I was disappointed in not being able to fight more and have the opportunity to earn  my name, but I would really like to thank Guro Crafty  for the opportunity to play and and both Corey and Dennis for playing with me.  I would particularly like to thank Cindy "Pretty Kitty" Denny for directing me to Company of Mary hospital where they fixed my dislocated shoulder.  I will be out of the sling in a week and will begin rehabilitating my shoulder as soon as I can.

pm me, I live in the OC.  maybe we can play

"If one side is unaware that an attack is impending it is inconsequential what weapon the other party has if it is remotely lethal. "

This is all I'm saying Michael, I'm not saying that the knife is superior or that the video is evidence of it.  I'm only asking if this is the Tueller drill and making the point that initiative is king in most encounters.

In fact I agree with pretty much everything you have said so far.

Respectfully,

Carlo

The demonstration in the google video was more about the effect of the reactionary gap, where there is an unsuspecting man with a gun.  In that context it is not ludicrous.  The point is by the time you recognize that an attack is taking place and you have formulated and executed a response, the attacker has closed the gap.

is this the drill?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1459052511793821456&q=knife+attack

These worked after I injured my shoulder and try this stretch



I use an axe handle when I train, the kind with the plastic cap for more weight though a wood baseballbat is exellent as well.  Do it real slow at first or you are in danger  of blowing out your shoulder or wrists.

cool stuff but in the footage you mentioned the gun guy lets the knife guy stab him in the femoral a couple times as he draws his weapon

Hell, forget the bang and put on some safety goggles and whip out the airsoft.  I suspect that it is not a question of the weapon as much as it is a question of initiative and reactionary gap.

"Bat man" Guro Crafty?   Well if it was Batman I'd vote for him.  Seriously, Ive been hit with a hardwood stick.  It didn't stop me, I'm with the knife guys.

I love how this question pops up every few months or so.

Hey man, I can't recommend a kenpo school nearby bacause all the ones I know of are in Pasadena where some of the original studios are located but I can recommend my friend and teacher Just south on the 605 from you.

http://www.intmartialarts.com/

Come by and say hi.  I'm usually there on saturday mornings.

Thats Candidate Grinning Dog

yeah its me.

Pappy's stuff is always exellent.  Currently I use lineman's gloves.  They served me well at my last Gathering...now to work on that whole avoiding a concussion thing :p

Ditto everything Guro Crafty said and, now this is important, find a willing partner.

I got my clock cleaned by a pro boxer.  I feel your pain.

How much did lacrosse play into your skillset development?

Respecfully,

Carlo

You would be surprised, the lighter gloves make you more aware of your hands and you train more effectively at ot getting "tagged"

There are a few contributing factors to the level of injury manifested at the gathering.  One is skill level, some of the fighters have become quite adept at not getting hit in vulnerable places.  This is an instance not of shots being pulled but rather shots being effectively defended.

  Also, not everyone walking in is skilled enough to generate enough power under duress with proper body mechanics at a moving and alive target to cause the injuries you mention.  Another factor is relative distance as mentioned before, a man crashing in on you will smother a strike.  If the other man is clearly a better stickfighter, don't let him swing.  The nature of the sticks themselves help mitigate injury, they are rattan not bahi or kamagong.  The physicality of the participants is another factor, skull thickness (TrueDog, i'm looking at you:D),  and sheer size and strength can protect you.  Hitting a 300+ pound man in the arm with a rattan stick will not stop him.  

One of the most important factors is intent, it is in the nature of the event that we walk in there as friends.  We push as hard as we can.  Not hard enough and we are not transformed, too hard and we incpacitate our friend and prevent him from being able to fight by our side when the time comes.  Full contact, yes but it is understood that a full power strike to the back of the head can kill a man.  He is your friend.  Don't take that shot.

Your ability to make moral decisions in a high adrenal state is one of the most important transformational experiences you get out of the gathering.

All that being said, the participants actually do get  a fair bit of injuries.  Broken hands and concussions,  and a collarbone here and there.

Some cry,"this is not real fighting".  Save wrath for your enemies, when playing with friends and brothers, there have to be some limits.  On the other hand, no  one hits you as hard as your brother.  I've never faced anyone on the street as tough as the guys I've "played" with.

-C

This is from a german FMA group, they have some nice things going on in this sword and buckler fight video.  FMA, WMA fun.

http://www.ucc-hamburg.de/video/Huscarlclip.wmv

http://sayoc.com/vidclips/20040203trailer.wmv

check out the Tuhon Felix Cortes stickboxing stuff.

You coming to the Sayoc seminar this weekend Miguel?

-C

Thank you for the info haumana2000.  Im saving money for the trip as we speak.

-C

I find it strange that no one has mentioned Maori culture which has a rich tradition of warrior arts whaich they have preserved to the present day.  I plan to go to New Zealand to study the Taiaha.

-C

BTW, next time i'll log in, HA.

-C

you need realtime player, it comes from a public radio program called "This American Life.  

http://thislife.org/

you can get the player here

http://www.real.com/products/player/downloadrealplayer.html?wp=dl0698&src=download

(don't be fooled by the prominently-placed player with the 14-day free trial; look lower on the page for the player that's clearly marked as "free." It's not always easy to find.)

Stories about what it means to be a person who throws the first punch... and how hard it is to give up.
http://www.thislife.org/ra/98.ram

-C

Here are a couple of quotes from my favorite quotable personality, Attila the Hun which sum up my experiences with Guro Crafty and how he handles these things.  More than anything he has taught me how to play well with others.  

"Great chieftains never take themselves too seriously."

"It is best for your friends and foes to speak well of you; however, it is better for them to speak poorly
of you than not at all."

"Every Hun is responsible for shaping his life circumstances and experiences into success --
no other Hun, and certainly no Roman, can do for a Hun what he neglects to do for himself. "

-Dog Carlo

here's the discussion http://www.fightsport.com/fsport/jsp/message1.jsp?updateHit=yes&fromList1=yes&Id2=0&Id=73125&AuthorId=1

-c

I believe the root means little flower and came to mean smallsword or epee in Spanish.  In the philippines it retains the "little flower" meaning and in Filipino martial arts it refers to a small flowery movement or flourish.

-Dog Carlo

Martial arts expert kills two raiders

Philip Willan in Rome
Monday October 13, 2003
The Guardian

A Chinese martial arts expert was in custody yesterday after turning the tables on four burglars armed with knives, killing two of them and seriously wounding a third.
The 28-year-old man, known as "the doctor" for his practice of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine, managed to seize one of the two knives carried by his assailants and saw off the entire group with the ferocity of his reaction.

Magistrates in the central Italian town of Empoli are now seeking to establish whether his self-defence constituted an excessive use of force.

The butchery, worthy of a Quentin Tarantino film, began shortly before midnight on Friday when the four men knocked at the apartment of a Chinese hairdresser in the centre of Empoli.

The hairdresser, her assistant and "the doctor", who operated from the same premises, were reportedly overpowered and tied up before the group, all thought to be in their 20s and 30s, ransacked the apartment.

Disappointed by their meagre booty, the attackers allegedly threatened to rape the two women unless they told them where the rest of their money was hidden.

At this point the doctor managed to free himself, seize a knife from one of the aggressors and deliver a series of lethal stab wounds.

Investigators found the body of one man, who had been stabbed in the heart, sprawled on the staircase and another man bleeding to death in the street from a wound to his leg. A third man is recovering in hospital from a punctured lung.

The doctor was found crouching in the entrance to the building with cuts to his shoulder, face and hands.

Investigators are trying to determine whether he inflicted the injuries while defending himself inside the apartment, or hunted down the burglars after they had fled.

Special report
Italy

Quentin "Rampage" Jackson is a top contender in Pride.  He is young and strong and he does not prefer to grapple so much as to simply lift a man and slam him to the ground.  I was only implying that in an unarmed altercation, get a person with alot of athleticism not thinking in the confines of a sports endeavor but rather fighting for his life and you have a dangerous individual.  The amount of time a mixed martial arist spends sparring his techniques against skilled and resisting individuals cannot be discounted.  

But as you know sir, I do not like to speak in absolutes because timing, experience, and CRAFTINESS   count too in the equation and my various bruises prove it.

Great article.  I would hate to fight a guy like Rampage Jackson, much less if he were using "illeagal" moves.   A Profighter with a paradigm shift makes a devastating streetfighter.

-C

my post was aimed at the BJJ guys as much as it was aimed at TKD and my point was, we are all out there just having fun, outrageous claims helps no one and technical superiority depends on context.  We should all lighten the hell up and play.

-C

On a MMA forum a taekwon do practitioner was defending the high kicks of his art by once again stating that they were designed to kick a man off a horse.  I am not a TKD basher in fact i admire the athleticism of many TKD practitioners but an unarmed man against a man on a horse with a lance.  Let's be realistic.  After the BJJ guys flamed him, I answered with this.

What do you do against a guy with a horse and lance?

TKD answer "Jumpkick the rider"

BJJ answer "Choke the horse"

Kali answer "Eat the Horse"

Muay Thai answer "What's a horse? we use elephants"

my apologies.

-C

Maybe it's the way I look but most people assume I know something without me ever mentioning MA and are genuinely interested in understanding what I do when the subject of martial arts pops up.  I am always patient in explaining and they are often very polite and if they are ignorant, they try not to show it by making bruce lee noises.  Maybe if I weren't a scary looking gorilla and looked more like Lynda I would attract more jerks.

As for women.  I have a tendency to attract women who are into martial arts or even find it downright sexy.  My lovely wife is often my training partner.  So again no problem there.

In fact I only get "YOUR CRAZY" looks from other martial artists when I tell them about the dog brothers.

BTW I know I told you before, but great work at the Gathering Lynda.

-C

the applications to martial arts is apparent

http://www.bugei.com/ken_got.html

Thank you lynda for posting.  Your point of view brings a welcome balance to these forums.

-C