Pasted from the thread at "Warrior Talk":
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We just finished a great weekend of Dog Brothers Martial Arts training here in Central Texas y'all.
Crafty was, as usual, at his very best.
To all who attended, thank you so much for making this such a fantastic training event.
I honestly cannot remember attending any previous seminars where so much laughter and camaraderie was shared by all.
It was definitely great seeing some familiar faces and making new friends in the process too.
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Although there's much that I could say about what we trained on I will excuse now myself and leave this open for the other attendees, especially those fortunate enough to have trained this material for the first time, to post their impressions.
S.
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It was a great weekend!
It's only to be expected, though, when an outstanding presenter (Marc Denny) is hosted for his seminar by top notch people (Gus and Steve). All of whom, in turn, draw the kind of attendees you really do want to train with! From guys that knew a lot, to guys that knew little (me), they were all there to learn, with good humor and no attitude, that I could see. Thanks to all for making it what it was.
If you haven't trained with Marc, and you get to in the future, you are in for a treat. Not only is he knowledgeable and able to convey that knowledge, but he is entertaining as all get out. It really keeps your interest to hear the stories and listen for perhaps the thousandth time to "Oh, I'm sorry....did I step on your foot??" as another classmate hits the floor. Strange how little sorry Marc looked......
And when he pulled out the electroshock knife , did any of you other guys notice how often there was collateral damage to innocent bystanders??
Big thanks to those who volunteered for Demonstration Dummy, especially John, who took more abuse than most, I think. It's a class with hitting....and John happily took some hits for the team. How's the jaw, John?
Gus, what can I say? You're the driving force, making us all welcome and motivated. Have you always had this much energy??
Steve, the night vision lecture "after hours" was a lot of fun, and informative. The extra time you put in to present it to us was above and beyond. And to Frankdude72 for the "extras" he brought for us to look at, as well. Even Twodogstyx, who couldn't attend the regular class, came and shared his stuff with us that night....Like I said, guys you want to train with.
Not only interested and knowledgeable, but with toys!!
Greg
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The important takeaway from this seminar is the importance of using footwork to develop angles that will give you the advantage and allow you to keep it.
Thanks to Gus and Steve for putting this on and doing all the HARD work to make it successful.
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I'm at work now, so I'll keep this short. But it was a great weekend of training and meeting new friends and seeing old ones. Crafty has given me a ton of information to work on. My brain was information overloaded a couple of times. But it will come back to me.
I noticed that egos were not present, everyone got along, Crafty was patient, and no one got injured that Motrin and relaxation won't take care of.
I only wish that I spoke Spanish, as I really would have liked to conversed with the three gentlemen from Columbia. I could tell that they all knew their stuff!
Greg gets my tip of the hat. Everyone in attendance knows what I'm talking about.
It was a diverse group from all walks of life and "day jobs". That's what I like about private sector training.
I'd like to thank Marc for coming to Texas and, once again, Gus and Steve for putting this all together and giving me the weekly training so I was prepared for this.
"Walk as a Warrior for all of your days"!
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Great time training, and I only thought I was sore yesterday! This morning was a full blown case of, "Where did THAT bruise come from?"
There is nothing like being the training dummy to show you what NOT to do!!
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Hey John I hear ya. I found hondo1911's shoestring/laces imprinted in a beautiful shade of blue/black on my left leg, along with a silver dollar size "owie" on my chest/heart But that means it was great training!
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Thanks to all you gentlemen for your kind words and patience. (And to those I physically trained with, I know I'm quite clumsy on a good day. So many kudos for putting up with me.)
Thanks of course to Guro Crafty for sharing his knowledge, perspectives, and immense skill.
Steve and Gus, many thanks for all the time, effort and money you contributed.
Steve, the night vision class had some superb pieces within. I learned a lot. (Oh and Gus, when next we meet, I'll make sure to have a book handy. Thanks for all your encouragement.)
I'm so very glad I attended.
Guro Crafty did a fantastic job both articulating and executing his art. Was so cool to see all the principles like:
*proper angles within footwork,
*consistent movement across weapons categories,
*not putting yourself in a worse position if your technique doesn't work,
*not getting too tied up with your opponent when on the ground (due to him possibly having friends),
*Always being covered (via physical position and hand/weapon orientation) against the follow up strike as you move in,
*Maintaining 360 awareness,
*How correct foot/muscles/hand/hip/back/etc. alignment eases efficiency of motion
*Working towards methods that allow "martial arts and crafts" techniques to function in "the adrenal state"
*etc.
These are principles I've been often directed to value before, and it was a treat to not only see them so proficiently employed, but to see it done so with techniques and movement almost totally foreign to the way I've seen such a mindset emerge as a fighting style in the past.
Absolute treat, gentlemen.
Gregford, the offer is always on the table to train. I'm only a PM away, sir. I have a great group of talented martial arts guys to beat on me but only one or two can seem to metabolize the mindset WT-ers seem have been bestowed by the grace of God.
It'd be awesome to regularly meet with a guy who also understands the need to work within "the adrenal state".
Hope to see (and train with) all of y'all soon.
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An Awesome weekend of training. I want to say thanks to Steve and Gus for all the work they did in putting this weekend together and bringing Crafty to Central Texas. I know that the two of you put in alot of your time to make this happen.
Watching Crafty demonstrate the various techniques was great. Like John I too suffered from information overload (I have become a slow learner it seems) but I came away form this weekend with alot of good useful information and techniques to practice on. Thanks Crafty for coming to Texas.
Everyone who attended was great, a great bunch of warriors. Hey John sorry for the shoe bruise on your leg, I guess that is
payback for the stick to my head, and the finger in my eye.
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Guys, hopefully I can drag one or 2 of my compatriots down to Killeen to train with y'all some time.
The more I think about this weekend, the more methods of changing the methodology of my training arise.
Thanks so much.
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Wow, what a weekend. First off, I have to say thanks to all the CenTex WTers who joined us for this seminar, and to Crafty Dog for delivering on the training.
Also thanks to Jeff who, despite his recent back surgery, joined us to take over two-thousand pictures during the seminar. I will now show the pictures that best summarize the weekend's training:
Shdwdncr being lifted to higher conciousnes:
John a moment before his first concussion of the weekend:
And yours truly after being knocked head-over-heels by the "Dodger-Dracula":
I really had a great time. For me, the highlight was the Kali Tudo material. Crafty has obviously put alot of good effort into developing this material and it is both truly unique and potent.
The Saturday evening class was so "WT". I hadn't asked anyone to bring their rifles, yet sneaky bags started opening and AKs began being passed around before the class even began. And we had more night vision devices in that class than most infantry squads. I didn't realize so many of us are running around with PVS-14s, I need to get with the program. Also got to
check out one local Wer's impressive carry rig which I detailed in this thread: ____________________
Tonight at our Central Texas Combatives Training Group meeting we went over alot of the stickfighting material fom the seminar. My observation is that it's in the post-seminar review and practice that material is really learned. Again, any Wter is welcome to train with us. In fact we just had Avenger2616 join us in class for the first time tonight.
"The adventure continues..."