Any meetings in Nor Cal/ Bay Area / SF area?

[dummyplug]

Hi,

I've already searched and most queries are from 2004/2007? ish. I'm a complete weapons novice, but am looking for some people to train with in the San Francisco/Bay Area area.

All the leads people responded with ended up at nonworking emails? gints@att.net such.

If anyone can put me into contact with these people (if they are still meeting up)

I would appreciate it.

[Dan Farley]

Where in Nor Cal? 

[dummyplug]

I frequent San Francisco / San Jose / Daly City / Oakland / Berkeley.

[sting]

I don't hold a stick fighting class, but I do hold sparring sessions.   gints333@yahoo.com

[maija]

I don't believe there are any Dog Brothers training groups as such, in the Bay Area, though as Sting says, he still hosts his Gentlemens Fight Club (and other sparring sessions?).
There are however teachers in everything from Serrada to Doce Pares, Senkotiros and Pekiti, to name but a few - just let you fingers do the Googling!
I teach the Visayan Eskrima of Sonny Umpad here in Oakland, but it uses the sword as the primary weapon, not stick.

[dummyplug]

I have scouted out quite a few : PTK in SF, the Suiketsen w/ the Sonny Umped style (sp?) in Oakland, there's a Villa Lagusa?(sp) that meets near USF.
The main issue is that none of the schools I have queried have been able to tell me anything in comparison to the other styles.

I was just hoping someone had first had experience. Most important to me is an education with live sparring :]
Is there sparring at your school? I was under the impression it was more of a soft arts school from the website/description/yelp comments. akijutsu/akido etc.

[sting]

dummyplug,
 
If you want good WEKAF rule sparring and a good beating, find Guro Reggie Burford at his Oakland Eskrima club.  Bart Hubbard has fought at a a Gathering and has a crew with WEKAF sparring somewhere in the Sacramento area.  I've held a 100% sparring session for over ten years in the SF Bay Area.  The last full-contact session was in June 2010.  Since then, I have had some trouble with a location for that event and have moved to a different type of sparring.  There are a number of sparring events in the area:  Golden Gate Karate, the Inayan Family eskrima sessions in Sensei Hans's tournament in March(?).  Guro Jon Ward (Los Gatos) holds a training class with stick sparring.  Join us sometime.

Gints

[dummyplug]

Thanks so much!!

[maija]

Suigetsukan - The Dojo out of which I teach is a predominately Japanese style school, though Chinese and Filipino styles are also represented. I'm not sure how you get the impression of 'soft arts', especially when relating to Eskrima, perhaps contact vs no contact teaching methods might be a better comparison?
I second Reggie Burford and Oakland Eskrima a a great crew of guys, also the Inayan system guys, for sure check out Jon Ward in the South Bay
In the end though, you should get out and go do some classes yourself - you are never going to get the feel of whether a system/method is right for you if you don't actually try and compare.

[Scurvy Dog]

Yup, I've seen Maija fight and 'soft arts' did not seem part of the equation! 

 I'd check the classes out for sure DP.