river of life that has left in my shores these texts, which today I share in book format. And I say "it left" because all authorship is at least confusing, since we are all debtors of those before us, those who inspired and keep inspiring us, of the floating clouds of the collective unconscious, and even, who knows!, of the spirits and the consciousness around us. I can't teach anything because I don't know anything, but for those who wish to hear my poems, here I leave my sincere and truly felt thoughts, every time more felt and less thought, because mind is a deceptive device that sees what it wants to see and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve learned to be suspicious about it.