This is a picture of the guy who taught me Kail
http://www.maelstromcore.com/images/FireSword/Framed_w250.jpg
so...
I love martial arts. I started training when I was 5 in kiddy tae kwon do and then when I was 13 I lived in Japan for a year and fell in love with Karate (actually I fell in love with a girl but that's a story for another forum) after that I studied Isshin Ryu Karate until I got my black belt. My first and second years of university (Don't tell my parents) were spent
mon - fri 6:00 am - 9:00 am Aikido 9:00 - 12 school 12-1 lunch 2-4 gym 4 pm - 6pm Phillipino stick and knife fighting 6-7:30 traditional jiu jutsu 7:30 - 10 Capoeira
yeah... I spent more money and time training martial arts... my parents were pissed when they found out I almost failed my first year...
If you're looking for a counter attack type martial art I recommend Escrima/ Kali or phillipino stick and knife fighting. the idea of it is, blocking is attacking. if you're in the Vancouver area I highly recommend
www.maelstromcore.com under Guro Loki Jorgenson. This place is amazing if you want to learn martial arts but also if you want to talk to intelligent people. Loki has a PhD in Physics and his main instructors have PhDs in Psychology, Computer Science and Cognitive Science. They also happen to practice full contact sparring with minimal protection. They also teach Made Muda Silat, Krabi Krabong (Muay Thai with swords) and is located in the basement of the Capoeira studio on Broadway.
However, Kali is a brutal martial art. You are learning either to stab someone to death or else beat them to a bloody pulp with a stick. Actually, not necessarily one of those two either. It teaches to fight with something, anything in your hand because you can get over that mental barrier of hurting yourself when you strike somone. Cellphones (older cellphones) textbooks, pens, chopsticks, forks, spoons, graphing calculators, are all items that you can use in your self defense. Hell, we spent an entire period (3 months) on improvised weapons. These were guys that wore headscarfs (bandanas?) with weights sewn into the ends so that they could be used as an effective flail or garrot. During my time there I learned a good amount about different knife types, and how to bring out a folding pocket knife quicker than a switch blade.
Aikido: I really like this martial art especially if you're at all familiar with Japanese swordplay you can see where a lot of the inspiration comes from. If your searching for a martial art that teaches you how to be at peace than this is it for you. If your in BC the UBC morning dojo is vary good. I lived an hour away from campus so I had to get up freaking early, but it was nice to start the morning with some light exercise and meditation. (he also had tea available)
Karate: I loved Isshin Ryu Karate. It was practical and quick to learn. Vary little flashiness involved. Although it does seem that there is a lot of variety in this style. Unfortuneatly my sensei passed away and I ddin't have a chance to say goodbye because I was \"too busy\". I kick myself constantly for failing to take the chance to say goodbye when I could. The head of Isshinryu (Advinucula) was trained in Kali/ Escrima/ Phillipino stick and knife fighting from when he was a young child by army scouts. He served in the marine core during the Vietnam war and is one of the coolest people I ever met. When I was 16 and he was in his late 70's he was able to outrun, out pushup, and able to hang from a bar by his toes upside down, than anyone else in the dojo.
Capoeira: not the most practical martial art for fighting but definately practical for life. If you want to learn to move in ways you never realized you could and have your spirit touched I would recommend this martial art. and again if your in the Vancouver area I highly recommend Mestre Jessus. Yep Jessus will uplift your spirit.
Jiu Jutsu: I really liked Jiu Jutsu. The style that I learned was Takonochi ryu jiu jutsu (sp?) traditional jiu jutsu that had the mentality that if you could have something hard and pointy and heavy in your hands while your grappling (or a piece of string, a chopstick you know something) you were better off than empty handed. It was an effective martial art that taught how to kill not how to submit. Sensei Alex at the UBC dojo (the only on e of this kind in Canada) is a lawyer and fluent in Japanese, he has been featured in Black belt magazine on multiple occasions. There is vary little gay about jiu jutsu though I have to admit I did lose a sparring match because someone started tickling me.
Personally I dislike
Taekwon do because it is too flashy while still being too stiff,
Most north American Tai Chi because they do it 1) too fast without it being smooth and flowing. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. 2) you ask most tai chi practitioners in north america what the movements mean and they say \"I don't really know\" you ask the people here and they introduce you to the floor.
Most Karate isn't taught properly and the kata are also not taught properly. A kata IS a useful training tool but their main purpose is not solo practice. You trian kata by yourself if you don't have a partner available. You should be able to take apart every aspect of a kata and know its applications and you should be able to understand why it is put together that way and bring it into free form sparring. You start off with a vary clear 1, 2 tempo of attack and defend and break this up as you advance until it is attack defend defend attack attack attack. etc etc etc
Most karate doesn't teach proper foot work or proper timing and for fooks sakes people stop hopping. Seriously I hate hate hate it when I see two people \"sparring\" at each other while hopping like rabbits. point sparring is one of the worst things to happen in martial arts.
The way that Kali spars is: there is no winner, there is no loser, there is no referee and there are no rules accept for the ones you and your partner agree to at the beginning. The fight does not end until someone taps out. I used to come home covered in stick hickeys and I loved it. I never learned as much as the times when I was getting wailed on by someone better than me.
I would just like to say:
Boxing is not an effective self defense in a fight outside of a boxing match. It is a sport and boxers have been trained to follow rules and fight fair. Kali you learn to fight dirty with the idea that there is no cheating only better strategy.
Many boxers are not accustomed to getting kicked in the legs or going into grapple. If they ARE used to these things they are not pure boxers. Furthermore most boxers don't condition ther hands to hit something without their gloves on. My knuckles protrude from my hands in sharp points from years striking the Makiwara.
However; Boxing mixed with other things is absolutely beautiful. One of the Kali Instructors at Maelstrom ran their own boxing club on the side and they were great for sparring.
In Kali, if you are fighting with a stick you DO NOT forget about your other limbs. You hit with the stick in your right hand and as you re chamber you poke them in the eye, punch, kick, elbow, spit them with your left hand or whatever else you decide to use. The idea was attack attack attack attack attack oh look my attack was a block, who knew? an attack called a V CUT was a cut going at either the two collar bones or the sides of the neck depending on if your using a machete or a stick, the defense for a V cut was an off beat V cut to the wrists. Similarly an Arrow cut was a cut to the inner thighs or the kneecaps (again difference between blade and stick) and the best defense for an arrow cut was an offbeat arrow cut.
Actually, the real defense of Kali was the idea to never stop moving your body and properly angling it to your training dummy.
Honestly I can not stop emphasizing the beauty of Kali. It was brutally simple. I miss it, if anyone knows where I can find a Kali club in Beijing I would love you forever.
Sorry, I'm ranting and raving now.....
