C-Kaju Dog
Sorry to hear you are dealing with this .... but great to hear that you are practicing Qi Gung. 
Though, as you point out, it is something that you have to do (ideally) every day, it really is worthwhile, so I'm sending you a message of encouragement to keep at it! I've found it very helpful for spine, and in fact any joint issues.
It's also helped me very much with keeping an old ankle injury at bay - I pulled the ligaments around my ankle almost 20 years ago whilst fell running in the mountains. Of course I was young and so never went to see a doctor. For a couple years, I limped pretty badly every morning when I got out of bed, though through the day it would get better. I was finally recommended taking Arnica (worked great) and now I spend a couple minutes every morning doing some foot and ankle Nei Gung. This along with the Tai Ji and Bagua I practice keep it healthy. OTOH, If I DON'T do the exercises for a while, the ankle starts to hurt again ...... They say that each time you practice is like putting one sheet of paper ontop of another ... at first it doesn't look like much, but after a while you have a big pile.

@ Blackwolf_101
Absolutely! I heartily agree with your comments.
Very interesting about the Lakota way of thinking about 'yang' energy. Can you tell us any more about how this yang energy in young people is channeled to the positive side, within the traditions of the Lakota culture? The teaching of discipline, self responsibility and moral values have to go hand in hand with this 'yang' power, which has been something teachers have known through history. It is also something that seems lacking in today, at least in the general population.
It is sad that the media is drawn to 'the lowest common denominator' and spends so much time fabricating grudge matches, focusing on revenge and creating forced anger to make a good spectacle. This fake emotional rollercoaster is one reason I don't even own a TV any more.
But anyway ......

Maestro Sonny's untimely death took us all by surprise, and I find myself still mourning his passing - he was a most singular individual with a phenomenal talent, and I consider myself incredibly fortunate for the time I had to train with him.
I am indeed grateful to you Guro Crafty and also to Night Owl for deciding to make the trip up, and the very cool documentary of Sonny's work that came out of your visit. You have played a big part in showing Sonny's ideas to a wider audience so that his influence in FMA is not forgotten, and for that too I am grateful.
On a personal note, your visit to film Maestro Sonny gave me the opportunity to connect with you and the community of DBMA which has been awesome, and I hope to continue exchanging ideas and learning new things in the spirit of walking like a warrior through all my days. 

Robert808 - You know you and Peregrine are always welcome!

I love watching clips of the old FMA masters -  Lacoste, Illustrissimo et al.
Also Oeshiba, Mifune and all high level people who carry their skills into old age.
Here is Liu Hung Chieh doing Bagua at the age of 80. I want to be able to move like this when I'm that age. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W2aORZd_Xs

And for those of you who want to see it in slow motion ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kRL5M7peNQ

A teacher of mine once said that 'the knees are weight transferal joints, not weight bearing joints' carrying the weight coming through the hips, to the ankles and feet. If the knees are not over the feet, in a forward/back and a side to side plane, then weight is being carried by the knees and can cause problems.

Also, on the symmetry issue, a friend of mine who was a marathon runner started getting very bad sciatica in one leg. Long story short, she finally found someone who watched her as she walked and ran, discovering that her right side stride length was shorter than her left, and that she clenched her right fist as she ran and swang her right arm less than her left.
This was all traced back to a childhood fall onto her coccyx which had led to her holding one side of her body tighter as she limped during her recovery. Years and years of running with this asymmetry was causing the problem.
My friend spent many months re-learning how to walk and subsequently run, with even strides on both sides. This involved everything from learning to keep her head pointed forward instead of twisted, relaxing her shoulders and hands, to carefully watching the precise length of each stride and how her feet contacted the ground.
Everything is connected to everything else, right .... how does that song go?

Hmmm ...perhaps this is too far off the thread but,
Crafty said: "..... In a complementary fashion, in some cases the Ritual side of the Art can be a place of healing, forgiveness and transcendence for those who have spiritual wounds to heal, perhaps due to previous engagements with the Dark".

It made me think of the reverse of the issue at hand (how to deal with teaching 'dark' knowledge); How do you educate those who have experienced the darkest sides of human nature and possess, and have potentially used, the knowledge of which we speak, to regain their balance and wholeness in society? Transmuting the energy of predator to protector?
Perhaps this is part of the eternal question of what do warriors do in times of peace, whilst keeping their skills in case of war?

Great Topic.
From my experience, of myself and others, peoples' proprioception is generally pretty poor. You have to practice looking at what you do and how you are very objectively, definitely with the aid of a training partner (as we have a tendency to lie to ourselves if left to our own devices) and preferably with someone who can point out what to look for.
You can't fix what you don't know, so I heartily agree with Guro Crafty that awareness and good alignment, i.e. using your body as it was designed to work in a gravitational environment, are key for a HEALTHY long life.

Whilst I was in Europe recently, I took the chance to train with this guy, Mick Coup. Interestingly a question turned up 2 weeks ago on a Q and A forum he moderates. So here is a view on this subject from the other side of the pond -
A guy asked a question about 'target selection for edged weapons'. Here is the reply:
Mick Coup:
"I'm sorry to say that I won't be posting any details that cover such topics mate - it isn't the way I operate.

There's far too much 'offensive knife' training offered in my opinion, and I know for a fact that all the claims of 'positive vetting' and background checks are in the main part nothing but lip service and a token gesture at appearing responsible.

Every year over here, and I'm sure over there as well, there are numerous seminars offered that promise to teach the covert carriage of knives, rapid deployment with all manner of maiming and killing methods, plus the all important 'escape the scene' postvention. For all intents and purposes this could be nothing more than an exercise in training a better criminal - thankfully most of what I've seen is substandard and not even up to scratch with the current crop of teenage knife-wielding thugs found in a Glasgow housing estate! It would even appear that some of these 'instructors' have simply watched 'West Side Story' a few times and gone from there...

Eligibility for such courses? Turn up with the money, maybe book in advance via email - if anyone doesn't believe me I'll point you at the next such event and you'll see for yourself...

I don't subscribe to this level of irresponsibility personally, and have little respect for those that do unfortunately.

Knife usage is something that I teach and offer extensive instruction in, real knife usage at that, not what I refer to as 'knife gymnastics' that is too commonly seen looking good on Youtube - but this is only if you have a justifiable purpose for the subject, and I either know you well or you are a serving member of the military/police - and most importantly, you have already covered the fundamental foundation material, because without this you'll have an accessory - but no vehicle to put it on!"

The impression I got from Sonny was that you had to live with the consequences of your actions whether or not you were ´justified', however this was not what he was talking about when he referred to the 'dark side'.
To him, the dark side was a state of mind; one that feels powerful through doing harm to others, lusts in violence, enjoys inflicting pain or chooses to take life without regret - for money or for fun, or just because one can.
He saw the danger in building skill in a student and what this could potentially do to the ego. The mindset he tried to instill through his method of teaching was clarity and awareness, never power or the glorification of violence.

Sonny (Umpad) was very uncomfortable teaching anything from 'the dark side' as he called it. By that he meant material which involved a want, and a wish to do harm, without the necessity to do so. He would very occasionally demonstrate these type of attacks so the student could understand what it felt like to be on the receiving end of it, but he was against it in an of itself.
He was very reclusive as is well known, and interviewed all prospective students, I suspect for the very reasons in this thread. He was also very sensitive to how the training was affecting people and if you were getting obnoxious or cocky had no reservations about cutting you down to size (no pun intended!).
As was pointed out, the offensive and defensive ends are both apparent in the teaching, and you have to see what the 'dark' looks like to be able to learn to deal with it.
Personally I believe the mindset instilled during training and the atmosphere the teacher creates are very important. Sonny was very clear that in training you left your ego at the door and that you respected the time you trained. As he put it 'This is not sport, nor competition. No bullsh#t'.!
As for Youtube etc, there is truly a universe of information out there, but it is something very different to learn froma teacher than it is to learn from a video. As the saying goes, 'information is not knowledge and knowledge is not wisdom'. It's the teachers that are key.

Can't fault his logic.

 ".........I AM smiling" !!
That looks brilliant

A friend just forwarded me this for those of you with a cannon in the garage you've been itching to fire! The public is also welcome to watch. 

" Friends;
Save this date:  Saturday, February 21   This is the 5th US Artillery's
(of the Civil War Reenactment Society) annual LIVE SHOOT.  Cannon owners from all over the state come to the Tulare County foothills to fire their Civil War era reproduction cannons
at various targets and see who's got the best aim!  There is really no official competition, as just watching the reaction of the guns with real ammunition is a lesson in itself.
This is the information we have so far:   It will be held on the Trivoli Ranch here in Tulare County Cutler area) and it's normally a one day thing starting at 9:00 a.m., but there has been talk of possibly allowing us to tent there overnight.  Even if that doesn't happen, it's an all day thing, so if you're traveling from a fair distance, plan to just "hold up" with us here at our place (Exeter, CA - about 25 miles from the site), and make a weekend of it. We have more than an acre to park motorhomes, cannons, etc.  If you have a cannon you want to bring, contact Steve Miller, 5th US Artillery Cmdr (real soon) at:  exeter12000@yahoo.com for approval/ instructions/ requirements, etc.
 
Here's a link to pix from last years shoot!
 http://www.slide.com/r/hdSk_IEm4j-VlhAnrPoTZkDEsUupSJk7?view=original
 
 
  Let us hear from you!
 Becki Redwine Enjoy the updated website for the Civil
War Reenactment Society:   www.cwrs.info
! New year...new news.  Be the first to know what is making headlines .

Cool old footage of O-Sensei with Bokken and Bo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i27obVRzIPc

That looks awesome!!
Yip Man is a legend .... looking forward to seeing Donnie Yen do some Wing Chun!

That's awesome! I shop there
Yay! even the 'hippies' are fighting back 

The sling shot man:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ieWrWLjii0

Thanks guys.
Pretty much all the footage I have is of me training with Sonny. Everybody got a copy of their workouts, and Sonny kept one for himself. We reviewed, and so did he. He said he often didn't know 'what was going to come out', so he liked to have a video to review. It's a long process looking through them now, but I hope to post more stuff as I come across it.

Ahhh ...so only 3 months later ..... Finally .... a couple pendulum training clips ...
I couldn't find 'The Frustrator', but here is the 'Half Frustrator' 
Double Blade training:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPCUahAWEGE

Also, another clip, training with the Sandung:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1ZFYdSFlxE

Hauskaa Joulua ja onnellista Uutta Vuotta!!

Tony,
Your 1st clip illustrates a point that Sonny often made - "Watch out for the other one...."
In the Grandfathers Speak interview he describes an altercation he was involved in. You'll notice he describes targeting both assailants, the one in front of him and the one he knew would be behind him.

And thanks for the other clips ... Michael Jackson is indeed a badass

@Ronin,
Mayweather has very good timing, finds good openings, plays range very well and has great body angles and evasive skills .... In the system of eskrima I study (Visayan Corto Kadena), these skills are what our, so called, 'TippyTappy' drills develop. Perhaps for him also .....?

Ronin said:
[/quote]

I have never and will never be, a fan of "tippy-tappy" pad work.
Regardless of who does it and how great a fighter they may be.
Fact is Mayweather is a freak, he would probably be just as good a boxer if he did pad work on one leg while wearing garters.

[/quote]

Why are you against "Tippy-tappy drills" for boxing?
Why do you think Mayweather spends/wastes time on them?

"Food" for self defense ....?!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7782122.stm

Food for thought ....
Good, straightforward advice.

Sambo demo clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCCnChieZTc
Very smooth. Nice transitions.

Man with candy cane fends off attacker:

"A man using a candy cane lawn ornament fended off a knife-wielding neighbor who had been attacking holiday guests at a Sacramento home.

Police spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong said the man used the 2-foot-tall plastic ornament to subdue the attacker until officers arrived and arrested him.

He said the 49-year-old suspect became intoxicated, went over to a neighbor's home on Thanksgiving and began waving a kitchen knife at people gathered on the lawn. He cut several people's clothing before one of them decided to fight back.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/29/BA9414EA9R.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea

Actually, Richie Grannon found it and posted it on his site, I just thought it should keep going 

"Mobile gun phone"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/technology/newsid_7750000/7750010.stm

Here's a link to an interview by Terry O'Neill with Gary Spiers, from "Fighting Arts" magazine in 1986.
It's long, but well worth the read: Tough upbringing + traditional martial arts training + a lifetime of real life 'encounters' as a doorman and security in Australia and the UK.
http://www.cqbservices.com/?page_id=38

Eddie Izzard "How to choose a martial art":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uJqW9O6aW0

I enjoyed "Hero" also. My favorite move is the switch to back grip during the assassination attempt on the Emperor, where 'Broken Sword' pulls the cut at the last moment. I've seen my teacher use that very same move during sparring  .

FYI
There is a new article about Maestro Sonny Umpad in the Jan 2009 edition of Inside KungFu, the one just out on the news stands.
It was written by Guros Chris Suboreau and Steve Magness.

I like GM's idea alot. That would be awesome! Even for average martial artists too ....

Found this on another forum. Thought it was interesting ....
'The Best of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Street Fighting'
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=9H7GLegakpI

OK, so I couldn't resist checking out some of the related clips from the previous one. This one would have perhaps been better in the 'Pre emption and sucker punches' thread, but here it is anyway:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shPj5xidsQo&feature=related

Bob Spour's DVD "No Doubt No Fear"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOL1tmI-Fsg

This is the 2nd of 3 excerpts. The other 2 are interesting (and funny) also.

Yeah, he always seems to get his leg in the right place for the trip or sweep .....
Seems like taking out the legs is a great thing to be able to pull off, especially if you are smaller, against someone bigger and heavier.

Tony: 'Maija, What would you have done if you where red'?

HA HA HA ..... Now that would be telling ....

Apols for posting this if it is already up somewhere. Thought it was interesting.
Lyoto Machida takedown GIFs
http://www.spladdle.com/?p=124

Great points Tony, thanks!
Like you said it is Monday morning quarterbacking, but I think it is useful to watch others spar and fight to see the weaknesses and strengths of different tactics and techniques.
Like you said, quote ".... it seems both guys had some idea of what they where doing", which for me made it a very interesting clip to watch.

The fact that this was a duel clearly changes the dynamic of the interaction from that of a 'shanking', where I am assuming the object of the attack is presumed unarmed and unaware. Also in this case it seems that neither party wanted to die, just win - in this case judged by red conceding - which for me, makes this clip particularly interesting.
Red perhaps tried to fake, but "lack of commitment" ? Only because black gave him no opening to go for, as far as I could see.
Also seems like the couple times black actually went for a cut, they were all aimed high (face, upper body). The second time red really had to get his head out of the way which caused the backpedaling to accelerate. The deepening of his stance and the throwing out of a slash to gain range were indeed his ultimate downfall. He left his side totally open by extending forward whilst black was timing him and ready to lunge.
What I'm thinking about as a hypothetical exercise, is if in red's shoes, as it were, how would you fight black?

Tony,
This is what struck me from watching the video -
Both parties were armed and ready, so neither closes.
Red plays low to keep the most distance between him and black - red is playing defense (fears black?).
Strikes thrown are most, if not all slashes, not pokes (video quality makes it hard to see for sure).
Red throws many cuts. Black extends only 3 times, and only when he thinks he has a target.
Black plays blade close to his body, using weight shift and shuffle to stay out of range.
Each of black's cuts are thrown when red is extended.
Black taunts red to strike by posturing.
This clip shows well that you are open whenever you extend to cut.
Black has higher skill than red.

Good find, Tony. Alot to notice there....

Not sure whether I ever thought about putting Mettalica and Tai Chi together before  , but ....
Tai Chi drills for self defense:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqVMKXf4ogw

@ Blackwolf 101:
I've traveled only once through South Dakota, and found the area where you grew up to be very interesting and beautiful. It has a very powerful atmosphere.
I think you are right that training Martial Arts can be a most positive experience, especially with a good teacher. The combination of mental, physical and emotional training, along with learning about history, culture and 'human nature' are great tools to take into all walks of life. I wish you the best of luck with your training and teaching.
I still wonder sometimes, at how something that seems so violent, brutal and conflict driven like stick/blade fighting can develop calm, centered, decent human beings .....  weird

"Ave Maria" LOL!

Zurkhaneh - Persian Martial Arts training:
http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=6D2ar9_BptM

Man charged over key fob weapon:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/7665495.stm

OK, so there is not technically any 'equipment' in this clip, but following on the idea of how to see the "open spaces between the moving objects" ....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqOJp9Wmayo

With thanks to my training partner and elder brother Kev Baptiste for pointing out how some of Maestro Sonny's ideas appear in Mayweather's boxing.