Martial arts magazine budo international september 2014

"There are only two days in the year in which you cannot do anything. One is called ‘yesterday ’ and the other one ‘tomorrow’. So today is the ideal day for loving, growing, doing and, mainly, living."

Dalai Lama

T

he trap of perception is one of the subterfuges that our mind uses in order to maintain our sense of "reality" and keep the coherence of our personal Universe. To sustain itself, our description of the world needs memory, for without it there can be no learning. And it is precisely good memory the condition that allows the taming of animals like the horse, the elephant, the llama or the camel. In our languages, they are always paradigm of a magnificent memory.

As every organism and entity, the mind has its own mechanisms and tends to hold itself and feed itself to continue to exist; the mind doesn't accept to negate itself, to the point that it tends to not even accept its dysfunctions, lying to itself if necessary.

The mind is essentially a biological piece of junk and feeds on sensations that it frames meticulously into groups of associations; as its tools are extremely entropic, it's in dire need to save energy and, consequently, to simplify whatever it deposits in its archives.

The truth is that what we remember is never what it really happened, not even what we perceived at that time, but a useful summary, in the sense of facilitating the evolutionary function and survival.

For the evolution, memory is a jigger: The thicket pricks: Ouch! ... associated with the emotion of disgust and anger ... therefore, CAUTION... The apple is sweet; my brain gratifies me with endorphins; the stomach stops hurting ... therefore, apple is GOOD. When we remember the apple, we don't recall a specific apple, but a sensation that we associate with the first or last time we ate one that left us a strong imprint.

Deep down, the mind is as simple as a bucket handle, and if today we give it so much importance is because modern man, lacking any acceptable spiritual reference, identifies himself almost exclusively with it. It is amazing the way the "junk picker" of the brain has taken over the central part of the human cultural fact dislocating and twisting everything; but what to expect from a culture that makes of models and their alter ego, the actors, its heroes, while ignoring its sages? Carlos Castaneda already said that one of our biggest vices is that we love to boost our own importance.

Following the vice of associating that every mind has, I've observed that humans split into two types: Those of us who tend to live projected into the future and those who are stuck on the past. The present, however being the only reality in the view of the perceptive, is almost always an unconscious space, a moment reduced to taking data that we don't manage to capture. Thus, life goes unnoticed to us between memories and projects, marked by milestones generally related to subjective dividing lines, vital lines usually linked to an intense emotion associated with joy or pain.

Both biotypes, each in its own way, are somehow unhappy because in the end they live alienated in their fictional realities, absent from here now. Anxious to fulfill their plans, those living forward want to reach their destination and usually miss the details of the road. And those who stay anchored in the yesteryear live their lives stuck to their troubles, or illusory memories, wanting to live again that one unique moment that will never return, while their tears by the setting of the sun prevent them from seeing the wonder of the stars.

"When you'll finally manage to live in the present, you'll be amazed at what you can do and how well you do it.”

Dan Millman "The Peaceful Warrior" Zen sages tried to break that chain by means of sawing the shackles of the mind with unequal fortune, because among them, there were, of course, both types of people; those who pursued something and those who were pursued for something. Nevertheless they left some lights on their way. Recently, in my case for example, the practicing of Kyujutsu like a meditation has permitted me a glimpse of some of them. Emptying yourself of all intention in the results has proven to be much more effective than procuring them.

Two arrows stuck together in an impossible situation finally showed it to me. So...

The bow extended, time stops; past, present and future are one ... the arrow reaches its goal ... but it has not left the bow ... fullness is followed by emptiness ... everything finds its place.

There are moments of peace and quieting, very effective in the daily struggle of the miseries of our minds, but knowing that everydayness is persistent and stubborn and nobody can find any lasting solution in this matter.

I, who confess me being of a "futuristic" nature, have only found an advantage in my perverse and dreamy inclination toward tomorrow, and this has come, not as a result of my virtue, but of the years, because as my horizon of vital projection shortens more and more, I find it easier to appreciate the present moment.

Hedonism, cheating and subterfuge, problem and solution, come inevitably to my aid when I'm more desperate; even a caged monkey knows how to jerk off vehemently... but even the most delicious wine embitters the mouth of the sated.

Beyond symptomatic recipes, humility is the one indispensable starting point in the journey to the here and now. What is small enlarges with the right attitude, and by emptying ourselves we get calm, which in turn allows us to fill ourselves again. The sages of many cultures have given to breathing the key of this process, and no one touching this subject can abstract himself or herself from it.

Nyoity Sakurazawa Osawa had a couple of unforgettable sentences; one of them, straight in its simplicity, read: "Be a little happier every day... increasingly often." Maybe it isn't as transcendent as Za Zen, or it doesn't appear as mysterious, but I think it an interesting proposal for any of the two "temporary alienated" groups.

In the end, only physical pain and joy bring us immediately to the here and now, certainly in very different ways, but equally unavoidable. Manolo Tarazona, my painting teacher, bizarre and unique "crazy cute" wherever they exist, loved do violence to ladies, when in the most elite social gatherings threw one of his witticisms. While people talked about how they liked this or that painter and the pleasure that gave them his art, he, who was a true artist, scoffed at the pretentious when they asked him about it: "What I like most in life is to cum", and then he added, "because then I talk to God on equal terms, that bearded bastard." Poor old Manolo! What a mix of talent and ignorance in his peculiar wisdom. We always miss our teachers when they are gone and it’s because of that that we should also know how to honor them in life...

I can't speak in the first person about the nostalgic biotype, but through observation I found two subtle variants: Those who carry the world on their backs and those who

Alfredo Tucci is General Manager to BUDO INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING CO. e-mail: budo@budointernational.com

deny the present time simply because they long for that past that will never return.

The latter ones are a light version, often reinforced, of the first type, the real and distressed hero.

I know quite well the many miseries of my variant, but the ones of those suffering the opposite are not few either. The past can be a terrible master, a ruthless strangler of any hint of freedom, of every stimuli; and stimuli, be they real or invented, are an essential tool to go on living.

If the donkey and the horse are driven with the stick and the carrot, the functional nostalgic ones tend to only use the stick and forget about the carrot, because if they look at it, they always think of it being bitter rather than sweet. They control themselves by the stick, as we, poor us, lovers of science fiction, addicts of tomorrow, think that if we move quick enough ... we'll get the carrot.

Sure, life plays with us like a bull fighter plays with the bull, stretching out the stick all the time and teaching us continuously until one day we discover that behind every assault of our desires, behind every "pass of the bullfighter's cape"... there’s only air.

Such inclinations define, not in a lesser way, the personalities of both groups. The nostalgic predominantly recognizes the value of the stick, and uses on himself and on the others, with the same zeal as the lover of the future uses and abuses of the carrot, with himself and, it couldn't be otherwise, also with the others. One born pessimistic and the other an exacerbated optimistic, both of them are looking at the same glass, but where the first one of them sees a half empty glass, the second one is seeing a half full glass.

Nostalgic people fasten things tightly, but they hate undertaking new projects because they're always suspecting of everything. As for us futurist people, we possess the push of the one who always wants to go forward, hoping that the valley will be greener behind the next hill, but we are weak with details and planning so we end up exhausted and getting easily lost.

In front of problems, the former seeks solutions in his memories and training, the second in his initiative and versatility. Both of them blind, they hear the siren voices sound from the side of their choice, because we all take shelter in the essential, in the familiar.

There is no other solution for us than realizing what we are and put our own house in order. We spend our life chasing that technique, artifice, or trick that could lessen the negative consequences of our natures, and hold the positive ones that also hoard up in order to avoid the pendulum effect. Like in any good cocktail, the sage will add to the nostalgic some warm drops of the medicine of his opposite and vice versa, knowing, that no matter how much seasoning you add to it, a dish of onion will always be piquant.

Meanwhile, if we live long enough to become truly wise, sooner or later we will finally unmask that impostor, an upstart and junk dealer of consciousness, such is the mind.

We are what we are; yes, but we are also the last defense bastion, the inner child that never dies; the poor little soul that is only deceived to think like others want him to think, to look at all things the way the world wants him to do it... but in a little corner within us, if we seek him, he is there, squatted in his simplicity and only he can resist completely to succumb to the stubborn deceiver.

That's why playing games is the last and imperishable bulwark against the delusions of the pretentious mind. Yes. The https://www.facebook.com/alfredo.tucci.5 only way to beat such compulsive liar is having her entertained, but of course, in a way that it doesn't realize... in other words ... playing.

Virtue doesn't lie in the center, as squeamish people claim, but in the ends conjugated, and in the process of life, such a combination is only possible in one of its ends; when we get old, but full of a rich past (which probably we'll forget continuously), let's remember at least one thing: To play like children.

Never stop playing my friends!

O

ne of the quotes we used to hear Sensei say over and over again was “A Martial Artist is an Artist of Life�. He said it so much I think I still dream about it over and over again at night as I recall his lectures and lessons.

What he was trying to teach us young bucks was that learning the martial arts was not just about learning to beat the hell out of an opponent but rather how to maximize our lives and that the learning never ends.

Now that am older and have come thru many of the stages we travel trough in our training I think I am starting to understand his teachings.

The martial arts is not just about being a superior fighter it is about becoming a superior human being. The battles we face in life are not just in a physical confrontation but also mental and business and in all facets of our life so it is our challenge to overcome any and all these battles and end up as a winner at the end of them.

One of the most important facets is that we must always operate by a code of professionalism and never do anything that takes us outside the boundaries of fair play.

If we can imagine two straight lines about 1 “ apart running parallel from the bottom of the page to the top of a page most of us will bounce between these lines as we go through life trying to stay within them. If we go outside we are breaking the law and this we do not want to do.

The goal of the martial arts is to go in a straight line from the bottom to the top of the page and staying in between these lines. This is very hard to do but this is the goal of the martial artist.

The martial artist works with three maxims of life and these are what I try to use on a daily life: 1. Do my best at everything every day of my life.

2. Work my hardest at everything I do.

3. Never give up. Defeat means you are one step closer to success.

"Vital spot in Taekwon-Do is defined as any sensitive or breakable area on the body vulnerable to an attack. It is essential that the student of Taekwon-Do has a knowledge of the different spots so that he can use the proper attacking or blocking tool.

Indiscriminate attack is to be condemned as it is inefficient and wasteful of energy". - General Choi Hong Hi, ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAEKWONDO, Volume II, page 88. Taekwon-Do is one of the largest and most professional martial arts in the world today, (founded on April 11, 1955, by General Choi Hong Hi, and continues to flourish even after the passing of its founder in June of 2002. Over time the sporting factors took precedence and much was either ignored or discarded in the area of the original self-protection methods. In the original writings of General Choi much of the focus, structure and even the use of the vital points "Kupso", as well as the weapon development to access them, was outlined but never fully taught. Kyusho International has developed a program to enlighten, educate, integrate and develop this incredible Martial Art back to it's founders concepts. This new program has the full support of the founders surviving son Choi Jung Hwa. The focus of this series is to investigate the Patterns (teul), which are performed in accordance with the founders precepts in "The Encyclopedia of TaekwonDo" (an astounding 15 volumes written by General Choi Hong Hi, including his "Vital Spots"). It is through this structure that Kyusho will be initially integrated back into Taekwon-Do. Kyusho International is proud to assist in this monumental and historic collaborative undertaking.

REF.: • KYUSHO20

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. net

Self Defense In our new Avi Nardia Academy DVD produced by Budo Magazine, we teach about the bridge between old school martial arts and modern CQB (close quarters battle).

My experience as a Major in the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) and later as official trainer for Israel's top counter terror unit taught me that cultivation of the warrior mind and spirit must be considered as the priority over simply training the body.

When I look at the current state of combative arts, I see too many students being impressed by the flash and glimmer of so called war heroes and self proclaimed grandmasters.

Some of these “masters” are people who barely survived a few days training with me. Others, I kicked out of the IDF or police academy. Without giving these people any more recognition than they deserve, my goal is to explain to the next generation that a knight in shining armor is a man who has never had his metal truly tested.

In order to provide some perspective, I wanted to develop this DVD to show the bridge between old school martial arts and modern CQB. I want to thank Chris Shabazz, a great Sensei and full contact karate fighter under Sosai Masutatsu Oyama's school of karate for his participation in the filming.

We filmed in Shoshin dojo, which means “beginners mind.” Training in this historic dojo always inspires me to continue with the spirit of “Always a student, sometimes a teacher.”

The following article, by Ken Akiyama, is a primer for viewers of this new DVD. I hope you enjoy the film and thank you for your support.

-Avi Nardia, Founder, Modern KAPAP

Text & Photos: Ken Akiyama & Avi Nardia

Self Defense

Teaching the Old School of Close Quarters Battle hile the original combative focus of many traditional martial arts has been minimized, these arts still hold important lessons that reach far beyond the purely physical dimensions of combat. To survive in the fight of your life, you need much more than muscles and a tattoo.

Furthermore, shiny muscles are basically useless to a teacher who is focused on developing his students.

That's why new learners need to look beyond the shine and shimmer for genuine teachers.

One of the most unique characteristics of Avi Nardia's school of KAPAP is that he developed the system based on extensive experience in the training methods and techniques of old school martial arts. Of course, there are plenty of clubs that haphazardly take ideas from books and the internet and mix them together. However, Avi's

W

“One of the most unique characteristics of Avi Nardia's school of KAPAP is that he developed the system based on extensive experience in the training methods and techniques of old school martial arts.�

Moder n KAPAP is exceptional because it is based on his unique intelligence, charisma and an old school education in the combative arts including: 4th dan in Kodokan Judo, 6th dan in Kendo under Master Kubo Akira, 7th dan in Japanese Jujutsu under Hanshi Patrick McCarthy (also my teacher), and black belt in RCJ Machado BJJ. Factor into this equation, his experience designing the Israeli special forces recruit training program and service as official CQB trainer in Israel's top counter-terrorism unit.

The result is the world's fastest and most intuitive system of self-defense: Avi Nardia's Modern KAPAP. When we look at Avi's system of KAPAP, we see a compelling presentation of martial arts as translated through the lens of the world's top CQB instructor. For all the strengths of TMA (traditional martial arts), there are aspects of TMA training that are either impractical or unfeasible for the average civilian,

police officer, or soldier. As such, Modern KAPAP is partially defined by Avi's genius system for identifying what not to teach as part of KAPAP. Einstein is often credited for having said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.�

Whether Einstein actually said that or not, these wise words aptly explain why so many systems of self-defense will fail under pressure; they are either too simple, or too complicated. Most of our students do not have the time or desire for years of study into esoteric martial arts; they need to develop a good level of skill in a concise manner. Therefore, the biggest secret of Avi Nardia's school of KAPAP has nothing to do with

the techniques. The secret is the mental training and that is why Avi filmed this DVD, to show how old school concepts are used for training modern self-defense and CQB. The samurai knew that mental posture and an indomitable spirit were paramount to success on the battlefield. In the old days, a samurai had to study many arts including horsemanship, swimming, and even writing, music, and culture in order to cultivate an open mind, emotional balance, and of course, t a c t i c a l p ro f i c i e n c y. T h u s , t h e samurai were trained as warriors of mind, body, and spirit; ready to fight in any situation.

Miyamoto Musashi is regarded by many as the greatest swordsman of all time. In his Book of Five Rings (1645), he wrote, “Make your fighting stance your everyday stance.� In budo, fighting posture is known as kamae, and it is a central theme. In fact, the study of old school martial arts is so emphatically centered on kamae that casual onlookers typically misjudge what they are looking at when they witness traditional training. What they do not understand is that the study of physical posture is actually a means for developing posture of the mind and spirit. One of our goals at Avi Nardia Academy is to ensure that these teachings are

not lost like the ancient archery techniques of the Saracen warriors.

The study of history is an abundant source for inspiration and lessons in humility. Let's remember that warfare, CQB and self-defense are not new subjects and over the millennia, mankind has probably forgotten as much as we actually know about these complex subjects. Take for example, the Danish archer who defied modern experts by resurrecting old archery techniques. He studied ancient books and resurrected lost techniques from the Saracen warriors for firing arrows with astonishing speed and accuracy. By

“In this new DVD, filmed in Shoshin dojo, Avi shows the connection between old school budo and modern CQB in several ways.

One demonstration includes the compelling parallels between live sword iaido (sword drawing) and proper handling of a handgun.�

Self Defense

studying the old school, he set “new” world records that were long believed to be impossible and therefor deemed as mythological.

In this new DVD, filmed in Shoshin dojo, Avi shows the connection between old school budo and modern CQB in several ways.

One demonstration includes the compelling parallels between live sword iaido (sword drawing) and proper handling of a handgun.

Firearms may be the latest advent of individual weaponry but they do not escape the timeless wisdom and logic of the old school.

Another integral facet of self-defense training is intelligent body conditioning. On this DVD, Sensei Chris Shabazz demonstrates powerful body conditioning methods with explanations of the benefits and precautions of the exercises while Avi provides an important perspective on being intelligent when choosing training practices.

Many military combative systems tout themselves as being the most “lethal and destructive” Unfortunately, many of those claims might be true, but not in a way that you expect.

Combative and MMA programs are typically designed for men between ages 18-22 who are in top physical condition and have already been prescreened and selected based on outstanding fitness and high-risk personality types. Despite their fitness and enthusiasm, many recruits and students of such programs will sustain injuries that will last them a lifetime. Such injuries may be deemed acceptable in some military programs and sports, but in Avi Nardia Academy, we teach “Safety first, safety last.”

In our school of teaching, high risk training is not necessary in order to develop combat effectiveness for a professional soldier, police officer, or for an office manager who is learning self defense in her free time.

This DVD video is educational, inspiring, and eye opening. I highly recommend the film to practitioners of all styles, old and new. Knowledge is empowering and this production by Budo International will make a great addition to your collection, bringing along with it the spirit of “Sho-shin - Beginner's Mind.”

Every system has its limits and when you need to move from one system to another, you must learn another art and this is what the Kapap tries to avoid. This is Kapap, face to face combat, a bridge among systems. Its founder coined a phrase whose concept is widely used by other traditional martial arts styles: "Don't carry a weapon, be yourself the weapon." If your mind, your spirit and your body are the weapon, then you will be a weapon that will be equally effective when you carry a weapon. This "Avi Nardia Academy" DVD discusses the connection between the "old school" martial arts and the modern CQB (Close Quarters Battle).

His experience as a commander in the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) and official coach of the main Israeli antiterrorist unit, taught Nardia that cultivating the warrior's mind and spirit must be considered a priority over the simple body workout.

Among other things, we will study gun safety as well as the convincing parallelism between Iaido and the proper firearm handling. Firearms are the ultimate in single weaponry, but do not escape the eternal wisdom and logic of the old school. Exercises adapted from the BJJ, disarming methods and intelligent body training using special exercises, with explanations of its benefits and precautions. An educational, inspiring, and revealing DVD, recommended to practitioners of all styles, both ancient and modern. davidgramage@gmail.com

REF.: • KAPAP8

"Those who are skilled in the art of preparing the defense consider essential to rely on the strength of obstacles, such as mountains, rivers or ground undulations. They do it so that the enemy does not know where to attack. They lock themselves under the ground with nine folds. Those who are experts in the art of attack consider essential counting on the seasons and the ground advantages; they use floods or fire, depending on the circumstances. They do it so that the enemy does not know how to prepare.

They launch an attack like a lightning emerged from the ninth heaven..."

TU YU This small excerpt of an ancient Chinese poet, that some people may find lacking sense from the view of the current Martial Arts, is proof that often the "old" never gets out of fashion.

There is a general tendency to discredit everything we qualify as classic or antique.

Immersed as we are in the fashion of MMA and Combat Sports that are living a second (or third) youth that led to television and the big American stadiums and Japan consumers of the YYMM business show, if there is any objection to raise is precisely that.

These vogues do not generate practitioners and, instead, what they are creating is a large mass of MMA

video game buyers or "pay per view" consumers on Saturday nights at American chains.

In many articles I have discussed the benefits of MMA and contact sports, of which I declare myself a faithful fan, recognizing the enormous benefit they've generated to the "traditional" Martial Many have "come down to earth" and have been forced to revise their systems start to finish in order to analyze them from a more pragmatic point of view asking themselves if they were training the right way and if their approach to the techniques and ideas was what it should be. MMA have brought back to earth many who were in limbo. And this is really good for all combat arts. But we must never confuse, mix or compare things that, as I said in my column a few months ago, are "WATER AND OIL".

In the era of dominance of Mixed Martial Arts, is inevitable that many classical systems look "askance" what is happening in the panorama of contact sports and the famous MMA. Much too often, we tend to confuse terms and concepts that have little to do with each other and we end up debating or comparing things that simply can't be likened because they belong to different scenarios.

Nevertheless, it's also true that there are some elements in contact sports, especially in the world of BJJ and

“For some people unfamiliar with the so-called "classic" Martial Arts is really easy to affirm how worthless and useless seem the classical systems when compared to MMA.�

“Our obligation as teachers and heirs to a centuries-old tradition is that of promoting the COMPLETE.�

Grappling, which are very interesting if we are to enhance the classical systems and achieve greater EFFICIENCY. For some people unfamiliar with the so-called "classic" Martial Arts is really easy to affirm how worthless and useless seem the classical systems when compared to MMA. Although I referred to this in a column a few months ago, it is quite curious the models commonly used in such comparisons. When one of these "pundits" wants to compare old and new, often chooses a humble teacher of a small school (usually a family man who, out of pure passion, takes two or three classes a week), to liken him with one of the monsters of the MMA, like Vanderlei Silva or Fedor Emedianenco, who devote body and soul to the fight because mediate hundreds of thousands of euros besides advertising contracts, television, etc. With such scenario the comparison is really stupid. As stupid as asserting that all practitioners of Mixed Martial Arts and Contact Sports are similar to these great UFC figures.

In the era of all or nothing, of usable or unusable without the possibility of a middle term, it's hard to find people who are able to see that the essence of TAO lies right in the center. Placing ourselves on that midpoint where we can practice one or another trend, but with the comfort of knowing that we

can learn from either side if we look closely, can provide us a good starting point to achieve our goals.

Today I'd like to refer to one of my favorite sports, which I practice humbly, but passionately. It has enriched me greatly as a devotee of Martial Arts and as a person who enjoys practicing a fighting sport: I'm talking about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. It's now just over a year that I met my teacher, Jair Correa de Magallaes (Faixa Preta 2nd Dan), and founder of the Blakz Team BJJ. Although I must admit that as a fanatic practitioner of WingTsun, at the beginning I didn't have too much interest in that world, the more I practiced this "gentle art", the better I understood many of the advanced techniques of Wing Chun Kuen. Curious, isn't it?

In Wing Tsun, we use the Chi Sao (and Chi Gerk) as the soul of the system, which is based on the use of the "stickiness" to inhibit, direct and harness the power of the adversary.

The facto of being close to the opponent gives us a significant advantage when the moment comes, and therefore we dedicate many hours of our practice to it. But it is curious to observe the way many Wing Tsun practitioners move their arms (or legs) simulating some sequences of action and reaction without putting actually into practice the idea of stickiness. In fact, many practitioners "push" the arms of the adversary...

Wing Tsun When I met Jair Correa, my BJJ teacher, what surprised me most of his way of fighting was his imposing ability to use his legs as guard, and the way he carried to an extreme his capacity to keep stuck with his legs to an adversary who was trying to "pass his guard". Softness, fluidity and coordination, all in one… I thought: "This is PURE CHI SAO (Chi Gerk)".

Then I started to get interested in a system that in just 80 years has achieved a level of development that can only be described as stunning!!

The main difference in the BJJ training method in front of other more classic fighting systems lies precisely in the "how" it trains.

Let's see in depth why: - The roles of both practitioners (the one who passes the guard and the one who holds the guard) are fully defined.

- The practitioner works out thoroughly his technique fitting it to his needs (competitive or BJJ Martial Art) and he only adds new techniques or skills when he has fully entrenched the knowledge of the basic techniques. He adds to what he already has! He DOESN'T PILE UP techniques, drills or sections that he scarcely dominates and, most important, he doesn't even understand (in the vast majority of cases).

These two points have generated an evolution in our system that is worthy studying and causes admiration in many Martial Arts practitioners. If we now look to our beloved system ... There are two main ways to learning or practicing Wing Tsun, depending on the branch or lineage from which one proceeds. But trying to sum it up and in order to understand what I mean in today's article, we will say that there are: 1.- Schools that teach the system in a gradual way by means of "school subjects" and take a long time to complete the system.

2. - Schools with an instruction program not so well structured, that teach without any type of limitations (rapid learning of the system), and later have to use their time so as to improve what they've learnt.

In both cases, the main problem of our system, in my opinion, is that the style does not implement on the basis of what is already mastered. That is, a person will learn forms, techniques and exercises that he or she will be practicing for shorter or longer periods of time. And when the instructor on duty sees an improvement in the understanding of the exercise, the student is given the next tool. But we are skipping one "small detail": in our system, we are not able to apply in sparring combat

“The main difference in the BJJ training method in front of other more classic fighting systems lies precisely in the "how" it trains.”

Wing Tsun

“What would happen if we endowed the practitioner of technical knowledge, understanding of the techniques to be developed and the obligation of consolidating all these points before adding anything to his or her arsenal?� each one of the ideas that we are implementing.

the guard and the other holds the guard).

The point is that it is very difficult to master and understand many of the ideas in this system because it lacks the most important feature of fighting, i.e., the fight itself! You grow in the technical mastery and knowledge of drills, but the mastery of a fighting capacity is rarely tested, since combat is hardly practiced in the vast majority of schools in WingTsun.

This is the link with the verse that heads our article this month ... If we look at the ancient teaching we will see that this aspect that I'm defining is absolutely necessary for the true evolution. In the little poem that I show on the beginning of the column and that can be found in some versions of the "Art of War", Sun Tzu perfectly reflects this idea, which, on the other hand, is simply that of impregnating all technical and strategic practice with the "yin yang" concept.

In the world of grappling (BJJ and others) every single class ends with a sparring practice.

Thus the fight itself is the driver and the testing field of ideas and techniques of the style. These aspects made ? me think about how to train and focus my practice, so I made up my mind to launch some changes in the way to train. At first it was just an idea, but I've already started to make it a reality in practice. Two years ago we decided to introduce some changes in our training method in order to achieve a substantial improvement in the quality of the students.

I wonder aloud: what would happen if we endowed the practitioner of technical knowledge, understanding of the techniques to be developed and the obligation of consolidating all these points before adding anything to his or her arsenal?

What if we demanded the highest technical perfection from both practitioners by defining perfectly their roles and forgetting all about the concept of one making the other work, and have them train in a technical fight? (one passes

Again I bring to the center of attention the need to the practice of an art as WingTsun, together with details that are completely inseparable from practice: traditional Chinese culture, philosophy, strategy of the Art of War, knowledge of Chinese medicine, etc.

Our obligation as teachers and heirs to a centuries-old tradition is that of promoting the COMPLETE practice and study of this art for several reasons. We could cite quite a few, but there is one that stands above them all: We practice WingTsun (and Martial Arts in general) because is GOOD. Because it does good to the one who practices it, because it creates bridges among people, and because it instills values in the students that start in the way of Chinese Martial Arts.

The practice of a life art...

Wing Tsun.

Sifu Salvador SĂĄnchezFounder of TAOWS Academy

Eskrima Filipino Martial Arts Eskrima is a Filipino martial art that is becoming increasingly popular, as more and more people recognize the completeness of it. The use of weapons in this art is common but unarmed combat is at least as important in Eskrima. In SCS unarmed combat we use the name Pangamot for unarmed combat.

About SCS Over 30 years, Frans Stroeven developed new insights and new concepts and techniques within Eskrima.

Frans Stroeven started Eskrima under Grand Master Bill Newman now he is one of the leading experts in the world of Filipino martial arts. When you talk about Eskrima, you are thinking of Dan Inosanto, Cacoy Canete and Frans Stroeven who have played a major role in spreading the art across the European Continent. Frans Stroeven is averse to titles, or degrees and has a strong opinion about the use of both. He thinks that are used for a more commercial purpose nowadays and have nothing to do with experience or skills.

Frans: 'I am a simple man who loves Eskrima, I eat and breathe Eskrima, no more no less'. Frans does not want to be called Grandmaster, he prefers to just be called Frans. This mentality makes the style more accessible because Frans himself is a very accessible individual.

This explains the strong learning curve of his students. Learning Eskrima in the SCS system means you can lear n the important basics of Eskrima. But more important is the focus on development of new combinations and techniques. While SCS is strongly influenced by the original Eskrima but is supplemented by the European mindset and training methods.

SCS is therefore a living style a constantly developing system. The organization has this goal and was born for one purpose only: spreading Eskrima and the to get the world acquainted with the Eskrima developed by Frans.

“Over 30 years, Frans Stroeven developed new insights and new concepts and techniques within Eskrima.�

Eskrima

Dutch School The Dutch school. Does it exist? Yes it does. The Dutch are formidable fighters. In kick boxing we are at the top of the world. Think of Peter Aarts, Remy Bonjasky, Ernesto Hoost four -time winner of the K1! and Sem Schilt who did the same. Think of Anton Geesink who won as a first non- Japanese a gold medal at the Olympics in judo, beating his Japanese opponent. The main reason for the success of the Dutch school is the fighting mentality. The Dutch are resourceful, not only

copying techniques but developing their own techniques and training methods. The Dutch school is not focused on traditions, but focuses on winning concepts and techniques. In Eskrima it is no different. Frans always says that we are not a museum.

In a book on Ernesto Hoost, the author talks about the throwing punches and punching combinations. When

and keep hitting. One can say that aggressiveness is in the DNA of SCS.

throwing punches and moving forward during an attack it is important to get your opponent out of position and off balance. In this way, countering an attack becomes difficult.

When blocking one does not step back, otherwise you have to step forward again to close the distance to your opponent. This is typically Dutch thinking; Hit your opponent as fast and as hard as possible. In SCS this way of thinking is taken to a whole new level. Blocking is considered negative, it is a negative thought. Of course in SCS blocking is taught to new students but advanced students will have to focus on direct attacks. First attack then block. In order to carry out these principles properly, you have to meet certain requirements. Understanding body language, footwork, the purpose of hitting very hard

and the body. In SCS contact is normal. Even novices will experience contact in their first lesson. Only in this way you can work realistic and safe. This way of training has great benefits. First the student learns to hit the specified target. Second, pupils get more control over the stick and knife. Third, students get a better overview of making counterattacks and disarming techniques and executing locks. Fourth, and finally the students power increases and become more resilient. At seminars experienced students who do not have this kind of combat training, shrink when the body comes into contact with a stick or knife. They are not used to making contact and it hurts. In SCS training begins with light body contact. More experienced students are accustomed to getting blows against the body. In this

Mental and Spiritual Training Full contact training is very important in SCS. In most Eskrima styles there is no contact between the weapon

Eskrima way, it can be a very realistic training and all techniques and principles are applied in a very aggressive and realistic way.

Zoning What is zoning and what is its purpose?

During seminars Frans gets asked this question often. He explains that zoning is an important component in Eskrima but is often misunderstood or misrepresented. When Frans gave a demo in Cebu and many were watching, amongst them was Dionie Canete. And when he performed his demo, Canete shouted towards Frans: Do not watch your opponent but watch the women in the crowd!. Frans explained that he understood what Canete meant by it; in zoning it is important that the attack is the defense as well.

When attacking in a certain way, you know what you opponent will do and what his counterattack will be.

Using zoning for example is countering the first attack of your opponent and at the same time controlling his right stick, your opponent can only counter again with his left. But this does not matter because you counter attack and your control will automatically block this new attack(with left) at

“The SCS student is taught to push his opponent in the defense and to keep the pressure on.�

the same time. That is zoning, zoning is the essence of controlling the fight, by having insight in the logical sequence of body movements and anticipating them.

Winning mood The will to win is very important in SCS. The SCS student is taught to push his opponent in the defense and to keep the pressure on. The requires a mindset that is focused and determined on winning. SCS wants their students to feel and search within themselves for that feeling of intense aggression and translate this aggression to controlled aggression. Frans: 'the true meaning of the use of forward energy in attacking your opponent lies in the concept of controlled aggression, attacks must be performed fast and hard'.

Weapons in SCS In the SCS , we actually use anything as a weapon, it does not really matter what kind of weapon. If one mastered stick and knife, any other weapon can be used.

Frans: 'weapons are not for playing. We train on the realistic use of weapons, stick, knife, karambit, tonfa, ax, pocket stick and swords. These are the standard weapons that we use. As I mentioned earlier, if you understand stick and knife you can use anything as a weapon and you don't need additional training. When it comes to knife fighting, SCS provides a whole knife fighting system. Only if you master the knife, can you successfully defend against a knife. This is a high held belief in SCS. Knife fighting forms a strong basis for the use of other weapons, that's why it is has such a high standard. The World Knife Fight System (WKFS) as part of SCS is nowadays widely spread among martial artists. But also among the world Special Forces. The use of knife handling, drills, disarming techniques with and without holding a knife yourself, knife grappling, knife grappling on the ground and also the use and handling of different knives are taught within the system.'

Mentality in knife fighting Knife fighting is an indispensible part of selfdefense but it is more than that. Knife fighting is and will remain a very dangerous element in which life and death lay close together. The knife fight remains

dangerous even for an expert. Even controlled high level knife fighting knows a high risk of getting hurt. You will have to accept that blood will flow in a real fight, no matter how experienced you are. Accepting this will give you a huge advantage.

Pangamot Pangamot in the SCS is hard realistic and has a strong focus of self defense pangamot. It means 'total combat', everything is permitted in Filipino street fighting. The victory is central. The Philippine unarmed combat style is also called 'Panantukan', 'Panajakman' or 'Mano Mano'. But Pangamot in SCS goes much further. Dirty boxing , figure 8 concept , filipino trapping, tapi tapi , knife concept , banga banga , espada y daga , anti dumog , drain and trap , lacoste trapping, elbows and headbutts , sensitivity drills , higot hubad , lock and flow , low line kicking and fight mentality are some elements and principles that are trained in the SCS Pangamot

Street mentality SCS wants to keep the combat and street mentality. SCS students are not perfect boxers, not perfect kick boxers or grapplers. Students learn not to box with a boxer or to go with a grappler towards the ground. In SCS the principle of antiboxing, anti grappling, etc. is used.

Basically everything that is forbidden in boxing , kick boxing and other martial arts is done in SCS. Biting, hair pulling, pinching, crotch, go to the throat, eyes, etc. real dirty. The purpose of the SCS is to be an all-round fighter. Very often a fight starts with some pushing and shoving and finish with wild banging beats. In fighting with weapons one should not underestimate the sudden use of concealed weapons.

Unique Style The SCS of Frans Stroeven as a unique fighting style, developed for the street and for combat situations is becoming more and more creative. New concepts and techniques are invented, there no time for stagnation. If you want to SCS in action? Google Frans Stroeven and you will find him on youtube. Check it out yourself, you will certainly not regret it.

He welcome you in his world in the world of eskrima.

You can contact him to info@scseskrima.com or visit his website www.scseskrima.com and www.knifefightsystem.com

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he KMRED group was created by C h r i s t i a n W i l m o u t h , F a u s t i n o Hernandez, Dan Zahdour and Jerome Lydoine. This group does not aim to be a federation of Krav Maga, but just a group of instructors and professionals passionate about self-defense and combat sports who work on a common technical program.

In fact, the historical clubs of the KMRED group present in France are affiliated to the FFKDA, the delegated federation of Krav Maga in this country. Thanks to the strength of the latter, which is carrying out a great job in presenting the Krav Maga to more people, the group KMRED has been able to thrive in France. This also occurs with the clubs we have in Denmark. In fact, all the local organizations where the Krav Maga Research, Evolution and Development system is practiced are associated to the official federal agencies.

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he KMRED group's goal is not finding or opening new clubs. Sometimes, however, certain groups or people want to join our school. In this case, we receive them with open arms, provided that passion is what really moves them and they share the values?? we defend. Also, the groups or clubs must comply with a letter in which they are asked to join the formal organizations with which we work.

We therefore decided, through this article, to introduce the "historic" clubs of the KMRED group and the current instructors and assistants who are teaching our program.

he first two clubs that emerged were the KMRED club, in Dax, Landes (France), and the KMRED Ustaritz/Bayonne club in the Basque Country (France).

These two clubs gather to date more than 200 students and a team of a dozen instructors and assistants headed by two co-founders of the Krav Maga Research Evolution and Development: Christian Wilmouth and Faustino Hernรกndez.

The third club to join KMRED was the Mouguerre club, which is also located in the Basque Country (France) and is directed by Serge Michelena. This club receives about 50 practitioners.

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he fourth entity is present in Denmark, Copenhagen, and is masterfully directed by Dan Zahdour, also cofounder of our school and a prominent member of government services in that country for many years, who has surrounded himself with assistants of an unquestionable credibility, leading many professionals to attend these courses looking for a realistic approach, tailored to their needs.

Soon after, another center specialized in martial arts and combat sports, whose chief instructor is called Michael Delaporte, joined our group to become the fifth team that started this great adventure. Nowadays, with over one hundred students and two fervent assistants, Michael keeps on sharing his passion in his center of Coarraze Nay, in BĂŠarn (France).

Also, a few months ago, professional reasons took a KMRED instructor to settle on the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean (France). There, Jean François Lebian decided to spread the teachings of our school.

Finally, a talented young man who for years took the time and the needed resources to form himself in the Dax center under the direction of Christian Wilmouth, after graduating as a KMRED instructor, decided to open a section of Krav Maga Research Evolution and Development in the "Picardie" region, near the town of Compiegne. No doubt, success awaits Yohan de Castro.

Through all these clubs and their teachers, the group gives Krav Maga classes throughout the year, but it also organizes numerous courses and specialized trainings. So, after a seminar in Copenhagen (Denmark) in June, followed by an intensive three-day seminar in Dax (France) and another course for a special military unit in July, Christian Wilmouth will conduct a seminar in September on the islands of Reunion and Mauritius.

In conclusion, in this month of September 2014, the KMRED group wishes a very good season to all the clubs that are fans of martial arts and combat sports.

Vital Points

Kyusho vs. Dim Mak Dim Mak / Dian Xue: (Death Touch or Delayed Death Touch) Kyusho: (Vital Point) Although it appears they may be the same to the novice, (most people working with either name classification claim they are the same and use pressure points), as they both attack vital areas, they are very different... in their modern adaptions. In fact modern Kyusho is very far removed from the original and can no longer therefore be associated with Dim Mak / Dian Xue, as they are now so vastly different.

This is based on many reasons and more importantly experiential findings from extensive research, both physically and scientifically. As Budo International has documented the progression from the old and incorrect paradigms of TCM, we now delve even deeper into the old true ways and actually resurrect the medical and scientific application that was documented, not a new conception based on lack of research and validation. These illustrations were taken from the manual on killing by Seiko Fujita (https://www.kyusho.com/seiko-fujita/ ) with charts from over 30 other schools. None used the

Vital Points

acupuncture points as names, nor were they used in any way.

These depicted the deeper anatomical structures of the human body and how to injure with them. Syournzi style clearly states "There are 365 points in the human body, and 360 points of them are used for cauterization, 26 attack points and 24 closing points are used in Syournzi style". See that only 26 targets to attack and 24 to close... leaving the rest out as healing "points" (acupuncture) and differentiated from the attack points.

So how and why are these two skills different: First and foremost as killing the opponent was the main objective in past disciplines, the moder n Kyusho is geared only toward dysfunction up to and including unconsciousness. Even the names tell a differing story as there is no concept of death or killing in the Kyusho kanji or terminology. There is also a quest in Kyusho for instant reaction, something that is far removed from the concept of the delayed terminology or methodologies. So what is the determining factor that separates these two into their own entity (not to be confused as the same)?

Vital Points

“As Budo International has documented the progression from the old and incorrect paradigms of TCM, we now delve even deeper into the old true ways and actually resurrect the medical and scientific application that was documented, not a new conception based on lack of research and validation�

First neither are the based on acupuncture points... this is important as many people are misled or believe that this is the case, but it is simply not the true mechanism behind either... please see earlier articles (http://www.kyusho.com/no-point/), which will explain this aspect in greater detail. It is not based on Chi, elements, cycles or other Traditional Chinese Medical paradigms. Meridians and cycles are a man-made model designed to explain a working theory and method of instruction, not a physiological structure of the human anatomy.

Some believe that it is as simple as one attacking nerve and one is attacking blood vessels, which in part is true but far from the whole story or warrant. A simple idea to think of; Dim Mak takes a certain time to cause it's dysfunctions and ultimate goal, whereas Kyusho is instant... so that alone tells you it is different in structure and therefore delivery to accomplish.

Reading the old writings or claims of effect and transposing them on modern practices is not viable or correct as they have diverged from each other significantly and the future will see even more divergence. This is not to say it is good or bad, but just to let the reader know and understand what is occurring.

As we could suspect, they are both skills are attacks on the physiological processes and functionality but there are several layers of these and although all overlap or influence each other in some aspect, they do not control them. One in fact is actually targeting the bodies innate protections and is in part working to protect the other functions and physiology. So using the both names under the same training is simply incorrect, if serious training is desired, the instructor needs to be questioned as to the similarities, differences and correlations to ascertain if they really know one, both or really neither in depth. But more important than talk is action, can they do it, can they show it and can they then teach it. And even more vital is can they safely work it or correct what they do so serious or lasting health issues do not evolve!

Vital Points

“I will say in my opinion, in our modern society that Dim Mak is not the best model for selfprotection, Kyusho is far more applicable, instant and nondamaging or life threatening�

For clarity we will use the nerve attacks of Kyusho and the blood attacks (the entry level) of Dim Mak in comparison to illustrate the differences and divergences. This again is only a small glimpse of the skills and not a comprehensive description as it would take multiple volumes to do so, instead this is a simplified description for your clarity of understanding.

For Kyusho when the nerve is attacked there is an instant reaction that is designed to protect the body by tightening the muscles, loosening the joints, withdrawing from the attack in an instantaneous reaction (Reflex) and several other reflexive protections. These protective measures seek to provide normal stasis and life sustaining functions.

When attacking the nerve we can realize the difference even from outward appearances as we see very quick reaction, falling, stiffening of the body or even the appearance that the recipient jumps to the ground. The revival is instant and there are so side effects that last for long time spans when administered correctly as is the case in the Dim Mak blood attack.

Using Dim Mak, when the blood is attacked via strikes or compression to the vascular tissue, the blood pressure drops quickly to avoid more adverse effect on the body. This causes several observable as well as felt responses that we can ascertain even visually what has occurred. These observable traits are a delayed affect with a fading or slow weakening of the body as it falls limp to the floor. The depth of the attack is seen as when you lift the head of the felled individual even if seemingly awake on the floor (although not capable of coherent thought or body control) with symptoms such as nausea, cold sweats and skin discolorations. Also observable is when they are lifted to revive, they pass out again as their blood pressure is again affected. This affect lasts for much longer than when the nerve is attacked and the recipient is not able to get back into the practice readily, with deeper attacks and or affect the individual will feel the symptoms for a week or two.

This is a very complex process and requires several types of restorative methods for the varying structure, use and results. It also requires a great deal of patience, additional training for access by hand or foot and controlled restraint. It must also be note that the revival processes are very different and the Nerve revival will not help the recipient, in fact the positioning to even perform it will worsen the effect on them. So there is so much more that people

Vital Points

“Which model or skill you choose is dependent on your personal goals.

They can also be studied in conjunction with each other� tend to ignore or negate when naming a process they work... we must (as torch bearers for the art), make sure we are accurate in description, potent in application and conscientious in passing correct information for our future generations.

I will say in my opinion, in our modern society that Dim Mak is not the best model for selfprotection, Kyusho is far more applicable, instant and nondamaging or life threatening. However both must be studied (if only for historical record and perspective), to gain full worth of either. Of course one can realize great skill in Kyusho without ever studying older original aspects of Dim Mak, however after studying the Dim Mak both separately and in correlation with Kyusho, significant new understanding and capabilities are possible.

Also to fully appreciate the old forms (from historical as well as practical use), one must understand these differences.

Reading Kyusho into these forms is incredibly beneficial and helps the practitioner develop more in line with the original way, but to fully appreciate and understand them we must go back to the original intent... and that is not modern Kyusho. However Kyusho is faster and safer to use and requiring less skill to access & and therefore the better self-protection skill for our modern times.

Which model or skill you choose is dependent on your personal goals. They can also be studied in conjunction with each other, (just please first know the full ramifications and especially the restorative measures).

The term “Self Defense” has a negative connotation that from the start can yield failure for the user. The problem is that this label already portrays in the mindset that the individual is a victim of a violent act or aggression and that the practitioner should perform a defensive action. This premise of acting after the fact is why most people succumb to the aggressors’ actions and never fully recover from the initial attack or fear inducing situation. The Woman must not become defensive; she must be aware of her situation and not dismiss or ignore possible threat. She must become proactive and gain the initiative and momentum while forcing confusion in the attackers’ mindset to have a possibility of advantage. Kyusho Self Protection is a vital training process that deals in the realities of an attack. It is simple yet powerful training process that enables the smaller, weaker, slower or older less aggressive individual a chance against the larger, stronger, more aggressive and potentially crazy attacker. By using the weaker anatomical targets of the body in conjunction with your own natural body actions and tendencies you can easily protect yourself or others, even under the stress and physical limitations when your adrenaline kicks in. And by working in a stepped and progressive manner with your own gross motor skills (instead of someone else’s techniques), your chances victory are eminent. And by working in a stepped and progressive manner with your own gross motor skills (instead of someone else’s techniques), your chances victory are eminent.

REF.: • KYUSHO-21

Iaijutsu - about functionality, heaven and hell...! lder teachers are clear when they claim that a technique should work. But what does “work� mean? How would it be within the concept of Iaijutsu?

Every technique has an effectiveness that initiates in the thinking and, from there, it indicates that the body should proceed so that the command can be fully realized. However, according to this way of thinking in effectiveness, there are two points to consider: speed or strategy? Although they indeed complement each other, we need to clearly separate these two aspects.

Speed ??is the center of the reality in front of danger, it must be accompanied by a hard workout of intense development of inner strength, which will manifest at the time of the cuts making them clean and efficient empirical!

Strategy, in turn, is the gateway to the enemy's defenses, the necessary tool to ensure all movements in a realistic view, unlike the forms practiced in Kata, the art of creating heaven and hell in one moment. It simply happens that: The human subconscious has recorded the harshly lived past and now restores it with the impressions generated by itself, in this form of instinctive terror. The best strategies were developed in order to ensure victory, some even got to train with kimonos of different colors in the belief that these would influence their soul and spirit. If we look at it under the historical and anthropological prism, in fact, it is in that degraded biological past where the Japanese people have sought those demonic figures of which they

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believe the hell is populated, reconstructing the environment in which such demons move. And from there, the various terms related to Kata that mostly had poetic names. A friend who saw a movie titled "The Hidden Blade", asked me about this nomenclature, since in the film they use the term "devil's claw".

In this analogy with the swordsmanship which is practiced in reality, devils are indeed extremely degraded beings, pre-human monsters, furry, with tail, claws, horns, like animals: ferocious beings, capable of every possible cruelty. But this was scarcely the state of the primitive man, defenseless and at the mercy of wild animals and natural phenomena on a planet that still was the theater of the chaotic triggering of primitive forces. It means that the Swordsman was forced to become fierce to the point of transforming his spirit and then return to the previous purity.

Masters explained that the earth located underneath, field of so many struggles, locked up many deadly dangers. From heaven on top, arrived the light and heat that brought life. Beneath, pain; above, joy. The transition from the lower to the upper level provided the image and molded the idea of the path that rises from hell to paradise. Thus evolution was conceived as a process of redemption, which means liberation from low matter and its sorrows, to conquer the happiness from heaven. Hell was thought of as something that must be located under, encased in the dark and fiery bowels of the earth, while paradise was conceived as placed at the top, populated by free and winged beings, in the luminous spaces of the sky; considering that the Japanese spiritual universe is

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“Once the Hara is contracted, we close our eyes to feel the inner energy and travel through it in the elaboration of the movement in our mind.”

seen in an orthodox and vertical way.

There were many schools that kept terms in their secret techniques indicating this parallelism.

The great master of the art of the sword should be able to cut his opponent's soul; figuratively, this means to descend into hell and go up to heaven ... Extreme power!

I promised a dear friend, a Master of Shindo Muso Ryu, that I would write about it and so I do, in depth, out of respect for his competence and his person.

Chisai... a Japanese term that means “small”. Within the comprehension, the line that crosses the moment in which the mind is alone; the moment it seeks the explanation of the moment, of the truth that drives to draw the sword; the courage that makes the blade leaves the Saya.

This is a state of solitude, of expansion and retraction! If the mind is not completely alone, there's no releasing of the moment, body or spirit, of the truths and non-truths ... only when the mind is able to shake off all influences and interferences, only when it manages to be completely alone, independent, without company, free from any influence of the enemy that exists only in our mind... Free from the expectancy of the certain and the uncertain; free from the best strategy to be used! Indeed, in this state there's no strategy, there's no void, there's no moment. We dive into the emptiness of the uncertainty of combat, of the real and living sword. Only in that state of loneliness there's liberation of the mind; only then the sword becomes

dangerous, alive... tenacious! However, this state of loneliness is not comprehensible for a mediocre mind that only repeats the gestures of the master; the mind is exercised in an activity, in the technique, in the way of doing something. There's no style, there's no path!

For the young sword, scarcely remains the doubt in front of the Metsuke; he doubts about where to find perfection.

For the wiser ones, the whole state regarding the Metsuke comes from the fact of how we define what perfection is.

However, we have said, on the journey that the mind makes in the moment of understanding, those who lived in a hierarchical system - Samurais - were free.

Would it be then everything imprisoned in the Hara? For the one who studies the Haragei, Metsuke and Hara are intimately linked. The stomach is parallel to the Hara, which brings us back to the doubt of this great friend of mine: the depth found between the acquired food and the Metsuke.

The stomach is perfect with respect to its digestive function; and so is the heart by virtue of its function in the circulatory system. In addition to this individual perfection, they indirectly participate in the full perfection of the body through the harmonious functioning of the whole...

This is the point we seek when we close our eyes, the stammering of our words in communion with the whole!

The answer is simple: for the Metsuke, the stomach is the symbol of the ego; in the way of

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“As soon as we close our eyes and feel all the energy of the body in a single instant of the Metsuke, we perceive a small interval of time between the opening of our eyes and the beginning of drawing the sword.�

the sword, egocentricity is understood as the concept of freedom and separation.

Instead, love, conscience, freeing the mind when you carry out the movement, represents the union, the master. It is the strength that rebalances the sidedness of egocentrism.

If it weren't so, the original technique would be an unbalanced unit.

But according to the student's understanding, what would it be perfection in the way of the sword? I say that, while we believe that perfection lies in the balance between two opposite and complementary forces, we cannot curtail the isolated manifestation of either of these two forces. So, in a perfect system, it's the right of the mind, of the consciousness, the eyes that close and seek to see with the eyes of soul, the practice and the use of attributes. If the balance was decisive, there would be no freedom or feeling, and thus the System would be a slavish imposition. Metsuke, by contrast, means freedom ... freedom of the mind and of the heart, freedom of self.

It's simple, close your eyes! See what exists in your consciousness at this moment. Perceive the real positioning of your sword. That is where your awareness of your inner sword as technical demonstration settles, and not in your material sword. The sword itself is only the object that represents the necessary tool for a war

practice.

However, motionless, forgotten or left somewhere, is harmless! The duality between the imaginative and the real becomes the point of interaction in the dissolution of the ego, of the importance of the object that it replaces - for laymen, the process that manipulates it.

In the way of the sword, when seeking, when observing from the inside out, from the "Tsuka" to the "Kisaki", is the axis that provides this searching-consciousness, the axis that promotes the technical development; the eye that seeks and the mind that is sought; therefore, duality.

And what can we find within the broad sense that establishes the way when the sword is abandoned? What kind of "I" is the seeker?

Unsheathing a sword means expressing a wish.

However, seen at the "Jutsu" level, it expresses a search for the real and immediate, in the moment when consciousness expands and we open our truths to look face to face at the manifestation of emotions. We know that it might be dangerous to act under these influences, even if we don't have enough strength or clarity to abstain.

We need to learn the art of breathing, of inhaling and exhaling, stopping whatever we are doing and stilling our emotions... to make boil the whole and then make it stop!

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It is in the highest state of spirituality that we find the development of the creative powers, in the manifestations of the individual Nature of each one!

But let's see it in another way As soon as we close our eyes and feel all the energy of the body in a single instant of the Metsuke, we perceive a small interval of time between the opening of our eyes and the beginning of drawing the sword.

It's of this little moment that we'll talk now.

Once the Hara is contracted, we close our eyes to feel the inner energy and travel through it in the elaboration of the movement in our mind. At this point we begin a long way of the flow of the Hara energy, until it explodes in the form of movement. The path traveled by the energy is called "Choo Shuu Dou" - which in Japanese would be the same as concentration - the road that leads the strength in concentration. Many Tatsujin specialists - say it is possible to feel the inner strength traveling this route before becoming Nuki (unsheathing) or Kiri (cut).

In this unique moment between the opening of the eyes and the wielding of the sword, we totally reject the external authority, understanding that this authority is one of the causes of the disorder. Through Metsuke we dissolve the doubt, fear and suspicion, and in a single motion, everything will be decided. Without this inner freedom before drawing the sword, the person accepts, obeys, essentially because he is afraid afraid of not achieving his purposes, to err in the road, in the unsheathing, in the cut, etc.

Thus the interval, the space, which is the time existing between the person and the sword, disappears and the person is directly in touch with the fact; there only exists the fact and there's no person as an observer of the event. Several things happen in this process: the conflict is completely eliminated when the observer is the observed (because then the observer is fear itself) and we stay with all that energy that takes the form of fear.

The samurai courage is worked out from the inside out. Once there is no interval between us and the fact, once that energy is us and the sword, there is no conflict. During the fact that

precedes the Metsuke, there's no positive action in regards to fear.

There's no positive action of any kind, but scarcely a state of observation, of perceiving the fact, of real perception of what it is, because the image has been eliminated.

When we see, exter nally and internally, all this disorder - confusion, grief, loneliness, a total meaninglessness of life as we live it wonderful ideas can be conceived, but those ideas are mere inventions, theories. The present act of drawing the sword dissolves all illusions!

A monk asked Ta-chu: "Are words the Mind?"

"No, the words are exter nal conditions. They are not the mind," said the master.

"Then, out of external conditions, where can we find the Mind?"

"There's no Mind beyond words," said the sage.

"If there is no Mind independent of the words, what is the Mind at the end?", asked the puzzled monk.

"The Mind is formless and without images. Indeed, the Mind is not dependent or independent of words.

It's eternally serene and free in its movement.

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W

hen we talk about shark infested waters, we're talking about the times when your child is most likely to be unsupervised and therefore most vulnerable, such as between classes or during lunchtime at school, or before and after any kind of after-school activity.

For instance, say your child is playing in an intramural sport.

School gets out at 3:30, and the intramural flag football starts at 4:15. That's an extra 45 minutes when they're done with school but the activity hasn't started yet. The kids get changed out in 15 to 20 minutes, and then they're just hanging out. They have little or no supervision, and anything can happen.

Another example is when your child is outside playing with his friends. They're out front in the neighborhood cul-de-sac, and two other kids walk up and they start talking. If those new kids are out to start trouble and you aren't there, the kids are on their own, and bad things can happen.

These are shark infested waters because your kids aren't right in front of you. They aren't at school with a teacher keeping an eye on them, or at an organized activity supervised by a responsible adult. It's during this kind of downtime where situations can happen.

You can't eliminate all the downtime from your child's day. So discuss with your child what to do to minimize the danger. At school, for instance, they should go to where the safest place is, such as in the front of the auditorium, by a teacher, or next to the principal's office, or they might go straight to their classroom and wait there. Teach them how to avoid the shark infested waters where these situations can occur.

This is a very proactive way to avoid trouble. If your child doesn't walk by a group of the cool kids who may be smoking around the corner, those kids can't laugh at him. If at any point your child feels like something could happen in any way shape or form during their downtime, they should remove themselves from the situation. This is a proactive way to avoid it altogether Other areas that we would consider shark infested waters: • onthebus • walking home from school • at the bus stop in the morning • after lunch • between classes Most fights and other situations that involve bullying happen in between classes, before school, after school, or during the downtime of certain activities. There's nothing wrong with telling your child that during these times you go straight from point A to point B, and you avoid and ignore any person who a) has bullied you before or b) has a reputation of being a bully. They should avoid, ignore, and control their time with utter diligence. While hanging out in the hallway and shooting the breeze with their friends may be fun, if bullying has been a problem, this isn't something that they want to be doing right now.

Controlling your child's downtime, also known as shark infested waters, is critically important.

A former street cop, sheriff, and maximum security prison guard. Chris Sutton is the founder of Cobra-Defense in Clearwater, FL. Cobra-defense is a law enforcement based self-defense system. Cobra-Defense is the official selfdefense system of John Graden’s Martial Arts Teachers’ Association (MATA-www.MartialArtsTeachers.com). Instructor certification in Cobra-Defense is at: www.SelfDefenseCertified.com.

Chris Sutton is availble for seminars and special training. He can be reached at 727-791-4111 or Cobra@CobraDefense.com

Martial Cinema CHUCK NORRIS. RECALLING THE DRAGON....

When Bruce Lee met John Benn, the "mafia godfather" in "Way of the Dragon", he told him, "John, I won't make you rich with the film, but I'll make you famous ..."

Indeed, no one got rich with him, however, with the fame and recognition obtained at his side they've been living off the royalties for years, at least the vast majority of those who were "lucky" enough to cross his path. Perhaps, Chuck Norris hasn't been an exception...

"Enter the Dragon" is unquestionably the quintessential classic film of the Martial Arts cinema; however, the best fight of the kind in the history of the Seventh Art is the one that Bruce Lee holds against Chuck Norris in the Roman Colosseum, in "Way of the dragon" (titled “Return of the Dragon” in United States).

No wonder it was listed at the time as the “fight of the century”, and indeed, it was and still is, because it hasn't been overcome so far in any other Martial Arts film, though it was rolled over 40 years ago...

After the death of Bruce Lee, the throne of the "King of the Martial Arts" became vacant; it seemed that there was no Oriental actor with sufficient talent to take his place, then, Hollywood sought an alter native.

Logically, the only Westerner with fame and enough martial knowledge to occupy the position at the time was Chuck Norris. The first Western actor of the so-called Martial Arts cinema opened a trail in Hollywood that years later would be followed by other actors such as Steven Seagal, Jean Claude Van Damme, Jeff Speakman, Wesley Snipes, etc.

Anticipating the decline of Martial Arts cinema, Chuck Norris got a big

Text: Gladys Caballero & Pedro Conde.

Cover photo: Michael Tudela.

Text Photos: Pedro Conde.

Report success, first in America and then in the rest of the world, with “Walker, Texas Ranger”, a television series consisting of three pilot-chapters of 90 minutes each, and 200 episodes of 45 minutes. Great movie stars and a number of Martial Arts experts appeared in this series.

Undoubtedly, Bruce Lee was the one who gave Chuck Norris the chance to enter the cinema world, an opportunity he seized, and thanks to his wise decisions and good luck, today he is the most respected Martial Art films actor, at least in the United States of America, where he has become an institution. But, how the friendship between Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris was born?

"I met Bruce Lee in 1968, in New York, during the All American Grand Championship tournament that was held at the Madison Square Garden. I was a competitor and he was a celebrity. When I won, the sponsor introduced me to Bruce Lee. Although I knew who he was and he had also seen me in tournaments, we hadn't had the chance to meet personally. I had seen him in his great demonstration in the International Championship of Long Beach in 1964 and I knew his work as an actor in the television series Green Hornet. Bruce congratulated me and recognized how difficult it had been for me to beat Joe Lewis in the finals.

We talked cordially and found out that we were staying at the same hotel. I had been fighting since 10:00 and it was already 23:00… I was very tired, but I wanted to know him for a long time. So we started talking and exchanging philosophies and techniques and then we took a taxi to go back together to the hotel. We were really involved in our conversation.

We got the elevator and stopped on the 7th floor, where he had his room, mine was on the 9th floor, but we kept talking so I got off the elevator with him and we continued our chat in the hallway; it was nearly 24.00 and the next thing I know is that I had taken off my jacket and we had started to train... I swear to you that when I looked again at my watch it was 07:00 in the morning! Bruce was so dynamic that it seemed to me that it had only been twenty minutes. It was amazing that no one called the hotel security, complaining of the two crazy guys who were making strange movements in the hallway. I couldn't believe I had a flight back to Los Angeles in two hours. ‘Never mind - said Bruce - when we return we'll train together.’

Shortly after, he invited me to train with him in the courtyard of his home in Culver City, California. Bruce had all kind of training devices in his yard, including a wooden dummy that he had manufactured himself, a pole wrapped with thatch to practice his blows, breastplates and boxing gloves.

We trained twice a week, three to four hours per session. We did it for two years.

Bruce taught me some of his Kung Fu techniques, and I showed him some Tae Kwon Do kicks. A significant anecdote is that when Bruce and I started to train together, he never gave a kick at an upper level; his concepts were based on kicking below the hip, so I recommended him to give his kicks some more elevation. I was the one who taught him how to kick high. Bruce believed that giving a kick to the head was the same as giving a punch to the legs, which, on the other hand, is nonetheless logical, and his footwork in the Jeet Kune Do was based in this concept; but I told him that he should have enough skill to kick anywhere and so, I taught him high kicks, spinning kicks, etc., and, of course, he learned very fast! He had a special knack for learning and assimilating new things. In less than six months he could perform those kicks as well as I and he added them to his repertoire with tremendous efficiency. I believe that the big versatility of training devices he had in his home gym contributed enormously.

In this area, Bruce was years ahead of everyone else; apart from that, he was extremely skilled and shrewd in Martial Arts and, pound for pound, one of the strongest men I've ever met."

Chuck Norris keeps some fond memories of those years of training, sometimes making some remarkable statements about them...

"Bruce Lee was certainly a pioneer in the Full Contact, the first to use gloves and protections, when in America only karate was known, but ... Chuck Norris smiles adding - he never fought! I trained with him for two years and he never fought me. If I said, ‘Bruce, let's do some sparring’, he ’d a nsw e r me , 'N o, le t's pra c tic e more technique, technique', so I never had a chance to pit my skills with him. He was always doing techniques, swash! (Norris performs two quick fist techniques and returns to the position) and that was it."

Martial Cinema More than one reader may wonder: “Why they never fought? What did they do in those workouts?” At that time, apart from the makiwara, few training devices were used in Martial Arts; Bruce Lee was a pioneer and innovator in adapting other sports training equipment, he even invented and designed his own gadgets to optimize his workouts.

Chuck Norris, like other Martial Arts experts, agreed that with these devices, great results could be obtained in a short period of time.

"Bruce Lee had in his house fantastic training tools, and that was all we did, just train: boxing bag punching, kicking and all that kind of stuff. We never fought together, I was a professional fighter and he was not, but he was good, very good. Probably in a real fight I would have beat him, but Bruce Lee didn't want to get to that and... neither did I." Interestingly enough and despite what some people might think, the first time that Bruce Lee called Chuck Norris to take part in a movie, was not "Way of the Dragon". Of course, his film debut was due to Bruce Lee, but it was in the film "The Wrecking Crew", a film starring Dean Martin, Elke Sommer and Sharon Tate, in which, the Dragon was the choreographer of the action scenes. Filming took place in July 1968. The beginnings o f C h u c k N o r r i s i n t h e f i l m w o r l d w e re n o t v e r y encouraging...

"Shortly before the international championship, I got a call from Bruce Lee and he told me he had gotten a contract as a stunt coordinator for the "The Wrecking Crew", starring Dean Martin and Elke Sommer. ‘There's a small role and I think you would do very well’- said Bruce -. ‘You will play Elke's bodyguard, will fight against Dean Martin and will say a sentence in the dialogue. Are you interested?’ ‘Sure!’ - I replied -. Even though I knew nothing about interpretation, I thought it would be worth trying. He told me the date I should be in the filming studio and it was just one day after the International Championship."

Chuck Norris did not want to be touched in the face to avoid showing up in the filming with a face full of bruises, so, in the finals, in the locker room, he told Skipper Mullins, a karateka ranked number three on the national level: "Tomorrow I will have my first role in a movie. Hit my body, but don't touch my face". He replied: "Okay, but then you'll stay in debt with me." Obviously, he didn't keep his word and after Norris scored a series of points on him, Skipper gave him a blow in the eye. Norris would finally win the tournament, but he took with him an unpleasant souvenir to the filming: "The next day I got to the rolling with a bruise that took the makeup artist an hour to disguise. I was fascinated when I entered the studio for my debut. I

Report had never been on a filming set and I didn’t know what to expect. The study was a large warehouse and the place where we were working was a giant cube with high ceilings, enormous and bright lights, and wires everywhere. Dozens of people rushed from one place to another like ants and I wondered how it could be possible to make a film in such a chaos.

Quickly, the director took over and we got to work.

Like many at the time, I knew nothing of movie rolling, I thought that film directors just lit a camera and the actors played their parts, in the same way as is done in secondary schools. Well, I was wrong.

Filming each scene took about two hours. The lights should be reset, camera angles had to be reviewed all the time and the actors had to be instructed and put on their places.

My debut in the cinema was reduced to one sentence.

In the film, Dean Martin walked into a nightclub, I had to stand before him and say: ‘May I, Mr. Helm?’ and take his gun. The sequence had to end with a fight between Dean and me. During the weeks prior to filming, I repeated the phrase over and over again while I looked myself in the bathroom mirror trying to find the best tone in my voice. When the cameras started to film, Dean Martin entered right on time. When I saw him coming, I could feel my throat and my body stiffen. The words came out as a sigh: ‘May I, Mr. Helm?'. Dean Martin did not seem to notice my hoarse voice and

obediently gave me the gun. I thought: My career is over! I couldn't even say a sentence properly!"

After so many hours training together, it was unavoidable that a great appreciation was born between both of them, where respect and empathy were always present, so it is not surprising that they shared their secrets and dreams: "His greatest attribute and also perhaps his biggest mistake, was himself: Bruce Lee lived and breathed Martial Arts. He made of the most mundane and common things of life, something that was related to the Martial Arts training. I'm not sure if he knew what relax was. We were good friends, enough for him to tell me his real dream: 'Chuck, I want to be a movie star' - he said - 'All I'm doing is with that goal'. Bruce was training several celebrities such as Kareem Abdul Jabarr, James Coburn, Lee Marvin and Steve McQueen. His students often recommended him for small roles in films and Bruce had worked as a stuntman in several of them. But he was not content to be a double specialist of movie stars, he wanted his name to appear with neon lights in the marquees of the theaters, and with the motivation Bruce had, no doubt he would make it."

Break into Hollywood was not easy, especially for an Oriental. At that time there was no Asian actor to star in an American production. Following the advice of his friends, Bruce Lee accepted a contract with Golden Harvest, to star in two films that were to be rolled in Southeast Asia.

"Bruce went to Hong Kong to continue his career as an actor and I didn't hear from him in about two years.

One morning he phoned from Hong Kong and said: - 'Chuck, I've shot two films in Hong Kong and have been a blockbuster. I've just finished the script for a movie I'm filming in Rome's Colosseum '- he said excitedly -. Two gladiators fighting to the death! Best of all, we'll prepare the choreography ourselves. I promise you that the fight will be the highlight of the film; I want to do a fight scene that everyone will remember'.

- 'Great! - I said - Who wins?'

Then Bruce said laughing: 'Me!!! I'm the star!'

- 'Ah, are you going to beat the current world Karate champion?'

- 'No!!! - Bruce replied - I am going to kill the current world Karate champion!’

I laughed and I agreed to do the film. I accepted to take part in it because I knew that if Bruce was involved in it, it wouldn't be a futility. I had always respected his way of doing things and I particularly admired his insistence on perfection and realism in Martial Arts."

Three weeks later, Bruce Lee called Chuck Norris again informing him that the film was beginning to be rolled and asked him if he was ready to travel to Rome. At that time, Chuck Norris learned that his role was that of a professional fighter, a martial artist hired to beat up Bruce Lee. "I had never travelled to Europe before, so I asked my good friend

Martial Cinema and partner in the Karate academies Bob Wall to come with me. When we got to the Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Rome, Bruce was waiting for the film crew to roll us lowering the plane; he wanted to use our arrival as a scene in the film. Since Bob was with me, Bruce decided that he also should participate. It had been two years since the last time I had seen Bruce, but he was still as friendly as ever. He was not embarrassed to show male affection and gave us a big hug before taking us to the car.

For the scene in the Colosseum he wanted to display a formidable opponent. I weighed 160 pounds compared with his 142 pounds and he wanted me to fatten 20 or 22 pounds more. Fortunately, my metabolism was very slow and I could increase my weight in 7 or 8 pounds in less than a week, of course, diminishing my exercises and neglecting my diet. I said - ‘Great! I can eat my fill on account of the company’.

Bob and I spent two weeks strolling around Rome as typical tourists; we visited temples as St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, and monuments such as the Fontana de Trevi or the beautiful gardens of Villa Borghese.

I found a restaurant where I could stuff myself with pasta and ice cream, the best I've ever tasted! Almost every night we dined in the Taverna Flavia, in Trastevere.

I started to gain weight immediately and achieved my goal in the allotted time."

The filming of "Way of the Dragon" began on May 10, 1972, with an initial budget of $ 350,000. The team started to work at six in the morning and finished at six or eight in the evening, depending on the day.

The first days, Bruce Lee concentrated on filming the outdoor scenes that he required for the film, shooting in some of the most representative streets and squares of Rome like Via Veneto, the gardens of Tivoli Fountain, Piazza Navona, etc. And then he undertook the recording of the fight in the Colosseum with Chuck Norris. Since they had no permission to shoot in the a m p h i t h e a t e r, t h e y p l a c e d a c a m e r a a n d a l l t h e necessary filming equipment in travel bags and after giving the guards a tip so that they pretended they didn't notice they began to work...

"Bruce and I went to the Colosseum to review the details for the big fight scene. It was a strange feeling being with him in one of those tunnels leading into the arena. I remembered films like Spartacus, where Kirk Douglas fought in the sand and I experienced a feeling of respect at the thought of the real fights to the death that were regularly made at the Colosseum to entertain the Roman population.

T h e C o l o s s e u m w a s b i g g e r a n d m u c h m o re impressive than I had ever imagined. We sat on one of the stone seats of the arena and discussed the scene.

Bruce made ??notes about the camera angles. He planned the scene so that it looked like if we were

Report two gladiators fighting against each other. As we ourselves were in charge of the choreography, he asked me: 'What do you want to do?' I said: 'Well, I'll do this and this', and I showed him techniques that I thought would be interesting. He OK'd me and so he prepared his defenses.

We went into the arena and did free sparring. Since we knew each other so well, because we had trained together for a long time, the scene came out perfect. In it, Bruce does nothing but attack me and that’s all.

Attack, attack, attack. He tries to wear me down, all in slow motion. I remember him moving around me with those beautiful flowing movements, trying to wear me down and when I tried to attack, he ducked and dodged all the time.

Finally, after I miss all my blows I start to feel tired. He advances throwing punches to all my vulnerable points and knocks me down. At that point I am already completely exhausted. Then he throws me against a wall and we get to the point where I shout and Bruce pushes me against the wall. This is the moment he breaks my wrist, my elbow and my right knee, I fall to the ground and try to get up. Thus we arrive at the dramatic scene where I try to get up and keep fighting with much effort, then Bruce looks at me as if to say, ‘let's stop, I've won...’ They had placed the camera to film a panoramic between his face and my face, from one side to the other.

What I tried to convey was that somehow I was smiling, a smile of gratitude, but not the type of ‘I am a professional’, or ‘You win or you die’, and I would rather die than give up or lose ... It was that kind of smile! ... In that moment I scream and I pounce upon Bruce, almost flying, and he holds me grabbing my neck. All I can do is hitting him with a series of blows to the kidneys and finally he breaks my neck. Then he gently lays me down on the floor and walks away feeling sorry for having killed me.

Fortunately, Bruce didn't force me to be that mean, this was a fight between two professionals. At the end of the fight, when he kills me, he covers me with my uniform jacket and puts my belt on top of me in a very ceremonial and respectful manner."

The duel took three days filming; the fight was to be the climax of the film. According to Linda Lee, the great fight with Chuck Norris took 20 pages of written direction and it was as carefully planned as the execution of a professional ballet. Bruce Lee had designed the choreography in his home, often trying the movements with her. In his widow's words: "Suddenly he had an inspiration and said: Come on, let's try this!” All that work and genius of Bruce Lee was captured in the screen. About that, Chuck Norris esteems: "It was a difficult and challenging scene, but I enjoyed doing it. Although Bruce was a first-time director, he knew what he wanted and how the camera should roll.

As Bruce had predicted, our fight scene became a classic. Today, you can ask any Martial Arts student about his favorite fight in a movie and almost all will answer that they remember the fight scene between Bruce Lee and I in "Way of the Dragon". It's amazing how well it came out, considering that we only had one camera."

But, what makes it different? Why a prestigious American publication included the fight within the top 10 action scenes in film history?

"At present, there are lots of great fights. The fight between Bruce and I was more of the emotional type, we watched each other, we observed each other and, between shots, we fought. That's what made ??the "Way of the Dragon" fight so exciting. Bruce was very intelligent, he always wanted to capture a

feeling with the camera, because the techniques he used are the same that I use in my films, but the emotion that Bruce created with the camera in the environment... was something special. Generally, fights are just fights, a few blows, moving, etc. But Bruce was really smart; he knew how to use the camera to

Report overcome, so the fight scene was not finished...

"Bruce, Bob Wall and I flew to Hong Kong to film the rest of our scenes. The day we got there, Bruce had arranged for us to be invited to the famous TV show ‘Enjoy the Night’ (‘Celebrity Night’), a real success in the city, the Hong Kong version of the American show ‘The Tonight Show’ with Johnny Carson".

create excitement and tension in the fights generating an unparalleled climax. In this field you have to admit he was a genius."

In Rome there were all kind of logistical and weather setbacks, problems with permits and other innumerable difficulties to be

Invited by the HK-TVB, Bruce, Norris and Bob Wall attended the program to perform a Martial Arts exhibition and give an interview. Bruce Lee's intention was that of presenting Norris and Bob Wall to the public in Hong Kong, so when we got on the air, the TV presenter, Josiah Lau, who knew Bruce Lee, said: “Bruce, our audience is very interested in you, could you tell us what you've been doing recently?”

Bruce replied: “Raymond Chow and I were recently in Rome to roll the exteriors of our new movie. Another martial artist has come to Hong Kong with us, he's American Karate champion. Mr. Norris came directly from the United States to Rome to work with us. Also, there is another American expert in Karate, Mr. Bob Wall. Both of them have participated in our film, Way of the Dragon”.

Then Lau said: “I've heard from the newspaper that Norris and Bob Wall are your students, it is also known that when they started following you, they were already famous people, who have remained being Karate champions for many years. I think your JKD must be very powerful!”

Denying with his head, and waving his hands, Bruce said: “No, don't play that game with me, I never said they were my students, we're friends, when we have time we get together and discuss about martial arts.”

After that, Bruce Lee explained what was the Jeet Kune Do and poured different views on Martial Arts in general and Chinese Kung fu in particular. The public wanted to see the Dragon in action, but Bruce refused the invitation and said: 'The Hong Kong audience already knows me, today we will present these two men, martial artists in 'The Way of the Dragon' and in real life, Norris and Bob Wall. They are now the protagonists.

You should let them speak today.'

People in the study welcomed the suggestion. Norris and Bob got up smiling and asked: “What do you want

to see?” The attendants didn't know much about martial arts, and so they didn't either know what to answer, then Bruce said: “May I suggest an idea? In essence, martial artists train four things, accuracy, aggressiveness, speed and strength. I think we can play a game to show the accuracy of their kicks. Bob Wall will hold a cigarette in his mouth and Norris will kick it away."

Everyone was thrilled with the idea.

Bruce added: "As we all know, our legs are made for walking, if we use them to reach an object which is high, it will be quite difficult to control our leg. This is so because when you lift one leg, the other leg has to support the weight of your body. Kicking accurately is not easy, especially if you have to quickly hit a small object. Bob has to hold the cigarette with his mouth, so if Norris is not accurate enough, it is clear that Bob can get hurt in his mouth or nose."

Quickly Bob Wall was provided with a cigarette, Norris watched Bob for a few moments and then, in the split of a second, he turned his body lifting his right leg and hit the cigarette ... The cigarette blew in the air...

The audience burst into applause, but they were not satisfied, they wanted more ... About that, Chuck Norris remarks: "I was asked to do a Martial Arts display and I started by kicking a cigarette from Bob's mouth, then I broke some wood boards, and then Bob and I did a demonstration of free sparring. I threw Bob a spinning kick from behind that hit him in the chest and sent him across the study.

All were impressed, but Bob got up as if nothing had happened. When we finished the show, the TV host wanted to see the chest protector that Bob was using. ‘What protector?’ - Bob said as he opened the top of his gi. The mark of my foot was on his chest!"

When the show ended, Lau asked them: "Many people say you're both students of Bruce, but Bruce denies it, he says you are friends, what is the truth?” Chuck Norris, as respectful and prudent as usual, replied: "Maybe he thinks that our Karate techniques are not good enough and we are not yet qualified to be his students, however, we admire his Kung Fu. So even if he doesn't treat us as his students, we consider him our teacher."Such statements on the air brought a lot of problems to the American colossus; many martial artists craved fame and some experts like Lau Tai-Chuen, after challenging Bruce Lee through the press, achieved their purpose. In the case of Lau, despite he didn't fight Bruce Lee, he nevertheless gained

Martial Cinema great publicity and managed to get a role in a movie, though his career was ephemeral; he only worked on four films.

Another unknown fighter, following Lau’s example, tried to do the same with Chuck Norris: "The next day, in a local newspaper, someone challenged me to a fight. Bruce was impressed with the article and he read it to me. 'What d'you think I should do?' - I asked. 'Oh, don't mind him' - he said -. 'They are always challenging me. All they want is publicity'.

However, Bob was really upset: 'I'm not a star in the film' - he said - 'What if I accept?'

'Go ahead, if that's what you want' - answered Bruce.

Bob appeared in next night TV show and told the audience: 'A viewer has challenged my instructor, Chuck Norris. Chuck is a better fighter than me. That's why I want to confront first the challenger. Whoever you are, fight me first and prove you're a worthy opponent to fight him. Our fight will be on this TV show, so that everyone in Hong Kong can see me tearing you to pieces'. The challenger, whoever he was, never showed up and no one ever challenged me again in Hong Kong".

After finishing the film, Bob Wall and Chuck Norris returned to United States and resumed their work as Martial Arts instructors. They forgot about the film thinking that it would be projected only in Asia and Bruce Lee would continue with his acting career, after seeing and check the reputation he had gained in the East. Both of them thought that Bruce would devote entirely to his career and it was going to be a long time until they could meet again, but they were wrong...

"In mid-July 1973, Bruce Lee came to LA for a checkup. He called me for lunch, I told Bob Wall and we

agreed to meet in a restaurant in Chinatown. I must admit that I saw Bruce in pretty good shape, thin and strong. Bruce appeared very optimistic. He told us that in Hong Kong the doctors had not found the cause of some fainting he'd recently had; that was the real reason for his visit to the city. He had come to get tested in one of the best hospitals in Los Angeles. He was very happy because the doctors had not found anything; they told him he had the body of an 18 year old boy. At thirty-two, he looked in perfect physical condition, but I was puzzled.

'All right, but if you're so well, what do doctors think that caused your fainting?' Bruce said as he ate: 'Stress, I guess, overwork, lack of rest, same as usual'. Then he started talking about the grueling work of his latest production, 'Enter the dragon'. He was very optimistic about results. The truth is that both physically and mentally, he was in his prime.

I talked about it with Bob back home -. After a short silence, he adds - It was the last time I saw him alive..."

Shortly after that meal, the "Little Dragon" returned to Hong Kong, nothing presaged the terrible events that were approaching... Bruce Lee died on July 20, 1973. Five days later, it was held in Hong Kong a funeral ceremony in the centric and exclusive although small morgue, the "Kowloon funeral Home."

According to the media, the actor brought together some 25,000 people. Friends, family, co-workers and countless strangers gathered to give Bruce Lee his last farewell. The next day it was released in Hong Kong "Enter the Dragon".

Perhaps the producers wanted to seize the fateful moment to project his latest project!

On July 31, Bruce Lee was buried in Seattle, in a calmer and more intimate funeral. About one hundred and eighty

Report people, including friends and relatives, attended the ceremony. The coffin was covered with white, yellow and red flowers, placed so that made up the Ying-Yang symbol.

The coffin was carried by Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Dan Inosanto, Taky Kimura, Peter Chin, and Robert, Bruce Lee's brother. Among the closest relatives and friends, was Chuck Norris...

"Four days later having lunch with him, I heard the terrible news that he had died. I didn't want to believe it; I had just seen him so radiant and vivacious, the very image of good health, excitement and happiness. How could it be? Rumors about his mysterious death flew through the Pacific faster than the jet that brought his coffin. Some rumors pointed that Bruce had died from ingesting marijuana, raising questions about the use of drugs. Others suggested that his well-known experiments with steroids had caused his death. Still others spoke of Bruce had been killed by the lethal blow of a professional hit-man, an expert in Oriental murder techniques. Some of the proposed explanations for his death seemed acceptable, but most were ridiculous.

Maybe the rumors were just the way the world had to give an explanation to the reality: none of us has the next five seconds guaranteed. Life is a gift from God. In those days, the official version of death given by coroners in Hong Kong was a cerebral edema caused by a hypersensitive reaction to an ingredient in a pill for headache, very similar to the rare reaction of some individuals when they are stung by a bee. American doctors said it was a brain aneurysm. Bruce was buried in Seattle and, because of the strong affinity he had with the Chinese community, previously there was another funeral service in Hong Kong, with an attendance of over twenty thousand followers. I attended the Seattle

funeral along with Bob Wall, Steve McQueen and James Coburn; the latter was one of the private students of Bruce and made a very moving speech about his teacher.

After the funeral, Bob, James, Steve and I flew back on the same plane, but the flight was extremely silent and quiet. Each of us seemed deep in thought, analyzing the message that Bruce's death had for us. There he was, at his best, at the peak of his career, and suddenly, everything was over... Of course he reached his goal of becoming a big star, but so what? What good was that for his wonderful wife and the two children he left behind?

After his death I thought a lot about it and I came to the conclusion that life is not measured in years but in accomplishments. Bruce had two goals in life: one was to be recognized as a martial artist, which of course he achieved, and the other to be recognized as an actor ... and he also succeeded in that. So Bruce reached the two objectives he had in his life, in a short period of 32 years. Many of us will live up to 80 years without ever achieving the goals we once set..."

The pilot chapter of "Kung Fu" series was issued in USA in October 14, 1972, and originally was titled "The Warrior".

The series was based on the original idea of "The Little Dragon", and it was great success. With him, Martial Arts started to disclose in the West. Ironically, on August 17, 1973, almost a month since his decease, "Enter the Dragon" was released in New York. Two days later it would be projected in other American cities. The myth started to be born...

The public demanded more films of Bruce Lee. On August 7, 1974, almost a year after the première of "Enter the Dragon", "Way of the Dragon" was released...

Martial Cinema "I had almost forgotten about the movie when it began to be announced in theaters. When it premiered in Southern California, many of my students were quick to go see it. The next morning, in one of my schools all stared at me as if they didn't really believe that Bruce hadn't killed me ... It seemed so funny, I could see that what they had seen the night before had impressed them. I guess you could say that the fight scenes of "Way of the Dragon" were the ultimate in realism and perfection of any Martial Arts movie that fans might have ever seen. Bruce Lee had indeed found a winning formula for his films. People filled theaters to see his films. The budget for "Way of the Dragon" was $ 240,000 and at the end had raised more than eighty million dollars worldwide".

The image of Chuck Norris fighting Bruce Lee appeared in numerous publications and countless Martial Arts films started to be released in the West. Again, the American colossus was hired by Golden Harvest in 1974, to play once more the villain in "Slaughter in San Francisco". In Southeast Asia, movie studies were searching a successor to "The Little Dragon", but none appeared. When the genre started to decline, they premiered films of Bruce Lee clones.

Chuck Norris never considered becoming a Hollywood star; in fact, soon after finishing "Way of the dragon" ("The turn of the dragon" in the USA), he worked on a

modest American production titled "The Student Teachers" (1973), and got involved again in his classes and gyms. In 1977 he starred for the first time a feature film entitled "Breaker, breaker" and a year later it was released "Good Guys Wear Black". For the first time in the promotion and publications, he was heralded as Bruce Lee's successor. In the West, the public was fed up with so many Chinese productions and needed a new hero ...

The rest is history ... At the beginning of his career it was inevitable that he was compared to Bruce Lee and asked for his fighting style...

"Jeet Kune Do is a great system, but it must be recognized that it was made only for Bruce Lee. To develop it, he introduced within a same system of fighting all the techniques he knew through other teachers and experts. Also he extracted a lot of knowledge from his extensive library, but again, Jeet Kune Do was suitable only for him; is not a system that could be implemented by anybody else because doing required having his genius and his talent, and no one has that. For these reasons I can assure that Bruce Lee was JKD and JKD was Bruce Lee. Bruce didn't leave a fighting system that his students could follow, not even Dan Inosanto could do it, because it varied so much and it was so complex that I'll never get to know if there is a system with rules and bases that can be followed to achieve perfection."

Every martial art has its own peculiarities and idiosyncrasies, which makes it different from others. In the case of Jeet Kune Do what is its particularity? According to Chuck Norris:

beginning of his career, where the same question was incessant: What would have happened in a real fight between the two? His answer, broadly, has always been the same:

"The essence of Jeet Kune Do is the speed and explosiveness, there is only one problem: not everybody has these attributes. Bruce was really fast...

He was passionate, the most fanatical martial artist I've ever met, he lived Martial Arts, and breathed Martial Arts from morning to night‌ his mind was just Martial Arts. What made him so great was that he didn't hold up in tradition. He was always looking for ways to perfect himself. He loved and enjoyed life every moment, he was a very optimistic person, he never got pessimistic in front of anything, and he had a lot of energy, a tremendous energy that transmitted to all of us."

"All I know is that thanks to Bruce Lee, Martial Arts are known worldwide and he was a genius thereof.

Now he's dead and it doesn't matter whether he could defeat me or defeat a heavyweight."

The fight of the century has been recorded in the retina of thousands of spectators. Obviously, Chuck Norris has been asked on more than one occasion about the martial level of his friend and training partner, especially in the

Certainly, if today's Martial Arts are known worldwide is due to Bruce Lee. Without him, they wouldn't have reached the diffusion they currently have and because of that, he is the Martial Arts unquestionable icon, a place he occupies over 40 years ago. All the others were and are trivialities that lead nowhere; what is indisputable is that Bruce Lee's films have not yet been overcome; no other actor, despite what combat arts have evolved, has been able to dethrone him and, as things now stand in this cinematic genre, there is no short-term successor, so: Long live the "King"!

No one has ever done so much for Martial Arts!

Major Avi Nardia is one of the leading head official instructors for the Israelite army and police in anti terrorism and CQB, he along with Ben Krajmalnik have made a new basic dvd in the field of firearms and safety, training techniques in IPSC. Instinctive Shooting in Combat. Combat Instinctive Point Shooting - IPSC is a shooting method based on instinctive reactions and kinematics to shoot short distances fast and in dynamic situations. A self defense discipline in order to survive in life t h r e a t e n i n g situatuations , where you need a very fast and accurate shooting abilities, when you must take the gun out as soon as possible and shoot at a short distance without using the sight.

In this first volume you will study how to handle the weapon ( revolver and semi -automatic ) dry firing practice and security, "Point Shooting" or instinctive shooting , at a close range and a series of movements and exercises for weapon retention , low stress and multiple attackers ; exercises on how to recharge with one hand, ... and finally practice shooting gallery with guns such as AK- 74, M -4 , M -249 machine gun and even M -16 grenade launchers .

REF.: • KAPAP7 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. net

Korean Arts

Hwa Rang Do速 Fighting Strategies & Joint Manipulations Hwa Rang Do速 covers three stages of fighting with the addition of an alternate stage - the one knee position (OKP). Other martial arts specialize in a particular stage or range but Hwa Rang Do速 tries to manage all the possible tactical and strategic responses in a real fight. The idea is to be prepared to fight in every kind of real situation.

STAGE I (Kan'Gyok): The quite common initial stage of a real fight is with both you and your opponent standing just outside of striking range. The most important thing to learn here is how to close the distance and quickly use striking, blocking and grabbing/sweeping techniques with both hands and feet. This usually has to be done with only a slight forward movement.

STAGE II (ChopHap): No matter what, 80% of the real fight comes to the situation where you and your opponent are in a standing clinch. Joint manipulations, Pressure points, Takedowns, Throws and closerange/combat techniques (such as elbow/knee/head strikes) becomes the main weapons to coordinate and use.

Experts

Korean Arts STAGE III-A (Chase/OKP): Stage II usually begins on the feet but ends on the ground.

This stage III-A (One Knee Position) is an alter nate dominant stage where you manage the opponent with one knee when he is prone to the ground. The goal here is to finish the fight with a joint lock or submission/strike without having to roll around on the ground like in a grappling match. The OKP is a very important application for LawEnforcement and Military because the prone position decreases the ability of arrested people to defend/counter attack/escape.

Moreover OKP give the ability to control an arrested person and simultaneously use the gun/baton/firearm against another enemy.

STAGE III-B (TongGyol): After stage II it's possible that both you and your opponent are prone on the ground. Learning grappling and quick submission techniques is vital here, maybe more than learning striking techniques (less effective on the ground).

Hwa Rang Do速 considers this stage the as the last and least favorable position where applying real self defense techniques against an opponent.

JOINT MANIPULATIONS: As you can see stage II and III-A/III-B requires a deep knowledge of joint manipulation/locks techniques.

The Hwa Rang D速 curriculum about joint manipulation is huge

Korean Arts The second class of joint manipulation techniques collect the angled leverage applications applied to balland-socket joints such as wrist, shoulder, ankle and hip.

The key aspect, here, is placing the joint at a particular angle (see fig. 2, it's a WES-lock, Wrist/Elbow/Shoulder rotation), the ligaments and tendons are extended and lose their ability to preserve the integrity. This class determines a lot of pain in the opponent's joint so can be used to control the limb (e.g. let the opponent leave a weapons in his hand).

The third classification is about a type of joint locks that can be applied against both hinged and ball-and-socket joints. They require a strong grip on both sides of the joint and twist and rotation has to be applied with the most effective result when applied to smaller joints, such as fingers and sometimes wrist or elbow. In fig. 3 you can see a finger breaking technique. It's very easy to break the opponent's finger if you're able to twist and rotate it just before.

There a lot of other high level classifications of the joint locks that you can study in Hwa Rang Do®. The last that we're going to take into consideration is the compression of the joint. This is usually called “joint separation”. As you can see in fig. 4 (knee separation to the ground), the compression techniques operate with the same principle as a nutcracker. Something has to be placed in the crook of the joint and applying pressure to the bones of both sides the joint can be separated.

Elbows and knees are the most effective targets of this class of techniques.

CONCLUSIONS:

and is based on: study of the human anatomy (In Sool), proper joint angles, correct distance from the opponent, proper distribution of your weight, and, at higher level, quick application of pressure, internal energy (KI) and vibration techniques.

The first classification of joint locks is about breaking or locking joints that only bend in one direction and do not rotate. You can see the quite common application of the example in fig. 1, it's an arm-bar and the target of the technique is the elbow, a well known hinged joint. This class is quite effective and very useful to break the arm/leg or to push the opponent in a certain direction.

Based on the type of goals the study of joint manipulation can be very different. In the first part of the study Hwa Rang Do® focuses on self defense applications against an opponent that grabs you in many different ways. In the second part the study is about the defense against a weapon attack (e.g. knife, baton, etc.). In the third part, you can see joint locks against more opponents simultaneously, with acrobatic movements, etc. You absolutely need to have clear in your mind what you want to do before applying a joint lock against an aggressor.

Controlling an aggressor and make him surrender is very different than breaking his arm or catching his knife. I mean that you can use the same joint lock to the same joint of the opponent with a different goal and the resulting type of techniques is completely different. Moreover you cannot apply the joint lock just thinking to reply on one opponent's technique. You need to have ready a secondary and ultimately a tertiary response, in case your primary joint manipulation technique fails (quite similar to chess game, you have to understand your opponent's possibilities and be ready to manage him no matter what he does).

These are the main reasons why lear ning joint manipulations very in depth is really hard and require years of practice, fluidity, self control and adaption capability.

Nevertheless it give you a great understanding of human biomechanics and weaknesses both from a physical and mental point of view.

A

n excerpt from a Barron's article in the Dow Jones News Services (5.21.2011) titled Protecting Yourself Against Kidnapping describes one woman's harrowing experience with kidnappers and how she was able to save herself: 'When Gert Boyle, the octogenarian chairman of Columbia Sportswear Co., returned home last November, she found a gunman waiting in the driveway. The thug forced her into her house outside Portland, Ore., and roughed her up, the first part of a plan to kidnap the woman whose ads call her 'one tough mother'. She foiled her captor, who allegedly wanted $20,000 in ransom, by triggering her home's silent alarm, alerting police.'

Kidnaps for ransom, especially those of wealthy people and their families, have been on the rise, both internationally and in the United States.

Because the wealthy travel freely and more often, they are even more prone to kidnappings in dangerous countries around the world. However, being very wealthy, and appearing very wealthy, in a foreign country where kidnappings are prominent can result in the same circumstance. Whether you are a wealthy business owner or a college student on spring break, any individual traveling to any high risk foreign country should take all precautions to not present themselves as having any sort of money.

Flashy jewelry, watches, designer clothing, accessories, expensive vehicles, and staying at high-end hotels are like flashing road signals to dangerous criminals. In many of these countries there are few deterrents when planning to commit the kidnappings, there the majority are never reported and the criminals are never caught. The fear that the local law enforcement is corrupt and may actually assist in the kidnappings outweighs the idea that reporting an abduction may result in finding the kidnapped individual. However a kidnapping victim may be better off in a foreign country, where kidnappings are more of an organized business, than in the United States where physical harm and even death are far more common among amateur and first-time kidnappers.

The best advice is to take preventative measures. The time to start thinking about what to do is not after a kidnapping has already occurred. Most preventative advice can be applied to both traveling abroad and in daily life, avoiding possible abductions both at home and on vacation. Leave the extravagant luggage, jewelry and clothing at home, never pull out all of the cash you are carrying all once, and try not to be loud especially when speaking of expenses in public or while traveling. Register your trip on the State Department website and learn about high risk neighborhoods and threats in the country you are visiting. Social Media websites are a great source of information for criminals on the whereabouts and activities of their potential victims. Keep private information to a minimum on public websites and if an individual is at high risk, they should be sure to change their daily routine, not making any one place or route habitual. Lastly, and again for high risk individuals, they should be wary of the household staff and employees at their business. Background checks, drug tests, and psychological tests can be a great tool in determining who may become a high threat employee.

by Kent Moyer, CEO of The World Protection Group, Inc. in Beverly Hills, Ca.

Kenpo Forms or Kata of Fu-Shih Kenpo, Part 3 By adopting a neutral position parallel to that of the attacker, we absorb the attack thus eliminating part of our body perimeter, and this allows us to perform a wedge-shaped block, which is supported or reinforced by the movement of our body. Because of its active character, this blocking move can be converted into an attack by hitting him with our fist in his biceps or in his forearm. By doing this, we also gain a precious time before the impact, since we're adding distance to the path of his fist.

At the same time, or immediately after, we launch a low roundhouse kick to the attacker's standing leg (in this case it could be the advanced leg if he's taken a step forward) or a front kick, or even a side ascending kick with the instep, aiming to act on his "roots "(balance) and in the response, and add another line of pain directed to the brain.

As we bring our leg down after impacting with our roundhouse kick, we carry out a descending reverse saber blow aimed to the side area of his neck or face, using the effect of body weight and gravity - what we know as "marriage with gravity" - with the idea of strengthening our attack.

After our first response, we go on enchaining another sequence of attacks

“Fu-Shih Kenpo techniques are handed down from master to disciple, through Kihon, Kata and their practical applications.�

Kenpo in order to neutralize a possible counterattack from the other body sector, as I mentioned before, or secure our position in front of the attacker, carrying out an attack with our palm, forearm or hand's edge, depending on the circumstances, toward the other area of the neck or face, to continue with an inverted fist at middle level and a circular fist at upper level, both with the same arm.

Finally, facing a possible continuation in the attacker's action, we retrieve the safety distance so that we can properly visualize our environments and adopt new measures against expected new situations or responses.

The work to be done is one of the likely interpretations of the various techniques. The study, practice, research, etc., allow us to analyze and give us the chance to evolve and develop new theories about the traditional yet contemporary pillars that support this wonderful martial art

called "Fu-Shih Kenpo" or "Spiritual Kenpo Schools".

Kata and their meaning Martial arts were born as a need to struggle for survival, protection of the family, mistreatment and against injustice in general.

These disciplines seek the practitioner's physical, mental and spiritual development.

Although sports martial arts are based on the same techniques, their practice has been nevertheless adapted and limited to certain sports rules, which has completely spoiled their original essence. These disciplines have emerged like just one more activity of man as a social being, i.e., as a mere physical activity.

True Martial Arts require a complete use of the energy for the application of a technique, and for that, mind, body and techniques should be focused towards the target, keeping before, during and after the movement, a total state of physical and mental balance. It requires an instant action to implement the techniques; this is called "kime".

Fu-Shih Kenpo techniques are handed down from master to disciple, through Kihon, Kata and their practical applications.

Those who teach or practice Fu-Shih Kenpo as a martial art, talk about the Dojo, Kenpo-gi, Sensei, Gakushi, Junshi, Renshi, Kyoshi or Hanshi.

By contrast, those who run, instruct, or workout with a sports mentality, speak of gym, uniform, coach and student.

Kata 1. In order to practice kata correctly, each separate technique must be repeated over and over again, memorizing the steps at the beginning, and then living and experiencing the whole movement until it feels real, paying attention to the correct position, shifting, defense and counter-attack. We must also consider our martial behavior, way of looking, balance, speed, strength, coordination, etc., and then gradually link the various combinations they contain, until we get to achieve sufficient strength that will allow us executing integrally the forms, retaining our performance intensity from the star to the end. All this is possible if we understand the idea and concepts of a Kata that will lead us to a constant, serious and responsible training.

2. If breathing is right, it will help to regulate the flow of air and synchronize it with the repetition of the movement or technique.

3 . Yo u s h o u l d n ' t p e r f o r m m e m o r i z e d o r preconceived movements without feeling what you do.

“In order to practice kata correctly, each separate technique must be repeated over and over again, memorizing the steps at the beginning, and then living and experiencing the whole movement until it feels real.�

4. The practice of kata forms must deepen the knowledge of the principles of Fu-Shih Kenpo.

5. The mind has to be clear, receptive, and every movement should be done in a natural way,

nervous in a given moment. Through practice and experience, we all learn to control our nervous system to a great extent, but all depends on the level of commitment that we are facing. Some situations allow us to get along without

9. When the kata is performed by a well-trained martial artist, his or her dynamics and the beauty of the movements become aesthetic, powerful and compelling for their high quality.

avoiding rigidity. This is called "KimĂŠ", or focus point. It is achieved by relaxing the muscles to get speed in the reflex reaction and contracting only in the moment of impact on the target. Ying / Yang, Dragon / Tiger, relaxed / contracted.

6. Concentration is essential; if you focus on just one thing you can be sure you'll get your goal.

7. To overcome nerves and make way for the art, we need to keep calm.

But we all know this is not easy. I have spoken with great professionals and all of them agree that it is virtually impossible to avoid being somehow

being nervous at all, in other cases, a bit ... and at times, we get really nervous. Bill Wallace, for example, told me once that he always felt nervous in Full-Contact encounters, but he thought it was positive.

8. Kata movements should be full of energy and not merely bodily actions, also they must show strength and penetrating power. They should make the viewer (either a martial artist or not) feel impressed, attracted and even capable of understanding what the performer is trying to prove. Art as art in any sector, if it's not felt is not transmitted.

10. Kata is not just an aesthetic series of techniques. It represents a fight, and although many martial artists are only attracted by combat training and think that executing Kata is not practical for a real fight or a sporting event, they are wrong. Kata, or Forms, contains a lot of unique and necessary values ??for every real martial artist. They provide us coordination, dexterity, technical repertoire, concentration, strength, endurance, etc., and if you ever put into practice some of these movements during a fight, then you’ll see the results.

Great Masters

Yoga & Kyusho Kyusho (the Vital Point) of Energy Development “Pelvic Pose” Katikásana From the “Seated Primoidial” Rája Puránásana pose as we concentrated on the grounding of the Kundalini via the back of the legs and the root Chakra, we found a cooling aspect to the exercises as well. The seated pose, helped to fully ground the energy so as not to induce possible side effects.

Once the Kundalini has risen, we have new clarity, awareness and energy.

Old calcifications are released and we are new again especially after then fully grounding.

But now we start anew with old

blockages broken done and more efficient energetic pathways flowing.

We are now better able to sense, absorb and feel the subtle variations and differences of the negative earth energy and the positive sun energy as the cycle through our bodies. This is a new capability once we have decalcified our systems and become more aware and attuned to the abundant and constant flux of energies.

It is this energetic opposition that creates even greater source and store of our personal energy and persona.

When an individual is energetically blocked or calcified they experience emotional restriction and or abundance. This in turn leads to stress, anxiety, irrational or confused thought, inefficient physiological

function are therefore poor spiritual and physical health. This affects relationships and performance as we begin to slow, recluse or abuse those around us or ourselves as we decay prematurely. This can become a downward spiral as our motivation and enthusiasm diminishes.

The embarkation into the profound art of Yoga opens the individual, breaks down the calcifications and brings us to a new awareness, as you are already aware. But a crucial aspect is that once this stale or maleficent energy is released, burned off and then the fires grounded, we are then ready to renew with fresh and vibrant vibrations from earth, sun and all entities and manifestations.

The order in which we absorb the new energy is also crucial as it will

determine the outcome of our new persona. By starting with the negative energy it will help us retain a calmer and more grounded essence that will in turn allow less stress and more efficient functionality. By comparison if we start with absorbing new positive energy first we can become more anxious and again begin to develop calcifications or blockages.

In order to accomplish this we look to the earth as the prime source of the negative energies, the earth itself.

When we work with the yoga, the actual ground is the best source, but we are not always able to be in this environment due to weather or local vicinity. So look to work on wood or stone with cotton cushioning if possible. We want as natural and as proximal to the earth as possible to absorb the best vibrations in accordance with nature. If this is not possible the postures will still work toward your goals, perhaps not as quickly, efficiently or profoundly.

“Pelvic Pose” Katikásana We begin this revitalization circuit with soles of the foot and their connection to the earth. We allow the earth’s negative energy to enter the sole of the feet as they ascend the inner leg and toward the perineum or root Chakra. As we extend into this posture you will feel the inner leg and thigh stretching as the rear (ground) of the leg contracts to inhibit energy flow.

As you stretch also pull up on the perennial base and anus to assist the energetic flowing from the earth. Pay attention to the influence the lifting of the perineum has on the vibrational quality of the inner thighs and entire pelvic structure. Feel the subtle nuances and keep them in your awareness so as to compare the essence with the positive energies simultaneously entering the third eye and running down toward the root Chakra to join. These negative energies will feel very fast in vibration and fine in the vibrational aspects.

As the body arches back and seals the ascending energetic lines of the spine, Shushuma, Ida and Pingala.

Start the arch from the frontal legs and carry through as the lower abdomen, stomach, chest throat and face all arch back to stretch, absorb and allow the positive energies descend the open Chakras from 6th to first.

As you arch and open the upper body this way be aware of the vibrational feeling of this positive energy flowing. This energy will feel slower and with larger oscillations between waves as this stronger

energy flows. As it meets the negative energy at the perineum you will begin to feel the both begin to spiral in a circular manner with the positive at the surface of the lower abdomen and the negative beginning it’s rotation from up the tailbone. As you experience these two vibrations spiral in this fashion (akin to the Chinese symbol of Yin and Yang), feel them then expand to encompass the entire inner pelvic area.

Maintaining this flowing spiral is possible throughout the day and in work, meditation or your Yoga exercise. This inner core is not to be retained or built, but rather trained to increase the flows throughout the body in a natural and non-controlled manner. We only seek to become aware of this existence so that we may become more aware of the both energies and their natural paths.

Breathing and Intention: Prior to you adopting the arched posture, inhale deeply and slowly to feel the vibrations and weight on the backs of the legs and into the ground. Then exhale slowly and deeply to relax the entire body as you then lift the pelvis and pull up on the anus and perennial base. This will serve to pull the energy from the earth into the soles of the feet and into the lower pelvic region.

As you then begin to exhale further tilt back the head and slowly stretch from forehead toward the abdomen as you now slowly inhale. Feel the breath and vibrations work from the 6th Chakra toward the 1st where the both energies will meet expand.

As you maintain this arched position, inhaling and exhaling feel the full and continuous feed of both positive and negative energy as it then begins to spiral. Maintain the posture as the spiraling energy then expands to fill the pelvic structure in a three dimensional spherical quality. Be aware of the varying speed and vibrational frequencies that initiate and perpetuate the energetic spiraling.

Work slowly to develop this skill and awareness in the vibrational qualities as they enter from the two poles, meet and join to circulate in the universal pattern. Eventually you will not only be able to maintain the feel throughout your day and activities, but also sense the same or lack in others. You are becoming truly enlightened.

Next Posture 17 “Pose Abdominals” Vajrolyásana

Yoga & Kyusho

Text: Evan Pantazi Yoga Instructor: Carolina Lino - Ponta Delgada, Azores Photo by: Tiago Pacheco Maia - Ponta Delgada, Azores

Tomahawk

“I hope that this short article will inspire you to take a closer look at axe and tomahawk fight, and maybe you will even want to give it a try!”

AXE & TOMAHAWK FIGHTING CONCEPT THE WAY OF THE WARRIOR WWW.TOMAHAWK-COMBAT.COM In this month's article I want to offer my readers an insight into the fascinating martial art with axes and tomahawks, and maybe provide them access to a system which will surely enjoy a long-term future. Making virtue a necessity I have devised my very own system - TCS Axe & Tomahawk Fighting Concept. I hope that this short article will inspire you to take a closer look at axe and tomahawk fight, and maybe you will even want to give it a try!

Self Defense The reason why I've started dealing with axe fighting a while ago is quite simple. I wanted to revive this ancient and highly effective weapon from our very own culture in a modern way and allow my students to approach it.

The differences What distinguishes the old battle axes from our modern weapons? That's, of course, shape, size and

material. Modern day weapons, as well as the tomahawk which we have developed, are lighter and more handy, which is why they can be effectively used in close combat.

The axe can also be carried more easily, which makes it a great backup weapon for military personnel. In my system I teach the single handed use in various grip styles, double axes, axe and knife, axe and belt, and double long axe. This variety allows the practitioner to choose from a number of options. Using two weapons also perfectly teaches the use of the weaker hand.

Tomahawk

The system TCS Axe & Tomahawk Fighting Concept is my personal way of looking at axe fighting. Lessons are systematically and sensibly structured. We offer a number of levels for beginners, intermediate and advanced fighters. Higher levels build on lower levels, which guarantees lasting learning success. Each level focuses on certain contents thus teaching the principles as well as tactical and strategic elements for combat.

Why "Concept"? As with all our systems, we use the tag "Concept" to show that axe fight can be taught as a comprehensive combat system.

Axe techniques All techniques depend on the grip style, size, shape and weight of the axe in use. The options are cutting hits, full hits, hammer-style hits, hammer-style hits combined with pulls, stabs. Stabs combined with pulls, hits with the spike, short cuts, pulling, locking and manipulating with the shaft and the use of the wedge as a hook.

Self Defense “In addition to the wide range of applications for close combat, the axe's shaft can be used effectively for nonlethal techniques such as locking, chocking, manipulating, blocking, pulling and pushing.�

Training contents In addition to the technical aspects we also teach principles, concepts, tactics and the appropriate attributes.

Training contents are tactics, distance training, carrying styles, handling, stance, hitting templates, applications, inception training, checking hand concept, locks, chokes, Defense & Counter, defense against edged weapons, defense against dull weapons, defense against attacks with handguns or long rifles, concepts and applications of disarming, trapping, fight on the ground, control fighting, energy drills, attacking flow, combat drills, feeding skill drills, skill training, body manipulation.

Close combat Compared to the knife, the axe can be used a lot more flexibly. Features such as hooking, cutting, blocking, stabbing, manipulating, locking, controlling and crushing clearly show

the axe's advantages, particularly for extreme situations, like, for example, attacks with weapons. Let's not forget that all body weapons (techniques using hands, elbows, legs, knees and head) are essential tools for close combat and therefore for axe fighting.

Tactical use In addition to the wide range of applications for close combat, the axe's shaft can be used effectively for non-lethal techniques such as locking, chocking, manipulating, blocking, pulling and pushing. The aggressor will not necessarily be severely wounded, which is a clear advantage of the axe. This will make the axe a very interesting tool for the use in the military and maybe even for some everyday situations.

Instructors training At the moment, we are building and promoting our system, which is why

we offer practically oriented training for instructors of TCS Axe & Tomahawk Fighting Concept. Highest quality in teaching is our main priority.

We offer special courses in intensive camps. The highly professional training schedule is based on an exciting curriculum which contains the development of technical skills, tactics, mental components, and principles and methods.

In summary For me, the axe is both an important part on the way of the warrior and an ancient European weapon. I am sure that we are seeing a revival of this weapon which will surely find the place it deserves in the world of the martial arts.

For more information go to www.tomahawk-combat.com Pictures by Thomas Suchanek Written by Peter Weckauf & Irmi Hanzal, Thomas Schimmerl

Tomahawk

“Compared to the knife, the axe can be used a lot more flexibly.”

“Let's not forget that all body weapons (techniques using hands, elbows, legs, knees and head) are essential tools for close combat and therefore for axe fighting.�

Tomahawk

“TAOWS Academy. Wing Tsun Advanced”. Sifu Salvador Sánchez Wing Tsun is an excellent style of Chinese boxing that permits a lifetime training experience and an integral development of the individual.

Its ideas, techniques, philosophy etc , it all belongs to an ancient art and must be studied and understood in its whole. Sifu Salvador Sánchez focusses his second dvd on the wooden dummy and how it influences all of the Wing Tsun practice. Given that the wooden dummy form is taught at the final levels of the actual system of today, most practitioners that leave the system before time don't have the opportunity to know the ideas and concepts hidden within the form, and they cannot incorporate them in their practice.

For TAOWS academy it is very important that the practitioner understands what he is doing always and in every aspect, and for this, in this dvd we are going to follow the same outline that we follow in our classes, seminars and training sessions. Our outline follows six steps, the first one is to develop an idea, what we want to achieve. The second part are the forms, Siu Nim Tao, Chum Kiu, Biu Jee, the wooden dummy form, depending on each s level, the third part is footwork, mobility understood. The fourth pillar is Chi Sao, Chi Gerk, stickiness, the soul of the system. The fifth element is non stickiness and no contact, to know what to do in order to reach contact with the opponent in a safe way.

REF.: • TAOWS-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. net

Not too long ago news spread slowly and only verbally around the world, from one person to another. No wonder – modern measures of communication like the internet or phones have not been invented yet. Such a limitation also affected the world of martial arts.

Therefore, events like tournaments or gatherings of masters have always been important sources to share and exchange news and abilities.

Even though the possibilities of communication have changed nowadays, the original Hung Gar Kung Fu of the Southern Shaolin monastery still remains an art, which can only be learnt and taught by practicing it. So it is not astounding that in the KUNG FU SCHOOL MARTIN SEWER meeting before and after the usual training hours, has always been an elementary part of its education. The KUNG FU SCHOOL MARTIN SEWER lead by Chiu Chi Ling’s successor, Grand Master Martin Sewer, counts as one of the most active schools. It offers numerous events throughout the year to its students. The highlights are the instructive Hung Gar seminars, which allow enthusiastic students all around the world to progress quicker and improve their Kung Fu skills faster.

Everything from basic stances to forms and fight applications are taught. Later on, there are also more advanced seminars for weapons, such as the staff, the saber or the nunchaku. As the interested reader might know, this is only a small selection of countless weapons offered by the Hung Gar Kung Fu training program. (Often it is spoken of the 18 weapons of the shaolin. At this point it is important to know that “18” has a Buddhist meaning which expresses “many” or “numerous”). Taking a closer look on the annual schedule, you can see that besides the normal seminars there are also several visits of the school leader and Grandmaster Dr. Martin Sewer personally. There he offers his students and his instructor’s deeper insights into the ancient art of Shaolin Hung Gar Kung Fu. Important to mention are the extraordinarily popular animal-style-seminars held by Sifu Martin Sewer four times a year. But this is by far not everything yet! The annual Pentecost camp evolved during the 20-year old history of the school to one of the most anticipated events for the interested Kung Fu student. In the latest camp (June 2014) this reputation has again been approved by having one of the most successful camps ever! No wonder it is always quickly booked up after starting the registration. An almost equally legendary reputation has the autumn camp which is always held in Asia. Like last time, the chosen members, urging for training, travel electrified to Asia. They fully dedicate themselves to the art coached by Grandmaster Martin Sewer and his instructors. Normally they’re exercising for 6 1⁄2 hours a day and two weeks on the piece. By this schedule, huge progress is for sure. A typical student’s feedback afterwards says: “It was simply an impressive and enormously demanding time with my Kung Fu brothers and my Sifu. But it has always been worth the effort. I improved faster than ever before and I have learnt very much. Next time I will be there as well.” “Events like seminars or our camps are very important for the education and the coherency of the school.” says Martin Sewer. “Even though all of our lessons are a uniquely positive experience for the students, we as humans often tend to fall into a daily routine. With seminars and events like this, we achieve to break out and are able to focus with full concentration on our art – apart from the fact that we share an unbelievably great time together.” But the biggest event in the schedule of the KUNG FU SCHOOL MARTIN SEWER is the annual

MEGA Event*. Originally it began as a small celebration of Grandmaster Martin Sewer’s birthday and evolved to a big Kung Fu gala night with elegantly dressed people. The school uses the event to present its current state, future goals and how it’s going to achieve them. Students, instructors or guests are rewarded for their support or their effort in making Martial Arts and especially Hung Gar Kung Fu more popular.

But the highlight of the evening has always been the breath taking demonstration of the school its own show team. The interesting program is only interrupted for the exquisite buffet provided by the event hosts, a luxury hotel situated nearby the main school. As you can see, extraordinary activities have a fix place on the KUNG FU SCHOOL MARTIN SEWER yearly agenda. Even though nowadays we have so many different and simple ways to communicate with each other, it has become more important than ever to meet face to face with inspiring and successful people. And especially for passionate martial artists as we are, we should use every opportunity to meet and exchange among each other. No matter if it is at a short seminar on a Friday night or at the MEGA event. Apart from the fact that every student of the KUNG FU SCHOOL MARTIN SEWER ought to have success in his life,

thanks to practicing the original Hung Gar Kung Fu, we as a school pursue the goal to offer as many platforms as possible in order to exchange and share our experience.

For learning the art of Hung Kuen efficiently you simply have to live it.

Info box: Be up to date about all the activities and events of Grandmaster Martin Sewer and the KUNG FU SCHOOL MARTIN SEWER. Write an e-mail to

info@shaolin.ch and register for our newsletter. Don’t miss the following events under any circumstances: - 23.08.14 / School Zürich / snake fight techniques Seminar - 29.08.14 / School Zürich / basic stances and steps in Hung Gar - 06.09.14 / School Zürich / leopard fight techniques Seminar - 04.10. To 19.10.14 / Hong Kong & China / Autumn Camp - 22.11.14 / Zürich / MEGA Event & birthday of Grandmaster Martin Sewer

- 06.12.14 / School Horgen / Official Examinations & 18th Shaolin Masters Tournament *MEGA EVENT: Also on this year’s agenda the MEGA event takes place!

Experience has shown: the longer you wait the harder you get one of the hot tickets. If you want to become a part of our international Kung Fu Event, don’t hesitate and make your reservation now by email to: alex@shaolin.ch

Weng Chun Weng Chun Kung Fu with Children and Young People - A School for Life!

Weng Chun Kung Fu is a superbly conceived school of self-defense and duelling, a statement which goes undisputed by experts.

Furthermore however it also represents a highly sophisticated educational system for personality development of children and young people, a perception which has been largely neglected so far.

Childhood today: In the modern world everyday life of children and young people is characterized by being reachable at all times, achieving goals rapidly, and above all by not missing out on information (whether of personal relevance or not). Our perception is exposed to a constant visual, acoustic and informational stimulus satiation, and concrete first-hand experience is replaced by virtual realities. Children and teenagers today gain far more indirect or secondary experience by means of television, video games, chat etc., rather than directly participating with body and soul in reality. Therefore many children and young people nowadays are hardly able to perform even the simplest motion sequences. They are in very bad

Text: Jan Schulz, Christoph FuĂ&#x; Foto: Gabriela Hoffmann

Sifu Andreas Hoffmann physical shape, and concer ning patience and leisure for somewhat complex tasks they are likewise not very persistent. Furthermore, many children nowadays become aggressive and lonesome, and they lack orientation, because their lifestyle corresponds less and less with what is needed by adolescents: A proper balance between tension and relaxation, socializing and privacy, action and leisure, demand and encouragement, self-reliance and supervision,… - to ensure that they develop in a healthy way.

Weng Chun Kung Fu - An Educational Treasure Trove: Weng Chun Kung Fu offers comprehensive possibilities to children and adolescents for them to become healthy and content people. There are things to learn on every level, be it motor function, mental and emotional health as well as social and intellectual capabilities. In the first place, regular training in Weng Chun has a large and positive influence on physical development and health. This is due to the propinquity to yoga and Chi Gong, i.e. to the understanding of healthy movements and active relaxation.

Furthermore, training together on the base of mutual respect stimulates social skills and helps developing a stable personality by means of educational guidance.

MartialArtsEducation of Weng Chun Kung Fu: In terms of education, Weng Chun Kung Fu covers three major aspects: Health promotion, selfdefense, and personal development.

The former two are being conveyed by exercising the movement art, personality development and, moreover, by the qualified dialogue between teacher and student.

According to the self-conception of Weng Chun Kung Fu, health manifests itself in the form of wellbeing and viability. This conception relates to the physical as well as the mental level.

Curiosity (motivation, courage) and energy (zest for life and for action) evolve from active participation in life and its possibilities …; avoidance, retreat and idleness however result in illness. Weng Chun Kung Fu leads to physical and mental health of children and young people, because it evokes the joy of movement which is already embedded in a child s nature. Once children have (re-) discovered their joy of movement, and once it became a habit to bring oneself to training at times, then it is a great joy to exert oneself, because that effort is rewarded with intense self-experience and plentiful achievements.

Experience of Movement, Comprehension of Action, Learning about Self-Conception: The movement art of Weng Chun Kung Fu provides ideal conditions for personal development. Learning this art during childhood and adolescence shapes the personality in a very unique way; namely by learning Weng Chun Kung Fu, children and young people also adopt a craft. Concer ning its educational effects [, it exhibits the same qualities as learning to play a musical instrument. In this art, the own body represents the instrument, and the point is to learn how to control that instrument in respect of perception and action. Basically Martial arts is about the comprehensive perception of the own body and its movements.

For this purpose there are multilayer exercises at disposal: The movement patterns(Look Dim Bun Kuen, Fa Kuen, Weng Chun Kuen,…), the associated

applications and partner exercises (Chi Sao), the wooden dummy training and free sparring as well as exercises with weapons (long pole and double knives), by the use of which the layers of perception are being extended by another tool (apart from our body).

For the students this is not about learning individual techniques, but basically about dealing with the principles (TAI - raise, LAN - lock, control, DIM - point shock, “to drop”, KIT - deflect and return, GOT - semicircular intersecting downwards, WUN - circling, moving, LAU - flow, influx) and the concepts (Sau, Qua, Kap, Pau, Chap, Kam, Chün, Deng, Poon, Bin) of the martial art s movements. Since Weng Chun Kung Fu is such a multilayer movement system, children and young people therefore experience an extensive training of their movement repertoire as well.

Especially the dealing with via principles and concepts that is so characteristical for Weng Chun Kung Fu brings about an enhanced comprehension of the own movement concept and capacity to act, and therefore of the own self.

Learning by Trial Comprehension by Scrutinizing and Testing: In Weng Chun, the aim is to control the opponent with minimal effort. This happens primarily by rounded or curved movements. To learn this way of movement, experimentation is simply necessary. In doing so, errors happen, which the student tries to correct next time, and this is being continued until it runs smoothly. That way, “mistakes” become our friends, because they help us on our path of learning. This can also be denoted as functional learning, i. e. to learn learning. Learning to learn

Weng Chun

Sifu Andreas Hoffmann

Weng Chun

also means not to copy something - which is the base -, but it rather means independent trial, and to develop oneself while doing so. Learning (i. e. health exercises and the art of fighting or selfdefense) goes with personality development, because the learning process is accompanied at all times by self-examination and by trying to get to the bottom of everything said and demonstrated to the student. Because every body works somewhat different, and therefore the principles of action are physically performed in a slightly different manner, children realize early on that even in Kung Fu there is basically no such thing as an incontrovertible universal truth. There is only the individual truth which works for myself and for my body. These aspects make for a strengthening of the cognitive faculty and lead to individual autonomy. Thus all educational methods are also geared towards the development of the student s self-conception.

Combat, Art and Education: If children and young people can gather ideas and experiences from that rich treasure trove of Weng Chun Kung

Fu, they have gained an extensive toolkit which assists them in leading a self confident, content and physically healthy life, because they have understood what to do to be content. Apart from the ability to defend themselves and a broad understanding of health they also have learned how to better assess themselves and situations they are in. The tools acquired during training can also be applied to everyday life. To attain this beneficial expertise, they are being provided professional assistance by the appropriately qualified martial arts teachers of the IWCKFA. In the field of educational work with children and young people, particular importance is attached to these four virtues: discipline (continuous co-operation), mutual respect, overcoming of fear, and pluckiness (the attitude to take up challenges).

Frequent training on Weng Chun Kung Fu helps children and teenagers to (re-)gain their inner balance, because it develops the most important of the skills modern life demands from (young) people: To remain self-aware. Every teaching situation where we train to fight with each other requires full attention on reducing the many different kinds of information (distance, speed, mass, kind of movement, movement direction, expression,‌ of the partner and myself to those variables which are necessary for my action. This means that I have to focus my perception on the basic aspects, to enter the center from outside) and my energy on the fundamental components (which bridge or strategy is appropriate in the given situation?). Regularity of training prevents me from getting bemused or distracted, from being attached to inner or outer illusions. Put into words of Weng Chun Kung Fu, this competence is being referred to as Fok Fu, or in metaphorical terms: Riding the tiger - or: Becoming one with the tiger.

Always with the Ochikara, "The Great Strength" (called e-bunto in the Shizen vernacular tongue) or secret wisdom of the ancient Miryoku Japanese shamans, as a backdrop, the author takes us into a world of genuine reflections that are capable to move at once both the reader's heart and head, thus placing him continuously in front of the abyss of the invisible, as the true final frontier of personal and collective consciousness.

The spiritual not as religion, but as the study of the invisible, was the way of the ancient Mir yoku sages to appr oach the mystery in the framework of a culture as rich as unknown, to which the author has wholeheartedly devoted.

Alfredo Tucci, manager director to Budo International Publishing Co. and author of a large number of titles about the Warrior's Way in the past 30 years, offers us a set of extraordinary and profound reflections, which can be read individually in no particular order.

Each one opens a window to us through which we can take a look at the most varied subjects, from an unexpected angle, now dotted with humor now with forcefulness and grandiosity, and places us in front of eternal matters, with the view of the one who has just arrived and doesn't agree with the common places in which everyone coincides.

We can affirm with certainty that no reader will be indifferent to this book; such is the strength and intensity of its contents.

Saying this is saying a lot in a world crowded with collective mangers, interested and behavioral ideologies, manipulators and, in short, spurious interests and mediocrity.

It is therefore a text for big souls and intelligent people who are ready to look at life and mystery with the freedom of the most r estless and scr utinizing minds, without dogmas, without transient morals, without subterfuges...

Consonance and emptiness "By refusing to accept an unchanging higher power greater than ourselves, we have filled up the void by dint of personal imperatives and our life has suddenly become creepy" Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Isayevich "Trying is much simpler and yet infinitely more complex. It requires imagination, discipline and purpose�

Carlos Castaneda

Ancient Shizen shaman priests, the Miryoku, discovered that their magic power depended largely on their ability to "touch" the forces that formed the Universe of energies and tensions in which all beings were inserted... without being "touched" by them.

This feat of will and knowledge required a thorough training and a long instruction, usually fierce and ruthless.

Also, as in the case of warriors, it involved a tough groundwork under an inhuman discipline, because on top of that, the invisible, unlike the human, doesn't take breaks whatsoever.

If everything in the Universe was vibrating in specific tones, ancient Miryoku shamans discovered that before

touching whatever thing, it was essential to identify first its frequency and then get in tune with it. In a sense, they had to become what they touched if they really wanted to get to it or modify it in an effective way.

Such a feat of the consciousness of being implies a transgression of any kind in regard with the consensus of the reality, past and present, reached by most humans. People usually accept a framework of coherence, practical and aimed to the achievement of perceptible accomplishments in the material plane, and keeping such program active consumes all our energies.

Shamans, by definition, had to dwell amid two worlds, going in and out

species, taken as a whole, relatively speaking implies but a few seconds in the timeline of our history. Almost everything we are and we've achieved so far is owed to millions of years of evolution, aeons of being, acting and thinking differently. Medicine became independent from barbershops in late seventeenth century and our best scientists in the Age of Enlightenment unashamedly combined the scientific method with the study of Astrology or Alchemy.

However much science now is reaching the limits of the incoherence of our perception of the visible through the study and research of the Micro and the Macro, our description of the world in what is close, in everyday life,

“This way of consonance requires a peculiar state of self-abandonment.

You can't be transformed into something while still being yourself.�

continuously to establish communication between the visible and invisible planes with no interruption.

Today we have the scientific method that allows us to unambiguously confirm the relationships between things, but back then, the only way to undress the nature of things was not logic, but analogy. Modern man looks with disdain and arrogance this stage of mankind without understanding that such a change in the evolution of our

is determined not to change. The achievements in quantum physics, instead of questioning our personal view of the world, serve to build faster processors that will allow us to keep on acting within this chosen framework of reality, as if nothing had happened.

Science, as a way of changing consciousness, is in this sense an absolute failure, because it acts from the outside simply changing the reading of reality, but not the experience of reality. We change the

setting but we don't change ourselves.

Miryoku sages, on the contrary, were trained to change themselves, often compelled by exercises that today we would consider cruel. For example, to accurately perceive the energy inherent to fear, teachers would exploit the deepest phobias of their trainees. If someone was afraid of snakes for example, he would be tied and hung upside down with a bag of snakes in his head. So, thereafter, fear was not something alien, but a vibrating form

accurately encoded, a "place" of consciousness to which the Miryoku could come with just resorting to his memory a type of energy or tension with which he could get in tune.

The revival of interest in the knowledge of ancient cultures, many of them previous to the scientific era, as that of the Miryoku sages, are sprouting like mushrooms among moder n humans, living at last

coexistence, rather than as a conscientious fact. There is a definite divorce between the two views of the Universe that coexist overlapped in the incongruity of those who accept and use practically both postulates in their day by day. The laic and the religious, however, are continually confronting and trying to overcome each other, even in the most advanced societies, and in this struggle generate

alienated in the framework of a reality that ignores half of its nature and imposes a completely unsatisfactory view of the world to resolve not only the great questions of human beings, but what is much more important for each of us, our personal relationship with the mystery, life and death.

Science as a method implied the unmasking of those "truths" established by major religions that persist de facto as a normative framework of socio-cultural

up to the ridiculousness, continuous contradictions in people's coexistence. Fanaticism doesn't help from either side, and individuals tend to sink in the morass and confusion of their day by day.

What far from the bleeding pragmatism with which the Miryoku watched the visible and invisible Universe...! A world of energies and tensions on a continuous move, which was following predictable patterns; largely predictable, in fact, such as

“If everything in the Universe was vibrating in specific tones, ancient Miryoku shamans discovered that before touching whatever thing, it was essential to identify first its frequency and then get in tune with it.� science considers, because, as for scientists, for them there was also an Order. And if such a thing existed, the possibility of understanding its nature, trends and guidelines to anticipate reactions and eventually interact with it, would rely on our knowledge.

Unlike scientists, however, e-bunto, the sacred science of Shizen shamans, placed them in the center of these changes, like a touchstone capable to penetrate the invisible, touch the required frequency and withdraw without being touched by it.

This way of consonance requires a peculiar state of selfabandonment. You can't be transformed into something while still being yourself. The continued practice of such a metamorphosis probably generated in some of these priests a tendency to the detachment that in time came to characterize their lineage. Their eyes could be extremely cold or hot, but such capacity was terrifying for others who, despite they sought them by necessity, they generally feared them and tried to avoid their company.

Seclusion was one of the prices they often had to pay, but also there were not few those who, in their final days and as a result of the practice of abandonment, ended up becoming wise men, known as Oita, or "the elders" in Shizengo. This selfabandonment was the second needed condition to emerge unscathed from their acrobatics in the invisible; touching without being touched involves emptying oneself, being without being, an experience that, repeated over and over, can lead to transcendent states of individuality.

My last years of research, study and apprenticeship in the Shizen tradition have touched, it couldn't be otherwise, my perception of the world and this has been directly or indirectly reflected in all my writing. In the book I present today, I've collected many of these texts, whose backdrop is none other than my experience with the Spiritual, understood not as the religious, but as the Invisible. My Shidoshi graduation (Joho, in Shizengo) is but one more step in that path, a Way of study that I am far from conclude and with which many of my thoughts published here are indebted. As usual, I have no intention of convincing anyone of anything, I'm just sharing my thoughts and discoveries and if these turn out to be helpful for someone, great!

Getting in consonance with the Universe of the Miryoku sages is the biggest challenge of consciousness to which I've had access throughout my life, because it questions in practice the whole version of reality from our personal experience and not just from the thought. With cool courage and a fabulous boldness, they entered other dimensions and realities to create a system of vast and overwhelming knowledge. They followed a path made for the very few, but being a vanguard of the human consciousness somehow took us all around with them, because by making possible their achievements, they showed us that behind the veil of the group consensus, there are realities which can be touched, if we are able to tune up with them and generate a void. Miryoku sages, by their discipline and unmatched courage, were no doubt true spiritual warriors. To all of them, from the past and from the future, I dedicate this book and I greet placing my forehead respectfully on the ground.

Joho Alfredo Tucci General Manager to BUDO INTERNATIONAL

Gogen “The Cat” Yamaguchi

By O. Bushmaster Martial Arts In New York City has long been famous for the Secret Oriental World of Self Defense at Madison Square Gardens, produced by the legendary Aaron Banks in the early 1970s.

But did you know Aaron Banks produced a martial arts show before these that had the Manhattan Centre filled to capacity and had 3,000 people clamoring outside to get in?

This show featured the famous karate Master from Japan known as “The Cat”: Gogen Yamaguchi. Police escorts, helicopters flying into the city and arriving on top of the PanAm building from Kennedy International and, the man known as “The Cat” was walking down Broadway in broad daylight carrying a samurai sword and wearing full Japanese attire...If this doesn't sound like a script for a Hollywood movie, I don't know what does. But in this case, fact was a lot more interesting than fiction.

On November 19, 1968, Gogen Yamaguchi wowed the crowds and changed the landscape of American Karate forever. Don Warrener's new book, Gogen The Cat Yamaguchi - Emperor of

The Scarlet Fist, tells the entire story of the most famous Japanese karate Master to ever impact the USA. His students in New York included legends in their own right: Peter Urban, Joe Lopez, Aaron Banks and many more, made him into a household name in the karate world. Magazines like Black Belt featured him on the front covers of several issues including a Black Belt Magazine Yearbook.

Warrener characterizes him as the most charismatic, energetic and mesmerizing person he has ever met. “He had it all: the looks, the knowledge, the legend and, yes, the ability as well. Plus, when you met him you were totally intimidated by him. He knew exactly who he was and what he was, as well as who and what you were all about.

Peter Urban had told stories of him fighting a tiger while he was a P.O.W. in Manchuria. Richard Kim said Yamaguchi could watch a man walk past him and tell everything you wanted to know about him in 10 seconds - he was spy and this was part of his training during WWII. The meat and

potatoes of the project is in what is written about the master and the close to 150 rare photos of which many have never been seen before that came from several personal archives that have donated to the project.

The Limited Edition book comes with a DVD and a CD of Yamaguchi S en s ei in s i de i t, al o ng wi th a Certificate of Authenticity, all placed inside a beautiful handmade slip cas e f o r pres erv ati on o f thi s masterpiece.

From notes taken in the 1980s, Warrener describes the names of the katas, their meaning and highlights of each form, as Yamaguchi Sensei described them to him in one of the three times he interviewed him.

Warrener was fortunate to have received a personal introduction to

Yamaguchi Sensei by his teacher, Richard Kim. After several trips to visit and train with Yamaguchi Sensei, Warrener was then asked to represent the Master and the Japanese Goju Kai for Canada in 1978, but had to decline because of his loyalty to his sensei, Richard Kim. The story of the Master's life, from his youth all the way through to his passing, reads like a tell-all documentary of one of the world's most important martial artists of all time.

The book reveals his early years and his training with his teacher, Chojun Miyagi, as well as his later years, including his famous trip to 'The Big Apple'. Some of the stories of his trip to NYC seem unbelievable, including the story of the 5:00 a.m.

training he did with the windows wide open overlooking Central Park, and the sanchin breathing scaring the hell out of the students (who were acting as body guards, not that he needed them) camped out in his living room.

The book also has a short biography on many of his senior students in the USA and the rest of the world, including Gosei Yamaguchi, Peter Urban, Joe Lopez, Bob Taiani, Lou Angel, Mas Oyama and Richard Kim. It also contains a history of all his teachers and his teachers' teachers, including Ru Ru Ko, Go Ken Ki, Kanryo Higaonna and his personal teacher, Bushi ChojunMiyagi.

The first half of Yamaguchi Sensei's biography is written by Graham Noble, a noted historian from Great Britain who has been writing on the Master for over 20 years and has recently revised his biography of the first half of the Yamaguchi's life from1909 to 1945.

Some of Yamaguchi's contemporaries have also been included in the book to give you a total picture of the master and his Goju experiences, featuring short biographies on legends like Higa Seko, Ei'ichi Miyazato, Yagi Meitoku, Kosen Iha and others .

Gogen Sensei devoted his entire life to the preservation and propagation of Goju Ryu, as it was his teacher's wish for him to expose the world to the art and practice of Goju Ryu Karate.

He not only did that, he propelled it into the future in a way that only a true master of the art could do. He was not just a 10th\ Dan and originator of Japanese Goju Karate but also a lawyer, spy, Shinto priest, Yoga master and much more.

Yamaguchi Sensei was the guiding light for all styles of Goju for over 40 years and was looked upon as a god of martial arts by many. Not to mention, his long flowing hair and Japanese samurai dress made him something to stand back and take note of, as any who met him will tell you. Joe Lopez said he was aweinspiring, Bob Taiani said he was fearless, Richard Kim said he was a terrific fighter when he was young, and Don Warrener says that he was simply hypnotic.

Warrener is now working on the final chapter of the Goju Trilogy. The first was America's First Tenth Dan, Peter Urban, then the newly released Emperor of the Scarlet Fist - Gogen The Cat Yamaguchi and, finally, Bushi Chojun Miyagi, which was released Christmas 2010.

For hundreds of years, Martial tales have been an irreplaceable teaching vehicle in all traditions. We have made a selection of some of them and we hope to add some more in future installments, since in our Magazine, we also appreciate the value of this learning tool; a means where the literary is combined with the spiritual and tradition with entertainment, with particular emphasis on those stories in which the final moral opens new ways of thinking to the readers. We hope you like it.

Alfredo Tucci

On concentration An arrogant young archery champion, after winning several tournaments, decided it had come the time to defy an old Zen master. For that purpose, he went to the master’s monastery and there he shot an arrow that stuck right in the center of the target that was at a considerable distance. Not content with this, then he shot another arrow which broke the previous arrow in half, sticking into the center of the target.

Then he turned to the old master and said: "What do you think about that? Could you do the same?"

Undaunted and without a word, the old master made just a gesture with his hand indicating the archer to follow him.

The young man obeyed and both disappeared on a trail up the mountain.

Curiosity made the archer follow the old master, while both of them kept climbing till they reached the mountaintop. Once there, the master walked through a fragile wooden bridge over the cliff and then, eking out a standing on a small piece of wood over the abyss, aimed his arch to a distant tree and hit it with the arrow. Then he asked the young man: "Now it's your turn ..."

And he left the frail bridge, returning to the safe ground.

The young archer, full of terror and still staring into the abyss that opened at his feet, was unable to walk on the fragile bridge and much less shoot an arrow and hit the target. At that time the master said: "You have much skill with the bow, but very little balance with the mind, you can't even relax to get to see the target you must hit."

The goose into the bottle A senior government officer called Chu Li was telling Master Soho: "It's been years that I've maintaining this goose inside this bottle, I feed it every day and the goose grows, well

protected by the glass.

Now the goose is so big that scarcely fits in and I must take it out of the bottle, but if I break the bottle the goose could be injured or killed, and if I keep it inside, it will not live much longer. What can I do? How do I do to get it out safely from the bottle? Help me, Master Soho."

Soon, while the officer was holding the goose inside the glass bottle, Soho shouted at him: "Chu Li!" The frightened officer dropped the bottle on the floor. The bottle broke and the goose stepped outside unharmed. The teacher then said: "That's it, the goose is out!"

The greatest of warriors A student asked the master: "What I can do to become the best warrior?"

The master replied: "Go through those hills and when you reach the plain, insult the rock that is in the middle of it."

The student replied: "Why should I do that? The rock will not respond‌" The teacher added: "If it doesn't respond, hit it with your sword."

The student replied: "Then my sword will break" To which the teacher advised him "Then, attack it with your hands."

The student replied: "Then I'll hurt my hands... Besides, I didn't ask you anything about this, all I really want to know is how can I become the greatest of warriors."

To which the teacher replied: "The greatest warrior is the one who, like a rock, ignores the insults and provocations, but is always ready to repel an attack from the enemy."

Chasing two rabbits A martial arts student approached his teacher and said: "I've been studying with you for years, but I'd like to increase my knowledge in the martial arts with another master in order to know and learn a new style. What do you think on this respect? " The teacher replied: "The hunter who chases two rabbits risks not to catch any of them."

Working hard An enthusiastic student approached the master and said: "I am eager to learn your teachings and attain enlightenment. How long will it take me to achieve the knowledge and become enlightened?"

The master replied: "About ten years ..."

The student, showing impatience said: "But I want to know all the secrets in a much faster way! I will work very hard! I will work all day long, I will learn and I will memorize the sutras, for ten hours a day or more. Working so hard, how long will it take me to reach my goal? ".

The teacher seemed to think about it for a while and finally replied: "About twenty years..."

The here and now It is told that a Japanese samurai was captured by his enemies and taken into a cell where he was to spend only one night, since the very

next day he would be interrogated, tortured and finally executed. But his mind was not altered, he didn't think about what would happen tomorrow and slept soundly. He just remembered the words of his Zen master: "There is no tomorrow, is an illusion: the only reality is here and now. The real suffering is to live ignoring this teaching."

The force of repeating things A Japanese master of samurai warriors had a pet monkey that followed him everywhere and was present in all his workouts and classes. The monkey, which in its nature is an imitator, and by dint of watching, ended up learning most of the techniques of attack and defense performed and explained by the master of samurai.

One day, a Ronin or wandering samurai, showed up in the Dojo and challenged the master to a duel, as it was customary among

them. The master agreed, with the proviso that the Ronin should first face the monkey and then, if he won, the master would gladly accept the challenge. The Ronin was humiliated by such a proposal, but the temptation to confront such an important samurai led him to accept the challenge with the monkey.

The duel started, the Ronin armed with his spear and the monkey with a wooden bamboo sword. The Ronin attacked quickly and directly with his spear to the monkey in order to end up the encounter as soon as possible, but the monkey, with great agility dodged the first blow and launched a counterattack that hit his opponent for the first time. Then the monkey, before the defense of the adversary, jumped on his spear and disarmed him.

The master then told the Ronin: "I knew from the start that you couldn't even beat the monkey."

The Ronin embarrassed, nodded and stayed as a student and servant of the master of samurais.

The power of Ki In a town near Kyoto, there was a martial arts master, expert in unarmed combat. His fame was such that outshone the other teachers in the area, who barely had disciples. He was revered by all as a great master.

One day a young practitioner with a powerful muscular development went to his dojo willing to challenge and defeat the master and thus settle in the area to teach martial arts. The young man knocked on the door of the Dojo, where an old man short in height received him and said: "What can I do for you?"

The young martial artist replied: "I know that there's a great master of martial arts here and want to challenge him and beat him."

The old man answered: "I wouldn't advise you to do so, he is a very powerful master, he would end with you very quickly" To which the young man replied: "I doubt it, look what I can do!"

And then he took a very thick piece of wood and split it in two with his knee. The old man remained impassive and said: "See those thick bamboo canes? The master usually breaks them."

The young man took the bamboo in his hand and admitted: "They really are very hard and difficult to break."

And then he left. But he didn't give up and for nearly two years, he trained strenuously his physical strength until he managed to break a bamboo of the same caliber. Then he returned to the Dojo and knocked on the door. The same old man opened again and the young man said to him: "I am already able to break the bamboo, as does the master here. Now I want to challenge him."

The old man replied: "Please excuse me, last time I omitted a small detail on how the master of this dojo does it, I should have told you that he breaks the bamboo without touching it."

The applicant was puzzled, but then the old man held a bamboo in his left hand, concentrated for a few seconds and cried out such a Kiai that broke the bamboo into several pieces.

The applicant was speechless and, after a pause, apologized and humbly begged the master to admit him in his school to learn from him.

Jeet Kune Do

What's Bruce lee's Jeet Kune Do? Jeet Kune Do it means "the way of the intercepting fist", where the meaning of fist is a general shot. But in JKD intercepting the fist it mean to intercept the intention of attack of the opponent, if we intercept that intention we have two ways, one is to hit first,the other is to try to change the course of the fight bringing our opponent to change his mind on his willing. Fighting without fighting!!! It may seems very difficult but i swear a couple of times,applying this principle i really did it. One time i was doing an exhibition to show JKD's principles, was in 1995,during this exhibition i saw arriving some guys that i knew they were Wing Chun practitioners.

One of them was carrying a video camera, At that time people used to provoke the rival to try to knock him out after a non verbal reaction,recording everything.

Making the video recorded public to destroy the rival reputation. The small group of guys was under the Sifu influence which was really famous. By seeing arriving the Wing Chun sifu and sensing their intentions i stoped and said : please give a big applause to sifu which honouring me with his presence here today to my exhibition. At that point sifu opened the arms like to say: what i do now!

Nothing happened, they gave me a big applause at the end and now with sifu we are great friends. Now this, to me, it mean "fighting without fighting", many talk about it and talk a lot, but do they really got the meaning?

Why Bruce Lee thought to focus on create and improve this art?

T h e mo t iv at io n i s s impl e and complex at the same time. First of all

“Lee therefore succeeded in that intention, his discipline, his stubbornness, led him to hit the target. Bruce Lee taught to martial arts fans and practitioners to respect all cultures, not to underestimate anyone or anything.� fo r a pract ical reas o n t hat is to organize something that would work for real on the street as opposed to the disciplines which at that time were the most popular in America, not because they themselves were not effective, but because in that historical and territorial context mart ial arts had l os t their mai n objective which was the combat eff ectiv enes s , becomin g o nl y a fo lklo re and choreographi c disciplines. In addition to topic of "eff ect iv enes s " Lee created h is discipline because of his frustration being a Chinese on American soil.

We all know his t orically what Americans thought about strangers at that time. Bruce L ee was a Chinese boy from a good family, a wealthy family, screened in that

dimension made of discrimination and underestimation for the stranger, obviously he felt somewhat broken and destabilized. His point always been to show the greatness of the Chinese race and he understood that he could do that through martial arts. To do what he set for himself he needed to make a little bit of noise and I think we can all agree on the big noise he has done! It had to be the best to prove that his art was not a bluff.He did it with the help of his movies and with the great workout that he submitted. His physique is still taken as an example in the major bodybuilding magazines and his discipline, albeit with many problems o f interpret atio n, s ucces s fully continues to exist through the work of many serious enthusiasts. Bruce Lee was able to make fall in love with martial arts millions of people around the globe and those who lo v e martial arts can no lo ng er underestimate the cultures that gave ris e to t ho s e dis ciplines . Ev ery practitioner of kung fu dreams of going to China, as every practitioner of karate dreams of going to Japan.

Bruce Lee was Chinese and the great love for this character has led to respect and to estimate more the Chinese people.

Lee therefore succeeded in that intention, his discipline, his stubbor nness, led him to hit the target. Bruce Lee taught to martial arts fans and practitioners to respect all cultures, not to underestimate anyone or anything. For this Bruce Lee to me is always a source of great inspiration. The martial arts, if practiced seriously, are not only a way of kicking and punching, they are a way to socialize, get to know each other, to achieve harmony with all of creation. The latter consideration also makes us understand the symbol from him used, the yin and yang, two energies complementary and not

Jeet Kune Do

conflicting where one exists to justify the other.

All together for progress, says a motto of judo, this is the real reason to be of the martial arts, this is the true path to self-defense. Respect for others makes you not want to prevaricate so then why fight them?

If everyone practiced any martial discipline properly there would be no need to defend himself. This ... is my creed!

The intercepting fist, let's give a meaning to the words and writings of Sijo Bruce Lee "I did not invent anything new," stated Bruce Lee in his time, in fact in all martial disciplines is believed to possess the answer to everything and every discipline tends to impart a fixed knowledge and then the student should bring this knowledge to develop to the point of freedom and personal expression. What is described above is exactly what made the founder of Jeet Kune Do.

“The various great masters of martial arts have in their time created something new and alive, but their students have then later changed the system learned, often diverting it from the founder's original intentions.�

The various great masters of martial arts have in their time created something new and alive, but their students have then later changed the system learned, often diverting it from the founder's original intentions, this could also be fine because evolution is in the natural process of things but we should be fair and give a different name to that which has been subject to mutation.

Sure, "a name is just a name," but when this name is given will serve to give an identity to what you're doing, to what you are practicing or teaching because in its name is already etched the main feature of the art and Jeet Kune Do doesn't make an exception. Why, then, Lee wrote, "a name is just a name"? Often the term JKD is used by those who can not or don't want to deepen,which is convenient creating something personal mixing their experiences and using this term as a decoy, interpreting it as best suits their self Bruce Lee's affirmation: If a name is just a name, therefore, also is JKD what I do! In fact is not like this, "a name is just a name" means that even practicing a specific martial art with very precise characteristics, you do not have to stick to it otherwise then you can not freely express yourself. "A name is just a name" is an attitude of mind, has nothing to do with the technique, is the basic principle of Taoism, but even if Taoism used that motto, had a definite method to get the adept the correct understanding. That principle and those teachings are proper of Taoism, a name that is just a name but with a definite identity.

The same thing it applies to the motto "using no way as way and no limitation as limitation", also in this case is used cleverly by who benefits from the confusion, no way as way is already a way its self, only that is a different way from the classical ones. "No way -way" ,doesn't mean that there is no way or method. style non-style, as the name implies, is a style with characteristics different from the classical one. On the style topic, however, need to make a clarification, the style of Lee is just the style of Lee and no one can imitate it. When we talk about JKD is used inappropriately the word style, creating a lot of confusion, in fact JKD, like any other

discipline is a school not a style. The style is of the person, the school, contrarily, determines the characteristic of the discipline.

The Jeet Kune Do, as the name suggests, is the art of the intercepting fist, then all our attention, all exercises should aim to achieve this idea. Intercepting Fist it means to realize that we are about to be attacked and that we need to stop this before it is taken, you will be able to anticipate or stop, simple!

In reality, however, this simplicity has a considerable cost,to be essential and spontaneous is a point of arrival, the achievement of which is rather difficult, not because of the complexity of things to learn, or the large number of techniques to train but for the great dedication that must have in search of the perfect gesture.

But what is simple and direct?

Hit the target closest to you, it may be the knee, then why hit the face? This is the path to simplicity, the jkd is the way to kill our ego.

When we do seminars or just give classes, to impress on students we give a lot of space to creativity, making gradually more and more complicated solutions that will become more and more spectacular, but often distant from the actual application on the street.

There is art's sake and art aimed at the application's real, there's Giotto's zero and there is a Picasso painting, probably Giotto's zero is not so artistic but leaves a glimpse of the great technique and precision of its creator in a simple and direct way. Let's explain better what it means direct and simple in JKD: the shot goes from point a to point b in a direct way, this is a direct way; a punch or a kick that follow the line as straight as possible towards the nearest target, whatever it is, this is meant for simple! If i'm simple and straightforward, and I refined my technique at most this will not be intercepted.

Even the emotions should be simple and direct, so not even then the emotion must be intercepted.

The difference between the true martial art, in Jeet Kune Do in a specific way, and combat sports is only given by the different targets. the combat sports stick with a

Thanks to: Alessandro Rossetti and Emanuele Corvino to help me as my partner... Giovanni Tartaglione for the pictures and Anna Rossetti and Mikele Bairava for the English translation

Jeet Kune Do regulation made to minimize the injuries of the athletes, in the real martial art, there are no rules and can be refined all techniques prohibited in those competitions.

The fundamental concepts of JKD, as we have seen, are: simplicity, directness and economy of movement, but some schools are deviating much from all of this dramatically increasing the number of ways in which to show off their mixed martial arts under the name of Jeet Kune Do by collecting tools rather than reducing them to the

essential,getting always more far away from the target to adopt a more simple and direct way.

Bruce Lee said that we are already in possession of the necessary tools and that were those learned from its classical style but it was then necessary to put these tools to the test and find out what it is useful and what is not.

Remove from day to day Abandon what is useless means eliminating non-essential movements.

Each martial art has the useful parts would otherwise not exist in fact no style and no discipline, but many teachers who call themselves followers of Bruce Lee are actually tapping from more arts becoming more collectors than fighters.

In Jeet Kune Do we don't have to add but minimize ,must eliminate the inessential, so it's not a daily growth but a steady decrease.

To do, however, an important consideration, Bruce Lee doesn't transmit on to his followers what he

“Bruce Lee said that we are already in possession of the necessary tools and that were those learned from its classical style but it was then necessary to put these tools to the test and find out what it is useful and what is not.� had obtained for him self because what he got was absolutely something personal, but the methods used to get to realize that art, so to test the tools already in our possession.

So this is the most difficult thing to understand and that has sparked so much confusion in the world of Jeet Kune Do, Bruce Lee did not want to send the result of his personal research, otherwise we would be talking of style and we know that the JKD eschews this concept, he wished rather that each of his students found their own way to the essentiality. The confusion arises here, giving rise to many practitioners to always seek new tools without ever having the chance to test them in the reality.If you want to test the effectiveness in some way in their own ability you have to test them, to test them there is the sparrig, which Lee gave great importance, or face a real fight, just like this you can discover what it's really useful and what is not, this is the only way you will realize that learning many disciplines and mix it is not as useful in combat, which itself is essential. Have you seen any competition, you've never done sparring or witnessed a fight in the street? Well how many chances

you have seen endless variations where apply in these comparisons? Three punches, two kicks, slaps and then maybe down, but everything is very simple and fast, no time to think, it all happens in a very violent and sudden therefore everything must be studied considering these truths and Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do is just the discipline that covers these truths in his bosom, these truths are all enclosed within its own name the Jeet Kune Do or the art of the intercepting fist.

Concept or Original?

To me doesn't exist this dichotomy, The Original is already Concept and vice versa.

In the Original there is the possibility to find our own dimension while remaining in the canons of Lee's JKD, as canons i mean a certain way to kick, to pull punches, to trapping, grappling, etc.. The Jun Fan's JKD is the Lee's JKD, and like all of Lee's students say or said, only Lee was able to do certain things. But in JKD t h e re a re c h a n c e s t o f i n d o u r o w n dimension, so can find a Ted Wong moving like Lee and that loved to kickboxing, there was a Jerry Poteet who was very good at trapping and in the short distance and Larry Hartsell who was very good at grappling.All had learned Lee's program but then depending on their characteristics they specialized in something, but not going to do Brazilian Jiu Jitsu or wing chun, rather than how it is done incorrectly t h e p a n a n t u k a n f ro m t h o s e w h o h a v e m i s i n t e r p re t e d t h e J K D C o n c e p t . T h e problem of JKD Concept is that it was just misinterpreted, Inosanto himself does not fray absolutely nothing, the problem is that he has given permission to do so to their students. Inosanto teaches Jun Fan Gung Fu in embryo already has the principles of JKD .... it is just a method that give a great technical knowledge but that, however, has given way to a bit of confusion. The concept is something that you can use to investigate your discipline that is Thai or Taekwondo, you can use those concepts to make it even easier and more effective your discipline, the same as Lee said, but in the end you're always practicing Thai or Taekwondo and not JKD.

The DVD "Krav Maga Research and Development" comes from the will of four experts in Krav Maga and combat sports, Christian Wilmouth and Faustino Hernandez, Dan Zahdour and Jerome Lidoyne. To date, they lead several clubs and a group of twenty instructors and monitors from multiple disciplines, from Krav Maga or Boxing to the MMA, Mixed Martial Arts. This work is not intended to highlight a new method or a specific branch of Krav Maga, it simply aims to present a Krav Maga program that focuses on the importance of the "content" and share their experiences.

REF.:짜 KMRED1

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. net

Y

ou never have a second chance to make a good first impression.

Your intro is where you establish the value of what you are teaching. This is super important.

Most students and parents will not have any idea of the value of what you teach. The intro or trial course is designed to specifically convey to them that the true value of your martial arts training is not in the technique but in the character traits that you are instilling in the students.

It's where a prospect makes a decision as to whether it's worth their time, energy and financial resources to be involved with your school. It's also your opportunity to evaluate a potential student: Are they going to be worth your time, energy and other resources?

We start by establishing what we are trying accomplish in the trial course. The goals are to: 1. Impress the parents and students with the character building traits in the class such as discussing the black belt attitude. “We realize you can’t have black belt level techniques as a beginner but you can start to apply the black belt attitude starting right now. The black belt attitude is a positive attitude of respect and hard work.

When you’re at school, think “How would a black belt sit and listen to the teachers?” When your parents ask you to do something, do it without complaint and do it like a black belt.

When you speak to any adult in this school, and hopefully outside of it as well, you will always show respect by saying Yes Sir or No ma’m. Do you understand that? (Look for a Yes Sir).

2. Enroll the student.

Next month we’ll discuss how to overcome objections, but for now. The content of the lesson has to be spot on with goals of the parents and/or student. If they mention confidence is a goal, talk about confidence in class. If they mention self-control, make that a focus of the class. You have to able to articulate, demonstrate and have drills designed that specifically address the character building traits of the martial arts.

John Graden is the Executive Director of the Martial Arts Teachers’ Association and the author of the bestselling books on how to run a successful martial arts school without selling out: www.MartialArtsSchoolOwners.com

IMPROVE YOUR TECHNIQUE Technical perfection is achieved when our martial movements become natural.

The human being is born with certain natural schemes of fighting and defense movements, scar ce and coarse, like scratching, biting, choking, instinctive hand actions, etc., so he must learn to fight.

Initially, the movements he learns are artificial, because learning is done by decomposing mar tial sequences into simple techniques which, once assimilated, are enchained with some automation.

Mastery consists of "integrating" these forged and fragmented movements in our natural motor skills, that is, to "naturalize" the techniques learned.

T

hus, a straight punch stops being a chained sequence of two movements: extension of the arm (impact) - withdrawal of the arm... beco ming jus t o ne s ing le natural movement. Obviously, all human beings are very similar, but never identical, and so, every martial artist, while he refines and naturalizes his techniques, he also personalizes them, i.e., "makes them his own", adapting t hem t o "his o wn nat ure and phy s ical attributes". This is achieved by dint of repeating over and over the techniques of the particular martial art or contact sport.

The word "technique" derives from "techne", a word with Greek roots that cab be translated into English like "skill" or "method of doing something". This notion is used to describe a type of actions ruled by guidelines or a certain protocol, the goal of which is that of bringing about a specific outcome. It is a procedure or set of regulations, standards or practices aiming to bring about a particular result, whether in the field of science, technology, art, sports, education, research, or any other human activity. In other words, a technique is a set of standardized procedures and strategies that are used as ways to reach a certain end.

Text: Pedro Conde.

Photos: David Gramage. davidgramage@gmail.com

Te c h n i q u e a s s u m e s t h a t , i n s i m i l a r s i t u a t i o n s , re p e a t i n g behaviors or carrying out the same p ro c e d u re w i l l p ro d u c e e q u a l effects. Therefore, it's an orderly way of doing which consists in the systematic repetition of certain actions. In martial arts and contact sports this means repeating the

same movements until you are able to make them perfect, if not always, at least "almost" always.

Technical mastery can be recognized by the following fact: those who hold such skill can make look easy what is complex; the most difficult techniques seem easy and natural when performed by a master.

This - some call it naturalness, others fluency -, is the product of years of training, until the technical sequences are internalized with such skill that they become natural and spontaneous movements in the martial artist. Obviously, this is only achieved after a long and constant practice (there can't be set overall

Technique limits, because all depends on the intensity and regularity of training, motivation, type of technique, etc.). However, there are a few tips that can be given in order to optimize the technical development and accelerate the practitioner’s progression.

The first step would consist in the theoretical task of breaking down a determined technical sequence into the series of "stages" of which is composed. Such analysis can be done from three levels: anatomical, mechanical and functional.

Anatomical analysis The anatomical analysis is the scientific study of the various body parts involved in the technical movement.

We must first consider the different types of joints involved, their mobility range and the ampleness required by the technique and its limitations (whether bony, articular, ligament or muscular). On the other hand, the muscles involved in the action are also clearly relevant: their nature, their motion and the interrelationship among them (either antagonistic, synergistic or fasteners).

Perhaps all this sounds highly technical and complex, but it can be very useful to avoid erroneous workouts and sports "frustrations". That is, our particular bone structure can significantly affect, for instance, our kicking technique, and make it difficult that we ever get to throw a high kick the proper way. Movement limitations that are exclusively due to bone factors cannot be overcome by training; we can "model" and relax muscles and ligaments, but never bones. It is therefore important to know these details to guide and streamline our training.

Mechanical Analysis Making a mechanical analysis is decomposing a technical sequence in simple movements, in order to scrutinize how they must be performed and enchained. The most rigorous researches apply what is known as the "vector decomposition": analyzing and molding in the form of vectors the various forces and moments acting on the system (simple movements), the sum of which gives us the combined force generated by the sequence. Situations of balance and other interrelated determinant elements as speed, weight and angles, come also into play. All these partial results are integrated in a kinematic chain (motion) and allow us to obtain the "technically perfect sequence" in regard with mechanical sequence.

Among elite athletes, this is usually studied by using computer software. For the "newbies", a good mechanical analysis would consist in observing thoroughly the whole series of movements that make up the technical sequence, experiencing and reflecting on the utility and convenience of angles, dynamics, turns, projections, etc.

Functional Analysis As for the functional analysis, it is based on the study of the contraction-distension labor of the different muscles involved in the movement. In scientific research, the work produced by the muscle sets is measured and valuated.

There are different types of muscular contraction. The so-called isometric contraction refers to the muscular tightening that occurs without displacement or movement

of the muscle (that is, in a sense it is a "static" contraction), therefore it is not a mechanical work but a deformation work (remember the typical exercises of isometric bodybuilding that were practiced in so many gyms: "pushing the wall" with a towel, etc.). In a mathematical equation its value would be equal to 0.

The anisometric contraction does involve a displacement, so we can assess the work produced. We must distinguish between the concentric contraction, when the muscle itself contracts to produce movement, which is considered a positive work; and its opposite, the eccentric contraction, which supposes a motion in the opposite sense to the muscle contraction, in response to the action of an external force and must therefore be measured as a negative work. By isotonic contraction (also anisometric) we understand a constant muscle tension, normally due to an external resistance whose force is also constant.

All this scientific jargon can confuse more than one, but it is highly recommended acquiring a minimum theoretical basis in order to know, even if roughly, how the body works, and understand what exercises and what practices are most suitable to develop our technical skills.

Understanding better our anatomy, mechanics and muscle functioning is not certainly something anecdotal or gratuitous.

In practical terms, the basis of any technical improvement is undoubtedly a constant and well done recurrence of techniques, and hence the need for theoretical knowledge, together with an attentive performance, that is, conscious and therefore self-correcting to detail - not a mechanical "autopilot" type repetition.

The first movements must be slow, both to warm up and to fix (or remember) schemes and dynamics. The speed and power of execution will gradually increase to reach our full potential without losing technical control.

The expression "polish a technique" translates exactly what we

mean: repeating again and again the sequence to go on smoothing over imperfections and make our brain get used to the chain of moves until it "makes it his", and then incorporates it into our "natural bodily expressiveness".

But of course, the technical development does not end in the simple repetition, it is also necessary to introduce a variety of training situations. The technique can be worked "to the air", in which case you should never hit with uncontrolled power, otherwise you risk ending up hurting your joints. In classical martial arts, this type of workout is very common, especially in the performance of the previously established forms (katas, pumses, taos, etc.). In contact sports is less frequent, as they seek realism over everything; hitting in the air only takes place while doing "shadow", which serves both to warm muscles and to perfect the technique and acquire physical resistance.

Working with equipment (bags, focus, paos, shields, mitts, etc.) involves a higher level of technical application as far as realism is concerned, both for the full contact and for the shifting movements that simulate a combat. The last step would be the technical application to actual combat, which is the ultimate

purpose of technical improvement, the "litmus test" of the technical quality moving freely against a real more or less opponent, unpredictable.

Frequently, the more realistic a situation is, the more we miss or the less we apply technique. This is due to the control of several factors: in an execution in the air, it usually suffices to control inner factors that can affect our technique: balance, movement, coordination, timing... But in front of a training device, or when we are facing an opponent, there come into play a long series of external factors that affect our technique and that are much more difficult to control: impact power, constant displacement of the "target" (the adversary), accuracy of impact, correction or annulment of a technical sequence, interception or attack by the adversary, feints, a restricted combat space, etc.

In addition to realism, in order to perfect the technique is highly recommended to "observe ourselves in action" so that we can monitor and correct our movements. For technical application in the air - either Kata or shadow workout - it is very advisable to do it in front of a wall mirror. In the case of combat or training with equipment, direct self-observation becomes impossible, because all our attention should be on the adversary.

Technique Technology gives us a solution: recording our workouts and fighting.

This is important because, even if we are convinced of mastering an isolated technical sequence, when we insert it into a long series of movements that precede or follow the sequence, it gets affected by them, which can eventually lead us to small "vices" or errors.

Technical quality is not just a matter of aesthetics, but it is closely related

to combat effectiveness. Many martial sports have it in high esteem: Judo (where the difference between an Ippon and a Wazari lies in the quality of the technique), Karate and Taekwondo sports combats, and even in the light-contact and semicontact encounters. In contact sports, although efficiency comes first (any regulated technique that achieves a KO "is good," regardless

of its quality), technical mastery clears up many combats when the final score is decided by points. Apart from this, a better technique always supposes a bigger effectiveness, as long as we understand that the quality of a given technique is not totally refined until it can be applied in actual combat, and for that there is only one way: training, training and training and, of course, Combat.

Ling Gar for Life by Vincent Lyn Ling Gar is among the oldest of the surviving family kung-fu styles in China. Some noted historians credit Ling Gar for much of the trapping and use of the centerline principles common in many well-known southern kung-fu styles, including Wing Chun. Yet remarkably, going back to its recorded origins over 25 generations ago, the style had never been taught outside the family until I myself brought it out from obscurity. From its early days of the Ming Dynasty beginning in 1368 the history of Ling Gar is as poignant, exciting and colorful as any movie adventure could ever hope to be. However, the history of Ling Gar Tzai Kune Do isn't really about evolution of kung-fu styles, or even the story of its famous family but rather a way of life, and a way of living that became part of China's heart and heritage. One could say that Ling Gar might have become just another curious fact for academics and historians if it were not for the efforts of myself. Though I'm probably best known for my co-starring roles in many international Asian action films and my widely successful music career. It understandably focuses away from the fact that I'm a 22nd generation Sifu from the famous Ling Gar lineage. The name Ling Gar Tzai Kune Do ("The Way of Immobilizing an Attack From its Origin") was created by my cousin Ling Yin Shi one of the five sons of my Uncle Abak (the Grandmaster of Ling Gar) and whom taught me. The name was thus created to help those in the West understand something about the style. In China these things are part of the culture and often implicitly understood and learned that way. In the West that isn't the case, things need to be more direct.

I have forged Ling Gar into its 8th Century and beyond. I have tried my utmost to perpetuate the teachings that have been taught and bestowed upon me. Also to shed some new light on a tradition and art form that had nearly been lost along with so many other famous Kung-fu styles.

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It seems these days people are more interested about learning how to fight quickly mostly for sport than to decipher and study the true teachings of the art. It seems preposterous to me an art such as Chinese martial arts has a history dating back some 3,000 years and yet we bat an eyelid as if it means nothing at all. For the true disciplined martial artist it is their life's blood and sweat. It soars throughout our veins and intrinsically defines who we are. With our modern times where everyone can now add their two cents online of what they think is effective or ineffective or the so-called best of the best. I find it amusing and appalling at the same time. In the nearly 50 years of study nothing has changed really we just realize there are more charlatans than ever hiding behind a made up Facebook group name or Youtube posting etc and spouting rhetoric and obviously knowing nothing about the subject. If I sound callous it's meant to be. Because those of us who have spent our lives living and breathing that tradition the Art know exactly what I'm talking about.

I've recently met some wonderful and humble Kung-fu Sifu's here in NYC, so it's always a warming feeling to be able to discuss our own personal philosophy with one another, without getting in a pissing contest over "who's style is the best". What a drag! I've always realized the day we stop learning is the day we cease to exist more

appropriately, that we are no longer a part of the natural flow of life - the Tao. Now having turned 55 years old I applaud life's great lessons and my zest for life has increased tenfold. The key to martial arts for life or as in my case Ling Gar for Life is to be able to address the stages in life as we progress through the physical and mental changes as we age. To accept them gracefully and do it with style:-) I am still learning everyday and that's what drives and compels me to keep honing my skill and craft.

As a young boy I wish that I had listened and paid more attention to my wise Uncle Abak. I will always remember Abak visiting us from Hong Kong. It was the dead of winter in Connecticut and snow was on the ground, a stark contrast to the beautiful weather Abak had left. But at 5am he was up and outside practicing Tai Chi & Qi Gong. My father came into my room and tried to wake me telling me

Kung Fu to go and practice and lear n something from Abak. I sleepily arose and peered out of the frost laden window. Abak was in complete stillness standing in a crane stance as if frozen in time. I looked for a minute and fell back to sleep. Only 10 minutes later my father came in with a glass of cold water and spilled it on my face. Well that surely woke me up in a hurry. I rubbed the frost off the window and Abak was still standing in the crane stance but now snow started to fall and it was as if he was part of the landscape an ice statue.

He was dressed as if it were spring, I bundled up with the usual array of winter gear that we are so used to wearing here on the East coast of America. I didn't last long before I ran back inside to warm up. It was lessons like these that as a young boy had no idea the power he possessed.

As a young boy my answer to that was Bruce Lee doesn't do that slow stuff. It's taken me a lifetime to understand the complexities of the internal arts. Ling Gar has both an integral exter nal and inter nal

“I have traveled the world learning about various styles of martial arts only to find out that no matter what style or country you're from we are all one family� combination. When we are young and fully into studying the martial side of the arts. Whether it be for competition or art it usually becomes a way of enhancing our own ego to either impress our own students or for our personal vanity. This obviously will not last long and eventually the practice

of martial arts will not last. I have realized unless one truly invests their time and future to practicing the inter nal arts one will never live a balanced and harmonious life.

In 2012 I took a group of students to Wudang Temple in Hubei Province, China. It was glorious and enlightening for everyone no matter a beginner or advanced student.

Everyone was overwhelmed by the energy and clarity of being there and learning Wudang. For me it was like coming home or coming full circle. It was telling me something so profound and abstruse. That the next part of my life must be the practice of calmness and stillness. To quote Bruce Lee "be like water my friend". Clear ones life of stress and pressure and truly live life. For all of us it means letting go of certain things. Whether it be material things or certain people in our lives that drain our energy our Chi our lifeforce. It is different for everyone, but we all must make a concerted effort to do it and not just talk about it as we all certainly do. But make it happen with every cell in your being. I

Kung Fu

recently retur ned from Greece. A country that certainly has had it share of tough times financially and economically. Certainly draining on anyones mental outlook. But the people seem to not allow it to overtake their freedom of living and enjoying life. It's beautiful to witness another reminder not to take things too seriously. Life is precious but we also must live it with gusto and never look back.

In closing, the study of martial arts has been a lifelong journey that has taken me to every corner of the world.

It's a lifetime ago since the days of me studying karate and judo in England.

How I and so many the world over were mesmerized by watching a small statured Chinese man called Bruce Lee take on the world by storm! Only to come to terms with what was already in my blood, I just didn't realize yet. Like all great things it has to be nurtured and then trained until it shows its true meaning. I am the last living Sifu of Ling Gar a famous family style of Kung-fu that has been preserved for over 750 years. I have brought Ling Gar into the 21st century and beyond.

I have seen martial arts go through many changes these mast five

“I have seen martial arts go through many changes these mast five decades.

Unfortunately it is not all good� decades. Unfortunately it is not all good. As martial artists we have a responsibility to pass on the knowledge to our children and if not children then to people who thirst for the knowledge. Sometimes as masters of the art we forget that it is a "Way of Life" and therefore we must always live, breathe, and perpetuate the existence of our own teachings. We must strive to be worthy and to be better human beings. We must never ever forget why we started the teachings of martial arts in the first place. Martial arts are about respect, respect for an art form that os 3,000 years old. It doesn't matter how many belts, degrees or trophies you have if

one has no respect for others and themselves.

I have traveled the world learning about various styles of martial arts only to find out that no matter what style or country you're from we are all one family. We may speak a different language but the language of martial arts is inter national. We share a common bond that can never be broken. Many of my peers agree we eat, live and breathe martial arts; it is in the air we breathe. Without it our lives would be common place. After 50 years of studying and teaching the art of Ling Gar I feel blessed to be a part of a rich tradition and history that hopefully will continue for another 750 years. Compared to Uncle Abak I'm still only a beginner and he himself said the same thing comparing himself to his Sifu.

"If you cannot perform that which has been studied, do not consider the matter ended. If another man achieves success with one effort, use ten. If another succeeds with a hundred efforts, use a thousand. By persevering on this way, even the slow of mind can become intelligent and the weak can become strong".

Confucius

BUDO: How did Team Paul Mitchell get started under the successful shampoo and beauty supply company supervision?

DR: We had a team and it was sponsored by a company called Spider Brand. The guy that started us out would go to the promoters and give them equipment bags etc. in lieu of uniforms and entry fees. Things did not go through as expected sometimes so we decided we needed a new sponsor. Steve Bobcat said he knew this guy from Paul Mitchell. Then we prepared a 7 page proposal and in a couple of weeks he called John Paul, we dialogued and here we are today.

BUDO: So what is his real name?

DR: His name is John Paul Dejoria.

BUDO: How long ago did the Team started?

DR: We are in our 27th years. 2years into the sponsorship I had the opportunity to meet John Paul himself in his NYC Manhattan apt.

BUDO: Does he practice martial arts?

DR: Just a little bit but has always been a fan of it. The unique thing about John Paul Dejoria is that he was a homeless man at age 35 now he is one of the richest man in the US. He's a humble guy, a great sponsor and a unique person. He's into rainforest, so he's in bond with the environmental system.

BUDO: How do you choose members of Team Paul Mitchell?

DR: Well we, myself, Damon Gilbert, Lauren Kearney, Chris Rappold, and Steve Babcock, all of us, when we go to a tournament we look at everyone there in order to select perspective competitors, that we might look at in near future. We watch them for awhile we don't make any hasty decision, we look to see their attitude is good, if they are good people, we don't want to put anyone on the team that have a bad attitude be detrimental to the company's name itself Paul Mitchell we always have to think about the name Paul Mitchell Karate Team.

BUDO: How do you choose the tournaments where you're going pick up these guys?

DR: The tournaments we go at times are chosen for different reasons for instance if the company would want us to go say Minnesota because they have salons there, we go to Minnesota if they want us to go Atlanta because they have some big salons there we go to Atlanta.

BUDO: So you follow the events of the company and world wide international championships?

DR: No. We went to Ireland because we wanted to establish that international look, we go because the tournaments is really good, like in Rhode Island they have a school that teaches people how to become hairdressers. So they have Paul Mitchell school in Cranston Rhode Island and they pay $10,000 a year to learn how to become hairdressers. So its easy for them to come to the tournament.

BUDO: These kids are not chosen because of their international level?

DR: No some people are just awesome fighters and we just decided to put them on board. We also wanted to show the rest of the world that we'll come and get you if you're good enough we will put on this prestigious team.

BUDO: Do you actually pay team members.

DR: When we go to a tournament we pay for their flights, room and we give them expense money. We pay their entire trip to get to an event and whatever prize money they win at the tournament its theirs. Whatever seminars they can get in the future the funds are theirs too.

BUDO: The prize money don't necessarily come from Paul Mitchell.

DR: No the prize money usually come from event itself. Like if they go to my tournament and they win a grand and they win a $1000 now at tournament I give out six overall grants of $6000. Well they won 5 of them so they got there and they did well. Or if they set up 5-6 seminars at $100-$150 an hour they can make $500/$600 just doing seminars.

Being on the team brings them to another level gives them the push.

That's why going to this events is not basically a tournament but the impact we are making on the Cayman Island itself and the players is outstanding.

BUDO: Do you have a set age that you limit member of the team or when they reach a certain age you tell them that's it?

DR: No not at all. Kevin Thompson quit on his own because of his injuries.

Kevin Thompson was in his 50s and he was still competing. He would have been competing if it was not for his illness. He was still competing at high levels for senior grand. Casey Marks she just came back. She is in her 30s and she has two kids. She got married and now she's back as a member of Team Paul Mitchell.

BUDO: Every year you have programs where the team all get to meet once a year?

DR: Yes once a year. We try to keep everything in house. Damon is the fighting coach. Lauren is the forms and weapons coach, basically I am the overall coach.

BUDO: Did you ever have a situation where one of the team members quit on you?

DR: Yes, different reasons and its kinda like, we just had one quit a month ago, one of our top competitors, Chelsea Nash. She was our number one fighter. The team operates on thinking less of me and more of the team. Its about the group not about you. Its the team, Team Paul Mitchell and if you can't operate that way then you no longer can be a part of this team.

BUDO: Don, tell me briefly about your highlights, you are a very interesting character. What age did you start martial arts?

DR: I started martial arts at age 12 years old and never stopped since never took a break.

BUDO: You do Kempo and what other styles?

DR: Kempo Karate I've dabbled into traditional Okinawan forms my instructor Nick Cerio, we ensure that in the system we have Oki Ru Kempo.

I studied with Ed Parker, with Nick Cerio for over 30 years and George Pesare. These were my three main instructors. I also trained in Kung Fu for three years with Yen Fung Chen.

BUDO: What are the highlights you ever did in Karate?

DR: I've had Chuck Norris here quite a few times, being here this weekend at Grand Cayman Islands is an highlight, getting my 10th degree black belt is an highlight. Getting my 1st degree black belt was an highlight, having my wife win a world championship, my son won a world championship is an highlight.

Winning some team fights in Germany and other countries, getting so many highlights is enough to write a book “If You Don't Know Me Then Who Are You?” BUDO: Did you compete at younger age and how did you do?

DR: I competed when I was younger- we had no hand gear, no head gear, no foot gear, we had a groin protector and a mouth protector and that was just about what we had.

BUDO: How far did you reach?

DR: I was in black belt division.

I've never lost a fight in competition. I lost a lot of matches but never lost a fight, and I won the respect from everyone I fought.

From Black Belt Magazine to Inside Kung Fu, a lot of Hall of Fame. They are all important to me. I've had my ups and downs with the Diamond Nationals and I quit the NASKA twice and went with the NBO but came back to NASKA… BUDO: You are very well connected with NASKA

DR: I am on the board of Directors with NASKA my wife sits on the rules committee and I sit on the sponsorship committee.

BUDO: How do you go about getting the KRANE rating.

DR: George Pesare created KRANE in 1967 I did not start it I took it over.

Everyone backed out but Tony and myself took it over and made it International. We've been running it now for 30 years and its called NEKRA. KRANE is Karate Referees Association of New England. NEKRA stands for New England Karate Referees Association.

BUDO: How many rating systems are available?

DR: There's a lot of them but the biggest ones on a national level are NASKA & NBO. BUDO: What is KRANE for?

DR: KRANE is more of a regional circuit. Each regional has its ratings.

BUDO: What is the main one worldwide?

DR: WAKO has over 80 affiliated countries.

BUDO: You are one of the main CEO of WAKO system running in the US? DR: I am the President of WAKO. Tom Festa and myself run WAKO. We've been running it since 1991.

BUDO: How does WAKO works?

DR: They look at every country and select carefully the championships.

BUDO: You are one of the few martial artists that I've met and value your friendship. When we get together we talk about history of the martial arts and I value those things. I am an historian.

DR: Been fortunate to become friends with you Maurice, Chuck Norris. Ed Parker was very close to me and my instructor Nick Cerio I learned something from everybody.

BUDO: So you are a people person.

DR: Yes definitely just like you Maurice very warm and humble.

GM Maurice Elmalem 7 Time World Champion, Author, Producer, Artist, www.mauricepromartial arts.com

The Zen Nihon Toyama Ryu Iai -Do Renmei ( ZNTIR ), once reviewed and adapted the concepts and methodology of a school that proceeds from a method of real combat, is the body that currently intends to maintain this tradition and original forms alive through a system that unifies body, mind and spirit in a realistic and effective way. This DVD was done at the instance of practitioners of the Spanish subsidiary of the Zen Nihon Toyama Ryu Iaido Renmei (ZNTIR Spain Branch) to present to everybody a combat style with a real sword, created last century, but with roots in the ancient fighting techniques of feudal Japan. In it you will find the basic structure of the methodology applied in the style, from the coded warm up and preparation exercises, cutting exercises, guards, the school kata, work in pairs and initiation in the Tameshigiri or cutting exercises on a real target , the cornerstone of the Toyama- Ryu. We hope that knowledge of the existence of a style such as the Toyama-Ryu Batto-Jutsu acts as a revulsive of a traditional way and yet very different from current combat disciplines, that attract those who want to go further in their martial practices. Those interested in the Japanese sword and initiates, will find useful this DVD both as support to their learning and as a reference.

REF.: • TOYAMA1

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. net

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Heavybag Drills, Dummy Drills, Two Man Drills, Form overview, Pole vs. Knife